“How do you do that?”, “why do you do that?”, “for how long did you say?”,
“sorry, but I loooove my food, can’t imagine myself skipping all these meals…”

Many people fail to understand how such a harsh religious tradition could refine the soul and create more sensitive, sympathetic, and compassionate individuals in society.
This post is not really intended to preach anyone, nor change anyone’s mind about what they think of Ramadan. I’m actually writing to  remind Muslims who totally forgot about the spirit of their religion and are missing the point of its existence in the first place. So consider it a reminder, if you may, of the significance and the importance of this Holy Month.
Ramadan is not to “torture” the soul, or to “weaken” the body. It’s not cruel and it’s not meant to starve human beings. It’s simply a yearly wake-up call, to remind us that life doesn’t revolve around you or me, and that the planet is a place for all kinds of life to coexist in harmony. It’s a call to stop taking things for granted, contemplate, look around us, recognize others’ misery and misfortune, appreciate what we have, share it, give, work, and make this world a better place.
The long hours of fasting make it  hard, difficult, but it’s just a taste of what the less fortunate endure day after day, year after year, neglected, having to put up with their poverty, hunger, thirst and suffering while other parts of the planet are throwing away what would feed and quench the thirst of thousands of people.
Ramadan is a time to care for  hungry humans, animals, plants, the whole universe, in hope that your practices during this month will stick to you for as long as you may live.
But many Muslims are only abstaining themselves from eating and drinking alone,  missing out on the real spirit of the month, and many, so many, have given up on the whole fasting tradition altogether, claiming that you can be compassionate, and you can help others without torturing yourself… which is possible, but you can’t really feel what others feel until you’ve tried it yourself, not to forget that fasting does not mean limiting oneself to an abstinence from food and water, it’s about refining yourself from the core, meditating, taking a break from this materialistic world and getting in touch with your soul, testing its endurance and what it can accomplish even with the absence of the most basic elements of living. It’s all about being a better person and challenging yourself by depriving it from all that it has, so that you’d be in the shoes of the poor and helpless, just for a few hours, that’s all.

So please remember those in need, and please do help, not by words, but with real action. Donate, donate, donate. Thousands of people are starving to death every day, and thousands like them are dying out of thirst or the lack of access to clean water.

Go to Islamic Relief, choose your language, and pick one of the many donation options listed:  East Africa Crisis, Libya/ Yemen/ Syria Emergency Appeal, or any  Humanitarian Appeal to other countries that need your help such as Palestine, Pakistan… etc. Or to support projects that provide clean water, or help orphans and so on. The choice is yours, so little can do so much.