Here are the benefits, fasting in Ramadan brings aside from spiritual benefits
Fasting is one of the five fundamental pillars of Islam. It is the spiritual as well as physical practice during which Muslims abstain from eating, drinking and having sex from sunrise till sunset.
Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan and they do it mainly for spiritual reasons. Most of the Muslims have no idea how fasting benefits their health so thoroughly. Stomach is the most important organ of the body because it keeps a man going. A few
mouthfuls are enough for a healthy human being to function but eating is a complementary part of our lives. The stomach is also the organ that is subject to most illnesses and ailments. That is mainly due to unhealthy eating or just overeating.
According to a Sahih Hadith:
‘A human being fills no worse vessel than his stomach. It is sufficient for a human being to eat a few mouthfuls to keep his spine straight. But if he must (fill it), then one third of food, one third for drink and one third for air.’
If we fast and no food enters our body for the whole day, this organ gets rest. During the rest, the stomach is cleared out for the toxins and remnants of food. And hence the house of bacteria, stomach, is detoxified and cleared. So many chances of diseases are fought against while fasting.
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Allah said, ‘All the deeds of Adam’s sons (people) are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it.’ Fasting is a shield or protection from the fire and from committing sins. If one of you is fasting, he should avoid sexual relations with his wife and quarreling, and if somebody should fight or quarrel with him, he should say, ‘I am fasting.’ By Him in Whose Hands my soul is’ The unpleasant smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. There are two pleasures for the fasting person, one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord; then he will be pleased because of his fasting.”
This Hadith clearly states the spiritual benefits of fasting. We already discussed the physical ones. Moving forward to psychological benefits of fasting
Fasting helps in patience, forbearance and perseverance. it helps a person to increase his self-control. It helps him to increase self-reflexivity and is also self training and creates discipline. The main psychological benefit of fasting is the increase in patience and perseverance. Fasting helps in the conditioning of the heart, body, mind and soul. it improves the overall dimension of the human being. Muslims around the world fast anyway, but knowing these spiritual, physical and psychological benefits that Allah has hidden in fasting can add to their faith and determination.
And the Quran says;
‘Indeed Allah is (standing) with the ones who are patient.’
