I saw a video that was praising Muslims for fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. The makers of the video highlighted the difficulties of fasting. They tried fasting for a day and shared their experience. They woke up early in the morning and had breakfast (Sehri) before sunrise and fasted for the entire day. They ate food (Iftar) at sunset. They said it was very difficult for them, especially because of the fact that they couldn’t even consume water. Moreover, they were not used to fasting and the weather also made it difficult for them.
After watching this, I went down to the comments section. I saw a comment which really urged me to write this piece. The comment was about Navratri. It said that even Hindus fast for eight to nine days without having food – that they are only allowed to have a few fruits and water. The comment also said that fasting during Navratri is much more logical than any other type of fasting.
This comment surely wanted to establish supremacy. The respective video was from Indonesia. Its population is largely Muslim. Also, the video was made and posted in the month of Ramadan. Was that comment really needed? Can’t we just respect each other and appreciate each other’s acts without trying to establish supremacy over one another? Isn’t this illogical?
Coming to logical grounds, ‘fasting’ is an important part of almost all religions. Religious beliefs say it is sacred and makes a person pure.
According to science, fasting has a magnificent effect on one’s body. It tempers blood pressure, balances fluids, encourages normal blood sugar level, helps to establish moderate appetite, helps burn the fat, promotes a healthy immune system, helps detoxification, etc.
No fasting is easy. Fasting in itself is a challenge. It’s not a competition among different religions. All must be equally respected. It is essential to understand that fasting is difficult. There isn’t any need of being ethnocentric and making arguments to establish supremacy!