Wellness in Ramadan Ummah Talk - Sabaahath Latifi
Event Notes:
Objective of Ramadan
Taqwa - feeling that presence of Allah, having an awareness of his presence and connectedness in our lives
Helps us make protective and healthy choices in this world and the hereafter
Repels us from sin and making unhealthy choices
Fast from food and water, essentially we are fasting from our nafs, bad habits,
Spending more time with Allah instead of satisfying our nafs, our desires
Opportunity for self-reflection
Maintaining our taqwa
Reevaluating the changes we want to make in our lives during this month and after
Opportunity for a spiritual cleanse and spiritual change
Delayed vs immediate gratification (see Stanford marshmallow experiment)
Many things that can give us peace and happiness in this world
When our purpose starts to become just seeking gratification of this world, we have to remember we have been promised something better in the next world
Keeping this in mind will allow us to maintain our taqwa
How different people feel about Ramadan
“I don’t get excited about Ramadan the way everyone else does. Am I a bad Muslim”
This is a very normal human thought
People have this thought and it is valid because Ramadan really affects our daily lives
It’s important to acknowledge this thought and figure out how to address it
It is important to show oneself compassion
“Shaytaan is gone and I still can’t focus on my prayers”
Very human to struggle with this
Scary thought but we need to realize that we unintentionally have created long-term habits that are still there once Ramadan starts
That being said, show compassion and figure out how you can make small changes (baby steps)
Mental Health Conditions
Eating disorders
Binge and purge behavior
Restrict food intake
Scholars and Muslim doctors are discussing rulings that can be made around this and fasting
In Islam, there is room for leniency and acknowledging mental illness and how that impacts fasting and prayer.
Anxiety
Heightened anxiety
OCD
Creates and overwhelming dread and intrusive thoughts
Scholar and doctors that can get involved to figure out how to help this person
Someone who struggles with anxiety during Ramadan may struggle with it even more
If fasting is causing the person harm, there may be leniency as to if they have to fast or not
Depression
People who have low energy and the isolation people have been feeling doesnt mean youre a bad Muslim or you’re a bad person
Your brain has the right to be ill, whether its Ramadan or not
Doing good deeds in Ramadan that are constant
Aisha (PBUH) narrated that the prophet said “do good deeds moderately and know that the most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even if little”
Start with regular, baby step
Pick one goal and start with that
“Small” goals look different for everyone
Goal setting will look different for a college student vs. a full time working person
Aim for consistency, not perfection
We have to work towards being better but we have to acknowledge that if we only choose to be perfect, it can lead to lack of motivation
Building habits rather than short term fixes
Building habits show their impact even in this dunya
Don’t take on too much or don’t take on too little
Mindfulness
Look to create opportunities to be focused and present
Being mindful even during iftar
Practicing mindfulness is important because it brings a lot of gratitude and it helps us to slow down
Pick one Salah to slow down
Practice that mindfulness in one sujood, overtime see how it helps in Salah
What are the audience’s personal goals?
If you make intention before doing things, they can be considered ibaadah
It’s important for us to take a step back and say “what is my balance going to look like in Ramadan?”
We have to be realistic and not set unhealthy expectations.
For example, during finals week going to the gym might be unrealistic
What do we do when we set small goals for ourselves but then get hit by midterms and exams and feel ourselves being weighed down by guilt and the need to give up on even our small goals
It’s totally natural to feel guilt, it’s healthy in some ways; but when it begins to make us feel debilitated then it becomes dangerous.
Sabaahath recommends self-reflection daily because it’ll help us keep moving forward; moments of self-reflection allow us to catch when we miss our goals and then we can work on catching those slips.
It’s going to be uncomfortable but change only comes from forcing ourselves into uncomfortable situations
How do I hold myself accountable in a way that doesn’t make me feel like I'm being unkind to myself?
There’s a difference between holding ourselves accountable and punishing ourselves
If we self-evaluate, we’ll find that most of the time our motivation is depleted as a result of how we treat ourselves (we’re too unkind to ourselves or we don’t hold ourselves accountable)
