Turning Away From Ramadhan Appetites

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, would eat in the month of Ramadhan essentially what he would eat at other times of the year. If we follow this sunnah, what this does is that it cultivates that pillar of taqwa that is called shukr (gratitude).

It is sunnah to eat the suhur (pre-dawn meal) and it is recommended to delay the suhr as much as possible until such time that is very close to fajr as long as you are certain that the time of fajr will not enter upon you.

Eating suhur is showing gratitude to Allah in that we see greater significance in the provision that Allah has given us. We also see the lutf of Allah (the kindness of Allah) in what He has provided us to eat, as well as Allah's decreeing that we delay eating the suhur so that the effect will carry through the day. So, we do not overeat. If we stuffed ourselves, it will actually harm us during the day, and we are not following the noble conduct of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. The point is that what we normally eat for breakfast, that is what we should take for suhr, nothing extra and lavish. Therefore, we should take the suhur, see it as a blessing and mercy from Allah, and seek in it assistance that it provides spiritually and physically.

The fast is there to inculcate taqwa (Godfearingness). Taqwa can only come about through obedience to Allah. Allah has set the legal limits of fast--i.e. from Fajr (dawn) to Maghrib (sunset). No more or no less. Therefore, one should be avid and enthusiastic to break one's fast. If we eat after Fajr, even if it is one minute after Fajr enters, there is no fasting for that day. If we delay iftar (breaking fast,) it will not legally invalidate the fast but morally it is not in keeping with the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Like all other matters in our worship, we want to obey Allah as perfectly as we can. So, we start the fast when He commands us to start, and we stop the fast when He commands us to stop. In the starting there is obedience and in the stopping there is obedience to Allah. So what we are avid and enthusiastic about breaking fast is obeying Allah concerning the limits of the fast.

When we break our fasts with dates and water, we should be conscious of the significance of dates and water in the time of Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. These two things were were essentially what The Prophet, Allah and bless him and grant him peace, and his companions would eat normally. This is a great sunnah and a great secret for the fasting in the month of Ramadhan. So, we should not get into a habit of preparing a lavish meal. The point behind fasting is turning away from the attachment of these appetites. So, what we eat for dinner or supper, this is optimally what we should take for iftar.

When we physically emulate the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, even though there is benefit in of itself, it is done because in his conduct is the secret of lofty moral behavior for human being. When we break our fast with dates and water, that should remind us that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, ate dates and water as his normal meals in Ramadhan. So we should strive to have normal meals unless you are entertaining guests, then you will entertain them like the way you normally would.

In emulating the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, this is where we get the spiritual assistance during the course of the day that causes us to think about Allah and to endure the inconvenience of fasting for His sake only. We are not distracted with thinking about the special Ramadhan food and that everything has to be perfect as if your fast is sustained by the thought of the lavish meal that you are going to eat at the end of the day. There is less spiritual assistance in doing this. This person is not taking advantage of the moments of Ramadhan. Whereas the one who makes the food an act of gratitude and his fasting during the course of the day is there to occupy himself with Allah. He is not thinking about food when he is fasting. He is not looking forward to food but he is looking forward to the provision of Allah. So, it does not matter how many courses are laid on the table, or if the food has too much salt or too little sugar. He is grateful to Allah nonetheless even if it is only dates and water. The food that he sees becomes a means of his turning to Allah, not his fasting becomes a means of his turning to the food.

May Allah forgive us and rain us with mercy in this blessed month. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam