Fasting with our whole self

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah, it's the first day of fasting. Last night during the first teraweeh at the Penang State mosque, I kept thinking and repeating this: "Must push this body through the rakaat [the 20+3 cycle of prayers]. Body must be trained."

Penang State mosque

But then during the first sahur, this text message came in from 'I am the believer'. 

"Fast holistically with your whole self 

for we are more hearts and souls 
than bodies."
- Shaykh Sajid Umar

Yes, indeed we should give more focus on the heart and soul. We must think more about elevating the heart and soul as we push the body through hunger, thirst and lethargy.

May Allah grant us more tawfik and help us achieve our niyyat of attaining His pleasures through stringent training of the body, heart and soul in this holy month of Ramadhan. Ameen Allah humma ameen.

As we fill our time during the day, let's reflect on our friends and families who may have a special need for our heartfelt  du'a as they may be going through a challenging time. Life is not a bed of roses. Life is full of challenges. But fortunately life is adorned with ornaments called love. We love one another. We are like bricks reinforcing one another. Let's think of the "bricks" near us who might need a special reinforcement right now. There will be a time when we ourselves need reinforcement and we would then have high hopes for attention and care from our nearest, our friends and families. We are in this life together. We are in it together.

Ramadan Kareem.