Ramadan: The Power to Change

This guest reflection was written by Arshad Anwar, Imam of Roswell Community Masjid, a mosque that was awarded a GIPL Power Wise grant to support their environmental stewardship efforts.The first few days are the toughest. Giving up eating and drinking for around sixteen hours is not easy. Your body feels week and your mind keeps thinking, “Why are you doing this to yourself?” It’s not just the hours of fasting that affect your body, it’s also staying up late at night for prayer and still waking up before dawn to have a meal. These drastic and sudden lifestyle changes happen while your daily schedule barely shifts. You still have to go to work, run errands, take the kids places, etc.However, something amazing happens after these first few days. Your mind and body, which are used to an entirely different year’s long routine, suddenly adjust to your new habits and it all becomes a little easier. That amazing feeling and your inner voice now telling you, “You can do it!” is the push you need to finish off the remaining days of fasting. If there is one thing you really learn through the practice of fasting in Ramadan, it’s that if you really want to make a change in your life, you certainly can do it. You are in charge and even though you’ll feel uncomfortable in the beginning, you will adjust and find ways to keep going.In Ramadan, you fast to change yourself for yourself. That is just the first step to make you realize that you can also positively change the world around you. The world we live in is so affected by the choices we make, if we “fasted” from some of our bad habits and changed our patterns, we would soon adjust and see the change we’re making to our world. We can start off from the very food we’ve been fasting from! Making a smart plan and purchasing food accordingly can help reduce food wastage. For food that doesn’t get used, find a place that can use it for composting. There are also plenty of things you can do around the house. Turn the lights off when you’re not in the room and be careful about how much water you’re wasting especially when showering or brushing your teeth. Make sure you’re not throwing away recyclables and reduce the use of plastic shopping bags buy using reusable ones. Save paper by paying your bills online and save plastic by using reusable water bottles. There are too many things we can do to list here. The important take away is that these changes are minor, compared to not eating or drinking anything for 16 hours! You will adjust to these changes if you stick to them and you will have a positive impact on the earth that is a gift to you from God Himself. The prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Eat, drink, wear clothes, and give in charity but without extravagance and pride.” The choice is ours and the power lies within us all to make changes in our lives that will make us and the world around us a healthier place.