The gate of forgiveness, long awaited, has finally swung wide open. After an 11-month wait, the month of dignity has arrived. It’s only right that we express gratitude to Allah with all His merciful and compassionate attributes, for granting us the blessings of faith, health, and the opportunity to fulfill this fourth pillar of Islam.
Ramadan serves as a cleanser for the multitude of sins we accumulate in our lives. Yet, there are conditions to meet if we seek liberation from these sins: fasting during the day with sincerity and engaging in night prayers. The combination of fasting and praying, done with sincerity and seeking only His reward, may facilitate the forgiveness of past transgressions.
Fundamentally, Ramadan is the month of nurturing. It’s an educational period shaping our faith, character, and future lifestyle. Simplicity becomes the key theme, teaching us that fasting isn’t about excessiveness or indulgence, unlike what we commonly see today.
As the time for breaking fast approaches, people flock to overcrowded stalls, filling markets and streetsides with the scent of snacks. From various types of ice cream, porridge, sweet soups, juices, fried snacks to local delicacies, everyone competes to satisfy their insatiable cravings, almost as if possessed. This phenomenon is familiarly known as “fasting revenge”.
Yet, oddly enough, when the call to prayer echoes, a few bites of a pastry and a sip of water suffice to fill the empty stomach after a day of fasting. Well, that’s just how we break our fast.
However, the essence of breaking fast lies in simplicity and gratitude after enduring more than 13 hours of hunger, thirst, and abstaining from things that invalidate fasting. Doesn’t one truly appreciate the taste of food after experiencing hunger? That’s the essence of fasting, teaching us the importance of empathy towards those less fortunate. Fasting, God willing, will educate us to be grateful for all circumstances we face.
The Prophet’s Breaking of Fast
The Prophet Muhammad, as an exemplary figure, never demonstrated in hadiths the way we currently break our fast. He adhered to the principles of gratitude, simplicity, and humility.
The Prophet never once used his status as the beloved of Allah to indulge extravagantly in anything, including matters of food.
In hadiths, the Prophet demonstrated breaking fast with fresh dates, or if not available, with dried dates, and if those were unavailable, with a few sips of water. Quoting NUOnline from the book As-Syamail Muhammadiyyah by Imam At-Tirmidzi, it’s mentioned that once the Prophet broke his voluntary fast with a dish called hais. This sweet-tasting snack was a type of dough made into round shapes, consisting of dates, clarified butter, cheese, and flour.
The hadith about breaking fast with dates or a combination similar to dates shouldn’t be understood literally. While eating dates is a practice of the Prophet, it doesn’t mean only dates are Sunnah.
If dates aren’t available, one can break fast with other sweet foods or drinks, like watermelon or a glass of sweet tea.
Prominent scholar Syekh Nawawi Al-Bantani, who served as the Grand Imam in Mecca after Syekh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi, suggested breaking fast with foods or drinks of similar sweetness level to dates in regions where date palms don’t grow. He once taught his students in Mecca to break their fasts with sweet rambutan fruit as a substitute for dates. This simple example showcases the application of hadiths according to the demographics of different regions.
The Prophet as a role model truly embodied gratitude and humility. He engaged in worship abundantly but consumed little food and sleep. In fact, there were times he ate nothing but dates and water.
Compare that to our way of breaking fast: indulging in food and sleep, yet lacking in worship. Tarawih prayers are full only on the first night, then gradually decline. Yes, the more days pass, the more “progress” there is until only the Imam, the Tarawih caller, and a couple of rows of worshippers remain. Not to mention the iftar gatherings we engage in, be it with family, relatives, or colleagues, often leading us to miss congregational Maghrib prayers. Truly, our fasting model is lamentable.
Not a Month of Retribution
It’s crucial for us not to indulge excessively when breaking fast. If you wish to buy more, then allocate it for charity to relatives, neighbors, or the mosque. Otherwise, break your fast with just enough snacks. This is undoubtedly better, if we know it.
Excessive indulgence during iftar will only weaken the body, lead to laziness in worship, drowsiness, and various illnesses. Finally, fasting fundamentally teaches us simplicity, not retribution.