♥ I Need Allah In My Life ♥
My dad can't fast in Ramadan because of his health. He has severe diabetes and if he goes a few hours without eating, his blood sugar goes out of whack. And even though Islamically his health exempts him from fasting, it torments him to no end.
He told me today when he goes to the mosque for prayers each evening and sees everyone else breaking their fasts, he feels left out. He longs for that feeling of solidarity and togetherness that everyone else gets when they break their fast after a long but rewarding day of spiritual purification.
"When they hand out those plates of food for dinner, I feel like I don't deserve it," he said. "Yesterday I just handed the plate to someone else and walked over to the prayer room and sat until everyone else came in." ...
...My dad has to take medications at 3-4 intervals every day, so he pretends each period is a time to fast. Every time he has to pop a pill into his mouth, he recites the same prayer Muslims recite when breaking their fast. May Allah reward him tremendously for each of his mini-fasts throughout the month.
I talk to him every day and each night in Ramadan he'll ask me details about my day. What I ate to start the fast, how did I feel throughout the day, what I did to break the fast, what prayers I did, etc etc etc because he wants to pretend like he is fasting too.
When I heard how badly he misses out on fasting, it made me wish we could trade places and I was the one handing him the dinner plate and sitting inside the prayer room.
I've been thinking about all of this a lot because fasting right now during this ridiculous July heat and during these long summer hours - its easy to whine and complain about the discomfort. It's easy to forget about how fasting truly is a blessing and an honor considering there are people like my dad that would beg to be in my position. It just motivates me to stay even more focused throughout the month because I know each time my stomach growls, my father's growls even louder for the wish that his could growl for similar reasons too.
- Brother Aman Ali [not a hadith]
Allahu Akbar!
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