As we begin our Ramadan process,it is worth reflecting on what the right way to approach this holy month is.Ramadan,in my understanding,is a complete program of spiritual purification(tazkya).The program includes getting up in the middle of the night for the Suhoor meal, fasting during the day,reading and studying as much of the Quran as possible,doing the iftar in the spirit of gratitude and remembrance and going to the mosque for Tarawih prayer to join with the other fasters.This is the outer aspect.

Now,all of this practice depends, of course, on the circumstances of the individual believers.Evening and night workers may not be able to make it for the Tarawih prayers as may be the case for mothers with young children.Some people,because of medical conditions, are totally unable to fast so each situation is unique.What I am describing here is an ideal model.Like with all ideals,wisdom and discernment is needed to put them properly into practice.

Now, the first question to address in all of this is that of the mind-set that is required-the attitude if you wish.I would formulate the directive here as “Slow down and turn inward”. Slowing down refers to your level of activity in the dunniya.So during my last years in psychiatric practice, I would start work later than usual and finish earlier(not everyone has that option but many do). I would also try to limit certain kinds of work that were particularly stressful or required a lot of concentration and mental effort.The latter is because the brain is the most glucose-dependent organ and the lack of calories means that it’s functioning is sub-optimal.For this reason, the smartest students I knew studied in the evening and night and early morning when the brain could be furnished with an adequate amount of nutrition.

As to the issue of stress-inducing activities,again in my personal experience ,I found I could not work in the emergency room in psychiatry while I was fasting(too much chaos,emotional violence and noise).In the quieter work in private practice ,I tried to keep the cognitively more difficult tasks, like evaluating new patients and writing complex medical reports until after Ramadan.

One of my Facebook contacts was promoting the opposite approach.Not satisfied with the exigencies of the regular fast,he suggested adding elements of the ketogenic diet including calorie restriction and extra cardio exercises to the non-fasting part of the day.I would suggest that that kind of Islamic machismpo is both unnecessary and counterproductive.This is not the time to be asserting our willpower.Rather it is the time of learning to be receptive and practicing surrender.IMHO

The ideal fast would be a sort of khalewah,like the Prophet saws was doing in the cave of al Hira when the revelation first came.That is,it is a form of asceticism(azhud) where one’s focus shifts almost totally from the worldly activities to the dhikr of Our Creator- in whatever form that takes.It may be dhikr itself like repeating the Ism al Adham or prayer or reading the Quran or even reading the stories and teachings of the awliya.This is the aspect I am referring to by the phrase “going inward”.Although the complete retreat is not possible for most people,the attitude therein can be seen as a point of reference.

Of course,whatever we do,even if we retire to a cave,we are going to meet the resistance of the ‘nafs’. It is going to say things like:”this is too hard”;Why are we putting ourselves into so much difficulty?”.Why don’t I find ways to distract myself from this arduous pracice?” etc.,etc.But we must resist., as much as possible.Personally,I do find the need from time to time to take a break and do something irrelevant-not haram but irrelevant,like watch the news or even a sports game.I know that in the Middle East,Ramadan is a time for popular television series -often at the time of the Tarawih prayer.This may well be acceptable if one is stuck at home ,but obviously the salat al Tarawih is better and as I mentioned earlier it is part of the program.I remember one Ramadan being in Egypt and once the sun went down,it was like Mardi Gras(festival-time) in the streets of Cairo..I had no problem finding the celebrants but the sites for Tarawih prayer were less obvious!

In terms of attitude also stay attentive .Much of the time you may feel hungry or weak or anxious but there will be openings (futuhat) where the Divine Presence and the barakat of Ramadan break through- like sun rays on a cloudy days.Those are the signs(ayats) of the rewards that are coming- both in this life and the hereafter.So enjoy the process if you can.It can be like a roller-coaster at times but it is all designed  by the Great Designer to get closer  and better aligned with our Creator .Ramadan Mubarak.