WEIGHT LOSS IN RAMADAN

Ramadan Khutbah #1&2 combined

Shaykh YC @ Masjid A-I

Ramadan is not a time to lose physical weight. It is a time to lose Nafs/Ego weight. Our excess physical weight can be addressed much easier, with more exercise & healthy eating, whereas our nafs/ego weight may be much more difficult to deal with. Even a dead elephant can be lifted, but a person with a heavy ego cannot even be lifted by crane. One individual's nafs/ego weight can bring down an entire room of people down.

Ramadan is a month of mercy & perfect for self-reflection. It is as if our spiritual light has been switched on. Since we are not eating or drinking, we experience a type of fatigue. This fatigue intensifies our senses. We can hear, speak, feel much more intensely and deeply than ever before. This month we may hear things and understand things in ways we normally are unable to. Our words are able to penetrate more deeply. We should take advantage of this, but also take precaution that we don’t hurt others or ourselves.

Thus, Ramadan is ideal for losing ego weight. It takes spiritual exercise & self-reflection. We should honestly assess those things we do not like about ourselves, since they may be more apparent, and ask God to help us address them, change them, and replace them with that which is better.

We must ride our nafs and not allow it to ride us, which is usually the case throughout the year.

May we take advantage of this month and may Allah help us lose all that nasty extra ego/nafs weight. Ameen