Checking into Rehab

In recent times, when we hear rehab, we immediately think of a spoilt celebrity who is going to an institution to get rid of a drug problem; whether it is an alcohol or drug problem.

The truth is, Ramadan is probably the biggest rehabilitation program today. The goal is to detox the most addictive drug known to man; the nafs, or simply put, the self.

We understand Ramadan to be the month of fasting –the abstinence from food and drink with the intention of moving closer to Allah. What we forget is, that is the easiest part of Ramadan –leaving the food and drink.

When we try to move closer to Allah, many things pull us away, and food is probably the list. There are the things that keep us away from worship. It could be that playlist that has taken up all of our mind, or that thing, whatever it is, that we can’t start doing by saying “Bismillah”.

Ramadan is here to help us strip ourselves of those desires that take us away from Allah, no matter how small or insignificant we think they are.

That is why Allah says in Suratul Baqarah, verse 183;

“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.”

The goal of fasting is to learn self-restraint from all that is evil.

The goal is for us to strip ourselves of those things that make our journey to Allah harder.

It is when we have stripped ourselves of all of this that we can attain piety.

But remember, piety is journey, not a destination.

The mistakes are mine and Allah knows best.