Fasting 'makes Muslims healthier, happier'

Fasting 'makes Muslims healthier, happier'

JAKARTA (JP): More than one billion Muslims around the globe
start their month-long Ramadhan fasting today as prescribed by
the holy Koran.

From now until mid-January, Muslims will refrain from food,
drink and sex between dawn and sunset. They are also obliged to
control their emotions and conquer their inner-storms. With the
words of Prophet Muhammad, "Fast, you will be healthier," every
Muslim not only expects to pass the ordeal successfully, but also
to be physically and mentally healthier.

Many physicians have discussed the discipline and advantages
of Ramadhan in various forums, and on Wednesday The Jakarta Post
spoke with Dr. Hembing Wijayakusuma, a noted acupuncturist and
former lecturer at the North Sumatra University School of
Medicine, who wrote a book titled Puasa itu Sehat, (Fasting is
Healthy), which was published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama in 1997.
In the domain of alternative therapies, Hembing, a graduate from
Hong Kong's Chinese Medicine Institute and Chinese Acupuncture
Institute, has received several international awards. The
following are excerpts from the interview:

Question: Many people outside the Muslim world -- especially
those living in the West -- see the Ramadhan fast as a weird kind
of ritual through which a people torture themselves in order to
be near to God. What is you opinion?

Answer: That is completely not true. Muslims do not suffer
during the month of Ramadhan, because the religious obligations,
if practiced with the spirit of faith, will bring happiness.
Muslims during Ramadhan express their sense of gratitude that God
Almighty has granted them another year so that they can meet
again in Ramadhan.

Secondly, they also feel healthier and happier that after they
break their fast at sunset every day they still have the time and
joy to go to the mosque to attend the tarawih prayer service in
which they glorify the name of Allah. Besides this, they also
feel so close to getting God's blessing during the first 10 days
of Ramadhan, and in the next 10 days of Ramadhan they get
absolution from God for the sins they may have committed. During
the final part of the holy month, Muslims receive a divine
guarantee that they will be saved from Hell in the hereafter.

Another joy comes before the end of Ramadhan, when Muslims are
obliged to pay special alms for the poor to enable them to
happily enjoy Idul Fitri, the post-fasting holiday, like others.
This is done after the whole month of abstaining from food during
the day, so that they tasted the suffering of the less privileged
groups of society.

Completing the month-long fast, Muslims feel victorious with
God's blessing. This victory is followed by strengthening
relationships by asking forgiveness from fellow Muslims during
the Idul Fitri post-fasting festivities.

Q: What about this month-long fast, from the point of view of the
health of the fasters?

A: The Ramadhan fast also has a positive impact on health.
Suffering is of course out of the question, because the human
body has natural therapeutic capabilities. Every person has an
energy reserve, produced by carbohydrates, and can stand 25 hours
without food.

The impacts on one's physical health are comprised of the
aspects of protection, prevention and cure. A person who is
fasting gives at least six full hours of relaxation to their
stomach. This is between noon, after the stomach stops digesting
the pre-dawn meal -- or sahur -- and the breaking of the fast
dinner.

You know that we need at least eight hours to digest food;
four hours in the stomach and another four hours in the pylorus.

Don't forget that our body is also full of dangerous wastes,
such as feces, urine, carbon-dioxide and sweat. By fasting one
not only stops food consumption, but also the piling up of the
dangerous things inside of us.

Islam especially stresses the importance of this facet of
living, and Prophet Muhammad always advised his followers not to
eat if they did not feel hungry, and to stop eating before they
felt full.

During the fast, a person also burns away all the energy in
their body, relieving all the organs that store this energy. This
is called the regeneration of cells.

According to research conducted in 1963 by a poultry institute
in the United States on 864 hens whose productivity had seriously
declined, 75 percent of the hens resumed their productivity after
they were given fasting therapy for 10 days.

Q: Many Muslims have claimed that during Ramadhan they feel more
relaxed and they see some mental health problems disappear. Do
you agree with this statement?

A: During Ramadhan, Muslims are successful in their fight to
subdue the inner-storms of biological and emotional demands,
while practicing the virtues of patience and social solidarity.

A great positive impact of this is that it helps overcome
stress and depression, and makes them generous, caring and
loving. In short, their fasting helps improve their personal
quality and gives them peace of heart. At the same time, they
improve their mental health because all of their triumphs have
the power to better their Emotional Quotient.

Q: How about the impact of good mental health on physical health
during Ramadhan?

A: Many phenomena have shown that physical health problems can be
caused by mental disturbances; such as headaches, insomnia,
stomach problems and hypertension, which are caused by stress.

Q: Many people believe that by restraining from food, people who
fast have the ability to control their temper. While others
believe that hungry people are angry people...

A: The Ramadhan fast is a religious duty which is also called
jihad akbar, or a great holy war, because the enemies are not
those who are confronting the believers, but the perilous foes
inside themselves. Experiencing hunger during Ramadhan is based
on a deep faith and the full-hearted submission to God's will.
This quality helps calm the nerve center, makes it balanced,
composed and peaceful.

I think that fasting, like that practiced by Muslims during
Ramadhan, is essentially a spiritual and physical practice.

Q: Many chain-smokers who claim that they cannot stop smoking
even for a few minutes, are able to refrain from the habit during
Ramadhan. How does this work?

A: True believers, with their willingness to accept a religious
obligation, have a strong motivation to stop their bad habits.
This willingness has a great effect on the functions of the
body's organs. It helps enhance their physiological functions,
whether enzyme metabolism in general, or hormonal metabolism in
particular.

Q: Does this success work for those who have drinking or drug
habits?

A: The habits cannot be separated from the failure to control
one's destructive biological demands. One should stick to the
rule that one should only consume religiously permitted foods and
drinks. It all depends on one's personality.

Q: During the fasting month, Muslims eat only twice a day. Does it
affect the their nutritious balance?

A: No, as long as they don't neglect the nutrient quality during
these two meals. Don't forget that in the pre-dawn meal, Muslims
are expected to meet the energy demand for the day's routine
activities. While at the breaking of the fast meal, they are
advised to first take sweet drinks and nourishments, which will
be immediately absorbed by the body to replace the energy lost
during the day.

So, if they care enough about the nutritious balance of the
pre-dawn meal and the breaking of the fast meal, they should not
worry about the condition of the nerve center and the body's
biochemistry. (tis)