Thursday 

Five Days - Five Pillars

When half your audience is on some kind of diet, it's perhaps best to get across a reason for fasting that isn't just about the way you look.

When I stood on the bathroom scales this morning I wasn't really surprised at what I saw. I'm still a lot fatter than I should be, and let's face it, there's only one reason for that - I'm eating too much.

Once a year, in the month of Ramadhan along with other muslims I fast during the day and get used to going hungry, but as soon as Ramadhan is over I quickly forget how hunger feels, whereas many people in the world live with the sensation most of the time. Almost everyone in this part of the world eats too much. Around here obesity kills more people than starvation.

Muhammad said there was never a vessel less worthy of filling than the stomach, and that at most we should give it one third food, one third liquid, and leave the rest empty. He also said that no-one is a believer who eats his fill while his neighbour remains hungry. So perhaps today I will try to eat a little less than usual, and also try to be grateful that my hunger is from choice.