So I\u2019m hoping to salvage something before my time in this yearly madrasah comes to an end. No, I\u2019m not seeking perfection, but I can\u2019t sit around and be content with all my flaws. I\u2019ve got to do something, so this is it. I want to start being serious with my time this month and I\u2019m starving myself of electronic media to do it. An e-media fast, until the Mufti tells me it\u2019s Eidulfitri. Oh wait, I\u2019ve just realised I can\u2019t be listening to the radio either. I\u2019ll probably have to do some old-fashioned moon-sighting.<\/p>\n
In his treatise\u00a0Kitab Asrar Al-Sawm<\/em> Imam Al-Ghazzali mentions that there are three grades of fasting: that of the general public, of the select few and of the elite. The fast of the general public, the lowest grade, involves abstaining from acts which nullify the fast, such as eating, drinking and sexual activity. The next grade of fasting \u2013 that of the select few \u2013 involves abstaining from sins associated with the physical senses: feet, hands, tongue, eyes, ears, etc.<\/p>\n The fasting of the elite (sawm khusus Al-Khusus<\/em>) is no mean feat. To qualify one does not think of anything other than Allah and the last day.<\/strong> No deciding what to eat for iftar. No visiting the Geylang bazaar to decide what to wear for Raya. No keeping tabs on the latest happenings the world over. \u201cIn this rank stand the prophets, the saints and the favourites of God the most high,\u201d writes Imam Al-Ghazzali.<\/p>\n Of course, it could be argued that one can be plugged into the vast world of electronic media while still maintaining a Grade A fast. Today you can easily Islamise your news feed on your Twitter and Facebook accounts, choose a Muslim-friendly website as your homepage or spend an entire day watching Mufti Menk on YouTube. But I\u2019m tempted to think that the use of electronic media, no matter how pure and well-intentioned, has a tendency to subtly change its user as well as the environment in which it operates in.<\/strong><\/p>\n To illustrate I wish to quote academic Neil Postman who said, \u201cWhat we needed to know about cars \u2014 as we need to know about computers, television, and other technology \u2014 is not how to use them, but how they use us. In the case of cars, what we needed to think about in the early twentieth century was not how to drive them but what they would do to our air, our landscape, our social relations, our family life, and our cities.\u201d<\/p>\n If fasting is to be an effective vehicle (pun unintended) for us to improve our spiritual selves, then I think we need to reflect how the act of fasting has become affected by the Internet, television and social media. Have we become easily distracted, losing the focus and insight needed to rectify our flaws? Have we been lulled by the easy, amusing nature of electronic media, that always provides us what we want, never asking for anything in return? Have our brains been rewired to capture information through imagery, and if so what does that hold for the written word, i.e. the Quran? Have we numbed our minds from the onslaught of the hilarious and the superficial: empty slogans, meaningless information, a random person\u2019s brain fart, yet another thoughtless meme?<\/p>\n I hope nobody thinks of me as luddite. I am not completely against electronic media (if I was I wouldn\u2019t be writing this here, neither would I have a blog of my own). I don\u2019t think the way to utopia is to shut down the Internet or ban the latest gadgetry. I understand the efficiency and benefits such technology brings to businesses, schools and organisations.<\/p>\n But I fear that we have become too distracted by it, immersed to the point of neglecting our responsibilities and obligations. We become cocooned into our soft, little worlds, ignoring the needs of those around us. Get off my seat for the old auntie on the train? Sorry, too busy killing green pigs with my flock of feathered friends.<\/p>\n I fear we have been fooled into thinking that we can depend on the internet for our dose of religious knowledge, instead of seeking a teacher who can truly guide us. That we think watching a\u00a0syarahan<\/em> online has the same effect as being fully present in a\u00a0majlis ilm<\/em>, humbled by our own ineptitude and ignorance.<\/p>\n If Ramadhan is to be the annual spiritual reset button, that period of the year where we try our level best to return to a state of fitrah, then I think it\u2019s agreeable that part of fitrah is to restore some balance to our daily lives. Sure, we don\u2019t have to swear ourselves off electronic media entirely, but I think some rules are in order.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [divider]<\/p>\n Shahnawaz Abdul Hamid![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ramadan.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/mass-distraction.png\" "\\"mass")
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\n<\/strong>The writer blogs about being a Muslim in Singapore at\u00a0www.hayatshah.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n