Western Testimonies on Ramadan and Fasting
Dr. McFadden,
one of the health scientists in America, authored a book on fasting after
witnessing remarkable results and observing its powerful effect in eliminating
chronic diseases.
He says
that every human being needs fasting, even if
he is not ill, because toxins from food accumulate in the body, making it
resemble a sick person. They weigh it down and reduce its vitality. When one
fasts, his weight lightens, these toxins dissolve and leave his body, until he
becomes completely purified.
Dr. McFadden
used to treat his patients through fasting, especially those suffering from
stomach diseases. He believes that for such illnesses, fasting is like a magic
wand—it hastens their recovery. Next come diseases of the blood and vessels,
then rheumatism.
Professor
Nikolaev Beloy of Moscow confirmed in his 1976 book “Hunger for Health”
that every person—especially residents of large cities—should practice fasting
by abstaining from food for three to four weeks each year in order to enjoy
complete health throughout life.
The
writer Alan Suri also highlighted the value of fasting in renewing the body’s
vitality and activity—even during illness. He cited cases of several elderly
individuals, over seventy years old, who were able, through fasting, to regain
their physical and psychological vigor.
As for
the American physician Carlo, he addressed his people advising them to abstain
from food for a period each year. He then praised Islam saying that it is the
wisest of religions, for it has prescribed fasting. Muhammad, who brought this
religion, was the best of physicians according to his guidance and practice. He
prescribed prevention before illness, which is evident in fasting and in the
night prayer.
The Swiss
physician Paracelsus stated: “The benefit of hunger (fasting) in treatment may
surpass the use of medications many times over.”
Alexis
Carrel, the Nobel Prize laureate in medicine and surgery—whom physicians regard
as an authority in medical science—wrote in his book “Man, the Unknown”:
“The abundance and frequency of meals have disrupted a function that played a
great role in the survival of the human species—the function of adapting to
scarcity of food. Thus, people fasted throughout the ages.”
Dr. Otto
Buchinger authored his book about fasting published in Germany. In it,
he described fasting historically and explained its health effects on the
blood, glands, spleen, liver, kidneys, blood pressure, internal secretions,
skin, and hair.
Clark also
said that fasting was the reason he embraced Islam, because it was the radical
cure for the migraine headaches (hemicrania) that he had suffered from
throughout his long life, without any treatment succeeding in relieving him.
Furthermore,
a number of Western researchers since the end of the last century have studied
the effects of fasting on the body. Among them was Halbrook, who said: “Fasting
is not a passing magic trick; it is the certainty and the only guarantee for
good health.”
Fasting in Islam
These are
testimonies spoken by Westerners about fasting. Fasting is one of the greatest
acts of worship, one of the noblest means of drawing near to Allah, and a
blessed act of obedience with immense and numerous benefits—both immediate and
everlasting.
Allah has
singled it out from among all other acts of worship with the words “It is for
Me.” In the sacred hadith, He says: “Every act
of the son of Adam is for him, except As-Siyam (the fasting) which is
(exclusively) for Me, and I will reward him for it.”
For Further Reading:
- The binary of the five pillars of Islam... fasting
- Fasting Through the Eyes of Alija Izetbegović and Dr. Murad Hofmann
- The True Liberation of Islamic Fasting
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