Many
people fail to get ahead because they have no willpower to do
what they know they should be doing. Nor can they help
themselves to avoid the things which they know will ruin
them. Many such people would like to give up smoking, to stop
using drugs, or to avoid affairs outside of marriage. Many
find that gambling or alcohol addiction is wrecking their
lives. Yet these people have no willpower to set their life
on the right course. They feel helpless, and they have to
deal with a nagging conscience that pricks them with what
they could have done, or should have done.
Yet there are some strong-willed people who seem to be able
to do what they know is right and avoid what they know is
wrong. Such people experience peace of mind knowing that they
are doing the right thing. Their willpower is obvioiusly
working for them.
But how do they do it? What is the secret? The secret is that
you can train your willpower.
Suppose you made a resolution to skip lunch for a month and
actually stuck to your decision. You may save your lunch
money, lose a few pounds, develop sympathy for the poor, and
give your digestive system a
much-needed rest. More importantly, you will strengthen your
willpower.
The reason this works is that you teach yourself to avoid
lunch even when you know you could have it if you decide.
Your stomach may growl, but you won't listen. Thus you train
yourself to ignore the calling of your lower physical self
and reach for the higher goals of real human achievement. If
you stick to your decision day after day for a month you can
develp a regular habit of doing the right thing even when
your desires are calling for something else.
Every year, for one month, able Muslims go through a similar
fasting exercise. They observe the fast as a compulsory
practice which God prescribed in His revealed messages,
especially in His last revealed book. One of the many
benefits they experience from fasting is its training aspect.
The willpower they develop in the one month helps them to
continue doing the right thing and avoiding the wrong
throughout the year. They find the fast such an effective
method of spiritual training and of achieving a closeness
with their creator that many Muslims also keep some
additional, optional, fasts on other days of the year. They
eat an early breakfast before dawn and a late dinner after
sunset. From dawn to sunset they would have no food or drink;
they would also refrain from sexual activity. Whereas the
baser selves regularly call for these things, Muslims train
themselves with the help of God to fulfil their natural needs
in the time and manner which God declared suitable for human
dignity and well-being.
During the fast Muslims also train themselves to always avoid
lying, cheating, backbiting, and all manner of false speech
and immoral actions.