The Kamala Selection: Let Africa Take Cue
Columns
In Africa, the continent I happen to know best, the choosing of a VP by a sitting President or a running mate by an aspiring President can more often than not be so simplistic and self-seeking, with a bit of dirty wheeling and dealing thrown into the mix. Edgar Lungu of Zambia opted for Inonge Wina not so much because he was a champion of gender parity, at least with respect to the top two slots, as that he was desperate to placate the obstreperous and even secessionist-bent Lozi tribe of the Western Province, a corner of the copper-rich country that has been a political hot potato since the days of Kenneth Kaunda.
Cyril Ramaphosa settled for the reportedly thuggish and intellectually uninspiring David Mabuza to bolster his chances of keeping the presidential perch well beyond the clutches of the formidable, Msholozi-backed Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
The Crocodile, as Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe is affectionately known, did not have to wrack his brains either: General Constance Chiwenga was pivotal in the table-thumping game of brinkmanship that made the otherwise lion-hearted Robert Mugabe cower and at long last cave in. Needless to say, Chiwenga was a given for the No. 2 slot.
As regards our own Ian Khama, I would not vouch for his raison de tre for picking Mokgweetsi Masisi at the expense of his blood brother TK or his obsequiously loyal protg of many years Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi. But whatever it was, Khama, with the benefit now of hindsight, made the right choice anyway, just as Masisi in turn cleanly nailed it when he roped in the sober, staid, and sagacious Slumber Tsogwane from Boteti for his deputy.
In the US, it is a different ball game altogether. There, folks, choosing a VP is a meticulous, painstaking process that invariably takes months and can be energy-sapping for both the presidential nominee and the candidates on the VP short list.
I BEAR NO GRUDGES On August 11, the US Democratic Party presidential hopeful Joseph Biden announced by way of a gushing tweet that he had picked Senator Kamala Harris for his running mate. The 55-year-old enchantress has gone into the annals of American history as the first black woman and the first Asian-American to cop up such a privilege.
Biden had a reason to sound so ecstatic when he conveyed his decision to an obviously elated Harris by way of Skype. She overnight electrified his campaign, when hitherto Donald Trump, who is notorious for his bare-knuckle verbal jabs, took special delight in calling him Sleepy Joe, Slow Joe, etc, as a direct dig at his alleged physical and cognitive decline ironic though that may sound when Trumps own faculties and intelligibility have lately been questioned by his compatriots.
Now, to some people, Joes choice was a foregone conclusion considering that Kamala had been the odds-on favourite in surveys conducted by many a pollster. To most, however, it was something of a daredevil move and this view was not entirely unfounded.
Kamala, who along with 28 others had thrown her hat into the presidential ring too, was Bidens most caustic opponent in the self-promotion debates, landing bazookas on him left, right, and centre, notwithstanding the fact that once upon a time, she and Joes late eldest son Beau had an abiding collegial rapport.
In the run-up to the primary campaign debates, Kamala had even thrown her weight behind the three or four women who had levelled accusations against Biden to the effect that he had touched and even smooched them with lewd intentions.
Quizzed as to the absurdity and seeming incongruity of his choice by members of the American press corps, Joe said he was not the one to bear grudges, that he always was ready to make bygones be bygones. He had probably plucked a leaf from the Obama book: he himself had dressed down Obama as grossly unworthy of the presidency during the debates but Obama went on to co-opt him in the running anyway.
SHACKLED TO THE NO. 2 That a prospective President should go to the lengths Joe Biden did to choose his running mate makes a great deal of sense. In the US, the President is stuck with his VP in a manner akin to a until-death-do-us-part scenario. This is because according to the constitution, the President has no power to axe his VP.
The only body vested with such power is the Senate, the upper chamber of the USs bicameral legislature, which in Botswana we call Parliament or the National Assembly but which Americans call Congress.
What should happen is that in the event that the VP commits a wrong deserving of dismissal (Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanours according to the constitution), the 435-strong House of Representatives, the lower chamber, votes on impeachment and if the majority gives the matter a thumbs-up, it is referred to the Senate for trial. A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate (that is, 66 since there are 100 members) is required for the impeachment to proceed, whereupon the VP is removed from office.
In practice, however, that might be problematic in that the VP is also the President of the Senate, meaning he is supposed to chair the proceedings of his own impeachment! That makes the process somewhat convoluted, with the result that a President would rather endure a disagreeable VP than subject him to a process which for all practical purposes is futile.
The only viable way to get rid of a VP is to eject him from the second-term ticket. This is what Andrew Jackson (President from 1829 to 1837) did in 1833, when he dropped John C Calhoun, who had been a constant thorn in his flesh in the first term, and chose Martin Van Buren as his running mate.
In any case, a VP would rather resign than face up to the ignominy of the impeachment process as did Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixons VP, in 1973, the only such case in US history.
BIDEN GETS SET If two people at the pinnacle of political power in the US were particularly close, it was Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The two so swimmingly jelled that even in public showings, they kept to a matey, first-name-terms etiquette.
Joe is even on record as having said that Obama offered to financially take care of the then ailing Beau, who Joe feared might not be able to sufficiently sustain both his family and himself in the event that he miraculously fought off his ailment. In his own VP, Joe was looking for a person with whom he could forge the same chemistry and that was quite a tall order indeed.
From the get-go, Joe had made it clear that his sights were set on a female VP. No sooner had he said this than hordes of prominent black activists, lawmakers, and opinion leaders descended on him to plead with him that he choose a woman of colour to accord with a ticket that reflected the diversity of Americas demographics.
But skin colour was far from an end in itself. A lot of his thought process was about who shared his values, who he could work with, who could help him win and who could be ready on Day 1, the Biden campaign teams joint-chairman Cedric Richmond would later disclose to a newspaper in one interview.
Bidens focus from the very start was on who would be the best governing partner to help him lead our country out of the chaos created by Donald Trump.
JOE NARROWS FIELD TO ELEVEN FINALISTS Biden commissioned a team of four to do the initial vetting of more than 20 candidates who included a disabled Iraq War veteran whose mother was of Thai and Chinese descent. They were a former senator, a member of the House of Representatives, a Los Angeles mayor, and a former advisor, split evenly between the two sexes to underscore Bidens penchant for gender equality.
The team in turn used a legion of party activists, interest groups, and other key stakeholders as sounding boards on who could best serve the party and country, in the process logging a total of 120 hours.
It was an extensive and laborious process which involved interview after interview in some cases. All the 20 candidates were subjected to an initial public records review, notably press reports, TV, radio, and online interviews, and mentions in published print and electronic books.
The team then prepared a power-point presentation for Biden and his wife Jill. Where the couple detected critical gaps to fill in, they summoned individual members of the team to furnish further particulars or fine-tune their recommendations.
He was looking at data and looking at track records and looking at a whole bunch of things, Richmond said. Biden at long last picked eleven finalists out of the twenty pitched to him.
THE GRILLING PROCESS In evaluating the finalists, Biden employed a two-prong approach. First, they were subjected to legal vetting by three veterans of the Obama administration comprising of two males and one female.
The legal minds were reinforced by between 12 to 15 attorneys who were acting for the candidates and who ferreted their histories with a tooth comb just in case there was a potentially explosive skeleton in their cupboards that could ruin Bidens chances of ousting Trump.
The candidates each were handed out an elaborate questionnaire that left no stone unturned. It sought answers to a total of 160 questions. Said The Washington Post: The 11 finalists were asked about their past writings, details of arrests or criminal charges, medical records and videos of past speaking engagements.
Elected officials were asked about their campaign donor policies, questions were asked about workplace complaints directed at their spouses and the candidates were told to describe the most controversial matters they had dealt with in the course of their careers.
One such question wanted to know whether there was any organisation that would take steps, overtly or covertly, fairly or unfairly, to affect your appointment, including any news organisations.
Second, Biden engaged a team of political researchers whose brief was to release information to the public in an effort to complicate their (the candidates) paths to the nomination.
This was to ensure that whatever dirty linen they possessed was brought before the full glare of the American populace from the very outset so that no surprise was sprang somewhere along the way when their VP candidacy was a fait accompli.
All the while, Biden did his part in personally promoting the candidates and thus raising their profile. He hosted them on his podcast, at fundraisers, and at virtual town halls, while his staff helped place them on television news programs.
ITS KAMALA Finally, the candidates were personally interviewed by Biden, either in person or by way of Skype over nine full days. They were formally and professionally introduced by Celinda Lake, one of Joes campaign pollsters, complete with potential new campaign logos and promotional jingles.
Bidens first question to them in what has been described as typically jarring interviews conducted on not one but several sessions was, What would your agenda be?
Amongst the people whose take Biden repeatedly counted upon in the process of making up his mind were his wife, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, his long-time friend and adviser Ted Kaufman, his political strategist Mike Donilon, Congressman James Clyburn, and of course Barack Obama. My advice was sought, Clyburn said. I talked to Joe over the past several days more than I talked to him all year.
Biden informed the lucky lady by Skype, exactly 66 days after he won the Democratic Party nomination. Im calling you today because Ive made that first Presidential decision, a beaming Biden announced. Ive decided Id like you to join this effort to win back the soul of this country and be our nations next Vice President.
On their part, Bidens four-man committee described Kamala Harris as having an impressive balance of the presence to take on President Trump and knowledge of the issues, with her other advantage being her personal story of having immigrant parents, a mother from India and a father from Jamaica.
It is my hope and trust that the American model will provide a salutary lesson to our own political parties on the continent of Africa so that they spare us the circus to which we have become accustomed and even inured.
Meanwhile, will Bidens choice of Kamala really assist his resolve to unseat Trump?
Make a date with me next week for the view from Mana House in this regard.
Columns
GONE FISHING
In recent years, using personal devices in working environments has become so commonplace it now has its own acronym, BOYD (Bring Your Own Device). But as employees skip between corporate tools and personal applications on their own devices, their actions introduce a number of possible risks that should be managed and mitigated with careful consideration. Consider these examples:
Si-lwli, a small family-run business in Wales, is arguably as niche a company as you could find, producing talking toys used to promote the Welsh language. Their potential market is small, with only some 300,000 Welsh language speakers in the world and in reality the business is really more of a hobby for the husband-and-wife team, who both still have day jobs. Yet, despite still managing to be successful in terms of sales, the business is now fighting for survival after recently falling prey to cybercriminals. Emails between Si-Iwli and their Chinese suppliers were intercepted by hackers who altered the banking details in the correspondence, causing Si-Iwli to hand over £18,000 (around P ¼ m) to the thieves. That might not sound much to a large enterprise, but to a small or medium business it can be devastating.
Another recent SMB hacking story which appeared in the Wall Street Journal concerned Innovative Higher Ed Consulting (IHED) Inc, a small New York start-up with a handful of employees. IHED didn’t even have a website, but fraudsters were able to run stolen credit card numbers through the company’s payment system and reverse the charges to the tune of $27,000, around the same loss faced by Si-Iwli. As the WSJ put it, the hackers completely destroyed the company, forcing its owners to fold.
And in May 2019, the city of Baltimore’s computer system was hit by a ransomware attack, with hackers using a variant called RobinHood. The hack, which has lasted more than a month, paralysed the computer system for city employees, with the hackers demanding a payment in Bitcoin to give access back to the city.
Of course, hackers target governments or business giants but small and medium businesses are certainly not immune. In fact, 67% of SMBs reported that they had experienced a cyber attack across a period of 12 months, according to a 2018 survey carried out by security research firm Ponemon Institute. Additionally, Verizon issued a report in May 2019 that small businesses accounted for 43% of its reported data breaches. Once seen as less vulnerable than PCs, smartphone attacks are on the rise, with movements like the Dark Caracal spyware campaign underlining the allure of mobile devices to hackers. Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission released a statement calling for greater education on mobile security, coming at a time when around 42% of all Android devices are believed to not carry the latest security updates.
This is an era when employees increasingly use their smartphones for work-related purposes so is your business doing enough to protect against data breaches on their employees’ phones? The SME Cyber Crime Survey 2018 carried out for risk management specialists AON showed that more than 80% of small businesses did not view this as a threat yet if as shown, 67% of SMBs were said to have been victims of hacking, either the stats are wrong or business owners are underestimating their vulnerability. A 2019 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests the latter, stating that the majority of global businesses are unprepared for cyber attacks.
Consider that a workstation no longer means a desk in an office: It can be a phone in the back of a taxi or Uber; a laptop in a coffee shop, or a tablet in an airport lounge. Wherever the device is used, employees can potentially install applications that could be harmful to your business, even from something as seemingly insignificant as clicking on an accidental download or opening a link on a phishing email. Out of the physical workplace, your employees’ activities might not have the same protections as they would on a company-monitored PC.
Yet many businesses not only encourage their employees to work remotely, but assume working from coffee shops, bookstores, and airports can boost employees’ productivity. Unfortunately, many remote hot spots do not provide secure Wi-Fi so if your employee is accessing their work account on unsecured public Wi-Fi, sensitive business data could be at risk. Furthermore, even if your employee uses a company smartphone or has access to company data through a personal mobile device, there is always a chance data could be in jeopardy with a lost or stolen device, even information as basic as clients’ addresses and phone numbers.
BOYDs are also at risk from malware designed to harm and infect the host system, transmittable to smartphones when downloading malicious third-party apps. Then there is ransomware, a type of malware used by hackers to specifically take control of a system’s data, blocking access or threatening to release sensitive information unless a ransom is paid such as the one which affected Baltimore. Ransomware attacks are on the increase, predicted to occur every 14 seconds, potentially costing billions of dollars per year.
Lastly there is phishing – the cyber equivalent of the metaphorical fishing exercise – whereby cybercriminals attempt to obtain sensitive data –usernames, passwords, credit card details –usually through a phoney email designed to look legitimate which directs the user to a fraudulent website or requests the data be emailed back directly. Most of us like to think we could recognize a phishing email when we see it, but these emails have become more sophisticated and can come through other forms of communication such as messaging apps.
Bottom line is to be aware of the potential problems with BOYDs and if in doubt, consult your IT security consultants. You can’t put the own-device genie back in the bottle but you can make data protection one of your three wishes!
Columns
“I Propose to Diana Tonight”
About five days before Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed landed in Paris, General Atiku, a certain Edward Williams was taking a walk in a woods in the Welsh town of Mountain Ash. Williams, then 73, was a psychic of some renown. He had in the past foretold assassination attempts on US President Ronald Reagan, which occurred on March 30, 1981, and Pope John Paul II, which came to pass on May 13, 1981.
As he trudged the woods, Williams had a sudden premonition that pointed to Diana’s imminent fate as per Christopher Andersen’s book The Day Diana Died. “When the vision struck me, it was as if everything around me was obscured and replaced by shadowy figures,” Williams was later to reminisce. “In the middle was the face of Princess Diana. Her expression was sad and full of pathos. She was wearing what looked like a floral dress with a short dark cardigan. But it was vague. I went cold with fear and knew it was a sign that she was in danger.”
Williams hastily beat a retreat to his home, which he shared with his wife Mary, and related to her his presentiment, trembling like an aspen leaf as he did so. “I have never seen him so upset,” Mary recounted. “He felt he was given a sign and when he came back from his walk he was deeply shaken.”
The following day, Williams frantically sauntered into a police station to inform the police of his premonition. The officer who attended to him would have dismissed him as no more than a crackpot but he treated him seriously in view of the accuracy of his past predictions. He took a statement and immediately passed it on to the Special Branch Investigative Unit.
The report read as follows:
“On 27 August, at 14:12 hrs, a man by the name of Edward Williams came to Mountain Ash police station. He said he was a psychic and predicted that Princess Diana was going to die. In previous years, he has predicted that the Pope and Ronald Reagan were going to be the victims of assassination attempts. On both occasions he was proved to be correct. Mr Williams appeared to be quite normal.”
Williams, General, was spot-on as usual: four days later, the princess was no more.
Meanwhile, General, even as Dodi and Diana were making their way to the Fayed-owned Ritz Hotel in central Paris, British newspapers were awash with headlines that suggested Diana was kind of deranged. Writes Andrew Morton in Diana in Pursuit of Love: “In The Independent Diana was described as ‘a woman with fundamentally nothing to say about anything’. She was ‘suffering from a form of arrested development’. ‘Isn’t it time she started using her head?’ asked The Mail on Sunday. The Sunday Mirror printed a special supplement entitled ‘A Story of Love’; The News of the World claimed that William had demanded that Diana should split from Dodi: ‘William can’t help it, he just doesn’t like the man.’ William was reportedly ‘horrified’ and ‘doesn’t think Mr Fayed is good for his mother’ – or was that just the press projecting their own prejudices? The upmarket Sunday Times newspaper, which had first serialised my biography of the princess, now put her in the psychiatrist’s chair for daring to be wooed by a Muslim. The pop-psychologist Oliver James put Diana ‘On the Couch’, asking why she was so ‘depressed’ and desperate for love. Other tabloids piled in with dire prognostications – about Prince Philip’s hostility to the relationship, Diana’s prospect of exile, and the social ostracism she would face if she married Dodi.”
DIANA AND DODI AT THE RITZ
Before Diana and Dodi departed the Villa Windsor sometime after 16 hrs, General, one of Dodi’s bodyguards Trevor Rees-Jones furtively asked Diana as to what the programme for the evening was. This Trevor did out of sheer desperation as Dodi had ceased and desisted from telling members of his security detail, let alone anyone else for that matter, what his onward destination was for fear that that piece of information would be passed on to the paparazzi. Diana kindly obliged Trevor though her response was terse and scarcely revealing. “Well, eventually we will be going out to a restaurant”, that was all Diana said. Without advance knowledge of exactly what restaurant that was, Trevor and his colleagues’ hands were tied: they could not do a recce on it as was standard practice for the security team of a VIP principal. Dodi certainly, General, was being recklessly by throwing such caution to the winds.
At about 16:30, Diana and Dodi drew up at the Ritz Hotel, where they were received by acting hotel manager Claude Roulet. The front entrance of the hotel was already crawling with paparazzi, as a result of which the couple took the precaution of using the rear entrance, where hopefully they would make their entry unperturbed and unmolested. The first thing they did when they were ensconced in the now $10,000 a night Imperial Suite was to spend some time on their mobiles and set about touching base with friends, relations, and associates. Diana called at least two people, her clairvoyant friend Rita Rogers and her favourite journalist Richard Kay of The Daily Mail.
Rita, General, was alarmed that Diana had proceeded to venture to Paris notwithstanding the warning she had given Dodi and herself in relation to what she had seen of him in the crystal ball when the couple had consulted her. When quizzed as to what the hell she indeed was doing in Paris at that juncture, Diana replied that she and Dodi had simply come to do some shopping, which though partially true was not the material reason they were there. “But Diana, remember what I told Dodi,” Rita said somewhat reprovingly. Diana a bit apprehensively replied, “Yes I remember. I will be careful. I promise.” Well, she did not live up to her promise as we shall soon unpack General.
As for Richard Kay, Diana made known to him that, “I have decided I am going to radically change my life. I am going to complete my obligations to charities and to the anti-personnel land mines cause, but in November I want to completely withdraw from formal public life.”
Once she was done with her round of calls, Diana went down to the hair saloon by the hotel swimming pool to have her hair washed and blow-dried ahead of the scheduled evening dinner.
THE “TELL ME YES” RING IS DELIVERED
Since the main object of their Paris trip was to pick up the “Tell Me Yes” engagement ring Dodi had ordered in Monte Carlo a week earlier, Dodi decided to check on Repossi Jewellery, which was right within the Ritz prencincts, known as the Place Vendome. It could have taken less than a minute for Dodi to get to the store on foot but he decided to use a car to outsmart the paparazzi invasion. He was driven there by Trevor Rees-Jones, with Alexander Kez Wingfield and Claude Roulet following on foot, though he entered the shop alone.
The Repossi store had closed for the holiday season but Alberto Repossi, accompanied by his wife and brother-in-law, had decided to travel all the way from his home in Monaco and momentarily open it for the sake of the potentially highly lucrative Dodi transaction. Alberto, however, disappointed Dodi as the ring he had chosen was not the one he produced. The one he showed Dodi was pricier and perhaps more exquisite but Dodi was adamant that he wanted the exact one he had ordered as that was what Diana herself had picked. It was a ploy on the part of Repossi to make a real killing on the sale, his excuse to that effect being that Diana deserved a ring tha was well worthy of her social pedigree. With Dodi having expressed disaffection, Repossi rendered his apologies and assured Dodi he would make the right ring available shortly, whereupon Dodi repaired back to the hotel to await its delivery. But Dodi did insist nonetheless that the pricier ring be delivered too in case it appealed to Diana anyway.
Repossi delivered the two rings an hour later. They were collected by Roulet. On inspecting them, Dodi chose the very one he had seen in Monte Carlo, apparently at the insistence of Diana. There is a possibility that Diana, who was very much aware of her public image and was not comfortable with ostentatious displays of wealth, may have deliberately shown an interest in a less expensive engagement ring. It may have been a purely romantic as opposed to a prestigious choice for her.
The value of the ring, which was found on a wardrobe shelf in Dodi’s apartment after the crash, has been estimated to be between $20,000 and $250,000 as Repossi has always refused to be drawn into revealing how much Dodi paid for it. The sum, which enjoyed a 25 percent discount, was in truth paid for not by Dodi himself but by his father as was the usual practice.
Dodi was also shown Repossi’s sketches for a bracelet, a watch, and earrings which he proposed to create if Diana approved of them.
DIANA AND DODI GUSH OVER IMMINENT NUPTIALS
At about 7 pm, Dodi and Diana left the Ritz and headed for Dodi’s apartment at a place known as the Arc de Trompe. They went there to properly tog themselves out for the scheduled evening dinner. They spent two hours at the luxurious apartment. As usual, the ubiquitous paparazzi were patiently waiting for them there.
As they lingered in the apartment, Dodi beckoned over to his butler Rene Delorm and showed him the engagement ring. “Dodi came into my kitchen,” Delorm relates. “He looked into the hallway to check that Diana couldn’t hear and reached into his pocket and pulled out the box … He said, ‘Rene, I’m going to propose to the princess tonight. Make sure that we have champagne on ice when we come back from dinner’.” Rene described the ring as “a spectacular diamond encrusted ring, a massive emerald surrounded by a cluster of diamonds, set on a yellow and white gold band sitting in a small light-grey velvet box”.
Just before 9 pm, Dodi called the brother of his step-father, Hassan Yassen, who also was staying at the Ritz that night, and told him that he hoped to get married to Diana by the end of the year.
Later that same evening, both Dodi and Diana would talk to Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi’s dad, and make known to him their pre-nuptial intentions. “They called me and said we’re coming back (to London) on Sunday (August 31) and on Monday (September 1) they are
Columns
RAMADAN – The Blessed Month of Fasting
Ramadan is the fasting month for Muslims, where over one billion Muslims throughout the world fast from dawn to sunset, and pray additional prayers at night. It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to Allah, and self-control. It is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. As you read this Muslims the world over have already begun fasting as the month of Ramadan has commenced (depending on the sighting of the new moon).
‘The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was revealed as guidance for people, in it are clear signs of guidance and Criterion, therefore whoever of you who witnesses this month, it is obligatory on him to fast it. But whoever is ill or traveling let him fast the same number of other days, God desires ease for you and not hardship, and He desires that you complete the ordained period and glorify God for His guidance to you, that you may be grateful”. Holy Qur’an (2 : 185)
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars upon which the structure of Islam is built. The other four are: the declaration of one’s belief in Allah’s oneness and in the message of Muhammad (PBUH); regular attendance to prayer; payment of zakaat (obligatory charity); and the pilgrimage to Mecca.
As explained in an earlier article, fasting includes total abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking, refraining from obscenity, avoiding getting into arguments and including abstaining from marital relations, from sunrise to sunset. While fasting may appear to some as difficult Muslims see it as an opportunity to get closer to their Lord, a chance to develop spiritually and at the same time the act of fasting builds character, discipline and self-restraint.
Just as our cars require servicing at regular intervals, so do Muslims consider Ramadan as a month in which the body and spirit undergoes as it were a ‘full service’. This ‘service’ includes heightened spiritual awareness both the mental and physical aspects and also the body undergoing a process of detoxification and some of the organs get to ‘rest’ through fasting.
Because of the intensive devotional activity fasting, Ramadan has a particularly high importance, derived from its very personal nature as an act of worship but there is nothing to stop anyone from privately violating Allah’s commandment of fasting if one chooses to do so by claiming to be fasting yet eating on the sly. This means that although fasting is obligatory, its observance is purely voluntary. If a person claims to be a Muslim, he is expected to fast in Ramadan.
The reward Allah gives for proper fasting is very generous. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) quotes Allah as saying: “All actions done by a human being are his own except fasting, which belongs to Me and I will reward it accordingly.” We are also told by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that the reward for proper fasting is admittance into heaven.
Fasting earns great reward when it is done in a ‘proper’ manner. This is because every Muslim is required to make his worship perfect. For example perfection of fasting can be achieved through restraint of one’s feelings and emotions. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that when fasting, a person should not allow himself to be drawn into a quarrel or a slanging match. He teaches us: “On a day of fasting, let no one of you indulge in any obscenity, or enter into a slanging match. Should someone abuse or fight him, let him respond by saying: ‘I am fasting!’”
This high standard of self-restraint fits in well with fasting, which is considered as an act of self-discipline. Islam requires us to couple patience with voluntary abstention from indulgence in our physical desires. The purpose of fasting helps man to attain a high degree of sublimity, discipline and self-restraint. In other words, this standard CAN BE achieved by every Muslim who knows the purpose of fasting and strives to fulfill it.
Fasting has another special aspect. It makes all people share in the feelings of hunger and thirst. In normal circumstances, people with decent income may go from one year’s end to another without experiencing the pangs of hunger which a poor person may feel every day of his life. Such an experience helps to draw the rich one’s conscience nearer to needs of the poor. A Muslim is encouraged to be more charitable and learns to give generously for a good cause.
Fasting also has a universal or communal aspect to it. As Muslims throughout the world share in this blessed act of worship, their sense of unity is enhanced by the fact that every Muslim individual joins willingly in the fulfillment of this divine commandment. This is a unity of action and purpose, since they all fast in order to be better human beings. As a person restrains himself from the things he desires most, in the hope that he will earn Allah’s pleasure, self-discipline and sacrifice become part of his nature.
The month of Ramadan can aptly be described as a “season of worship.” Fasting is the main aspect of worship in this month, because people are more attentive to their prayers, read the Qur’an more frequently and also strive to improve on their inner and outer character. Thus, their devotion is more complete and they feel much happier in Ramadan because they feel themselves to be closer to their Creator.