When Hunger Speaks
Ramadan Reflection Day 2 begins with a simple truth: hunger is a teacher.
Allah says in Qur’an 2:183:
“O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain Taqwa.”
Taqwa is awareness.
Awareness requires exposure.
And hunger exposes.
When the stomach tightens and the throat dries, something deeper awakens. Fasting is not merely the absence of food; it is the deliberate encounter with need. It is a temporary scarcity designed to cultivate permanent consciousness.
But consciousness of what?
Not only of Allah.
Also of others.
Temporary Scarcity, Permanent Reality
For millions of Nigerians, hunger is not a scheduled devotion. It is a daily reality.
Ramadan creates controlled deprivation for the believer. Yet outside the fasting hours, countless households face uncontrolled deprivation — inflation, unemployment, shrinking income and rising food prices.
The discipline of fasting is meant to bridge this gap.
When we voluntarily taste hunger, we are not meant to romanticise it. We are meant to understand it. And understanding demands action.
Gratitude is not passive appreciation. The Qur’an repeatedly links gratitude with responsibility. To be grateful is to recognise blessing — and to recognise imbalance.
If fasting does not heighten our sensitivity to economic injustice, it has remained physical, not spiritual.
Moderation and the Ethics of Consumption
Allah further instructs in Qur’an 7:31:
“Eat and drink, but do not be excessive. Indeed, He does not love those who commit excess.”
Ramadan restrains appetite by day. But the real test often comes at night.
If iftar becomes indulgence without reflection, then hunger has not transformed character. If generosity becomes display rather than sincerity, then charity loses its moral force.
Moderation is not deprivation.
It is discipline applied to abundance.
In a country wrestling with inequality, the ethics of consumption matter. Waste contradicts awareness. Extravagance contradicts empathy. Ramadan does not merely teach patience — it teaches proportion.
Leadership and Conscience
Ramadan Reflection Day 2 must also ask a harder question:
What does hunger teach those entrusted with influence?
A fasting leader feels vulnerability. Thirst reminds him that strength is fragile. Discomfort humbles ego. This is not incidental. It is instructive.
If hunger does not soften policy, if fasting does not sharpen empathy in governance, then ritual has not reached conscience.
Economic justice is not achieved by sentiment alone. It begins with awareness. And Ramadan is designed to cultivate awareness.
When appetite is controlled, greed becomes easier to recognise. When desire is disciplined, exploitation becomes harder to justify.
Gratitude as Ethical Action
Gratitude is more than saying Alhamdulillah. It is aligning behaviour with blessing.
To break the fast without waste.
To give quietly without spectacle.
To consider the unseen before consuming the visible.
Ramadan is a rehearsal for justice.
Hunger trains restraint.
Restraint strengthens conscience.
Conscience shapes action.
As the second day unfolds, the question remains:
Has hunger only touched the body —
or has it awakened responsibility?
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