By: Masood Malikyar
The holy month of Ramadan is fast approaching. Today is perhaps the coldest Sunday of this January in 2026. I have been preparing my body and soul since the start of Sha’ban for what is to come – a month I have been waiting for since the last Ramadan ended. I still remember eating breakfast and lunch at Eid and how I felt afterwards: sluggish, burdened, dragging, heavy, conflicted, and less buoyant. The sense of being light, free, loose, floating, and uplifted was gradually slipping away. Since then, I did try optional fasts but they are no substitute for the kind that is mandated by the Almighty, in sequence, and for a full lunar month. How I then started to long for the next one – not just to regain those unique corporal sensations but to also free my mind and soul from the shackles of the modern world and engagements.
It is almost here – in just a couple of weeks. How fortunate am I – how fortunate are we all – that Allah SWT may give us yet another chance to obey His divine command and to embody Taqua:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, so that ye may attain God-consciousness [or self-restraint].” 2:183
It is indeed fasting alone – and then only during this holy month when performed solely to attain His divine pleasure – that can liberate man from the many appetites of the flesh and the heavy chokehold of that ever inclining lower self – the Nafs. This self-restraint leads to true liberty, liberty from propensities and routines that feed the flesh and perpetuate its addictive material cravings at heavy cost to the soul, the heart, and the mind.
The emotional cost is undeniable and real. Social media’s harms are well‑documented across peer and expert reviewed research, with children and adolescents showing the greatest vulnerability. The U.S. Surgeon General warns that social media is “not safe” for youth, citing risks such as anxiety, depression, harmful content exposure, and disrupted sleep.
A five‑year scientific review by France’s national health agency ANSES found strong links between social media use and poor mental‑health outcomes, especially among girls.
The American Psychological Association highlights mechanisms of harm including social comparison, body‑image pressure, cyberbullying, and sleep disruption.
Peer‑reviewed research in JAMA Network Open shows that bullying — including online — significantly increases suicide‑attempt risk among high‑school students, particularly girls.
Pew Research Center surveys further reveal that about one in five teens say social media negatively affects their mental health. Yet, they cannot escape it.
Collectively, these findings and more show that social media’s psychological risks are substantial, measurable, and most pronounced among young people.
Social Media is increasingly being designed and dished out to attract young appetites at first with delectable features and then to keep them engaged for as long as possible. There are many scientific citations showing how teenagers and even younger consumers are fixated on their screens for hours daily, with federal data from the CDC showing that half of U.S. teens spend four or more hours on screens every day, while the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that children are growing up in a digital environment where screen use is pervasive and rising. Additional peer‑reviewed research finds that average teen screen time now exceeds seven hours per day, not including schoolwork, with nearly five hours devoted to social media alone. Worse yet, many adults are falling into the same traps.
Allah, exalted is He above all, created man and knows what best nourishes man’s heart and soul.
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ
“Those who believe, and their hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of Allah, verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find tranquility.” [13:28]
The Prophet ﷺ said according to narrations in Bukhari, Muslim, and Ibn Majah: “Truly, in the body there is a piece of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Verily, it is the heart.”
In Sahih al-Bukhari, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi, the Prophet ﷺ also said: “There are two blessings which many people squander: health and free time.”
So, this Ramadan, let us strive towards healthy minds and bodies while maximizing productivity. Let us embrace one more fast alongside abstaining from food, drink, and guarding the usual thoughts and actions. Let us also fast from the constant pull of our mobile devices. Let us restrict it only to essential calls and texts with loved ones, work-related use, intellectual enrichment, or illumination of the heart. And if you ever find your heart hard or heavy, first follow this advice from the best of mankind in an era when millions go to sleep with empty bellies or those who have lost their guardians in recent conflicts – and as an extension of what each Ramadan partly trains us to do:
