Why can't the spirit of Ramadan be alive all year?

We can put to use the lessons we learn during the holy month long after it ends

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  A woman takes a picture of herself at Clifton beach on the last day of the Eid Al Fitr holidays in Karachi. AFP

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  Residents gather during the Eid holidays at Kota Tua in Jakarta, Indonesia. EPA

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  Libyans gather around performers at the Bab Al Jadid gate in the old city of the capital Tripoli. AFP

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  A woman attends Eid Al Fitr prayers at Kashmiri Masjid in Kathmandu, Nepal. EPA

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  Muslims offer Eid Al Fitr prayers at the end of Ramadan in Karachi, Pakistan. AP

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  People greet each other after offering a special morning prayer on Eid Al Fitr at Jama Masjid Khairuddin in Amritsar, India. AFP

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  An elderly Muslim man exchanges greetings with children after special morning prayers on Eid Al Fitr in Karachi. AFP

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  Girls hold balloons during Eid Al Fitr celebrations in Karachi. AFP

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  Women attend Eid Al Fitr prayers at Kashmiri Masjid in Kathmandu, Nepal. EPA

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  People arrive for Eid Al Fitr prayers at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh. EPA

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  Worshippers offer a special morning prayer at Galle Face Esplanade in Sri Lanka. AFP

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  Palestinian children play during Eid Al Fitr in Rahaf, southern Gaza Strip. AFP

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  A boy plays during Eid Al Fitr festivities in Kolkata, India. AFP

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  People raft down the Hasbani River, a major tributary of the Jordan, near the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Blum during Eid Al Fitr. AFP

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  Worshippers offer special morning prayers on Eid Al Fitr in Pakistan's Sindh Province. AFP

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  People take part in an amusement ride at a funfair during Eid Al Fitr celebrations at Small Heath Park in Birmingham, UK. Reuters

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  Little girls walk in the grass after attending Eid Al Fitr prayers in Bucharest, Romania. AP

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  Muslims perform Eid Al Fitr prayers in an outdoor area in Lagos, Nigeria. AP

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  Children enjoy riding a roadside donkey during Eid Al Fitr celebrations in Peshawar, Pakistan. EPA

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  Women perform Eid Al Fitr prayers in Rome. AP

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  Children enjoy a swing ride during Eid Al Fitr in the port city of Sidon, Lebanon. Reuters

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  Sudanese worshippers gather for the Eid Al Fitr prayer in Khartoum. AP

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  A man holds a child while attending the Eid Al Fitr morning prayers at a football stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AFP

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  Muslims praying at Skenderbej Square in Tirana, Albania, on the first day of Eid Al Fitr. AFP

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  Worshippers listen to Eid Al Fitr morning prayers at a football stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AFP

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  Worshippers arrive for Eid prayers in Birmingham, UK. Reuters

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  A cool young customer on the first day of Eid Al Fitr in Basra, southern Iraq. AFP

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  Syrians in traditional Damascene dress perform in front of the Grand Mosque in the rebel-held north-western city of Idlib. AFP

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  Kenyan Muslims stand for Eid prayers in Mombasa.

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  Eid Al Fitr prayers at the Mevlana Mosque in Rotterdam, Netherlands. EPA

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  A worshipper prays in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. AFP

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  Muslims attend Eid Al Fitr morning prayers outside Central Sobornaya Mosque in Moscow. EPA

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  A vendor in Baghdad sells warm milk with honey on the first day of Eid Al Fitr. Reuters

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  Devotees perform Eid Al Fitr prayers at the Noor Mosque in Kampala, Uganda. AFP

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  Worshippers wait in the rain for Eid Al Fitr prayers at the Mosque of Athens, Greece. AP

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  Bosnians pray on the first morning of Eid Al Fitr, outside the mosque of Gazi-Husref Beg, in Sarajevo. AFP

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  Thousands of people attended prayers in Makkah and Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Photo: SPA

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  People pray outside the historic Hagia Sophia Mosque, in Istanbul. AP

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  Thousands gather outside Al Seddik Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

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  Children play outside the King Abdulaziz Mosque in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Reuters

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  A boy follows proceedings at the Grand Mosque in Pristina, Kosovo. AFP

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  People pray in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. EPA

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  Kenyan Muslims offer prayers outside Masjid As Salaam, in Nairobi. AP

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  People exchange greetings after prayers in Peshawar, Pakistan. EPA

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  A man distributes sweets in front of the Dome of the Rock Mosque, in Old Jerusalem. AFP

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  Thousands worship at the Baiturrahman Great Mosque in Aceh, Indonesia. Reuters

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  Albanian Muslims pray at Skanderbeg Square, in Tirana. Reuters

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  Prayers at the Golden Dome Mosque in Depok, on the outskirts of Jakarta. Reuters

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  A man waits with his prayer mat before morning prayers in Bangkok, Thailand. AFP

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  Prayers at the Jakarta International Stadium, Indonesia. Reuters

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  People enjoy a lighter moment at the Bani Hashim Mosque in Abu Dhabi, after Eid Al Fitr prayers. Victor Besa/The National

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  Prayers were held across the UAE early on Monday to mark the start of Eid Al Fitr. Pawan Singh / The National

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  Women and children gather on the roof of a mosque for Eid prayers in Metro Manila, Philippines. EPA

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  Worshippers arrive at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. EPA

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  A child sleeps while people pray in Kuala Lumpur. EPA

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  A girl holds a balloon as women pray at Parangkusumo beach, Indonesia. Getty Images

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  Thousands pray at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. EPA

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  Workers perform prayers in Malang, Indonesia. Getty Images

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  A Quran recital at the Lekamba mosque in western Sydney, Australia. AFP

After the holidays have passed, the epic meals have been shared and we are back to the caffeine-assisted hustle and bustle of daily life, a weariness arises from realising how easy it is, for many of us, to slip back into our pre-Ramadan lives.

It makes me reflect on what I achieved in the holy month.

A sage piece of advice my elders would give me is Ramadan’s true value is best measured after the fact.

This means if you apply the spiritual and social lessons from the experience throughout the year, then all that physical and mental effort will have been worthwhile.

The fact I am already slipping into old habits, from not always checking in on family to unhealthy eating, is causing me a bout of post-Ramadan blues.

Somewhat fortunately, I found this an experience many of my family and friends share after winding up the Eid Al Fitr celebrations, with spirited discussions often revolving around the concept of “why can’t Ramadan be every day?”

The Afaunov family sharing iftar at their home in Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National

This doesn’t imply that we should be fasting throughout the year, it's more a question of why can’t we sustain the holy month’s spirit and values throughout the year?

Those benefits are internal and recognisable.

The act of fasting often triggers a deeper sense of mental and physical awareness.

Since we are conserving energy to get through the day, we become more circumspect about how we apply it.

Getting into unnecessary squabbles or heated discussions in the workplace is not recommended.

“We used to love Ramadan because we knew all the bosses will be good and calm every day,” my mother, Zahra Baho, said, recalling her time working as personal assistant to an Abu Dhabi oil and gas executive three decades ago.

She now owns and manages several childcare centres in Melbourne, Australia.

“The funny thing is now my staff say the same thing about me,” she says.

“Life gets busy and you become more stressed and you don’t realise how that affects your team.

“So in Ramadan I am calmer and focused and the staff benefit. So it makes you think why this can’t carry on, you know?”

A friend of mine, Majeed, a successful finance executive in Dubai and father of four, also reflects on how Ramadan was the only time his family ate together nearly every day.

“We would always say how this is how it should be and we need to continue this,” he said. “Of course, you try. It goes from two days a week and then one day and then it never really happens again until Ramadan comes back.”

A Sikh chef at GuruNanak Darbar temple in Jebel Ali, Dubai, serves meals to worshippers of all faiths. Christian churches and Sikh temples often join mosques in offering free meals during Ramadan. Satish Kumar / The National

The sense of extra empathy, another characteristic encouraged by fasting, also needs to be harnessed and applied throughout the year.

Living in the UAE for more than a decade, I am often struck by the deep acts of generosity exhibited.

From families opening up their homes for the local neighbourhood for iftars, to the setting up of official iftar tents by UAE churches, and Sikh temples and resorts cooking meals for taxi drivers, these genuine acts of kindness are powerful but can only truly resonate if they continue, in some form, after the holy month.

It is a principle that also applies to us as individuals.

The sense of fellowship during Ramadan inspires acts to subdue the ego. So the month is traditionally the time to make amends with others, forgive and reach out to those neglected.

If those sentiments mean anything, we need to make the effort and follow through on those new beginnings.

All these things are by no means easy because they require a certain sense of empathy and vulnerability that's often lost in the cut and thrust of the modern day.

This is the importance of Ramadan, because it is a much-needed circuit breaker and at the same time provides us with the tools to navigate a path to a more fulfilling life.

Now that it is finished, that journey has only just begun.