It’s day four of Ramadhan and this marks the twelfth year in a row that I’m observing the fast. You may know or will have realized that I’m married to a Muslim woman and converted to Islam over a decade ago ibn order to be able to have done so. Suffice it to say that I quickly reverted to the Dhamma but I have always tried to find the thread of wisdom and compassion in Islam and tried to take the fast seriously and observe it assiduously.
Anyway, I think I will try to share quotes and teachings from the various schools and teachers of Islam each day until Eid as a way of honoring the tradition and its adherents. Today’s quote comes from Imam Ali, one of the successors to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It has to Do with sense restraint and is especially poignant during this time of fasting:
I was not created to be occupied by eating delicious foods like tied up cattle.
Cattāri Brahmavihārā 
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