FAST —AN EPITOME OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY

FAST —AN EPITOME OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY

Dr. Muhammad al-Ghazali

 

What Islam prescribes is a balanced and harmonious attitude in which an equilibrium is effected and maintained between the requirements of body and the demands of spirituality.

 

Perhaps no Islamic injunction or ritual practice typifies the peculiar philosophy of Islamic spirituality more clearly than the institution of fast. No doubt, certain practices of self-restraint and abstention did exist in other creeds and cults in one form or the other. But there is something special about Islamic fast that distinguishes it from all other religions. In the first place, it is not a purely personal act of faith. The manner in which Muslims are required to observe fast clearly gives it a community spirit. The strong emphasis on inviting others to join you in breaking the fast invests it with a definite social meaning and purpose. To a superficial observer, fasting might appear to be confined to mere physical exercise and exertion. But remember that our Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Fasting is to leave lying, backbiting, false oaths and all evil thoughts. Thus fasting is something that goes far beyond the physiological and corporeal dimension of human life. The Prophet (ﷺ) also said. "He who declares fast, but does not refrain from obscenities, vulgarities and quarrels, then God does not want him leaving his eating and drinking."

SOCIAL OBLIGATION:

These clear injunctions of the Prophet (ﷺ) leave no room in Islam for self-torture as a supposed criteria for spirituality as found in certain other religious cultures. All these teachings underline the supreme importance of social obligation in our religion which is further accentuated in fasting. Thus fasting does not remain merely a personal act of piety divorced from the human environment to which one is separately linked. Basically fasting has been prescribed to tram the faithful in the practice of piety. How one is to practise piety better by training himself through fasting? The term taqwa used in the Qur'an to represent the proper religious attitude of pious fidelity toward God and sincerity towards His creatures has no equivalent in English like so many other Qur'anic terms. The attitude of taqwa essentially consists in one's ability to identify with the Will of God.- This identification has to be voluntary emanating from the inner-most urges of one's self. It should be free from any element of hypocrisy or show-off. Such a sincere attitude of taqwa can only be attained through genuine love of God that is rooted in the core of one's heart and kernel of soul.

It is this attitude of Taqwa stemming from sincerity of faith and emanating from pure love of God, that constitutes the Divinely approved criterion for human deeds. The mercy and blessings of God are attainable by those who achieve this degree of piety according to the Qur'an. Also the most honourable of all people in the sight of God are those that rise higher in the scale of piety. It is this inner state of piety that gives meaning to our spiritual endeavours in terms of greater proximity to God. And it is this attitude of piety that needs to be augmented and progressively promoted through performing a number of virtuous deeds including fasting during the month of Ramazan.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE:

What is the relationship of fasting with piety and how the former promotes the latter? God has created man with the dual capacity to commit animalistic acts and to perform .angelic deeds. While animals cannot fast the angels are pure spirits and hence they are free from all sorts of physical desire. But man has been created in the best of moulds and the finest of forms. He is simultaneously capable of eating, drinking, conjugating and sacrificing and abstaining from desire. Thus in man God has combined the prospects of animality and the promise for spirituality. Yet after providing him with all opportunities to gravitate towards animality or to elevate himself spiritually, God has left man free to choose his path. He may tread the path of virtue, piety and sacrifice and thus attain higher stations of Divine proximity and spiritual worth or pursue the ways of evil by giving himself entirely up to the temptations of his lowly desires and baser instincts. Here man is placed, in a formidable test. He is free to choose his way and because he is free to choose his way, he is in a state of trial. He is called upon to conduct himself in this life in such a way as to keep his spiritual objectives supreme. This requires the ability to curb and control one's desire and lusts that tempt him away from the path of spirituality. Yet one is not required to kill his desires and instinctive urges, and here the peculiar concepts of Islamic spirituality comes into focus.

While other religions make a virtue of killing the animalistic desires so as to free oneself from their domination for good, Islam does not at all approve of this attitude. Indeed, the Qur'an and the Sunn'ah condemn the attitudes of asceticism, celibacy and monasticism. Instead what Islam prescribes is a balance and harmonious attitude in which an equilibrium is effected and maintained between the requirements of body and the demands of spirituality. One is obliged to pray and remember God but not all the time. You should pray as well as take rest because your body has a legitimate claim on you as the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "One should fast in order to tame his self and train his soul and to keep his animal instincts subordinated to his higher spiritual and moral consciousness. But one is not permitted to be fasting all the time.

The Prophet (ﷺ) expressly forbade his companions from fasting continuously without any interval. In the same way, the Prophet (ﷺ) urged his followers to observe their obligations to their parents, spouses, children, family, kith and kin, neighbours. Muslim brothers, fellow humans and even animals as well as the whole environment, the habitate of humanity. Thus, although remembering God is the highest activity according to the Qur’an, one is not permitted to be occupied in praying all the time and to neglect his matrimonial, social, human and professional obligations. The whole emphasis is laid on giving everything and every one his due without disturbing necessary balance and harmony. Since man is in the danger of being carried away towards extremes and extravagances due to selfishness and vanity, he needs constant effort to maintain the requisite equipoise. Thus fasting inter-alia provides us with the means to train ourselves to observe our obligations to God and humanity alike.

(courtesy: Da’wah Highlights)