Mir Imtiyaz Aafreen
These days, as Muslims, when we are facing tremendous problems and challenges in different parts of the world, once again the month of Ramadan is casting it’s blessed shadows upon us to guide us towards eternal salvation. In this month, in different parts of the globe, the believers fast during the day, recite the holy Qur’an and make special arrangements for supplications and charity. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar in which Muslims undergo a total abstention from food, drink and sexual intercourse from dawn until sunset.
Muhammad Asad, in his commentary of the holy Quran writes, “ The extreme rigor and the long duration of the Islamic fast – which is incumbent on every healthy adult, man or woman- fulfills , in addition to the general aim of spiritual purification, a threefold purpose: (1) to commemorate the beginning of the Qur’anic revelation, which took place in the month of Ramadhan about thirteen years before the Prophet’s exodus to Medina; (2) to provide an exacting exercise of self-discipline; and (3) to make everyone realize, through his or her own experience, how it feels to be hungry and thirsty, and thus to gain a true appreciation of the needs of the poor.”
Thus, this month has a special relation with the Qur’an which is a source of everlasting guidance for the whole humanity. However, it is the need of the hour to ponder over the purpose of fasting and try to aim at achieving the spiritual and moral heights described in the Qur’an.
“O you who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God.” (2:183)
Ramadan is the month of putting on the garments of ‘taqwa’ i.e., God-consciousness.
‘Taqwa’ is the awareness of God’s all-presence and the desire to mould one’s existence in the light of this awareness. Becoming God-conscious leads to the purification (tazkiya) of the lower self (nafs) and attainment of spiritual bliss.
The aim is that a person should be completely purified of the evil deeds and immoral activities. In Ramadan, you undergo a spiritual training course and this spiritual training motivates you to live a pious life in the remaining eleven months of the year as well.
The Prophet of Islam (SAW) presented the five-point program for salvation in the form of the five pillars of Islam, which is in harmony with human nature.
Fasting is the pillar of Islam which is described as a means of attaining godliness and spiritual purification. Attainment of ‘taqwa’ is the actual goal of fasting described in the Holy Qur’an. The whole Shari’ah is based on ‘taqwa’ i.e., God-consciousness.
‘Taqwa’ is provided with a power and ability to control negative emotions and dark desires that create hindrances in the achievement of spiritual enlightenment. Fasting guides the material side of an individual towards spirituality. Fasting is a means of developing a vibrant relation with the divine.
You’re thirsty, you’re starving, no one is watching you, cold water and delicious food is in your room but you abstain from all these things just because your Lord has commanded you to fast for Him.
Fasting not only performs the task of spiritual upliftment but it also provides physical benefits to the human body as well. Fasting aims at bringing about a complete transformation of mind, body and soul. Thus, Ramadan has a potential to bring about a spiritual revolution at both the two levels i.e., individual and community levels.
It is narrated that the Prophet of Islam (SAW) said: Allah says: “Every practice of the son of Adam is for his own sake, and the good deed is worth ten like it, up to seven hundred times as much, except the fast, which is for My sake and for which I alone shall reward him. He abstains for My sake from food and from his lust, and he abstains for My sake from drink and from his lust, so it [his fasting] is for My sake and I alone shall reward him for it.” In another tradition, it is mentioned, “ Everything has Zakat (an alms-due) and the Zakat of the body is fasting.”
However, it is very unfortunate that we have not been able to reap the blessings of Ramadan because we have been neglecting the spirit of fasting and we have just reduced it to a formality. The Prophet (SAW) has made it clear, “ If someone (while fasting) does not abstain from lying and doing evil deeds, Allah has no need of his abstaining from his food and drink.”
In another tradition, it is mentioned that the Prophet (SAW) once said: “There are many fasting people who get nothing from fasting except thirst and hunger, and there are many worshipers [at night] who get nothing but waking up at night.
It is surprising that even after fasting for the whole month, we do not give up gossip, lies, backbiting, hatred, envy and dishonesty and as a result are deprived of the blessings of Ramadan.
The fasting also enables to reach the height of gratitude. It stops you to become depressed in times of trial and adversity, and motivates a person to face challenges of life with a lot of courage and perseverance.
Fasting develops an empathetic attitude towards the poor
and backward sections of the society. It acquaints the affluent class with the problems of the people who are constantly struggling for a living. Since Islam aims at establishing a welfare society that is based on peaceful coexistence of different sections of the society and discourages the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. It commands the rich and resourceful to include the economically backward classes in their wealth and prosperity as well. Therefore, fasting is an effective step towards building up a society based upon the principles of godliness, justice and equality.
The author can be reached at imtiyazaafreen@gmail.com