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THE REAL PURPOSE OF FASTING
Brethren-in-Islam !
There are essentially two component factors in any work which a man has
to perform. The first thing is the purpose for which a work is done and the second thing
is the particular shape of that work which is chosen to achieve that purpose. For
instance, take the case of food your object in taking food is to remain alive and maintain
your strength. The method of achieving this object is that you take a morsel, put it in
your mouth, masticate it and push it below the throat. This method is adopted by you since
it is the most effective and proper one to achieve this object. But everyone of you
knows that the main thing is the purpose for which food is taken and not the form and
procedure of this action. What will you say if anybody were to make a morsel of saw-dust
or cinder or mud, put it in his mouth, chew and gulp it? You will say only this that his
brain is out of order. Why? Because this idiot did not understand the real purpose of
eating and is suffering from the misunderstanding that only the aforesaid four component
acts constitutes eating. Likewise, you will call that person also mad who soon after
taking the food vomits it by thrusting his fingers into his throat and then complains that
the benefits said to accrue from taking food have not been availed of by him and that,
contrarily, he is daily getting lean and is on the verge of death. This fool blames the
food for his growing weakness little realizing that it is due to his own stupidity. He
imagined, due to his intellectual deficiency, that life vitality could be got by
fulfilling those requirements which constitute the act of eating. As such, he thought why
should he sustain the load of food in his stomach? " Why not throw it out so that the
stomach may become light? I have already fulfilled the requirements of eating", he
surmises. Naturally he has himself to suffer the penalty of harbouring such a foolish idea
and then implementing it also. He ought to have known that until the bread gets digested
after entering the stomach and having transformed into blood, is diffused into the whole
body the vitality of life cannot be obtained. Although outward actions are also necessary,
because without them the bread cannot reach the stomach, yet the object cannot be achieved
by merely fulfilling the outward actions. There is no magic in these actions that by
merely fulfilling them, blood starts running in a wizardly manner in the veins of a man.
Blood will be obviously produced according to the law prescribed by Allah. If you break
it, you will kill yourself by your own hands.
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If you ponder over the example I have just placed before you in detail,
you can understand why your 'Ibadaat have become inefficacious today. As I have already
pointed out repeatedly, the greatest mistake of all is to regard the acts of Salah and
fasting and their outward shape as real 'Ibadat and you suffer from the delusion that
whoever fulfilled these requirements performed the 'Ibadat of Allah. You are just like
that person who thinks that performance of four acts, i.e. making the morsel, putting it
in the mouth, masticating it and pushing it below the throat makes up the process of
eating, and that whoever did these four things has eaten the food and so should receive
the benefits of eating irrespective of whether he pushed down in his stomach mud and
stone, or vomited the bread soon after eating it. If you have a little sense then tell me
how a man who is fasting and is thus engaged in the 'Ibadat of God from morning till
evening, can in the midst of that 'Ibadat utter a lie and indulge in backbiting? Why does
he quarrel at the slightest pretext and utter abuses from his mouth? How dare he encroach
on other people's rights? How does he indulge in acquiring illicit money and giving money
to others illicitly? And having done all these things, he still thinks that he has
performed 'Ibadat of Allah? Does this not resemble the work of that person who eats cinder
and mud and thinks that by merely completing the four requirements of eating he has
actually done the job of eating.
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Then tell me how is it that when you are relieved after doing Allah's
'Ibadat for about 360 hours throughout Ramadan all the effect of this whole exercise in
piety disappears on the 1st of Shawwal? You do during the 'Id days all that Hindus do in
their festivals, so much so that in the cities even adultery, wine-drinking and gambling
are resorted to on 'Id day. And I have seen some wretched people who keep fast during the
day and drink wine and commit adultery in the night. The general Muslims, by the grace of
God, are not degenerated to that extent but after the end of Ramadan how many of you are
there who retain some effects of piety and virtuousness on the second day of 'Id also?
Which law of God is left inviolate? What part of your time is devoted to good deeds, and
how much is selfishness reduced?
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Think and ponder as to what after all can be the reason for this? I
assure you that its only reason is that the very meaning and purport of 'Ibadat has become
twisted in your mind. You think that mere abstention from eating and drinking throughout
the day is called fasting and that this alone is 'Ibadat. Therefore you observe it
meticulously. You feel the fear of God to that extent that you avoid every transgression
which even slightly endangers the break-up of the fast so much so that even if the life is
at stake, you are not prepared to break the fast. But you do not know that being merely
hungry and thirsty is not real 'Ibadat' but only a form of it. And the purpose of
prescribing this form is to create in you the fear of God and love of God, and thereby
develop in you so much strength that by repressing yourself, you are enabled to avoid the
seemingly profitable things but which actually displease Allah, while, on the other hand,
by controlling your self you make yourself agreeable to those things which possibly entail
risks and losses but definitely please God. This strength can be developed only when you
understand the purpose of fasting and make use of the practice you have gone through for
curbing the corporeal urges, under fear of God and love for God, and then making these
urges work according to the pleasure of God. But soon after Ramadan you throw to the winds
this practice as well as the virtues acquired from it just as a man after taking food
vomits it by thrusting his fingers into his throat. In fact, some of you spew the
virtuousness of the whole day soon after breaking the fast. Now you yourself decide, is
there in Ramadan and fasting a magic that by mere completing their outward shape you can
acquire that strength which in reality should emanate from genuine fasting? Just as
physical strength cannot be obtained from the bread until it is digested after entering
the stomach and until it is transformed into blood and penetrates every vein, in the same
way spiritual power cannot be obtained from fasting until the person who keeps fast does
not fully comprehend the purpose of fasting and allows it to permeate his heart and mind
and dominate his thought, motive, intention and deed.
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This is why Allah said after ordaining fasting :
" La'allakum tattaqoon"
i.e. fasting is made obligatory on you, may be you become pious and
virtuous. It is not said that you will certainly become pious and virtuous because this
outcome of fasting depends on the perception and intention of the man concerned. Whoever
will understand its purpose and will try through it to achieve its objective, will become
pious to the desired extent, but one who will not comprehend its purpose and will not even
try to get at it, cannot hope to gain any thing out of it.
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Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has drawn attention in various
ways towards the real aim of fasting and has explained that to be hungry and thirsty
without keeping in view the objective is in no way useful. He said :
" Whoever did not give up lying and practising falsehood, Allah is
in no need of his giving up food and water."
In another Hadith he said :
" Many are the fasters whose fasting does not bring them anything
except hunger and thirst and many are those who keep standing in the night but their
standing does not bring anything except being awake in the night".
The purport of both these Ahadith is quite plain. It means that being
merely hungry and thirsty is not by itself Ibadat but an instrument of performing real
'Ibadat. And real 'Ibadat consists in not violating the law of God for fear of God, and
for the love of God an eager pursuit of every such work as would please Him, and lastly,
avoidance of satisfying corporeal urges as far as possible. Whoever remained heedless of
this real 'Ibadat, unnecessarily caused inconvenience to his stomach with hunger and
thirst. Why should Allah need to make him merely give up food and water for twelve to
fourteen hours?
The Prophet has drawn attention to the real aim of fasting thus :
" Whoever observed fast imbued with faith and with the expectation
of reward from Allah, all his past sins are forgiven".
The reference to faith implies that the belief in God with a Muslim
should remain fully fresh in the mind of a Muslim, Ihtisab denotes that man should be
desirous of only Allah's pleasure constantly keeping an eye on his thoughts and actions to
check if he is doing anything against the pleasure of Allah. If, in accordance with these
two principles, a person were to observe all the fasts of Ramadan, he will have all his
past sins forgiven because even if he was once an unruly and disobedient slave he has now
turned fully repentant to his master---and " A penitent is like one who has, as it were, never
committed a sin at all" this the Prophet said.
In another Hadith it is said :
" Fasts are like a shield (just as a shield is meant for
protection from the enemy's assault, so is fasting for protection from Satan's attack).
Therefore when a man observes fast he should (utilize this shield and) abstain from
disorderly behaviour. If anybody abused him or quarreled with him, the person who keeps
fast should tell him: " Brother, I am fasting (do not expect from me that I shall
take part in such activities of yours").
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The Prophet (peace be on him) has directed in other Ahadith that man
while fasting ought to do more and more good works and should be eager to perform
benevolent acts. Particularly during fasting, he must develop with full intensity a
sympathetic sentiment for his other brothers because being himself in the throes of hunger
and thirst he can all the more realize what is befalling other slaves of God in their
plight of destitution and misery. It is related by Hadrat Ibn 'Abbas ( Allah be pleased
with him) that the Prophet ( peace be on him ) used to become especially kind and
benevolent during Ramadan. No beggar in that period went empty-handed from his door, and
the slaves secured emancipation.
According to a Hadith the Prophet ( peace be on him ) said :
" Whoever in Ramadan provide a person who is keeping fast with
Iftar, this act will become a source of forgiveness for his sins and safety from Hell Fire
and he will get as much reward as will the keeper of fast get without any reduction in the
recompense of the latter."
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