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The essence of fasting

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The essence of fasting

Ramadan is a month characterised by fasting and constant worhship, ibaadah. For the entire month, Muslims abstain from food and drink in order to please Allah.

But how many of us really understand the essence of fasting?

Fasting is not the mere abstention from food and drink. It is much deeper than that. Fasting affects the very core of our being; our soul. Allah has designed the month of Ramadan in such a manner that the spiritual uplifting gained from fasting is rewarding to the soul and body in this life and the hereafter.

Fasting is an obligation, as Allah commanded Muslims in the Holy Qur’an, {O you who believe! Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may attain taqwa.} (Surah Al-Baqarah, Chapter 2, verse 183)

So, as believers of monotheism, we should abstain from food and drink as Allah has commanded us. However, as the continuation of the verse states, fasting helps believers to attain taqwah or God-consciousness. Thus, fasting of the stomach is not the only means of fasting, though it fulfils the basic condition for fasting. To attain taqwa, a believer should fast with all their limbs.

Fasting of the Heart:

The true fast can only be achieved if the heart is engaged in that which is pleasing to Allah. One’s heart should participate in the fast and it should abstain from corruptions, pride, and all that is evil. The believer’s heart should remain pure and sincere whilst enduring the ‘difficult’ conditions of lack of food and drink. They should fast from anger, impatience and frustration, all of which are emotions which could result from hunger and thirst. Among the signs of righteousness in Ramadan is that a fasting person remains calm, carries a smile, is gentle and maintains a good character.

Fasting of the Eyes:

The gaze was described by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as “an arrow from among the devil’s arrows.” (Ahmad) Thus, it is only natural that whilst fasting, a person’s gaze should be restrained. The eyes should fast from gazing freely at that which it is forbidden to look at. As Allah says in the Qur’an, {Tell the believers to lower their gaze…}(Surah An-Nur, Chapter 24, verse 30)

This is for both the men and the women, to lower their gaze. The reward for doing so is that Allah replaces it with a sweetness of strong faith.

Fasting of the Tongue:

The tongue can be one of the best parts of the body or the worst. If used for the remembrance of Allah it can bring heap loads of benefit. However, if used incorrectly it can be the cause of entering the Hellfire, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) told his companion, Mua’dh ibn Jabal, “Shall I show you what will gather for you all of that (good)? Mu’adh replied, “Of course!” He (peace be upon him) said, “Restrain this,” and he took hold of his tongue. Mua’dh asked, “O Messenger of Allah are we accountable for what we speak?” He (peace be upon him) replied that some people will enter Hellfire as a result of what their tongues reaped. (Tirmidhi) The tongue should fast from abusive language, cursing, gossiping, lying, backbiting, and all that will earn you nothing but sins. This Ramadan, save your tongue and voice from uttering sinful and idle talk and instead, recite the Book of Allah. As the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught us, engage in phrases which are light on the tongue, heavy on the scales of our deeds on the Day of Judgment, and dear to The Most Merciful. Repeat phrases such as, “Glory be to Allah”, “All praise is to Allah,”, “Allah is the Greatest”.

I have only given a few examples of how the noble goals of fasting can be accomplished. The list of examples can go on. Each part of our body should fast from doing that which is forbidden and what is displeasing to Allah, so that we may attain taqwa, and draw closer to Allah.

Only when we fully engage ourselves in this respect can we realize and experience the true essence of fasting, and allow our souls to take full advantage of the spiritual treat that Ramadan truly is.

Article by: saudigazette.com.sa

Here I am, Oh God. Here I am.

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As I sat outside with a friend in glorious spring weather, squinting against the sun and the tears gathering in my eyes, I knew how true this was. “You are going to keep having this same issue until you resolve it. You are going to keep circling around it,” she informed me. And she was right. Over the years we had been friends, I had raised variations on this same theme with her many times. I was caught in the gravitational pull of this problem. There were many days when I thought about it as I went to sleep, and it was on my mind when I woke up again.
Masjid-al-Haram (Mecca)

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Many of us have that one issue we can’t stop focussing on. Work, relationships, money, status, past hurts, future fears, real or perceived injustices – we fixate on something and come back to it again and again as an old cassette stuck on a loop. And it starts to shape who we are. Mentally circling around something repetitively re-forms our inner self the same way a potter’s hands mold a lump of clay on a constantly-spinning wheel. So when I constantly focus on monetary wealth, when my thoughts are always on my bank balance and financial acquisition for personal gain, it is almost impossible not to become a greedy individual.
The light around which the moth of my soul spirals is both telling and formative. What is at our center matters.

One of the most important rituals of Hajj (the once-in-a-lifetime obligatory pilgrimage in Islam) is the rite of establishing what needs to be at a Muslim’s center. During this stage, Muslims must circumambulate a simple black cube called the Kaaba seven times. Muslims do not believe the Kaaba is God, or that God lives in there. Instead, this basic, empty box – perhaps most notable for its simplicity – is believed to be the first house built to monotheistic worship. Muslims believe Adam built it, and it was later re-built after damage, by the prophets Ibrahim and his son, and then lastly Muhammad. Thus, it is a tangible representation of the human need to worship God and God alone.

The centrifugal force of this world pushes us away from true surrender to God with all the intensity of the Gravitron ride at an amusement park. The spinning pressure flings us outward, and we are caught in a dizzy mess of the unhelpful distractions of life that pull us off our real course. This ritual of Hajj, called tawaf, reminds Muslims that only a life that circles permanently around God makes sense, that the one ethos to which we must return again and again is true love and submission to God.

As is so often the case in Islam, the worship of the body and the soul are closely intertwined. Our body bows down along with our spirit in our prayer (salat), our body taps into our spiritual starvation during our fasting (in Ramadan). And during the tawaf of Hajj, we reconnect with the central truth that our body, mind, and soul need to circle and re-circle. Our feet wear down coiling paths in the ground around the Kaaba, as Muslims have for hundreds and even thousands of years, reflects the more important track work of our souls being ingrained. Anything else we were previously looping around were just the idols of secondary concern.

The tawaf is about realigning ourselves with the gravitational pull of what our inner self needs to be orbiting: true presence with Allah, a focussed consciousness that is so often absent in the giddy spin of normal life. And so it is fitting that as Muslims first approach the Kaaba, the words they are to call to God are Labbayk Allahumma labbayk – “Here I am, Oh God. Here I am.”

Article source www.abc.net.au

Ramadan Greetings

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Muslims all over the world are lucky to have another golden opportunity to welcome the holy month of Ramadan and enjoy its great blessings. The daytime fasting and nighttime prayers, as well as recitation from the Holy Qur’an and reflection on its verses, spiritually energize the faithful to lead a better life, benefitting humanity.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, has cautioned Muslims 14 centuries ago that the Ramadan fasting should have a real impact on their lives. He said:

“Let it not be that the day that you fast and the day you do not fast be the same.” Meaning, Ramadan should change one’s behavior, attitude and outlook toward life.

Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:

O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it has been prescribed upon those before you, so that you may attain Taqwa or piety. (2:183)

Ramadan is a month-long training program for Muslims to change their lives, establishing a closer relationship with God. During this holy month, they engage in prayers seeking the forgiveness of Allah, recite and reflect on the Qur’an, perform the Taraweeh night prayers, and attend special Islamic classes.
Many faithful perform itikaf or retreat at mosques during the last ten nights of Ramadan, leaving all worldly pursuits to establish a closer relationship with God.
Patience is another important quality one develops during Ramadan through fasting. Allah has mentioned the word sabr or patience more than seventy times in the Qur’an and commanded patience in more than sixteen ways in the holy book. When one fasts from dawn to dusk, giving up food and drink and marital sexual relations for several hours, he/she learns restraint and patience.
Ramadan encourages the faithful to engage in charitable and good activities beneficial to humanity.
The fasting in the holy month develops a strong feeling among the faithful that Allah is watching all their activities.
As a result, they will ask themselves before doing anything, ‘Does God love this action? Is God pleased with this action?’ Thus they gain the quality of watching oneself and staying away from showing off.
According to a Hadith of the Prophet, Allah has said:

“Fasting is for Me and I reward it.” (Bukhari) God singles out fasting from all other types of worship saying, “Fasting is for Me,”

because no one knows whether you are fasting or not, except God. Fasting trains the faithful to fear God when they are alone.
The Prophet has advised his followers,

“Whoever does not abandon falsehood in word and action, then Allah has no need that he should leave his food and drink.” (Bukhari) This Hadith reminds Muslims that they should purify their manners. The Qur’an has stated that the Prophet Muhammad “was sent to perfect good manners.”

Ramadan is a month for Muslims to change their lives for the better, leaving behind un-Islamic and immoral practices, to lead an exemplary life. The Prophet has said,

“Every human being sins and the best of the sinners are those who repent.”

(Ibn Maajah) God provides many opportunities to repent and seek His forgiveness. Allah says in the Qur’an: ”

Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” (39:53)

Fasting in Ramadan not only enhances spirituality but also offers a lot of medical benefits. Fasting has been recommended by doctors for weight management and its physiological effect includes lowering of blood sugar, cholesterol and systolic blood pressure.
Muslims compete with one another in charitable activities during Ramadan to win Allah’s pleasure and reward. Abdullah bin Abaas said,

“The Prophet was the most charitable amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of Ramadan when angel Jibreel used to meet him on every night of Ramadan till the end of the month.” (Bukhari)

The Prophet said,

“He who gives food for a fasting person to break his fast, he will receive the same reward as him, without nothing being reduced from the fasting person’s reward.” (Tirmudi)

Inspired by this Hadith, Muslims spend huge amounts of money during the fasting month for distributing iftar meals at mosques and public places. Millions of worshippers get iftar meals at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah as they break their fast jointly without facing any difficulty.
Muslims all over the world fast during the holy month, thus strengthening their unity and solidarity and they need this unity more than anytime before to confront growing challenges. All the teachings of Islam urge the Muslim faithful to stand together and should not disintegrate.
Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you — when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided. And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment. (3:103-105)

Fasting in Ramadan teaches Muslims to learn discipline, which is essential for them to make progress. The Prophet has made us adhere to discipline and strictness, strictness that does not lead to fanaticism or going outside the bounds that God has laid down.
One cannot knowingly break the fast before the sunset, as it will not be accepted by God. They are also not allowed to delay breaking fast with the aim of getting more rewards. Muslims should learn to be very strict in their lives because they are people of an important message.

Amongst the nights of Ramadan, there is one special night of Power (Qadr), which is highlighted in Surah Al-Qadr, saying it has the significance of being better than a thousand months. (Qur’an 97:3).

This was the night when Qur’an was revealed to mankind. Prophet Muhammad urged Muslims to seek this night in the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan. Fasting made compulsory during Ramadan to make the faithful thank God for revealing the Holy Qur’an during this month as a blessing and guidance for mankind.
Qur’an says:

“The month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion.” (2:185)

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Article source Arab News