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Fasting
in Islam:
by Naseer
Ahmad Faruqui Sahib
The Light (July 8, 1981)
"O you who believe;
Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for
those before you, so that you may guard against
evil." (Holy Quran, 2:183).
Those who
"believe", really believe
in the unseen and they act in that belief, whatever the
consequences. Now that is not an irrational or unscientific
attitude. All scientific development has taken place on
that basis. Newton saw the apple fall down from the tree
(and not go up as it should have because of the earth's
spin). Observing that phenomenon, he believed that there was
an unseen force working on that apple which pulled it down.
On that belief or faith, he worked and discovered all the
wonderful scientific laws and phenomena that laid the
foundation of modern science. To come to recent times, who
ever saw the atom or will ever see it? And yet believing
that the unseen atom exists, because of certain evidence on
the subject, the wonders of the atomic science have been
revealed.
Lesson from
Life:
Take
man’s own daily life. He
eats and drinks because he believes that they will do
him good or satisfy his hunger and thirst. But, little does
he know that in that food or drink may lurk germs which may
make him very ill or kill him. Similarly, man travels
in the belief that he will reach his destination safely. If
he could foresee, an accident to his body or limb, or his
body being crushed to death in a collision, he would not
travel on that bus, train or aeroplane. Parents marry
off their beloved daughter in the belief that she will be
happy. If they could see beforehand her life-long misery or
suffering that might follow, they would not commit her to
it. A businessperson makes a deal in the belief that
it will benefit him. He does not, in fact he cannot, see
beforehand what will be the result.
A doctor prescribes a medicine
or an operation. Believing in him, we take that medicine or
accept the operation. And yet, either may kill us. We are
prepared to believe in a doctor who can be ill-informed, or
may make an honest or careless mistake, and be killed.
But we will not believe in Allah, Who can never make a
mistake because He is All-Knowing, and undertake fasting. We
must have reasons or proof.
Practical
Proof:
Well, let us have the
proof. The verse I have quoted says that fasting was
prescribed for those before us too - not fasting for a
few days only, or partial self-denial of certain foods only,
as exists in other communities today. The Holy Quran says
that this variation is due to the loss or corruption of
Divine teachings in other religions. Fasting was prescribed
for them too as in Islam.
Let us take the first claim of the
Holy Quran that fasting was prescribed in all
religions. This is borne out by history. To cite only
one authority, the Encyclopaedia Britannica
says:
"It would be difficult to
name any religious system in which it (fasting) is wholly
unrecognized."
The variation of motives for fasting
makes no difference to the rigours of fasting. But the
duration and nature of the self-denial do. Let us take
the three great religions other than Islam viz.,
Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism. It is clear from the
Bible that Moses as well as Jesus fasted fully for 40 days!
As for Mahatma Buddha, he fasted until he was reduced almost
to skin and bones as we see in his statues.
Now the testimony of millions of
Prophets, saints and virtuous people is that fasting is
good, in fact a must, for self purification. Could there
be a better proof? These were truthful men who spoke
from personal experience. And the world at large saw the
transformation in them.
Scientific
Reason:
But the Holy Quran does not
rest its case on such overwhelming evidence only. It goes on
to say: "So that you may guard against evil." Now
this is the
special beauty of the Holy Quran,
not to be found in other revealed books. It gives reasons
for any injunction given. It gives the objective for
which any obligation is laid on man, so that he may act by
conviction, and know the goal which he has to seek. A Muslim
does not fumble in the dark. He knows what he has to seek;
and he can judge his performance by the end
result.
The result he seeks in fasting is
that he may be enabled to guard against evil. Now why
should that be such a difficult task that he should have to
undergo the rigours of fasting for one whole month? To guard
against evil successfully is in fact a very, very difficult
achievement. Even in this age of reason, education and
enlightenment, we see evil all around us. Even the so-called
civilised nations of present day are seething with crime,
sin and even unnatural offences. Education, moral codes and
legal enactments are of no avail. The public opinion, far
from inhibiting crime and vices, adjusts itself to them. Why
is all this so when man’s reason, his good sense, and
even his religion tell him that crime and sin are
bad?
Animal
Urges:
The answer is that man is
driven by the animal within him. Man shares with the
animals his physical body. That is why scientists try out
medicines on animals first, before giving them to man. Since
the animals and man have the same basic physique, the
desires and passions, which arise form the physical body,
are basically the same between man and animals. The animal
urges within man are necessary to drive him to all actions,
but like all animals they have to be trained and
tamed.
Taming the
Animal:
Now how do you tame an
animal? Ask any circus manager. He will tell you that
animals are tamed by denying them food and drink. Sex in the
case of animals is seasonal. In the case of man, it is
perennial. That is why Islam has required that man should
deny himself food, drink and sex during fasting. Study the
life of all animals. Their only aim in life is to indulge in
food, drink and sex. Man is superior to all creation. In him
lodges the divine spark of the soul, which can make him
acquire divine virtues. Hence said the Holy Prophet (pbuh):
"Learn the morals of Allah." And the Holy Quran says:
"Allah’s colouring, and who is better in colouring than
Allah?"(2:138). Allah’s colouring are His sublime
attributes.
The animal urges within man, if
brought under control and given the right direction, can
lead to his moral and spiritual development. This is a big
subject in itself, but it has been beautifully explained in
"The Teachings of Islam" by the late Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad Sahib, to which I would refer the reader.
Other
Teachings/Religions:
Other religions, after the
loss or corruption of their original teachings, found the
animal urges so difficult to tame and guide that they
prescribed total denial. You had to become a monk or a nun
or a Sadhu or a Bhikshu (in Buddhism) and kill animal
desires by total and life-long denial. But those teachings
failed, as those who have an inkling of the private lives of
such givers-up of the worldly desires know. In any case, the
sublime moral and spiritual qualities which man can attain
by the correct use of his desires and passions were not to
be found in them.
The
Religion of Nature:
Islam, which is the
religion of nature, recognises the great use to which
the animal urges of man can be put if they are properly
tamed and guided. Allah, being the Perfect Creator, has not
created them in vain. But they have to be tamed. And like
all animals, they can be tamed only through fasting, i.e.,
self denial of food, drink and sex for one month only, and
that too during the day time. That is as far as the taming
of the animal within man is concerned. As for guidance after
taming, the Holy Quran also provides it. Read the opening
verses of the Holy Quran: "I, Allah, am the Best Knower.
This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who
guard against evil." (2:1 to 2).
The Holy Quran accordingly tells us
not only what the evil features or development of human
action or human nature can be, but it also teaches us how to
avoid them. In the latter class is fasting which enables man
to tame the animal urges within him and thus avoid exceeding
the Divine limits, beyond which lies evil. It is because man
cannot benefit fully from the Divine guidance provided in
the Holy Quran, unless he first tames the animal urges
within himself by fasting that has been prescribed or made
obligatory for him. Hence, the month in which the Holy Quran
was revealed was selected for this exercise in
self-discipline. "The month of Ramadan is that in which the
Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear reason for
the guidance and a Distinguisher (between good and bad)."
(2:185).
The
Goal:
Now every guidance is towards
a goal. What is that goal of the guidance contained in the
Holy Quran? Hence the next verse says: "and when My servants
ask thee concerning Me, surely I am nigh"(2:186). The verse
goes on to say that Allah should be sought particularly in
the Tahajjud prayer in the early hours of the
morning, which is facilitated by the believer having to get
up for his pre-dawn meal during the fasting.
This, in a nutshell, is the great
wisdom and vital importance of the institution of fasting in
Islam.
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