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The
Real Purpose of Fasting*
By
Sayyed Abul A`la Al-Maududi
A
Purpose for Every Work
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
he 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 form the misunderstanding that
only the aforesaid four component acts constitute eating. Likewise,
you will call that person also mad who soon after taking the food
vomits it by thrusting his fingers into his throat them 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 fulfilling the requirements of
eating”, he surmises, Naturally he has himself to suffer the
penalty of harboring 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.
Consequences
of Considering the Outward as Real
If
you ponder over the example I have just placed before you in detail,
you can understand why your ‘`Ibadat’ 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 Allah 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 thing, 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.
Again
Freedom from Restrictions after Ramadan
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 ‘`Eid’ 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 ‘`Eid’ 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 Allah, 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 ‘`Eid’ also? Which
law of Allah is left un-violated? What part of your time is devoted
to good deeds, and how much is selfishness reduced?
Result
Wrong Conception of ‘`Ibadat’
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 fee the fear of Allah 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 Allah and love of Allah, 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 yourself you make yourself
agreeable to those things which possibly entail risks and losses but
definitely please Allah. 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
Allah and love for Allah, and them making these urges work according
to the pleasure of Allah. But soon after Ramada you throw to the
winds this practice as well as the virtues acquired from if just as
a man after taking food vomits it by thrusting his fingers into his
throat. In fact, some of your 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 if to permeate his heart and mind and dominate
his thought, motive intention and deed.
Fast,
Source of Becoming Pious
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 if, cannot hope to gain
any thing out of it.
Real
Goals of Fasting:
Abstention
from Lying
Prophet
Muhammad, peace and blessings 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
practicing 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 Hadiths 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 Allah for fear of Allah, and
for the love of Allah 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?
Faith
and Self-Scrutiny
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 Allah 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 where 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.
Shield
for Protection from Sins
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 behavior. 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)”.
Temptation
of Goodness
The
Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, has directed in other
Hadiths 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 Allah in their plight of destitution and misery. It is
related by Hadrat Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that
the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon 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.
Reward
for Providing ‘Iftar’
According
to a Hadith the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon 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”.
*
Excerpted
from Let Us Be Muslims by Abu Sayyed Abul A`la Al-Maududi with some
little modifications.
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