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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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