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The Month of Ramadan and the Blessings of Fasting
Harun Yahya
The
month of Ramadan is one of abundance, described in the Qur’an,
itself sent down as a guide to all of mankind, as “better than a
thousand months” (Sura al-Qadr: 3) and which contains the Night
of Power (Lailat al-Qadr). Throughout this month all the Muslims of
the world carry out their fasting obligation as one and thank their
Lord for the blessings He has given them. In Sura al-Baqarah, Allah
proclaims the following about the month of Ramadan:
“The
month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur’an was sent down as
guidance for mankind, with Clear Signs containing guidance and
discrimination. Any of you who are resident for the month should
fast it. But any of you who are ill or on a journey should fast a
number of other days. Allah desires ease for you; He does not
desire difficulty for you. You should complete the number of days
and proclaim Allah’s greatness for the guidance He has given you
so that hopefully you will be thankful.” (Sura al-Baqarah: 185)
In
one of his sayings our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
emphasizes the importance of Ramadan as follows:
“Oh
people! A great month has come over you; a blessed month... month
in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and
voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by
performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall
receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any
other time... It is the month of patience, and the reward of
patience is Heaven. It is the month of charity, and a month in
which a believer’s sustenance is increased...” (narrated by Ibn
Khuzaymah)
Regarding
the rite of fasting, which God (Allah) has made a religious
obligation observed during the month of Ramadan, the following is
revealed:
“You
who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed
for those before you—so that hopefully you will have taqwa.”
(Sura al-Baqarah: 183) and
“That
you should fast is better for you, if you only knew.” (Sura
al-Baqarah: 184)
Fasting
is a duty that brings countless benefits to Muslims. This
obligation, fulfilled by all Muslims together, further increases
the enthusiasm of and solidarity between Muslims, who are dispersed
all over the world. The fact it is observed en masse further
increases its spiritual nature.
One
of the many instances of wisdom in fasting is that thanks to this
act of worship people are better able to understand the blessings
they enjoy. Even for a sincere Muslim there is a danger of taking
the blessings he enjoys for granted. That prevents a person from
giving thanks for the blessings given him by Allah in the way he
should.
In a number of verses, however, Allah has told people they
should give thanks to Him for the blessings He has imparted, and
that those who do so will be given still greater blessings. A
person who fasts is protected from the danger of being led by Satan
to forget these things and take the blessings given to him for
granted. Someone who has never thought deeply before, begins to
consider how many things Allah has given him, and what great
blessings all things are. He therefore gives thanks again and again
for all the opportunities and health he enjoys.
In short, as
Bediuzzaman Said Nurasi has said, fasting in Ramadan is “the key
to a true, sincere, extensive, and universal thankfulness.” (The
Risale-i Nur Collection, Letters, The Twenty-Ninth Letter, The
Second Section, Second Point)
Allah
desires not difficulty but ease for His servants, and determined as
their religion those values that best conform to their needs,
wishes and manner of living. In a verse of the Qur’an, our Lord
commands as follows:
“...Today
disbelievers have despaired of overcoming your religion. So do not
be afraid of them but be afraid of Me. Today I have perfected your
religion for you and completed My blessing upon you and I am
pleased with Islam as a religion for you...” (Sura al-Ma’idah:
3)
Fasting
and Modern Day Assumptions
There
are those who live by modern-day as well as social standards, who
accept the rules applied by the majority as absolute facts and use
them to try and interpret the Qur’an. People like this make up
the majority of those who try to object to the Qur’an, even
though they are the least educated and cultured. It is possible to
come across such people in every profession and part of society.
They make up a majority, who do not think too deeply or possess a
certain world-view, and are obsessed only with worldly pursuits and
are only focused on their livelihood. Since they seek simple
pleasures, small calculations and profits, they perceive the
Qur’an as a threat that would limit their so-called freedom,
alter their simple lifestyles or expectations, and the order to
which they are accustomed. Therefore, they try to oppose the
Qur’an with their primitive logic.
Members
of this group make the same comments about the Qur’an that they
have heard from others, ideas originally not their own. They
usually make unreasonable and ignorant remarks about the Qur’an
using sentences that begin with such words as, “In the 21st
century…”, “In our day and age…”, “In the space
age….”, “In the West….”, and so on.
They
propose that the lifestyle described in the Qur’an and that of
our own time are incompatible, and that the former is in fact
outdated. From that perspective they subsequently make false claims
concerning the Qur’an. For example, they claim that such things
as fasting and prayer interfere with the pace of the modern
lifestyle, that the Islamic ban on interest cannot be practiced
under current economic conditions and even that the prohibition of
adultery in this day and age is evidence of the impossibility of
applying the Qur’an to our daily lives.
They
apply superficial logic and display great ignorance when addressing
the topics of the prayers, commands, and prohibitions in the
Qur’an. They introduce arguments about the wisdom in some
commands which they do not understand or the verses that they
cannot comprehend. Worse still, they defend their illogical claims
with great ferocity. This stems in part from the fact that what
they are defending with such eagerness is based on the ideas of the
majority, rather than on logic or reason.
They
accept society’s general lifestyle and world-view, which they
refer to as “the facts of life,” as the absolute truth and seek
errors and discrepancies in the Qur’an by taking them as a point
of reference. The notions they use as criteria have no actual
scientific or logical worth. The concepts that they assume to be
the absolute truth, “the facts of life” or the requirements of
the modern age, are in fact illusions with which they only deceive
themselves and provide psychological support for one another.
We
are informed, in the Qur’an, of the twisted path of these people,
who gather all their strength from being part of the majority and
think that they are on the right path since they are in harmony
with everyone else:
“If
you obeyed most of those on earth, they would misguide you from
Allah’s Way. They follow nothing but conjecture. They are only
guessing.” (Sura al-An`am: 116)
Courtesy
www.harunyahya.com
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