FASTING AS A FORM OF WORSHIP
Spiritual Training
FASTING as a form of worship, has well laid rules generally known to people. Every year during the month of Ramazan, the details of this worship is communicated to people through writings and speeches.
Although the Prophet and his companions fasted for some days every month, the command to fast during the month of Ramazan was revealed in Madinah in 2 A.H. and forms part of the second chapter of the Quran.
O believers! Fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for
those before you so that you may guard yourself against evil. THE QURAN 2: 183
Fasting has been prescribed in all the revealed religions in every age. When a person fasts, he keeps alive a historical practice, a part of the spiritual life of the faithful in every age. This makes him a part of the universal caravan of the faithful, travelling from this world to the Hereafter under the guidance of the Prophet.
The System of Fasting
The sighting of the moon on the last evening of the month of Shaban (the eighth month of the lunar calendar) marks the commencement of the month of fasting—Ramazan (the ninth month of the lunar calendar).
Fasting is a special training where one is being prepared to
lead a principled life—not merely during the month of fasting,
but, in fact, for the whole year round.
Sighting the moon is meant to psychologically prepare believers to be ready for the month of fasting. Seeing the moon evokes the feeling that the time has come to revolutionize their lives.
The month of fasting, starting from the evening of the 29th of Shaban (the last day of Shaban) is a period of “total activity”—a time of special religious observances. In other months, they could eat and drink anytime, hunger and thirst being their guide, but now ‘principle’ becomes their guide.
Fasting is a special training to help distinguish between what is allowed and forbidden—a preparation to lead a principled life—not merely during the month of fasting but for the whole year round.
Before commencing the fast, the intention (niyyah) to keep the fast must be expressed. The Prophet observed: “A fast should be kept by one who has expressed his intention to do so before dawn.
” Fasting is a conscious act not a mere ritual. It is performed with full consciousness of its implications—the mark of a truly religious person. Sehri is the meal eaten before commencing the fast. The Prophet asked his companions to eat Sehri, calling this a blessing. The Prophet invited a companion to partake of Sehri saying “Have the blessed Sehri.” Another companion says, “Once I went to the Prophet before dawn and he was eating Sehri.” The Prophet observed: “Sehri is a blessing bestowed on you by God, so you should partake of it.
” Eating Sehri before dawn is a reminder that when God gives us a difficult command, He also grants some concessions along with it. Together with the command of fasting God gives the concession of Sehri. Any commandment of God, however difficult, requires absolute trust in Him.
Fasting gives a strong powerful lesson that you
have to abstain from all the things God has
forbidden you, however much it may go against your wishes.
Routine daily activities go on but in a state of fasting; the difference being that the same activities are now conducted with a new frame of mind. The one who fasts now performs prayers, studies the Quran, remembers God, and deals with people during the course of the day. These routine activities are performed with a spiritual state of mind, giving them the status of spiritual acts.
Sunset is the time for breaking the fast. As he does so, he thanks God with the following words of prayer used by the Prophet:
“May the Lord be thanked and praised with Whose help I was
able to fast, and now I am breaking the fast with the food and
drink that He has provided. May God accept it. He is the All
Hearing, the All Knowing.”
This prayer expresses the feelings that surge within a believer while breaking his fast.
Abstaining from food and drink during the month of Ramazan is aimed to awaken the ‘sawm spirit’ of the believer. Sawm means abstinence. Food and drink are two of man’s basic necessities. These are the last things one should be asked to abstain from. Asking a person to abstain from them is like giving a strong and powerful message that you have to abstain from all the things God has forbidden you, much as this may go against your wishes.
There are many Ahadith (plural of Hadith—words of the Prophet) highlighting the importance of the spirit of fasting. According to a Hadith, God does not accept the fast of one who does not desist from lying and dishonest practices. A fast which is devoid of the sawm spirit will not be acceptable to God or be rewarded.
Another Hadith tells us that, ‘The fasting person if abused or provoked should not retaliate. True fasting acts as a shield for evils. God will shield such a person from hellfire’. This Hadith tells us that fasting saves us from negative psychology, inculcates positive thinking and enables one to stay calm even when provoked. Faced with evil, one should return good for evil.
God does not accept the fast of one who does not
desist from lying and dishonest practices.
One of the special features of Ramazan is the ‘Lailatul Qadr’. It means the ‘Night of Decisions’. God takes decisions on this night. This night falls on one of the last ten nights of Ramazan. Great importance is attached to this night and the Quran calls it ‘better than a thousand months’.
Flocks of angels descend on the earth on this night, producing a heightened spiritual atmosphere. This enhances the spirituality of the people and adds more value to their worship.
Once Aisha (the wife of the Prophet), asked the Prophet as to how she should pray during Lailatul Qadr. The Prophet gave this prayer:
“O God, You are the forgiver, You love to forgive Your servants,
so You forgive me”.
The greatest thing to ask God is forgiveness. It is forgiveness which leads one to eternal Paradise.
This in essence, is the spirit of Ramazan.