WELCOME, O RAMADAN!
Ramadan is a month of intense celebration of our culture and heritage which transcend borders. It is a heritage beyond anyone else’s. Whatever a Muslim’s frailties and faults, it is expected that if were he to reach the month of Ramadan, the abundance of Allah’s afwa and rahma (forgiveness and mercy) will suffice him. The […]
Ramadan is a month of intense celebration of our culture and heritage which transcend borders. It is a heritage beyond anyone else’s. Whatever a Muslim’s frailties and faults, it is expected that if were he to reach the month of Ramadan, the abundance of Allah’s afwa and rahma (forgiveness and mercy) will suffice him. The Prophet of Islam Muhammad, in a Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira and recorded by Bukhari, has said, “Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards, then all his past [minor] sins will be forgiven.”
Today, we shall discuss Ramadan from the perspective of two of Islam’s most famous contemporary scholars, Sayyid Abul A’ala Maududi (‘The Real Purpose of Fasting’ excerpted from from his book “Let Us Be Muslims”), and Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (from his book ‘Ihya’ Uloom ad-Deen’, translated as ‘Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship’ by Mukhtar Holland).
We start with Maududi who begins with ‘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 the 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 from 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 then 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 realising 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 fulfilled the requirements of eating’, he surmises. Naturally he has himself to suffer the penalty of harbouring 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 and is diffused into the whole body, the vitality of life cannot be obtained.” So as there is purpose for even eating, so there is purpose for the higher act of Fasting.
Taking on from there, al-Ghazali writes that: “It should be known that there are three grades of Fasting: ordinary, special and extra-special. Ordinary Fasting means abstaining from the prohibited things during fasting; Special Fasting means keeping one’s ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet, etc, free from sin; while Extra-special Fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but Allah, Great and Glorious is He.
“This kind of Fast – extra-special – is broken by thinking of worldly matters, except for those conducive to religious ends, since these constitute provision for the Hereafter and are not of this lower world. Those versed in the spiritual life of the heart have even said that a sin is recorded against one who concerns himself all day with arrangements for breaking his Fast. Such anxiety stems from lack of trust in the bounty of Allah, Great and Glorious is He, and from lack of certain faith in His promised sustenance.
“To this third degree belong the Prophets, the true awliya and the intimates of Allah. It does not lend itself to detailed examination in words, as its true nature is better revealed in action. It consists in utmost dedication to Allah, Great and Glorious is He, to the neglect of everything other than Allah, Exalted is He. It is bound up with the significance of His words: ‘Say: ‘Allah (sent it down): then leave them to play in their vain discussions.’ [al-An’am,6:91]”
For Maududi, the Real Goals of Fasting include: Abstention from Lying;
Faith and Self-Scrutiny; Shield for Protection from Sins; Temptation of Goodness; and Reward for Providing ‘Iftar’. On the other hand, Al-Ghazali’s Inward Requirements for Special Fasting include: See Not What Displeases Allah; Speak Not What Displeases Allah; Hear Not What Displeases Allah; Do Not What Displeases Allah; Avoid Overeating; and Look to Allah with Fear and Hope.
Finally, now that it is soon to be Ramadan, let us visit our famous humorist-scholar Mullah Nasruddin. It is reported that during the month of Ramadan, Nasruddin had a habit of keeping track of the days of the fast by placing a pebble in a jar for each day he would fast. Unknown to him, his young daughter had noticed this strange custom and, thinking she was helping him, began to gather pebbles and placing them in the jar herself.
One day, the neighbors asked him: ‘How many more days are there left till the end of Ramadan, Shaikh?’ ‘Well, I am not sure how many days are left,’ he replied, ‘but I am well aware of how many days have passed, I have devised my own system to keep track of the days in Ramadan. I will check and let you know!’
Nasruddin then promptly went in and began to count the pebbles in the jar, only to realize that there were over one hundred and twenty pebbles. Thinking to himself: ‘If I go out and tell them this number, I will become the laughing stock of the town, it is best that I reduce it drastically and go on from there, in fact I will just tell them that forty days have passed!’
So Nasrudin walked out and proudly announced to his neighbors that: ‘As of today, forty days of the holy month have passed.’ The neighbors replied, What are you saying, Shaikh? There cannot be more than thirty days of Ramadan.’ ‘What is wrong with you people?!!!’ retorted the Mullah indignantly, ‘don’t you know that the month is much longer for those who actually observe the true fast?!!!’