FASTING IN ISLAM - THE LINK WITH JUDAISM
Ramadan is the month of spiritual
retreat for Muslims. They are permitted to eat and drink until the break of dawn
and must abstain from food, drink and sex until sunset. (Qur'an, 2:187)
Prior to the revelation of the
Qur'anic verses relating to fasting, it would appear that the Muslims fasted
without taking an early morning meal. Ibn Abbas has commented on those Qur'anic
verses as follows:
"When the people offered
the night prayer, they were asked to abstain from food and drink and
(intercourse with) women. They kept fast till the next night."
[Sunan AbuDaud, Kitab al-Siyam]
This was the way that the Jews
and Christians fasted,. for the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) has said: "The difference
between our fasting and that of the recipients of previous scriptures (Jews and
Christians being specifically referred to) is eating shortly before dawn."
[Mishkat al-Masabih, Kitab al-Siyam.]
The fact that the Muslims
fasted the way Christians and Jews fasted is not only indicative of the
original Islamic attitude towards Christianity and Judaism but, also, provides
invaluable evidence of how Christians and Jews fasted in those early days.
With the revelation of the new shari'ah
(sacred law) the Muslims were now required to fast from dawn to sunset for
the entire month of Ramadan. The change from the previous law of fasting to the
new (as well as other such changes) is referred to in the Qur'an as 'Naskh' (abrogation
or supercession):
"We do not abrogate any
Ayah (revelation) or cause it to
be forgotten but (that) We (replace it) with that which is superior to it or
similar to it".
(Qur 'an, 2: 106)
No verse of the Qur'an itself
was ever abrogated. Abrogation was always with reference to previous
revelations. Secondly, even when a shari'ah was abrogated for the
Muslims, it still remained
operationally valid for those
on whom it was enforced, until, of course, they chose to enter into the Ummah of
Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa
sallam).
To Be Continued ....
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