CHAPTER l
INTRODUCTION
This booklet, on the subject of
fasting in Islam, comprises four sections. In the first section we discuss the
basic objective of the institution of fasting in Islam as one of the
development of 'values'. We argue the point that values are an indispensable
foundation of 'power'. In the second section we seek to explain the linkages
which exist between fasting, on the one hand, and such specific values as
charity, chastity, and freedom, on the other. In the third section there is an
attempt to demonstrate a certain chronological sequence through which the
compulsory fast in Islam can lead the believer to spiritual or religious experiences.
We then proceed to demonstrate
the link which must always exist between moral and spiritual values, or between
morality and religion and, hence, between religion and power. And finally, in
the fourth section we examine the effect of fasting on the physical body and on
physical health. Physical health and strength are a vital requirement,
materially and psychologically, for the development of power.
Some of the analysis presented
in this booklet is derived from a series of lectures on fasting in Islam which
were first delivered in numerous mosques in Trinidad, in the West Indies,
during the month of Ramadan in 1984, and subsequently repeated in other parts of
the world, including New York. The power dimension of fasting was developed
during Ramadan 1993 and was articulated during my Islamic lecture tour of Malaysia
and Singapore in the summer of 1993.
We must enter a note of warning
concerning the increasing number of secularized Muslims emerging in our midst
who are either careless or indifferent with regards to the fast of Ramadan, or who
do not consider it necessary to observe the fast at all. That phenomenon, which
is far advanced in Trinidad, is also present here in the United States of America,
and is now emerging in Singapore and Malaysia (a region of the world which I
have been privileged to visit seven times in the last ten years).
Such Muslims should understand,
before it is too late, that it is in the nature of the secular society to
dilute, to weaken, and to eventually render irrelevant, the distinction between
'Truth' (Al- Haqq) and 'Falsehood' (Al-Batii), between that which
is 'Permitted by Allah' (Al-Halal) and that which is 'Prohibited by
Allah' (Al-Haram), between conduct which is virtuous (Al- Maaruf) and
conduct which is sinful (Al-Munkar). Without being fully aware of it,
the secularized Muslim eventually lives a life which is in no way moulded and
conditioned by the rewards of heaven (Al-Jannah) and the punishments of
hell (Jahannam). Indeed, secu1arized Muslims eventually lose
consciousness of what is 'sin'.
In the secular society it is not
the Word of Allah which is the measure of all things. Rather man, himself,
positions himself at the centre of his universe, and he becomes the measure of all things.
He determines what is right and what is wrong. His reason sits in judgment on
anything which claims to be the Word of God. And when the Word of God does not
appear to conform to man's rational predilections, then the Word of God must
either be rejected or, worse, subjected to a progressive interpretation! This
is called the secularization of religion. And this is the terrible fate which
has befallen Judaism and Christianity in the U.S.A. It was inevitable for them
because they had distorted the revealed Truth. It is inexcusable for Muslims
because the revealed Truth in the Qur'an is protected by Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) Himself. And the basic understanding
of that Truth is located in the explanations provided by the Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam), in his personal example (sunnah), and the model of a sacred
society which he created!
In order to protect themselves
from being completely absorbed and integrated into the new sophisticated secular
Jahiliyah (i.e. Ignorance of Truth revealed by Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah)), such
secularized Muslims should make haste to learn the lesson that Islam presents
to humanity: an alternative model of life and of society, a model which is a rival
to today's secular model. Islam's model is the 'sacred' model. In the sacred
model this world acquires meaning only with reference to that 'transcendental'
world from which emerges Al-Haqq, Al-Halal and Al-Maaruf When we understand how this world relates to that world then this
world, also, becomes sacred. Life becomes ‘sacred’. And through fasting we
enhance our state of harmony with the sacred life and the sacred world! The
sacred life is a life which is lived for the purpose of pleasing Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah)!
I pray that the reader may
benefit from the information and analysis presented here and, in particular,
that secularized Muslims who have stopped fasting may be persuaded to return to
the life of the sacred and to the institution of fasting which does so much to remind us of the unseen world and to fortify us with the values which come from that
unseen world. Without values the only future mankind can expect is one of unhappiness
and frustration, and tragedy after tragedy!
May I Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) accept
our humble service in the cause of His Revealed Truth - Truth which can bring
peace and contentment, fulfillment and success to human existence. Ameen!
To Be Continued ....
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