FASTING AND THE VALUE OF FOOD
Abstinence from food and
drink from dawn to sunset and the consequent experience of the pangs of hunger
and thirst impresses upon the consciousness of the believer the value of food
and drink. Food and drink or sustenance is not a thing to be taken- for granted,
not a thing to be wasted. Rather it is providence (rizq) and hence sacred. The
spirituality generated during the long day of fasting invests the food and
drink with which the fast is broken with what can most appropriately be termed 'sacramental value'.
Respect for food and drink in
turn protects one from the abuse of food and drink - as well as over-indulgence
in either or both.
That the world is in need of
proper respect for food is demonstrated year after year in some of the most affluent
countries in the world where food is destroyed in order to prevent prices from tumbling
in a market which is flooded.
Even among Muslims the
respect for food is now sometimes lacking a thing unknown in the past in
Islamic civilizations. The writer recalls with horror the spectacle of Arab
students dining in the common hall of the Karachi University students hostels
and, upon the completion of their meal, wiping their hands clean with the soft
flat bread which was prepared for their meals.
To Be Continued ....
