The Fasting: A blessing touch to the minds

As we know, the forth fundamental of Islam is to fast every day of the month of Ramadan. Fasting is called in Arabic ‘Sawm’. Sawm means to protect something against something else. In Islam, Sawm means to protect oneself against three things (during the days) of the month of Ramadan, as they were commented by Allah: eating, drinking and sexual intercourse.  

 

In the month of fasting, all believers are soaring in to the pinnacle of self fulfillment. The fasting, which arriving each year, makes the life of believer pure and conscious of the eventual aim of human life. Once, the holy Messenger said that the fasting is a buckler. This buckler protects him from the impediments and entangling in expressing one’s slavery and sincerity. It also stands as an offence against the evil powers which push him in to the deep well of disobedience and arrogance. In fact, the fasting is a sort of self control. It controls the free rambling of the five senses of the human beings. In addition, it is a panacea for controlling their internal powers. Most strongly the holy Quran has rebuked that one’s eyes, ears and minds must be questioned before the Almighty. While turning the wheels of his life, the believer, without understanding the prominence of above mentioned verse, might go astray at many juncture. Because, in some wretched moments, he losses his control on his own body parts like his eyes, ears, tongue, hands and legs and it leads him in to the dangerous situations. 

It is an all-known truth that the accidents might not be happened from the drivers who are very cautious on the vehicle’s law. Really, the main cause to the most of accidents is the negligence of drivers. In Sufis’ view, man is like a vehicle and his soul is its driver. In this modern world, the man drives his body carelessly enjoying the perishable comforts of the material life. Here, the fasting comes to make him ready for recovering his real personal entity and mends his body, the vehicle, from all sorts of defects got by the evil influence of his whims and fancies. In the month of fasting, a believer, abstaining from all sins, keeps silent and becomes quiet. Protecting his five senses from over-enthusiasm and avarice, he leads them in to the peaceful valley of virtue and calmness. Hence, his body becomes purified and minds glorified. A Hadith can be seen in the Hadith book Bukhari: “the Almighty doesn’t have any need of one’s abstaining from food and drinks unless he ends his unnecessary comments and actions”. Avoiding merely food and drinks, one cannot perform the fasting. 

The intention behind the fasting, with which a man can abstain from food and drinks, is to control the evil touching of all devils. If we control our food system, we will succeed in controlling the wandering of our five senses. If so, the devils will fail to control our doings. For, they can control our doings only by capturing our five senses. The fasting controls our senses more perfectly. That is why; it causes to prevent the entering of most cursed devils in to our minds. The fasting saves from the eternal calamity. But, it doesn’t bestow this blessing upon those who are negligent towards the nobleness of this holy month. 

In this context, we recall the Prophetic Hadith addressed by the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) to his Companions on the last day of Sha`ban: “O people! A great month has come; a blessed month in which is a night better than a thousand months; a month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month), shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time; and whoever performs an obligatory deed in (this month), shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Paradise . It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer’s sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Hell-Fire, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished at all. (Ibn Khuzaymah)