Fasting in Islam – Laws and Linkages
T he compulsory fast of Islam is to be observed during Ayyam M’aduda (a
fixed period of time):
“[fasting] is during a certain
specific number of days…”
(Qur’an, al-Baqarah 2:184)
and the Qur’an identifies this fixed
time as the lunar month of Ramadhan in the Hijri calendar:
“It was the month of Ramadhan in
which the Qur’an was [first] bestowed from on high …. Hence, whoever of you
lives to see this month shall fast throughout it ….”
(Qur’an, al-Baqarah 2:185)
The compulsory fast commences when the
new crescent moon of Ramadhan is visible, or when the month of Shaban (which precedes Ramadhan) has completed its thirtieth day, whichever is first. The
fast is observed daily from dawn to sunset. During this time one must refrain
from eating or drinking anything. One must also refrain from sexual intercourse.
After the sun has set and the daily fast has ended, one may partake of food and
drink, and may engage in sexual relations. The month-long fast ends when the
new crescent moon of Shawwal is visible or the month of Ramadhan has completed its thirtieth day, whichever is first.
In the very process of instituting
fasting with an imperishable link with the lunar month – a span of time determined
by nature – of which Allah Most High is the author, the Qur’an provides a
built-in mechanism in religion which safeguards against the process of the
secularization of time.
The Qur’an itself claims that it was
revealed in the month of Ramadhan, and this was so momentous an occasion
that the believers were required to fast for the entire month in order to show
their gratitude to Allah Most High. And so Islam forged an imperishable link
between the revealed scripture (the Qur’an) and fasting. Now this is a matter
of great importance for, as we have already noted, the goal of fasting is Taqwa and Taqwa ‘reaches’ Allah Most High.
The Qur’an, on the other hand, is an unbroken link between man and Allah Most
High. It is the Word of Allah Most High and hence possesses the Divine quality
of uncreated eternity. Yet it exists in a living human language (Arabic) and is
thus readily accessible. The Qur’an is, therefore, a rope from Allah by holding
on to which man can either ascend to Allah, or be drawn to Allah:
“And hold fast, all together, unto
the rope of Allah, and do not draw apart from one another…”
(Qur’an, ale-’Imran, 3:103)
In the secular society the fast of Ramadhan plays the strategically important role of restoring the
consciousness of the existence of the unseen world and of the revelations which
have been sent from that world as guidance for mankind. Once such Divine
revelations are accepted by man, he is obliged to submit to them.
We are also informed that the Qur’an
was revealed (or sent down) on a single night in Ramadhan,
namely the ‘grand night’ or the ‘night of power’ (Lailatul Qadr). Now this is a matter of tremendous
importance. Ramadhan is the month of the compulsory fast,
and Ramadhan is also the month in which is located the night when the
Qur’an was revealed. That night is the night of power. There is, therefore, a clear link
between fasting and power, a link determined by Allah Most High Himself
Who chose Ramadhan for the compulsory month-long fast.
Our view is that the power of that holy night is actually
spiritual power. And Allah Knows best!.
Historically, however, it is clear that
the Qur’an actually reached the Prophet (through the medium of the archangel Gabriel)
in bits and pieces over a period of twenty-three years. The explanation for
this appearance of contradiction is that when Allah said that He sent down the
Qur’an in Ramadhan, what He meant was that the Qur’an was
sent down to the lowest heaven (al-Sama al-Dunya) in Ramadhan during the “night of power.”
Indeed, it still exists there where its verses (ayah) adorn the lowest heaven as lamps:
“And, indeed, We have adorned the Sama nearest to the
earth with lights…” (a Sama is a world
of space and time that is located beyond/beside/parallel to the material
universe)
(Qur’an, al-Mulk, 67:5)
Like all the other revealed scriptures,
the Qur’an is described as a light from
Allah Most High and therefore each verse of the Qur’an is a “light”:
“Believe then, [O men,] in Allah and
His Apostle, and in the light [of revelation] which We have bestowed [on you]
from on high! And Allah is fully aware of all that you do.”
(Qur’an, al-Taghabun, 64:8)
It was, therefore, from the lowest
heaven that the angel Gabriel brought the Qur’an piecemeal to the heart of the Prophet
(sallalahu ta‘alah ‘alaihi wa Sallam) over a period of twenty-three years. The first revelation came to
the Prophet (sallalahu ta‘alah ‘alaihi wa Sallam) on the ‘night
of power’ when he was
meditating in the Cave of Hira! Allah Most High chose to give to the
night of the first revelation the name ‘night of power’. He could have named it the night of ‘Truth’, or of ‘Peace’, or
of ‘Deen.’ He did not! Since He named it the ‘night of power’, the implication is that the Qur’an
contains within it that through which power can
be acquired! We thus have linkages between fasting and power, and between the Qur’an and power i.e., spiritual power!
In the establishment of a direct link
between the month-long compulsory fast of Ramadhan and
the continuous recitation and study of the revealed scripture (Qur’an),
religion has, in fact, reached a stage in its development never reached before.
No other religious community was ordered to fast for as long a period as one
month of every year. Nor was fasting so organically linked to the recitation of
the revealed scripture in any previous religious community*. Not only do
Muslims recite the Qur’an while fasting but, in addition, they perform during the
nights of Ramadhan, the prayers of the “night vigil” (Qiyam al-Lail or Tarawih) in which the
entire Qur’an is sometimes recited. This recitation, like all others in Salat, is always performed in the original
Arabic text of the Qur’an.
[*Muslims,
indeed, are so fond of reciting the Qur’an while fasting that the writer was
amazed when, as a young student just arrived in Cairo, he found so many people
reciting the Qur’an while traveling in crowded buses to work in the mornings of
Ramadhan. Some, in fact, were standing in those packed buses with one hand
clasping the Qur’an and the other holding the rail.]
Although the Qur’an recognized that
other religious scriptures also possess “light” (Qur’an, al-Ma’ida, 5:47-49), and hence can be used in conjunction with fasting for
achieving spiritual mobility, a major problem exists since people are seldom in
a position to recite their scriptures in the original language in which they
were revealed, and in which language alone they possess ‘light’. Such
scriptures no longer exist in their original language, and when they do, the
language is either dead or archaic and hence not readily accessible to the
believing masses. Only a very tiny fraction of Christians today have ever read
the Hebrew Bible, for example.
In a very real sense, the Qur’an is,
perhaps, the only revealed scripture which is readily accessible today to the overwhelming
majority of those who believe in it, accessible, that is, in the original
language and text in which it was revealed. This supports the claim of the book
to be the revealed Word of the One and only God!
To Be Continued ....
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