Ramadan Articles - The Inner Dimensions of Fasting

Three Grades
It should be known that there are three grades of Fasting: ordinary,
special and extra-special.
*.Ordinary Fastingmeans abstaining from food, drink and sexual satisfaction.
*.Special Fastingmeans keeping one's ears, eyes, tongue, hands and
feet -- and all otherorgans -- free from sin.
*.Extra-special Fastingmeans fasting of the heart from unworthy
concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everythingbut
Allah, Great and Glorious is He. This kind of Fast is broken by
thinking of worldly matters, except for those conducive to religious
ends, since these constitute provision for the Hereafter and are not
of this lower world. Those versed in the spiritual life of the heart
have even said that a sin is recorded against one who concerns himself
all daywith arrangements for breaking his Fast. Such anxiety stems
from lack of trust in the bounty ofAllah, Great and Glorious is He,
and fromlack of certain faith in His promised sustenance.
To this third degree belong the Prophets, the true awliya and the
intimates of Allah. It does not lend itself to detailed examination
inwords, as its true nature is better revealed in action. It consists
in utmost dedication to Allah, Great and Glorious is He, to the
neglect of everything other than Allah, Exalted is He. It is bound up
with the significance of His words: 'Say: "Allah (sentit down)": then
leave them to play in their vain discussions.' [al-An'am,6:91]
Inward Requirements
As forSpecial Fasting, thisis the kind practiced by the righteous. It
means keeping all one's organs free from sin and six things are
required for its accomplishment:
1. See Not What Displeases Allah
A chaste regard, restrained from viewing anything that is blameworthy
or reprehensible, or that distracts the heart and diverts it from the
remembrance of Allah, Great and Glorious is He. Said the Prophet, on
him be peace:
"The furtive glance is oneof the poisoned arrows of Satan, on him be
Allah's curse. Whoever forsakes it for fear of Allah will receive from
Him, Great and Glorious isHe, a faith the sweetness of which he will
find within his heart."
Jabir relates from Anas that Allah's Messenger, onhim be peace, said:
"Five things break a man's Fast: lying, backbiting, gossiping, perjury
and a lustful gaze."
2. Speak Not What Displeases Allah
Guarding one's tongue from idle chatter, lying, gossiping, obscenity,
rudeness, arguing and controversy; making (the tongue) observe silence
and occupying it with remembrance of Allah, Great and Glorious is He,
and with recitation of Quran. This is the fasting of the tongue. Said
Sufyan: 'Backbiting annuls the Fast.' Layth quotes Mujahid as
saying:'Two habits annul Fasting: backbiting and telling lies.' The
Prophet, on him be peace, said:
"Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is Fasting he should not
usefoul or foolish talk. If someone attacks him or insults him, let
him say: "Iam Fasting, I am Fasting!"'
According to Tradition:"Two women were Fastingduring the time of
Allah's Messenger, on him be peace. They were so fatigued towards the
endof the day, from hunger and thirst that they were on the verge of
collapsing. They therefore sent a message to Allah's Messenger, on him
be peace, requestingpermission to break theirFast. In response, the
Prophet, on him be peace, sent them a bowl and said:"Tell them to
vomit into it what they have eaten."One of them vomited and half
filled the bowl with fresh blood and tender meat, while the other
brought up the same so that they filled it between them. The onlookers
were astonished. Then the Prophet, on him be peace, said:"These two
women have been Fasting from what Allah made lawful to them, andhave
broken their Fast onwhat Allah, Exalted is He, made unlawful to them.
They sat together and indulged in backbiting, and here is the flesh of
the people they maligned!"'
3. Hear Not What Displeases Allah
Closing one's ears to everything reprehensible; for everything
unlawful to utter is likewise unlawfulto listen to. That is why Allah,
Great and Glorious is He, equated the eavesdropper with the profiteer,
in His words, Exalted is He:"Listeners tofalsehood, consumers of
illicit gain."[al-Ma'idah, 5:42] Allah, Great and Glorious is He, also
said:"Why do their rabbis and priests not forbid them toutter sin and
consume unlawful profit?"[al-Ma'idah, 5:63] Silence in the face of
backbiting is therefore unlawful. Allah, Exalted is He, said:"You are
then just like them."[al-Nisa, 4:140] That is why the Prophet, on him
be peace, said:"The backbiter and his listener are copartners in sin."
4. Do Not What DispleasesAllah
Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin: the hands and feet
from reprehensible deeds, and the stomach from questionable food at
the time for breaking Fast. It is meaningless to Fast -- to abstain
from lawful food - only to break one's Fast on what is unlawful. A man
who Fasts like this may be compared to one who builds a castle but
demolishes a city. Lawful food is injurious in quantity not in
quality, soFasting is to reduce the former. A person might well give
up excessive use of medicine, from fear of ill effects, but he would
be a fool to switchto taking poison. The unlawful is a poison deadly
to religion, while the lawful is a medicine, beneficial in small doses
but harmful in excess. The object of Fasting is toinduce moderation.
Said the Prophet, on him be peace:"How many of those who Fast get
nothing from it but hunger and thirst!"This has been taken to mean
those who break their Fast on unlawful food. Some say it refers to
those who abstain from lawful food, but break their Fast on human
fleshthrough backbiting, which is unlawful. Others consider it an
allusion to those who do not guard their organs from sin.
5. Avoid Overeating
Not to over-indulge in lawful food at the time ofbreaking Fast, to the
point of stuffing one's belly. There is no receptacle more odious to
Allah, Great and Glorious is He, than a belly stuffed full with lawful
food. Of what use is the Fast as a means of conquering Allah's
enemyand abating appetite, if at the time of breaking it one not only
makes up for all one has missed during the daytime, but perhaps also
indulges in a variety of extra foods? It has even become the custom to
stock up for Ramadan with all kinds of foodstuffs, so that more is
consumed duringthat time than in the course of several other months
put together. It iswell known that the object of Fasting is to
experience hunger and to check desire, in order to reinforce the soul
in piety. If the stomach is starved from early morning till evening,
so that its appetite is aroused and its craving intensified, and it is
then offered delicacies and allowed to eat its fill, its taste for
pleasure is increased and its force exaggerated; passions are
activated which would have lain dormantunder normal conditions.The
spirit and secret nature of Fasting is to weaken the forces that are
Satan's means of leading us back to evil. It is therefore essential to
cut down one's intake to what one would consume on a normal night,
when not Fasting. No benefit is derived from the Fast if one consumes
as much as onewould usually take during the day and night combined.
Moreover, oneof the properties consists in taking little sleep during
the daytime, so that one feels the hungerand thirst and becomes
conscious of the weakening of one's powers, with the consequent
purification of the heart. One should let a certain degree of weakness
carry over into the night, making it easier to perform the night
Prayers (tahajjud) and to recite the praises (awrad). It may then be
that Satan will not hover around one's heart, and that one will behold
the Kingdom of Heaven. The Night of Destiny (Laylat al-Qadr)
represents the night on which something of this Kingdom is revealed.
Thisis what is meant by the words of Allah, Exalted is He:"We surely
revealed iton the Night of Power."[al-Qadr, 97:1] Anyone who puts a
bag of food between his heart and his breast becomes blind to this
revelation. Nor is keeping the stomach empty sufficient to remove the
veil, unless one also empties the mind of everything but Allah, Great
and Glorious is He. That is the entire matter, and the starting point
of it all is cutting down on food.
6. Look to Allah with Fear and Hope
After the Fast has been broken, the heart should swing like a pendulum
between fear and hope. For one does not know if one's Fast will be
accepted, so that one willfind favor with Allah, or whether it will be
rejected, leaving one among those He abhors. This is how one should be
at the end of any act of worship one performs.It is related of
al-Hasan ibn Abil Hasan al-Basri that he once passed by a group of
people who were laughing merrily. He said: "Allah, Great and Glorious
is He, has made the month of Ramadan a racecourse, on which His
creatures compete in His worship. Some have come in first and won,
while others have laggedbehind and lost. It is absolutely amazing to
find anybody laughing and playing about on theday when success
attendsthe victors, and failure the wasters. By Allah, if the veil
were lifted off, the doer of good would surely be preoccupied with his
good works and the evildoer with his evil deeds. I am too full of
joyto indulge in idle sport, while for one who has suffered rejection
laughter will be precluded by remorse."
Of al-Ahnaf ibn Qays it is reported that he was once told: "You are an
aged elder; Fasting would enfeeble you." Buthe replied: "By this I am
making ready for a long journey: Obedience to Allah, Glorified is He,
is easier to endure than His punishment." Such are the inwardly
significant meanings of Fasting.