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4
Sawm(fasting
in the month of Ramadaan)
Fasting is a practice common to many religious
traditions. The Quran alludes to that fact in the
verse that prescribed fasting upon the Muslims:
“O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you
as it was prescribed for those before you, that you
might achieve piety.”1
Jews
fast on Yom Kippur, one day a year. They also have
other scattered fasts of less importance. Although
Jesus fasted (And he fasted forty days and forty
nights and afterward he was hungry;2),
fasting is no longer a part of the
religious practice of most Christians.
Restricting food intake is also a part of many secular
ways of life, but the goal of such practices is very
different from the goal of fasting in Islam. Some
people, who are concerned with "natural living" and
holistic health, fast to purify the body of toxins. In
these fasts, solid foods are eliminated, but the
person may drink water or juice. The most widespread
Western form of restricting food intake is dieting.
The only real goal of this practice to reduce weight.
Most dieters are women. Their motive is to look as
much as possible like models and actresses held up as
the ideals of beauty in a steady barrage of movies, TV
shows and advertisements. The more extreme forms of
this state of mind are anorexia and bulemia. This
obsession with outer appearance is the very opposite
of the Islamic goal in fasting.
The
above-mentioned verse has made clear the goal of
Islamic fasting: “…that you might achieve piety.”
The word taqwaa, translated as piety,
is derived from a word meaning “protective
shield.” The Qur’an repeatedly promises that those who
achieve taqwaa will gain the good of this life
and the Hereafter. When the Prophet’s companion 'Umar
was asked to explain the meaning of taqwaa,
he illustrated it with a metaphor: A man trying to
walk through a field of thickly planted thorn bushes
holds his clothes close to his body and maneuvers
carefully to avoid tearing his clothes and skin. A
person who achieves taqwaa is in a state of
constant awareness of God. He thinks about how to
please God by doing good and guarding against evil.
In
Islamic fasting, no food, drink or intercourse is
allowed from the first light of dawn until sunset
during the entire lunar month of Ramadaan.
These actions are permitted during the night. People
who are temporarily sick or traveling may break their
fasts, but they must make up the days they missed.
Menstruating women and women bleeding after childbirth
are not permitted to fast, and they must make up the
days they missed. People with chronic illnesses should
feed a poor person for each day they miss, and they do
not have to make the missed days. Scholars agree that
pregnant women and breastfeeding women who fear for
their own health or the health of their children may
forego fasting as long as their conditions persist.
Scholars differ whether they must make up the missed
days or feed a poor person; in other words: are they
to be considered like someone with a temporary or a
chronic condition? Two of the major scholars among the
Companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
considered them to be like people with chronic
conditions, who need only feed the poor.
Fasting reduces one’s desires. It trains a person in
self-restraint. He becomes accustomed to keeping a
watch on himself. If one can forgo what is normally
lawful for a limited amount of time, one should be
able to forgo what is always unlawful. It shifts the
focus of one’s attention from bodily needs to
spiritual needs. This focus is complemented in Ramadaan
by the exhortation to spend more time reading Quran
and praying extra prayers. For the fast to be
rewarded, refraining from food and drink must also be
accompanied by refraining from unlawful acts. Prophet
Muhammad said, “Whoever does not abandon
falsehood in word and deed, Allah has no need for him
to leave his food and drink.”3
Proper fasting causes the stomach to shrink. When one
breaks the fast at sunset, one cannot eat as much food
as one normally would in a meal during the rest of the
year. A light meal should also be taken toward the end
of the night to prevent fasting from becoming very
difficult. When these guidelines are followed, fasting
cleanses the body and the soul. Some weight is lost.
One frequently experiences a great feeling of serenity
while fasting. Feeling the pangs of hunger should also
make a person empathize with those who feel hungry not
as a matter of choice but because they can’t find
enough to eat. Thus Ramadaan becomes a month of
giving charity as well as fasting.
Many
Muslims fast in a way that technically qualifies as
fasting, but in reality achieves none of the goals of
fasting. They gorge themselves at sunset on delicacies
that no one bothers to prepare the rest of the year.
Instead of praying extra prayers they play cards or
engage in less wholesome diversions and snack and
drink throughout the night before gorging themselves
once again just before the dawn. Then they crawl into
their beds like a python that has just swallowed a
whole sheep. They may or may not pray the dawn prayer.
They may wake up at noon. Some of them only wake
shortly before sunset, just in time to prepare
themselves for another night of festivities.
Fasting is obligatory on healthy, adult Muslims only
in Ramadaan. However, there are a number of
other days when it is recommended, such as three days
at the middle of each month and every Monday and
Thursday. Regular fasting helps to maintain the state
of mind achieved in Ramadaan
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