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The Inner Dimensions of Fasting and other related Matters
by Imam Al-Ghazali
It should be known that there are three grades of fasting: ordinary, special and extra-special. Ordinary fasting means abstaining from food, drink and sexual satisfaction.
Special Fasting means keeping one’s ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet — and all other organs — free from sin.
Extra-special Fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but God, 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 day with arrangements for breaking his Fast. Such anxiety stems from lack of trust in the bounty of God, Great and Glorious is He, and from lack of certain faith in His promised sustenance.
To this third degree belong the Prophets, the true awliya and the intimates of God. It does not lend itself to detailed examination in words, as its true nature is better revealed in action. It consists in utmost dedication to God, Great and Glorious is He, to the neglect of everything other than God, Exalted is He. It is bound up with the significance of His words: ‘Say: “Allah (sent it down)”: then leave them to play in their vain discussions.’ [al-An'am, 6:91]
Inward Requirements
As for Special Fasting, this is the kind practiced by the righteous. It means keeping all one’s organs free from sin and six things are required for its accomplishment.
See Not What Displeases God
A chaste regard, restrained from viewing anything that is blameworthy or reprehensible, or that distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance of God, Great and Glorious is He. Said the Prophet, on him be peace: ‘The furtive glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan, on him be God’s curse. Whoever forsakes it for fear of God will receive from Him, Great and Glorious is He, a faith the sweetness of which he will find within his heart.
Jabir relates from Anas that God’s Messenger, on him be peace, said: ‘Five things break a man’s Fast: lying, backbiting, gossiping, perjury and a lustful gaze.’
Speak Not…
Guarding one’s tongue from idle chatter, lying, gossiping, obscenity, rudeness, arguing and controversy; making it observe silence and occupying it with remembrance of God, 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 use foul or foolish talk. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: “I am Fasting, I am Fasting!”‘
According to Tradition: ‘Two women were Fasting during the time of God’s Messenger, on him be peace. They were so fatigued towards the end of the day, from hunger and thirst, that they were on the verge of collapsing. They therefore sent a message to God’s Messenger, on him be peace, requesting permission to break their Fast. 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 God made lawful to them, and have broken their Fast on what God, Exalted is He, made unlawful to them. They sat together and indulged in backbiting, and here is the flesh of the people they maligned!”‘
Hear Not…
Closing one’s ears to everything reprehensible; for everything unlawful to utter is likewise unlawful to listen to. That is why God, Great and Glorious is He, equated the eavesdropper with the profiteer, in His words, Exalted is He: ‘Listeners to falsehood, consumers of illicit gain.’ [al- Ma'idah, 5:42]
God, Great and Glorious is He, also said: ‘Why do their rabbis and priests not forbid them to utter sin and consume unlawful profit?’ [al-Ma'idah, 5:63]
Silence in the face of backbiting is therefore unlawful. God, 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.’
Do Not…
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 Fast like this may be compared to one who builds a castle but demolishes a city. Lawful food injurious in quantity not in quality, so Fasting 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 switch to 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 to induce 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 flesh through backbiting, which is unlawful. Others consider it an allusion to those who do not guard their organs from sin.
Avoid Overeating
Not to over-indulge in lawful food at the time of breaking Fast, to the point of stuffing one’s belly. There is no receptacle more odious to God, Great and Glorious is He, than a belly stuffed full with lawful food. Of what use is the Fast as a means of conquering God’s enemy and 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 during that time than in the course of several other months put together. It is well 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 dormant under normal conditions.
The spirit and secret nature of Fasting is to weaken the forces which 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 one would usually take during the day and night combined. Moreover, one of the properties consists in taking little sleep during the daytime, so that one feels the hunger and 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 (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 represents the night on which something of this Kingdom is revealed. This is what is meant by the words of God, Exalted is He:’We surely revealed it on 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 God, Great and Glorious is He. That is the entire matter, and the starting point of it all is cutting down on food.
Look To God 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 will find favor with God, 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: ‘God, 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 lagged behind and lost. It is absolutely amazing to find anybody laughing and playing about on the day when success attends the victors, and failure the wasters. By God, 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.’ In too full of joy to 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.’ But he replied: ‘By this I am making ready for a long journey, Obedience to God, Glorified is He, is easier to endure than His punishment.’
Such are the inwardly significant meanings of Fasting Source: www.Tasawwuf.org
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There has come to you Ramadaan …
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“There has come to you Ramadaan, a blessed month which Allaah has enjoined you to fast. In it the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed, and the strong devils are chained up. In it there is a night that is better than a thousand months, and whoever is deprived of its goodness is indeed deprived.”
Narrated by Ahmad, 9213; al-Nasaa’i, 2106. classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i, 1992.
"O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) ... "
O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun.
[Observing Saum (fasts)] for a fixed number of days, but if any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number (should be made up) from other days. And as for those who can fast with difficulty, (e.g. an old man), they have (a choice either to fast or) to feed a Miskin (needy person) (for every day). But whoever does good of his own accord, it is better for him. And that you fast is better for you if only you know.
The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the Criterion (between right and wrong). So, whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadan, i.e. is present at his home), he must observe Saum (fasts) that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of days which one did not observe Saum (fasts) must be made up] from other days. Allâh intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allâh [i.e. to say Takbîr (Allahu Akbar: Allah is the Most Great)] for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him.
Ref.: The Noble Qur'aan [Soorah al-Baqarah 183-185]
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Assalam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu my friends
In yesterdays mail (Common mistakes in Ramadan) there was a snippet at the bottom: What is the ruling regarding a Muslim who had not fasted for many years. There was a Fatwa given by Shaikh Uthaymeen, who is a well known and respected scholar. One of my recipients had this to comment on this snippet:
It is a known fact that Qadhaa of missed fasts has to be kept. With repentance, Qadhaa has to be also made.
You have sent out an opinion of certain individuals that it does not have to be kept. You are sending a dangerous message out. Because of this, people will become neglectful.
Their opinion is erroneous and against the ruling of the majority. You should send out a correction immediately.
I sent him a reply in the following words:
Shaikh Uthaymeen is a well known and respected scholar, and he would not have given such a Fatwaa unless he had researched this matter thoroughly and done Ijtihad, based on various authentic hadiths and statements of the Companions of the Prophet. On one extreme, there is a hadith where a person asked the Prophet if he needed to fast for some missed fasts of his father, to which the Prophet asked whether if his father left a debt he would not feel obliged to repay it. This hadith upholds that Qada of fasts missed is to be respected. On the other hand, there is another authentic hadith that states that if a person intentionally missed a fast in the month of Ramadan, even if he fasted the rest of his life, he could never be able to compensate for the fast intentionally missed out. This hadith points out the impossibility of compensating for a missed fast of Ramadan. The only practical possibility that the individual can do is to repent to Allah for his lapses, and it is up to Allah to forgive, based on the sincerity of the individual's repentance. Who are we to question what Allah will, or will not, forgive. All depends on the quality of the repentance.
There may be many other statements and hadiths that Shaikh Uthaymeen would have taken into consideration, and we are not privy to them, but he has chosen to give such a Fatwaa, and since we respect his judgment, we accept his ruling. To accept a Fatwaa and live on it is not wrong. but if one's Taqwa dictates that not only should repentance be there, Qada too should be done to atone for the missed fasts, that is up to the individual. But that may put undue burden on the individual, and Islam is not a religion of burdensome rituals. Allah looks to the repentance of the person, whether it is genuine or not, and it is His prerogative whether to forgive or not.
The person in such an unfortunate situation may not be wrong in following this Fatwaa, as it is backed by research by Shaikh Uthaymeen, the quality of which you and I may be unaware of. It is easy to point holes, but we need to remember that such people as Shaikh Uthaymeen are highly conscientious, and would not make such an elementary error, thus making valid such Fatwaas. If we wish to, we can investigate what caused Shaikh Uthaymeen to give such a Fatwaa, but that basically will/should not take away anything from the quality of his pronouncement.
I hope I have been of help here in clarifying what may appear to you as something preposterous.
He replied thus:
The Shaykh has not furnished any evidence in his ruling whereas the Imams of the four Madhabs are unanimous on this issue. He being well known is not proof enough to accept his verdict which happens to be contrary to the senior jurists. The Jurists were also aware of the two Hadeeth you cited, but still issued a verdict of Qadhaa. This ruling will make people lax in keeping fast with this in mind that we will not have to keep it later, repentance will suffice. Even the Qur’aan mentions ‘Ayyaamin Ukhar’. Also, there is no need for new Ijtihaad on a Mas’alah which has been established by the Salaf.
I am putting everything before you to be aware of this situation, as I am always transparent with you all, and I cannot afford not to be, as this is not something I should suppress.
Please take note of the situation in this particular matter.
Wassalam. Adam.
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