Allah(swt) has prescribed fasting for Muslims and other monothestic faiths due to its many benefits. Material pleasures can be generalised into food and drink, sexual pleasures, and vanity. Fasting requires abstaining from these, going against the natural instinct of Man to observe the commandment of God. This builds the concept of No to our desires and Yes to the will of Almighty God. Other benefits of fasting include:
*Fasting instills patience, teaches self control and discipline.
*Fasting increases compassion for the less fortunate.
*Fasting builds focus on spirituality and deminishes focus on materialism.
*Fasting has many health benefits.
*Fasting can be atonement for sin and can earn great reward.
*Fasting is part of a strong spiritual and physical renewal plan.
*Fasting commemorates important sacred religious events.
Saum means "stop" and "halt" to anything such as going, talking, eating, etc.
In the month of Ramadhan we have made a covenant with Allah that at the sighting of the new moon beginning the month of Ramadhan, we shall obey him and follow nature to the end of the lunar month. Every prayer that the Muslims do is in accordance with nature and lunar movement. Our system is following the law of nature, in that the night brings sleep, the sun gives energy and action, and the weather effects our system and our mood.
"Oh you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may learn self restraint." Quran Sura 2, Aya 183.
The ninth Islamic month is called Ramadhan and fasting is prescribed in that month. We follow the movement of the moon as the frame of our action or as the length of our fasting. (From the sighting of the new moon until the next new moon is sighted.)
We must follow the movements of the earth and the sun for the start and stop of our fasting duties. By Fajr (Dawn) the fasting starts, until the time dusk falls; then we follow our normal Islamic lifestyle.
Every dusk we come to is called Iftar which implies moving towards self and nature. The movement of the month is towards Eid-ul-Fitr : returning to nature, our system of being, or what our life is composed of and within this month we come to our evaluation or night of power.
Fasting brings our life into total submission and complete surrender to the law of the Creator. Every part of the day we feel the hunger and thirst only for obedience to Allah, in addition to the mental and physical cleansing which one receives.
The hardships which one undertakes for his loved ones are hard and difficult but they are also sweet and pleasant. While fasting, even though we carry the hardship of thirst and hunger in the heat of the long summer days, it is pleasant because we obey our loved one, and there is no love greater than the love for our Creator. A love that puts man and his whole family and everything else in the battle front for His pleasure, for being obedient to Him. What love could be higher than the love for the Creator?
Your physical sexual life is forbidden while fasting, so you feel the spiritual love for the Creator. You prevent your personal desires, such as eating, drinking, having sex; so you sacrifice self for the love of Allah.
When His love comes to the heart of man, no place is left for any other love. One feels; how red is my blood so I can bring it to Him as a rose flower and how warm is my blood to give it in His way to achieve His pleasure.
If man does not realize the blessed month of Ramadhan and does not achieve the understanding of Laylatul Qadr night of evaluation, how could he find his goal in life and that his owner is Allah? In our awakening of predawn (Sohoor), in our prayer of dawn, and during the fasting in the day and every prayer, we go to Him. We follow these actions until we reach our Eid-UlFitr. So we come to our return towards our system of being, then we pay a price of one meal to the needy in our society with the feeling that: O people, I shared your effort in my life, you may share a meal with me.
What I write may be accepted as a beginning and a drop from the ocean of wisdom and the order of the Creator. But what He wants us to do is exactly what we should do.
We are a part of this universe, therefore, it is only appropriate and fair to follow the laws of creation. According to the movement of the earth and the sun, we begin fasting. Every sunset is called Iftar a moving toward nature. Our aim is "EidUl Fitr" or return to our nature and our system of being. What was our nature that we should return to it? Our nature is to follow the captain of the boat if we are in the ocean, we have no choice. We should follow his orders since we are under his command. In our life so we have any other choice but to breathe and fulfill the need of our sustenance. Then who is the provider of these means but Allah. We are in his kingdom and we should follow His command. This was our covenant with our Creator at the beginning. As the Holy Quran says in Sura 36, Aya 60:
"Did you not promise, oh you children of Adam, that you shall not worship satan. He is the clear enemy of yours."
To follow satan is to go against the laws of nature. Satan became a negative force in man's system of being and only with mankind, not with the rest of the creation. He was an angel that did not follow the laws of the Creator. Angels are moving forces in the universe, all obedient to Allah. When man was created with all of his abilities, one of his abilities was negative or "satanic" and against his own law of safety. Before the creation of man, there was no disobedience.
Creating man with evil within his system caused the comparison of right with wrong and truth with falsehood. The aactions of a drunk and his irresponsible performance enlighten us with an understanding of who not to be like and thus the rejection of intoxication. The misery of drug addicts or prostitutes will enable us to choose not to be like them. Man is able to choose the best way in achieving Allah's pleasure and man's choice is developed in stages in comparisons of actions by others. For this reason some of us are the enemies of the others. As stated in Sura 2, Aya 36:
" But the shaitan made them both fall from it and caused them to depart from that (state) in which they were; and we said: Get forth, some of you being the enemies of others."
When we recognize truth from Quran then we reject falsehood of evildoers, the struggle and battle of truth and falsehood generates until man will become victorious in following the constitution of Allah on earth and evil will be defeated ( in being the enemies of each other), yet remain active until the day of judgement.
Allah mentions in the Holy Quran that he created the firmament and kept it away from the disturbance of Satan. Every action in nature performs perfectly under the command of Allah except the human action, the actions that are in control of man. Since man is not able to change any revelation and revolution in the universal movement, the action will remain undisturbed by any negative force, as in Sura 37, Aya 6:
" We have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars and to preserve against every rebel satan."
Man needs to be reminded of his way, continuously. He is called the highest in creation if he follows the laws, and lower than the animals in his disobedience to Allah. Every year we move toward our nature "EidUl Fitr." We work toward adapting ourselves to be what we are supposed to be, that is, to control our selfish desires which are destructive to man. We, like animals, need food, water, shelter and sex. It is natural and the only way to survive. However, in this month, we will be tested on our ability to control our natural desires. So if there are any unnatural desires, they become controlled automatically. We learn how to control our desires and our behavior, so that "self" may be replaced by "Allah's law."
The awakening from the darkness of ignorance and selfishness just as we awaken every pre-dawn with His order, so that we may rise up against any injustice that is keeping us ignorant and in the darkness of unawareness.
Every evening is one step closer towards the means of our system of being(fitrat), as we make iftar, which means moving toward the means of our system of being, until we are in the last ten days of the month of Ramadhan. The days that angels are encouraging man to move in the right direction. The time is getting closer to recognizing ourselves, to evaluating our work - the time of evaluation, "Qadr" or ability, power, from the depth of darkness of "lower than animals" to the highest in creation, from the darkness of unawareness to the dawn of reality, we work for this achievement. We follow the law of nature so the darkness of unawareness, the night of evaluation, that has connected us to the Creator, to be the follower of Allah's law, to gain the power of positive force, the night of power will be manifested to us.
A sparkle of truth generates in the darkness of life, the attention moves toward the sparkle. The actions are directed toward that light as a lost thirsty man in the vast desert is directed to any sign of water, any image of a well, a tree, any evidence of life catches his attention. Now the move is only toward that sign. All the attention is directed toward that savior, that solution which has been sought. Now that the direction is determined, the movement is only toward that direction. The closer we move, the more clearly the sign of solution is evident. Now that it is found, we are no longer wandering around. The aim is known, the direction is spotted, our movement and our attention are only in that direction.
"From Allah we came, toward Allah is our return ."
Quran, Sura2, Aya 156.
Now evil can't mislead us again. Now that the truth has come, falsehood has disappeared. Allah has given man the power of recognition. He sees the truth, then falsehood is no longer acceptable to him.
When man was created, the angels asked Allah why he was creating a man who would kill, destroy and use his negative forces, while they (angels) were following his way exactly. Allah says: I know what you don't know." Allah knows man moves in his unawareness, but when the truth shows itself, then man follows that truth.
And say
"when the truth has come, and falsehood disappeared, for falsehood is (and by its nature) bound to fade away."
Quran, Sura 17, Aya 81.
The law of safety (Islam) is already present in nature, in the creation, in this system of being. It has to become noticeable to mankind. When he sees it, he will recognize it. The totality of the Holy Quran has been in nature (fitrat) from the beginning. The laws are complete and perfect. Then the prophet (peace be upon him) received it totally on that night of power and gradually within 23 years it was revealed. Man became worthy of receiving the message of the Quran that was compiled on that special night of power. This system of perfection became reasonable to man, from the highest part of the firmament to humanity on the small planet earth.
In Sura5, Aya 3, Allah says:
"Today I have completed for you your religion and completed my favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your aim(Religion)."
Islam began when the first element in the creation was created and submitted itself. This great law and revelation that had been perfect in that darkness of selfishness brings you into light, that is the night of power (evaluation). The Holy Quran says In Sura 97, Aya 1:
"We have indeed revealed this in the night of evaluation." It may be the totality of understanding the system and the law of nature that is Islam. The example that may be given is that when looking for a solution to a problem, suddenly the solution comes to mind totally, then it can be broken to steps and times. The Quran as the total solution to man's problems was revealed over a period of 23 years.
It is called the night of evaluation so man is in darkness in search of the truth. When the truth comes to man in the night of power, no one can tell what night it may be. It is the result of how sincere we have been in our obedience to our creator.
My understanding and yours may not be the same. I may reach "Layla Tul Qadr" (night of evaluation) sooner than you on the 21st day. I may be slow in thinking , then I feel and recognize it on the 23rd or 25th or 27th. I may not be able to get the message, then perhaps during the next Ramadhan. No one can tell which night is the night of power. Then Allah says:
"And what made you understand what is the night of evaluation."
That tells us the night of evaluation is not too easy to understand. Every place in the Holy Quran, when this sentence appears: (And what made you understand ), it is news of understanding which demands hard work or hard thinking.
It is that night that you find your direction. You save yourself from self destruction. Lost in the desert and wandering aimlessly, you recognize a point of direction. Then that moment of self recognition, that moment of finding the direction is better than a whole life of aimless wandering.
"The night of evaluation (power) is better than one thousand months."
Quran, Sura 97, Aya 5.
One thousand months or 83 years and 4 months of unawareness, Satanic life, life of being non-Islamic and being without aim (Allah).
Compared with now that the truth is recognized, the direction is determined and life has a new movement and new meaning. His forces and actions are used only for his aim, for the truth that was shown to him in the same direction as Allah's will.
Quran, Sura 97, Aya 4.
"Therein come down the angel and the spirit by Allah's permission in every errand."
Our actions and our direction and anything we do from now on is with the command of our Creator. "By Allah's permission is every errand." Before the recognition of evaluation, we were the slave of our desire, the slave of unawareness, the slave of my mind and action. But then we become the servant of Lord of Creation, our effort is in pleasing Allah only. We serve Allah's way only, our actions are put to work only if he permits us to do so. We are ready to be the light through that first sparkle of light.
"Submission - this until the rise of the morn."
Quran, Sura 97, Aya 5.
Salaamon means submission to the safety of being. In that submission if there is no "Satan" then there is peace. One of the forces or actions of man is "Satan" that did not bow to the creation of man, or to the totality of the system of peace, Evil became active within man only. Therefore, man will never have peace as long as Satan is active and that is until the day of judgement. Man's duty becomes submission, or Islam, by rejecting the negative and disobedient forces, by continuing Jehad until the achievement of the Islamic state on the earth of Allah and the acceptance of the Holy Quran as an active constitution of man.
This battle of falsehood and truth will remain with man till death. It is the battle that started when the first sparkle of light came into our mind. We were headed toward the truth. To find the truth is to leave the falsehood. To achieve the truth is to fight the falsehood. From the depth of darkness of falsehood on that night of evaluation of ourselves, the words of "There is no God but Allah" become meaningful and rejection blooms in man's own system. The more we reject falsehood, the better and more clearly the truth shows itself. From that darkness, action against evil begins. The more we reject falsehood, the better and more clearly the truth shows itself. From that darkness, action against evil begins. The aim becomes felt in the heart and seen in the mind. In that darkness Jehad is the light of our way, the struggle between truth and falsehood, Allah and Satan. All the actions become centered on achieving the goal. The light of Jehad brings us to the path of truth and connects us to the dawn of the morn, to awareness and self recognition. Now we have the power of capturing the evil of our own system. If in this Jehad we succeed, we will have accomplished the order of Allah in this life. If we die for the cause of Allah the blood from our veins will bring the flow of a new struggle, and we shall be rewarded in the day of judgement.
This movement will never stop and every year the night of power and evaluation brings man to his "return to self realization" in Eid Ul-Fitr, so the system of submission remains active as Islam is the religion of action. In the Quran, fasting is mentioned 12 more times with other pronouns.
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