Bismillah: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful
On
Saturday or Sunday, Muslims will begin fasting for the month of Ramdhan. From
predawn until after sunset, Muslims will refrain from food, drink and conjugal relations, and engage in additional acts of
worship. Across the world, this month is eagerly anticipated, and its end is experienced with sadness.
Ramadhan IS about hunger. But it is not about the hunger of the body, despite the
stomach’s growling and the coffee cravings of the first few days. It is about the hunger of our souls. Most days, we
function to appease our bodies - working to shelter, feed, clothe and please them. The five daily prayers of a Muslim interrupt
that focus on our bodies, and return it to the focus on our spiritual destiny and our relationship with our Creator. Ramadhan
takes this to a whole new level. For one glorious month, we discipline our consumptive selves to uplift our souls.
The Quraan
teaches us: “Oh you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you so that you may achieve Taqwa.” Taqwa
is one of those terms that has no English equivalent; it describes the consciousness of God that a believer strives for in
all that he does, fearing His disapproval and of losing intimacy with Him through acts of heedlessness or wilful disobedience,
all the while hoping for His Mercy. Those who have taqwa are described as “those who believe in the Unseen, and
establish the Prayer and they spend out from that which We have sustained them … they are those who are on Guidance
and they are the successful ones.” While we cannot x-ray the heart of another to judge their taqwa, we are told
that it is by taqwa, and only taqwa, that God honours His servants.
Ramadhan
– the month in which the doors of the heavens are wide open - is a training ground for taqwa, with its mandatory
fasts by day and additional prayers at night. Very few things can alert one to the hunger of those less privileged than the
hunger pangs in one’s own belly. Believers are encouraged to find ways to feed others; for those who have very little
themselves, even a date or a sip of water given to another brings innumerable blessings.
But the fast is not limited merely to the belly: the heart fasts by turning away from the love of worldly pleasures
and by learning to give from that which we love; the mind fasts from thoughts that distract one from our Lord; should the
tongue not refrain from backbiting, the fast is rendered worthless. The Prophet Muhammed
(peace and blessings be upon him) taught that God has no need for the hunger and thirst of someone who hurts others, violates
their dignity and usurps their rights.
The
flip side of taqwa is sin. We build taqwa by fasting and refraining from that which is normally permissible:
eating, drinking, and conjugal relations. By disciplining ourselves in appeasing our bodies with that which is lawful, we
strengthen our resolve to refrain from that which is unlawful and sinful. We also learn patience: to monitor every action
for its sincerity, to respond to trials by persevering, to need by giving.
The reward
of taqwa is the love of God. And that is certainly something to hunger for.
Umm Zakariya
Gardee
(Courtesy
of Standard Freeholder, September 23, 2006)
