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| Inner Dimensions of Fasting Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali Translated from the Ihya' Ulom ud Din by Muhtar Holland Three Grades 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: 1. 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.' 2. 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!"' 3. 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: God, Great and Glorious is He, also said: 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.' 4. 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. 5. 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 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 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. 6. 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:
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