Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Pillars of Islam | Spirit of Ramadan
The commencement of Ramadan is marked by the 9th month of the Hijri calendar. Roza, the term for fasting, is kept for one full month. Roza begins at dawn (Sehri) during which people consume food and water and after which they are not to partake of any of this for the rest of the day till the roza breaks at dusk (Iftaar). This schedule has to be followed for the entire month of Ramadan. According to the Quran, there are two purposes of fasting: One, to make one cautious in life and two, to make one thankful to God (The Quran, 2:183, 185).
Food and drink is man’s most basic necessity. When he is consumed by hunger and thirst, he sees how weak he really is; he realizes how much he is in need of the succour of God. It is when man experiences this helplessness made manifest during the times when he feels hunger and thirst, that his true self meets God. Thus, it is the discovery of the real benefactor that brings along with it immense pleasure and satisfaction. This experience makes him aware of his duties as God’s humble servant. This feeling leads to caution in life. Then in the evening, when he eats and drinks, he sees how God has made complete provision for his needs. His heart is filled with gratitude. He praises God and offers thanks to Him.
Fasting is therefore an opportunity or the meeting point between man and God. This meeting point is the last stage of helplessness, which makes you realize that God is all-powerful, and man is helpless. Fasting awakens in man the feeling of acknowledgement and gratefulness to God. The temporary deprivation of food and water stresses the importance of these things as divine blessings. It reminds man that all he has is from God, who is the supreme and all-powerful and one day all would be taken away from him. Man is here for a test. It breaks one’s arrogance and stubbornness. Fasting makes man realize the reality of life, that is, his helplessness. Man is cut to size. It creates a practical situation when one prays truly from the heart knowing how completely he is dependent on God. Such prayers connect him with the Almighty.
There is, however, much more to fasting than the caution and gratitude induced by the purely outward, physical forms of abstention. It’s greater significance lies in its symbolism of an inner, spiritual eagerness to make all kinds of sacrifices.
Obviously, one who refrains from taking food and water on specific days, but who goes throughout his life without any qualm about telling lies, persecuting his fellow men, thwarting justice, and so on, has missed the whole point of the fast of Ramadan. He has concerned himself all along with outward forms and not with inner realities. Such a man cannot expect to find favour in the eyes of his fellow men and will certainly incur the wrath of God, his Maker.
One who fasts in all sincerity takes care to cast his entire life in the one consistent mould. In all of his affairs, he applies the constraints laid down by God. He checks himself from abusing others, stays his hand from persecution and halts in his steps towards injustice. As the Prophet said, “Such a man can be likened to a tied-up horse which can go only as far as its rope permits: in that way, he cannot transgress.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 11335)