Questions and Answers

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Can you give us an understanding of fasting in modern equivalent terms? Yes. Fasting is for personality and intellectual development. It could be best described as learning the art of desire management. In fact, not understanding Islamic teachings in an intellectual way and only using the traditional explanations have led to practicing the religion only in its outer form with the absence of spirit. This spiritless worship is the cause of the rise of a culture which is not the Islam as preached by the Prophet and as followed by him and his Companions. How does fasting help us to connect with God and pray to Him? Fasting helps to lessen a person’s dependence on material things and strengthen his spiritual resolve, so that he may enter the higher realms of piety. Fasting is thus a stimulus for spiritual and intellectual development. When one fasts one becomes aware of his one’s own helplessness. Roza 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. This helps him to connect with God with sincere prayer. What is the special relation between the Quran and fasting during Ramadan? The Quran states, “The month of Ramadan is the month when the Quran was sent down as guidance for mankind with clear proofs and criterion by which to distinguish right from wrong.” (2:185) This shows the close link between the month of Ramadan and Quran. The Quran is a reward to His servants from God and fasting is acknowledgement of the reward. Through fasting man makes himself worthy of being thankful to God.