Questions and Answers

Can a person fast throughout Ramadan but miss out on its spirit entirely? Roza (fasting) has a spirit and a form. Both are equally necessary, but without the inner spirit there is no value of fasting. A teaching of Prophet Muhammad clearly tells us that a person who keeps fasts without observing its spirit, his fasting will be considered insignificant in God’s eyes, as it will be merely hunger and thirst. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 1903) The spirit of fasting is abstinence. Abstinence from food and water for a limited period is symbolic training in self-restraint. Fasting is not a set of rituals. It enables a person to lead a self-disciplined life. Does fasting inculcate any spiritual qualities in us? In the month of Ramadan, a believer abstains from food and drink from dawn till dusk. It is only after sunset that he satisfies his hunger and quenches his thirst. When a person goes through this process, he trains himself in the art of desire management and so builds up his self-control. While fasting, restraint or abstinence does not remain restricted to a person’s intake of food, rather by exercising restraint for one month in a year, he is able to lead a life of self-discipline in all matters for the rest of the year. The practice of fasting is also largely aimed at saving a person from distractions. It produces sincerity in him. It draws a person’s attention away from the external world and into the internal world. This helps him to rise from trivial issues and become more centred on higher and deeper issues of life. How is Ramadan a month of spiritual activism? Ramadan, the month of fasting is a special and blessed month for Muslims. It was in this month that revelations of the Quran began to be made to Prophet Muhammad, marking the commencement of prophethood.