Questions and Answers

Patience enables the individual to lead a successful life in this world by keeping his negative feelings under control. Negative feelings, it must be remembered, present the greatest obstacle to human progress. Fasting is the pious way to solve the biggest of human problems. How is Ramadan the month of supplication? While giving commands regarding fasting, the Quran makes special mention of supplication, or dua. “When my servants ask you about Me, say that I am near. I respond to the call of one who calls, whenever he calls to Me: let them then respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided.” (The Quran, 2:186) Fasting by its very nature is an act of patience. Patience and forbearance are what lead man to the state of the heart which enables him to experience the feeling of nearness to God. It is only then that the words worthy of divine acceptance come to one’s lips. Patience is the ground on which the blessed tree of dua is grown. Dua is not just a verbal act. In its essence, it is an act of the heart. This is the relation between fasting and dua. Fasting increases the spiritual capability of a man’s heart and when this capability increases, the dua which ensues is genuine, heartfelt and more precious. Real fasting is that which induces real dua. How is Ramadan a month of sympathy? The Prophet said: The month of Ramadan is the month of sympathy. (Shu’abul Iman, Hadith No. 3336) Fasting teaches a man what basic human requirements are. It tells him what hunger is and what thirst is. Those who do not get a chance to feel hungry or thirsty, experience these feelings during this month when they fast. For a few hours, the rich also come to live in the same conditions in which a poor man lives.