THE INNER REALITY OF FASTING

Management. Therefore, Roza literally means that every believer, in spite of being filled with desires, leads his life not by following his own whims and doing whatever he feels is correct—be it taking revenge, robbing, cheating indulging in corrupt practices, getting angry or being selfish—because all of these are actually desires; but by leading a life whereby these desires are wilfully managed. The essence of fasting thus is to eschew all evil ways throughout the year. The true fast is that from which one learns a lesson. Also, this is a month during which the Quran should be read and understood. The Quran is specially recited in this month. At night the Quran is also recited during the Tarawih1 prayer. This month has been made special so that the blessings of God may be counted even more. When the Quran is read during the month of its revelation, it reminds us of the time when divine light from heaven fell upon the earth. Man remembers this and calls out, "O Lord, fill my heart with Your divine light and make me among those who are near you". When he reads about Hell and Paradise, his inner self cries out, 'O Lord, save me from Hell, and let me enter Paradise'. The Quran is a reward to His servants from God. And fasting is acknowledgment of the reward. In this way the Quran becomes a guiding force in man’s life. He earns his livelihood according to its dictates. He bathes in the ocean of its life to cleanse his soul. The Quran is a reward to His servants from God. And fasting is acknowledgment of the reward. Through fasting man makes himself worthy of being thankful to God. He obeys the command of God and thus revels in the supremacy of God. Having gone through a month’s fasting, he creates an ability in himself to lead a life of piety as ordained in the Quran. According to the Quran, there are two purposes of fasting: To make one cautious in life. To make one thankful to God. THE QURAN, 2: 183 and 2: 185 Food and drink are man’s most basic necessities. When he is consumed 1. The additional voluntary prayer performed in the month of Ramazan