FASTING AS A FORM OF WORSHIP

FASTING AS A FORM OF WORSHIP Spiritual Training F ASTING as a form of worship, has well laid rules generally known to people. Every year during the month of Ramazan, the details of this worship is communicated to people through writings and speeches. Although the Prophet and his companions fasted for some days every month, the command to fast during the month of Ramazan was revealed in Madinah in 2 A.H. and forms part of the second chapter of the Quran. O believers! Fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you so that you may guard yourself against evil. THE QURAN 2: 183 Fasting has been prescribed in all the revealed religions in every age. When a person fasts, he keeps alive a historical practice, a part of the spiritual life of the faithful in every age. This makes him a part of the universal caravan of the faithful, travelling from this world to the Hereafter under the guidance of the Prophet. The System of Fasting The sighting of the moon on the last evening of the month of Shaban (the eighth month of the lunar calendar) marks the commencement of the month of fasting—Ramazan (the ninth month of the lunar calendar). Sighting the moon is meant to psychologically prepare believers to be ready for the month of fasting. Seeing the moon evokes the feeling that the time has come to revolutionize their lives. The month of fasting, starting from the evening of the 29th of Shaban (the last day of Shaban) is a period of “total activity”—a time of special religious observances. In other months, they could eat and drink anytime, hunger and thirst being their guide, but now ‘principle’ becomes their guide. Fasting is a special training where one is being prepared to lead a principled life—not merely during the month of fasting, but, in fact, for the whole year round.