Okarvi

Friday, March 7, 2025

Ramazan first jummah

THE WISDOM BEHIND FASTING

There are reasons and wisdom behind every single act in Islaam, no matter how small. It is possible to know the wisdom behind some acts, and for others we may never know. Salaat, for instance, is a daily training for purifying the believer and reminding him or her that he/she is a member in a community of believers. Fasting, on the other hand, is an annual institution containing all conceivable attributes for human excellence. It is a training for the body and soul, a renewal of life, encouraging the spirit of sharing and giving.

Self-Restraint (Taqwaa)

Allaah Kareem states: "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that you may (learn) self-restraint." (Al-Qur'aan, 2:183)

This verse indicates the first lesson or wisdom to be gained in fasting is Taqwa (self-restraint or the conscious of Allaah Almight. That is to say, fasting instills in the heart the essence of consciousness of the Creator, moral courage both in secret and manifest, guiding the heart, the seat of emotion from spoilage and moral indecency.

Fasting instills taqwaa or conscious of Allaah Kareem, and does so by controlling two aspects of the human body, which are the root causes of human downfall, namely the stomach and the private parts. The human body is constructed with the need to please the two of them and, in the process, man transgresses the rights of others, fellow human beings, and the commandments of Allaah Kareem are violated. By Fasting one raises the level of taqwa, thereby the person avoids the sins, which are detrimental to life itself.

Ramadan :The month of Blessings

Fasting a Universal Institution of the Religions of the Worlds

Fasting is a universal institution in as much as all the religions of the world. It is reported in Tafseer e Kabeer that fasting was compulsory on all the previous nations, from the nation of Hazrat Aadam [Alaiehis-Salaam] to the nation of Hazrat Ieesaa [Alaiehis-Salaam]

It has been practiced in different cultures around the world, from the Babylonians to the Incas, the Confucians, Jains, the Zoroaster Romans, the Babylonians, Assyrians followers of Hinduism, Confucius they have all practiced it. The philosophers, cynic, Stoic, Pythagorean or Neo-Platonic, left advice for fast. Great religious personalities throughout history have adopted fasting as the principal method of self-discipline.

Before the advent of Islaam, the institution of fasting was well established among the Christians and Jews living at that time.

Hazrat Nabi Moosaa [Alaiehis-Salaam] prepared himself to receive revelation from Almighty Allaah after forty days of fasting. The Jews observed an annual fast on the Day of Atonement in commemoration of the descent of Prophet [Moosaa [Alaiehis Salaam] from Mountain Sinai.

Fasting on the day of Ashooraah (10th Muharram) was compulsory for the nation of Hazrat Moosaa [Alaiehis-Salaam]

Hazrat Nabi Ieesaa [Alaiehis-Salaam] fasted for forty days in the desert and commanded his followers to fast.

Leaving the message that fasting and self control opens the door to a deeper, more intimate, more powerful relationship with God [Allaah Almighty].