FASTING FOR GRATITUDE AND PENITENCE

The month of fasting is a period of spiritual purification. A time of proximity to the Lord, it is a special month of training meant to engender all those qualities desirable in Islam. The Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say in the chapter on fasting:

“The month of Ramadan in Islam is observed as a period of penitence and total fasting from dawn to dusk. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume IV. p. 62)

Penitence, undoubtedly an important part of Islam, so permeates the entire Islamic system that no Islamic act, including fasting, is devoid of this spirit.

While enjoining fasting, in the following verses, the Quran tells us that its special significance in the month of Ramadan is developing gratitude as well as penitence:

“Believers, fasting has been prescribed for you, just as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard yourself against evil. … so that you may glorify Him for His having guided you and so that you may be grateful to Him.” (The Quran, 2:183, 185)

It was in the month of Ramadan that the first revelations of the Quranic verses came down to the Prophet. It was a great blessing of God that He revealed this guidance in the form of the Quran so that it might be a true guide for man. That is why this month came to be held as one of developing feelings of gratitude for the believers.

Taqwa or a God-fearing life means a cautious life. Success for man in both worlds lies in his invariably adopting the path of caution in all matters of life. It is taqwa, a guarded, disciplined life of penitence that is the goal of fasting.

Fasting, an experience of powerlessness despite the possession of power is an annual exercise in self-discipline. And only that person has fasted, in the true sense of the word, who emerges from the experience not only a grateful and pious devotee of God Almighty but also a human being in complete control of his thoughts, words and deeds.