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By Sirajuddin Aziz
Even before the advent of Islam, it was customary for Arabs to devote a certain period of
the year to exclusive worship and prayer. Muhammad Hussein Heykal in his biography of the
Prophet (peace be upon him) has referred to this tradition as, "the Arabs annual retreat".
He states that much before the revelations, the Prophet would each year spend the whole of
Ramazan in the cave of Mount Hira, devoting himself uninterruptedly to his spiritual pursuits
in peace, solitude and tranquillity.
The sacred month of Ramazan is in fact an annual invitation to delinquents to shed evil
ways and put on the garb of humility. The Holy Quran states, "O ye who believe! Fasting is
prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may ward off
evil" (2:183).
The regulations pertaining to Ramazan in Chapter II of the Holy Quran are coupled
repeatedly with the emphasis on two aspects: facilities and concessions given in respect of
fasting and the spiritual significance of fasting.
The verse i.e. II: 187, that follows the ordinance about Ramazan, is of particular
significance to the concept of self-denial and offers limitless assurances to those who fast,
"when My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them). I listen to the
prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me..."
According to a tradition, the Prophet said, "Verily, a month of blessing has come to you...
Allah has made obligatory the fast of it on you. The doors of paradise are opened during it,
while the doors of hell are closed.
Satan is put in fetters. There is a night in it, which is better than one thousand months.
Whoever is deprived of the goodness of it is really a deprived person."
Thus fasting has been enjoined and made incumbent upon every Muslim adult but with the
condition that he must be fit physically for it. A sick person, one who is travelling, an old
person and one who finds the severity of fast hard to bear on account of age or other
infirmities are exempt. But for the sick and the traveller this is a temporary exemption, they
have to complete the period on other days. "And whosoever of you is sick or on a journey
let him fast the same number of other days." (2:185).
Yusuf Ali, in his commentary on the Holy Quran, writes, "Illness and journey must not be
interpreted in an elastic sense; they must be such as to cause pain and sufferings."
On the other hand, Allah does not wish to burden the man who has permanent infirmity. For
such a person the Quran states: "And for those who cannot afford it there is ransom, the
It is on this night that God's decree for the year are brought down on the earthly plane.
"And angels and the spirit descend therein, by the permission of their Lord, with all
decrees."(97.4).
"The Night of Power is better than a thousand months." That is how this verse is interpreted
"A thousand nights must be taken in a very indefinite sense as denoting a very long period
of time. One moment of enlightenment under God's light is better than a thousand
months/years of animal life and such a moment of enlightenment translates into a period of
spiritual glory."
The Holy Prophet said about al-Qadr that whosoever rises up for vigil and prayers during the
night of al-Qadr with faith, and in hope of recompense, will have all his previous sins
forgiven.
The most significant aspect of "fasting" is the reformation of the "self" through a conscious
management of the "self". It is this process, which is to receive our utmost attention, while
we engage in fasting.
If this objective is not achieved, then fasting would be a ritual without a purpose. The object
is to make our behaviour symbolic of the virtues attending to fasting such as mercy,
generosity, truthfulness, endurance, patience and fortitude.
We should not defeat and outrage the primary teaching underlying this fundamental
injunction of Islam, because in the final analysis, fasting erases from the believing soul
every evil, it perfects and liberates the human spirit and directs it towards common welfare,
thus helping in the establishment of a righteous and stable society.