Why do Muslims Fast?

Often when we are home in the U.S. people ask us about Islam, or ask us to recommend a good book about Islam. So, we have started posting periodically on various aspects of the Islamic faith. We will try as best we can to explain things from an Islamic perspective, using Islamic sources exclusively, with our own experiences added in when appropriate to highlight how what is written about Islam manifests itself in Jordan. In honor of this being the month of Ramadan, we started with two previous posts describing this most important month, and continue today.

Ramadan can be a long month for Muslims, especially in the heat of the long days of summer. The entire month runs on a different schedule, with some shops closed for hours at a time and the work day of many people completely rearranged. Government offices in Jordan, for example, are open only from 10 to 3 during Ramadan. In my own conversations with Muslims, I have been told many times that not being able to smoke for all those hours is the most difficult aspect of the month. Water usually comes next. Yes, Muslims believe that God has commanded this fast, and provided the various meritorious acts we discussed in a previous post. But what do they believe about why they fast? What is its purpose? Below are several quotations that deal with the purpose of fasting.

Muhammad Asad (1900-1992) was an Austrian born Muslim convert from Judaism who became a very important 20^th century commentator, even being given Pakistani citizenship in the late 1940s and helping in the formation of that country after its formation out of separation from India. He believed the fast was designed by God to teach Muslims to empathize with the poor: that by denying themselves food and drink for a time, Muslims would better understand what people who can't always afford to eat on a regular basis go through. He also believed the fast helped teach Muslims self-discipline. These convictions on the purpose of the Ramadan fast are fairly representative, and I have heard from others especially about the idea of instilling empathy with the poor. Said Asad:

Twofold I learned, is the purpose of this month of fasting. One has to abstain from food and drink in order to feel in one’s body what the poor and hungry feel: thus social responsibility is being hammered into human consciousness as a religious postulate. The other purpose of fasting during Ramadan is self-discipline, an aspect of individual morality strongly accentuated in all Islamic teachings (as, for instance, in the total prohibition of all intoxicants, which Islam regards as too easy an avenue of escape from consciousness and responsibility).  In these two elements—brotherhood of man and individual self-discipline—I began to discern the outline of Islam’s ethical outlook.

Ibn Kathir is an 8th Century scholar from Syria. He wrote an exegesis of the Qur'an that is famous still all across the Muslim world, and among Muslims generally wherever they live. His explanation for fasting during Ramadan focused on the spiritual aspects, saying that it helps to get rid of the impurities that lead to sinful behavior.

In an address to the believers of this Ummah, God ordered them to fast, that is, to abstain from food, drink and sexual activity with the intention of doing so sincerely for God the Exalted alone. This is because fasting purifies the souls and cleanses them from the evil that might mix with them and their ill behavior. God mentioned that He has ordained fasting for Muslims just as He ordained it for those before them, they being an example for them in that, so they should vigorously perform this obligation more obediently than the previous nations.

The Egyptian Mahmoud Shaltout (1893-1963) was the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the most prominent center  of Arabic and Islamic learning in the world, an institution of higher learning which was founded in the late 10th Century. His thoughts echo those of Asad above, namely that the Ramadan fast is meant to inculcate within Muslims self-discipline and empathy with the poor. Although Asad mentions it too, Shalout adds more explicitly that this empathy is supposed to then lead to concrete action on the part of a Muslim as well.

Fasting is the means by which the Muslim voluntarily abandons certain legitimate frivolous enjoyments as a means of putting his soul to a test and promoting its capacity for perseverance, thus strengthening his will to keep away from sins, both obvious and obscure.  The Muslim thereby samples enough of starvation to make him a warm-hearted, hospitable person, sympathetic with the poor who are in constant want. This is precisely the spirit Islam endeavors to create in the Muslim’s heart and mind by requiring fasting as a mode of worship. Therefore, Islam attaches no significance to the kind of fasting that does not inspire this great humanitarian spirit, and a person fasting for any other purpose has nothing to gain except hunger and thirst.

Finally, the month of Ramadan is seen by Muslims to be a month of great blessing and forgiveness. According to Abul Ala Mawdudi (1903-1979), an Indian-born thinker who had a major influence on the political Islam of today, "during Ramadan evil conceals itself while good comes to the fore and the whole atmosphere is filled with piety and purity." Shops and homes advertise these attributes with signs and decorations, like the grocery store near our apartment that drapes a colorful banner over the main walkway every year that says: "Ramadan, the month of blessing and forgiveness." Many Muslims--regardless of how they are feeling that day without their usual food and drink, and maybe sometimes regardless of whether or not they fully mean it at the time--will comment about these attributes. It is a time of denial of physical needs and extra focus on God, with acts that are required and other acts that are not required but meritorious in nature, meant to encourage this extra focus. Two statements attributed to Muhammad illustrate this.

When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.

Whoever established prayers on the night of Qadr (The Night of Power) out of sincere faith and hoping for a reward from God, then all his previous sins will be forgiven; and whoever fasts in the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping for a reward from God, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.

As the statement above indicates, Muslims believe a successful Ramadan fast brings with it complete forgiveness of all the sins of the previous year. This is the forgiveness mentioned in the banner at the grocery store, this is one of the reasons the month is seen as such a blessing. It is a month that takes care of what has gone on during all the previous eleven. To make this point, Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi, a 12^th century scholar from Baghdad and one of the most productive writers in Islamic history, used the familiar story of Joseph (Yusuf in Arabic)--found in the Qur'an as well as the Bible, with some differences in details--being sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt.

The Likeness of Ramadan and Prophet Yusuf

The month of Ramadan to the other months is like Yusuf to his brothers. So, just like Yusuf was the most beloved son to Ya'qub (Jacob), Ramadan is the most beloved month to God. 

A nice point for the nation of Muhammad to ponder over is that if Yusuf had the mercy and compassion to say [to his brothers] 'there is no reproach for you today…', Ramadan is the month of mercy, blessing, goodness, salvation from the Fire, and Forgiveness from the King that exceeds that of all the other months and what can be gained from their days and nights.

Another nice point to think about is that Yusuf's brothers came to rely on him to fix their mistakes after all those they had made. So, he met them with kindness and helped them out, and he fed them while they were hungry and allowed them to return, and he told his servants: 'Carry their belongings with you so that they don’t lose them.' So, one person filled the gaps of eleven others, and the month of Ramadan is likewise one month that fills the gaps of our actions over the other eleven months.  Imagine the gaps and shortcomings and deficiency we have in obeying God! We hope that in Ramadan, we are able to make up for our shortcomings in the other months, to rectify our mistakes, and to cap it off with happiness and firmness on the Rope of the Forgiving King. 

Another point is that Ya'qub had eleven sons who were living with him and whose actions he would see at all times, and his eyesight did not return because of any of their clothing. Instead, it returned due to Yusuf's shirt. His eyesight came back strong, and he himself became strong after he was weak, and seeing after he was blind. Likewise, if the sinner smells the scents of Ramadan, sits with those who remind him of God, recites the Qur'an, befriends on the condition of Islam and faith, and avoids backbiting and vain talk, he will (by God's Will) become forgiven after he was a sinner, he will become close after he was far, he will be able to see with his heart after it was blind, his presence will be met with happiness after it was met with repulsion, he will be met with mercy after he was met with disdain, he will be provided for without limit or effort on his part, he will be guided for his entire life, he will have his soul dragged out with ease and smoothness when he dies, he will be blessed with Forgiveness when he meets God, and he will be granted the best levels in the Gardens of Paradise.

So, by God, take advantage of this greatness during these few days and you will soon see abundant blessing, high levels of reward, and a very long period of rest and relaxation by the Will of God.