One of the multiple purposes of fasting connected with the Lordship of God is that God manifests the Perfection of His Lordship and His being the All-Merciful and All-Compassion-ate upon the surface of the earth which He has designed as a table upon which He has laid out all the varieties of His bounties in a way beyond the imagination of the inhabitants of the earth. Nevertheless people cannot perfectly discern the reality of this situation because of heedlessness and the blinding veil of causality. But in the holy month of Ramadan the believers like an army waiting for the order ‘March!’ display a manner of worshipping in expectation of the command of ‘Help yourself!’ towards the end of the day and they thus respond to that magnificent and universal Mercy with a comprehensive and harmonious act of collective worship.
Fasting is the key to a true sincere comprehensive and universal thanksgiving
One of the numerous purposes of fasting concerning thanksgiving for the bounties of God Almighty is that there is a price for the food brought from the kitchen of a king by the servant carrying the trays of food. Obviously it would be folly of an infinite degree to tip the servant but not to recognize the king who sent the food - an act which would mean disrespect for that gift of precious food. In the same way. God Almighty has spread for mankind His countless bounties of infinite variety on the face of the earth. These bounties require the payment of a price which is thanksgiving. The apparent causes of those bounties or those who bring them to us are like the food-carrying servant in the example above. We pay the servants feel indebted to them and sometimes thank them and thereby show them a degree of respect they have not merited. The true Giver of Bounties is infinitely more deserving of thanks for those bounties received than the causes or the means by which they come to us. One thanks Him by acknowledging one’s need for the bounties and being fully appreciative of them and ascribing them directly to Him.
Fasting is the key to a true sincere comprehensive and universal thanksgiving. Many people are unable to appreciate most of the bounties they enjoy since they suffer no hunger. A piece of dry bread for example means nothing as Divine bounty for those who are full especially if they are rich although it is as even testified by his sense of taste a very valuable bounty of God in the sight of a believer at the time of breaking his fast. Everyone whether a king or the poorest of people are favored with a heart-felt thanksgiving by understanding the value of Divine bounties. Also because of being forbidden to eat during daytime a believer thinks: those bounties do not originally belong to me and I am not free to regard them as mere food or drink. One Other owns them and He grants them to me. So. I should wait for His permission to eat them. By thus acknowledging whatever he eats and drinks to be a gift of God the believer thanks God tacitly. On account of this fasting becomes a key to thanksgiving which is a real human duty in many respects.
Fasting has many purposes in connection with man’s collective life one of which is this:
God has created human beings differently in respect of their livelihood. Because of this. He calls the rich to the help of the poor. However only through the hunger of fasting can the rich feel the hunger and tragic situation of the poor. Without fasting many rich and self-indulgent people cannot perceive how painful hunger and poverty are and to what extent the poor need care. Whereas care for one’s fellow-beings is a foundation of true thanksgiving. There is certainly one poorer than each individual so everyone is obliged to show care for the one poorer than him. Unless therefore one is obliged to suffer hunger it is nearly impossible for him to do good or give help to his fellow-beings as required by that duty of care. Even if he does he cannot do it as perfectly as he should since he does not feel the condition of the hungry to the same extent.
There are many Divine purposes for the obligation of fasting
There are many Divine purposes for the obligation of fasting related to self-training and self-discipline. One of those purposes is as follows:
The carnal self desires to be free and unrestricted and regards itself to be so. It even wishes by its very nature for an imagined lordship and free arbitrary action. Disinclined to thinking that it is being trained and tested through the countless bounties of God it swallows up like an animal those bounties in the manner of a thief or robber especially if it has a degree of wealth and power accompanied by heedlessness.
It is the selfhood of everyone whether the richest or the poorest understands that rather than owning itself it is owned by One Other and rather then being free it is a servant. Unless it is ordered or permitted it is unable to do even the most common thing like eating and drinking and thereby its illusory lordship is shattered it can admit to servanthood and performs its real duty which is thanksgiving.
Fasting also prevents the carnal self from rebellious acts and adorns it with good morals.
Man’s carnal self forgets itself through heedlessness. It does not see nor does it want to see the infinite impotence and poverty and the defects of the utmost degree in its very nature. It does not reflect how it is exposed to misfortunes and subject to decay that it consists of flesh and bones tending to rapid disintegration and decomposition. It rushes upon the world with a violent greed and attachment as if it had a steel body and would live forever. It clings to everything profitable and pleasurable. In this state it forgets its Creator. Who trains it with a perfect care. Being immersed in the swamp of bad morals it thinks about neither the consequences of its life in this world nor about its afterlife.
Fasting however causes even the most heedless and stubborn to feel their weakness and innate poverty. Hunger becomes an important consideration for them and reminds them how fragile their bodies are. They come to perceive to what extent they need compassion and care and giving up haughtiness feel a desire to take refuge in the Divine Court in perfect helplessness and destitute and rise to knock at the door of Mercy with the hand of tacit thanksgiving provided of course that heedlessness has not yet corrupted the individual completely.
Fasting has also many purposes related to the spiritual rewards of man.
Fasting has also many purposes related to the spiritual rewards of man who has been sent to the world to sow it with the seeds of the next life. The following paragraphs explain one of those purposes.
So the Fasting is the most proper time for carrying on that most profitable ‘trade’ in the name of the afterlife. It is like a most fertile field to cultivate for the harvest of the afterlife. For the multiplication of the reward for good deeds it is like April in spring. It is also a sacred illustrious festival for the ‘parade’ of those who worship the Sovereignty of God’s Lordship. Because of this fasting is made obligatory for believers so that they should not gratify the animal appetites of the carnal self and indulge in its useless fancies. Since they become like angels while fasting or engaged in a trade for the next life each acts as a mirror reflecting the Self-Sufficiency of God by moving in the direction of becoming a pure spirit manifested in corporeal dress through the abandonment of the world for a fixed period. In fact the holy Ramadan contains and causes a believer to gain through fasting a permanent life in a short period in this world.
One of the purposes of fasting related to man’s individual life is as follows:
Fasting is a diet from the viewpoint of both the physical and spiritual health of man. If the carnal self acts in eating and drinking in whatever way it wishes this is harmful to man’s physical health as well as being a poison for his spiritual life because of the absence of discrimination between what is lawful and unlawful. It becomes very difficult for such a carnal self to obey the heart and spirit. Without recognizing any principles it takes the reins of man and drives him in whatever direction it desires. But in Ramadan it gets accustomed to dieting through the fast and in self-discipline it is trained to learn to obey orders. Further it does not cause the poor stomach to suffer illness because of over-eating without enough time allowed for proper digestion. In addition since it has learned to forsake eating even what is lawful it gains the ability to follow the decree of reason and religion to refrain from the unlawful. Thus the carnal self tries not to corrupt the spiritual life of its owner.
Also the great majority of mankind frequently become subject to hunger. In order to endure a long-lasting hunger with patience people should train themselves in self-discipline and an austere lifestyle. Fasting during Ramadan provides just such a training based on patience with hunger of fifteen hours or even twenty-four hours if the meal before dawn is missed. This means that fasting is a cure for the impatience and want of endurance which double the misfortune of mankind.
Many members of the human body are either in direct or in indirect service of the factory of the stomach. If that factory is not made to stop working in daytime during a certain month of the year it keeps those members busy with itself forgetful of the kinds of worship and sublime duties peculiar to each. It is for this reason that since the oldest times saints have usually preferred to get themselves used to an austere lifestyle for the sake of spiritual and human perfection. Fasting in Ramadan reminds us that the members of the body have not been created only for the service of the stomach. In Ramadan many of those members take pleasure in the angelic and spiritual pleasures instead of the material ones. This is the reason why in Ramadan believers receive according to the extent of their spiritual perfection different degrees of spiritual pleasures and enlightenment. The heart the spirit the reason and innermost senses of man are refined through fasting in Ramadan. Even if the stomach wails during fasting these senses rejoice greatly.
Fasting breaks the illusory lordship of the carnal self
Fasting breaks the illusory lordship of the carnal self and reminding it of its innate helplessness convinces it that it is a servant.
The carnal self does not like to recognize its Lord and claims lordship in great obstinacy. However much it is made to suffer it preserves that temperament. It is only hunger which can alter that temperament. Fasting breaks the obstinacy of the carnal self and by showing to it its intrinsic helplessness and poverty reminds it that it is only a servant.
It is related from God’s Messenger that God Almighty asked the carnal self: ‘Who am I and who are you?’ The carnal self replied: ‘You are Yourself and I am myself.’ However much God tormented it and asked the same question. He received the same answer: ‘You are Yourself and I am myself.’ At last. God subjected it to hunger and when asking the same question the reply came: ‘You are my All-Compassionate Lord; I am Your helpless servant’.
Glorified be your Lord the Lord of Honor and Power; exalted above what they falsely ascribe to Him! And peace be upon the Messengers! And all praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds. Amen!
