The Fast of the Elite

Every sense that a person possesses is a river that flows into the heart and affects its contents. The fasting of the elite encompasses not just abstinence from food, drink and intimate relations, but also cautiousness in keeping every sense and limb free from sin.

The Fast of the Eye

Everything that the eye glances upon affects the heart. Even what we envision in our sleep is affected by the images that the eye sees while awake. Sometimes, these images flash before us in our prayers or other acts of worship. Therefore, it is extremely important to be vigilant about what we expose our eyes to.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said,

“A glance is an arrow from the arrows of Ibli. Whoever leaves it out of Godly fear, then Allah- Exalted be He- will grant him faith in which he will taste its sweetness in his heart.” [Al-Hakim]

This hadith teaches us that the sinful glance is one of the ways Iblis pierces our heart and our connection with Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala).Scholars have said that once a person glances on something haram, Iblis uses the effects of that glance to destroy his worship.

Conversely, the reward for the person abstaining from sinful glances is a taste of the blessing of sweetness of faith. Once a person tastes this special form of faith, he will want to experience it again and again, and will not be willing to forsake it.

The Fast of the Tongue

Our Prophet (peace be upon him) has said,

“Fasting is a shield with which one protects oneself; so let not him (who fasts) utter immodest (or foul) speech, nor let him act in an ignorant manner; and if a man quarrels with him or abuses him, he should say, ‘I am fasting, I am fasting’.” [Bukhari]

The first response of a person to provocation by saying, “I am fasting”, is a reminder to himself that he is in a sacred and lofty state of fasting for the pleasure of Allah, the Most Great. The second time he says, “I am fasting”, it is a reminder to the other person that he will not respond to his provocation in a similar manner because he is fasting.

Lying, backbiting, slandering, lewd speech, breaking promises, vain speech and excessive joking are all sins of the tongue. Allah will test the fasting person with this temptation, and in many other ways. This is because the reward we seek from Him – that of everlasting abode in Paradise – is so valuable, it wont be achieved without great and sincere effort on the part of the seeker.

The Fast of the Ears

The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said,

“All that is sinful to utter is sinful to listen to.” [Al-Tabarani]

Therefore, the ears must also be guarded from hearing anything impermissible.

The Fast of the Limbs and Guarding the Food that Enters the Stomach

Every limb of a person’s body must be kept away from sin. The hands and feet must be kept away from reprehensible deeds. The stomach must be guarded against having questionable food enter it at the time of breaking the fast. It is meaningless to fast and abstain from lawful food, only to break the fast with food that is unlawful or questionable in its source.

Here, when the scholars refer to unlawfulness or uncertainty in food, they are referring to aspects of the food beyond its method of slaughter (for meat) or other such apparent qualities. They are referring to the effect of the food we eat on our soul. Our food is the source of our energy- when the source is corrupt, the actions that stem from that source will also be corrupt. It is important for us to know the source of our food, and that it is not brought to us by means which are unfair, or exploitative in nature, either to the people involved in producing it (e.g. farmers) or the actual food itself (e.g. animals that are slaughtered for meat).

My teacher shared a couple of examples to illustrate this vigilance in food by the righteous…

In one incident, a young boy who used to serve Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) went out to get some milk for him. When he returned with the milk and offered it to Abu Bakr who was very hungry, he drank it without remembering to ask the boy where he got it from. Upon recalling this oversight, he asked the boy about the source of the milk. The boy said that the milk came from goats that grazed on a field that was from property that was unlawfully usurped from orphans. Upon hearing this, Abu Bakr, forced himself to expel the milk he had just drank, out of fear of nourishing his body on something unlawful.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said,

” Any flesh that is grown on something that is impermissible, the fire has more right upon it.”

My teacher also shared observations from the elderly people in the community where she studied as a student of knowledge. They would say that all the problems in their city amongst the people started happening after they started consuming food that originated from outside the city. Until 50 years ago, all the food available in the city was grown there by the local people. They would remember and praise Allah as they planted every seed in the ground. They would remember and praise Allah when they harvested the crop that came from that seed. And they would remember and praise Allah when they prepared and consumed the food that was produced from that crop. Without doubt, such blessed food would surely produce a blessed affect in the person consuming it.

May Allah allow us to experience, and taste the sweetness of, this level of consciousness in everything we see, say, hear, do and eat. Ameen.

[Content based on notes taken in Ramadan preparation classes.]

The Degrees of Fasting

The fast of a person falls into one of three degrees, the first being the lowest and the third being the highest form of fasting…

1. The Fast of the Layman

This is the fast of the person who abstains from food, drink and intimate relations by guarding the stomach and the private parts from that which they desire. This person takes on the outer form of fasting but does not embody its inner reality. He fasts to save himself from the hell-fire and the punishment of Allah by fulfilling the basics of what is required from him. However, his actions in Ramadan are no different than his actions outside Ramadan. His spiritual state remains the same from one Ramadan to the next.

2. The Fast of the Elite

This is the fast of the person who is always focused on Allah’s pleasure, beyond abstaining from that which is sinful. He has committed all his life and time for Allah and he abstains from sin by guarding his eyesight, hearing, speech and limbs from evil acts. The elite considers something like a lie or an ill word that he has uttered to be a nullification of his fast in its inner realm, because he has understood the importance of the inner reality of fasting, as well as its outer form. His worship is built on a foundation of love for Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala).

3. The Fast of the Elect from the Elite

This is the fast of the person whose every moment in his entire day and night is involved in focusing on Allah and His pleasure and abstaining from everything other than Allah. He guards his heart from any worldly thoughts. His every action is a form of worship…even his eating and his sleeping are done for the pleasure of Allah.

The fasting of the majority of people today falls into the first category. May Allah help the quality of our fasts to ascend to the next level. Ameen.

InshaAllah, the next post will go into details of the second degree of fasting.

[Content based on notes taken in Ramadan preparation classes.]

The Status of Food in the Lives of the Righteous

The following hadith and stories shared by my teacher have given me a lot to reflect upon. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) instill in us the drive to emulate these noble examples…

On one occasion, the household of Fatimah and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) did not have enough food to eat, to the extent that the grandchildren of the Prophet (peace be upon him) went to sleep with the pain of hunger upon them. Fatimah went to the Prophet to share this with him and he encouraged her to be patient. After she had departed from his company, the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned in supplication to Allah saying, “O’ Allah, You bear witness that the House of Muhammad are hungry.”

The beauty in this narration is the fact that our Prophet (peace be upon him) did not conclude his supplication with a request to Allah to provide.

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) sent to mankind many Prophets. Some were given, along with their Prophethood, great kingdoms, vast wealth and many other bounties. Others were given very little from the outward bounties of the world. Prophet Sulayman (alaihis salaam) was bestowed with a kingdom like none other, and was given control over the jinn and animals. Prophet Esa (alaihis salaam), on the other hand, was chosen by Allah to be placed at a status where he did not own anything except a comb and a container with which he would drink water.

Our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was given a choice by Allah, as to what kind of Prophet he wished to be. He (peace be upon him) chose this way of life. He would say,

“I choose to have one day and to be without another day. So the day I eat I can know gratitude and the day I am without I can know patience.”

When the Mother of the Believers, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) was asked about the food in the house of the Prophet (peace be upon him) she said that she would see a crescent, and then another crescent and there would be no fire lit in the house of the Prophet (peace be upon him) [there was nothing cooked]. When asked what they ate, she would refer to dates and water.

It was known about Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he would eat a meal once every 6 days. The Prophet (peace be upon him) only ate, from the little that he had, once a day. The Prophet and his noble companions would often tie rocks tightly around their abdomens to overcome the pangs of hunger that they would feel.

How far are we today from these examples?

We, whom as a nation, seem to be obsessed with food and are almost constantly eating? Even our Ramadan fasts culminate in the most lavish and delectable selection of food and drink and we eat quantities equal to and beyond what we would normally have eaten, had we not been fasting. Not only is it widely accepted for us to eat three meals a day, each of those meals is even made to consist of several “courses” – so there are “starters”, “entries”, “desserts” and more. We even find room to return for seconds.

It is said that a student of knowledge once asked his teacher,

“What do you say about a man who eats once a day?” His teacher replied, “His food is like the food of the Prophets.” The student then asked,

“What do you say about a man who eats twice a day?” His teacher replied, “His food is like the food of the Righteous.” The student then asked,

“What do you say about a man who eats three times a day?” His teacher replied, “Why do you not just build him a stable so he can sit and graze there all day?”

My teacher was suggesting, as a practical measure outside Ramadan, to start by eliminating one meal from our normal eating schedule, while also reducing the portions we eat at every meal.

She also shared how she had witnessed the people in the city where she had been a student of knowledge, conduct themselves at the time of breaking fast. She said as soon as the call to prayer for Maghrib was made, the people would break their fast with dates and water. After that they would pray Maghrib, followed by the sunnah prayers. Then, they would continue in their state of worship by performing “nawafil” prayers, supplications and remembrance until about an hour had passed. Then they would eat their meal. They said they would do this because the time after Maghrib was known to them as the “hour of heedlessness” – a time when many people would forget Allah and indulge in filling their stomachs with food. In order to discipline their “nafs” and its desire to eat, they would occupy themselves in acts of worship at that time.

May Allah give us the self-discipline to overcome our weaknesses. Ameen.

The Wisdom Behind Fasting

The wisdom behind fasting encompasses so much good that Allah had enjoined it upon every nation that came before us.

One of the greatest lessons of fasting is the inculcation of two very important qualities which form the hallmark of a believer’s character – patience and gratitude.

It has been said that, “Iman is half patience and half gratitude.”

Today, most of us do not truly understand how to be grateful because we are never without the things we need. We do not comprehend the greatness of the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon us, because we don’t understand what it would be like to be without them.

When the believer sits down to break his fast with food that is clean, healthy and warm, it should spark in him a sense of gratitude at this blessing which so many people do not have, and spark in him the feeling of “so let me give to others.”  By the last day of fasting, we should have increased in generosity through exercising this gratitude. And what a fitting closure to this gratitude than to end Ramadan with paying “zakat-ul-fitr” – an act of charity to share the joy and blessing of Eid with those in need.

Throughout our lives, our “nafs” always tries to convince us that we don’t have enough, and Satan warns us of poverty if we give to others.Yet, in Ramadan, as we fast and abstain from excess, we start to see that we really don’t need as much as we assume we do.

Knowledge that comes from experience is very different and much more effective in producing action than knowledge that comes from theory. It is this experience of hunger, thirst and abstinence from over-eating that should awaken in us a true empathy for those in need around us, draw our hearts to them and encourage us to be more generous in our giving, while increasing us in gratitude for the blessings of Allah upon us.

Yet another very important experiential knowledge that comes from Ramadan is our understanding of our own ability to submit to Allah. Oftentimes, we set very low standards for ourselves when it comes to matters of obedience and worship. We feel we can’t take on so much. Yet, in Ramadan, if we are able to abstain from things during fasting which are normally lawful for us, then why would it be so inconceivable for us to not be able to stay away from things which are unlawful?

Truly, each one of us knows ourselves better than anyone else, and we are our own best judge. Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says in the Holy Quran…

{ Nay, man will be evidence against himself} [Surah al-Qiyamah; 75:14]

Therefore, some of the benefits of fasting include…

• Protection of the senses from sin
• Teaching one to develop patience and fortitude
• Increasing one in generosity
• Helping one experience poverty
• Making one aware of one’s own ability to submit
• Helping one conquer the carnal desires (the “nafs”)

[Content based on notes taken in Ramadan preparation classes.]

The Inner Reality of Fasting

“Infinite is the native land from whence Allah has created the soul.”

The life of this world is a return journey of the soul to its native land. The soul doesn’t feel tranquility in this “dunya” because it is not its home.

Allah reminds us in the Holy Quran about the beleaguered soul as it calls out in regret,

{يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي قَدَّمْتُ لِحَيَاتِي }

[He will say, “Ah! Would that I had sent forth (good deeds) for (this) my (future) life!”] (Surah al-Fajr; 89:24)

The “life” that the soul is referring to is its eternal life and not the life of this world as we know it. It has been said that “the world is a bridge, so cross it and do not build upon it”. The only purpose of our creation and our very existence in this world is to worship Allah, as He (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says,

{وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ }

[I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve me] (Surah al-Dhariyaat; 51:56)

Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) [about whom the Prophet, peace be upon him, has said… ” I am the citadel of knowledge and Ali is its door”] has said,

“There is no good in worship that is not understood.”

Our journey in this life and our quest for knowledge is all about understanding this worship and understanding the essence of our relationship with our Creator, so that good can come from our acts of obedience.

When our prayers become a “chore” and our fasts become something we just “have to get through” – we have missed the secrets of these sublime acts of worship and submission.

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) has said,

{ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ}

[O’ you who beleive! Fasting is enjoined upon you, as it was enjoined upon those before you, so that you may become God-conscious] (Surah al-Baqarah; 2:183)

Therefore, one of the main purposes of fasting is to attain God-consciousness or “taqwa”. This “taqwa” entails a consciousness that Allah exists and He watches and is aware of everything we do. When this consciousness of Allah is lost, it is easy to sever the ties that connect us with the Divine and to fall into the path of heedlessness and sin.

[Content based on notes taken in Ramadan Preparation classes. ]

Welcoming Ramadan

That blessed time of the year is almost upon us.

The month unlike any other in the year. The time when the gates of heaven are opened, the gates of hell are closed, the devils are chained, the angels descend upon the earth in vast multitudes, and the whole of creation is enveloped in the mercy of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala).

Those who came before us would spend many months eagerly awaiting the arrival of this herald of Allah’s mercy, and they would spend many months after its departure in beseeching Allah to accept their deeds in it.

For most of us today, Ramadan comes and Ramadan goes without leaving a permanent imprint on our souls. As the outer changes to our routine, our diet and our worship take place, does our soul -our inner reality- truly ascend to a higher degree of awareness of and submission to its Creator? Does it embody a lasting change, or does the departure of Ramadan extinguish our light of deeper worship, patience and “taqwa” ?

In preparing for Ramadan this year, Allah blessed me with the opportunity to attend classes which I have found to be very beneficial and inspiring, from teachers who are, themselves, a living embodiment of what they teach. I will, inshaAllah,  be sharing some of that advice in the next few posts, in the hope that it will, by Allah’s permission, benefit others the way it has benefited me.