The foundations and meaning of the Ramadan fast (1/2)
Contents
The term “Ramadan” is one of the Names of Allah, assimilated to as-Samad: note that the names as-Samad and Ramadan appear only once in the Qur’an.
The fast of the month of Ramadan, siyam, is the fourth of the five pillars of Islam.
It consists in abstaining, from the appearance of dawn (the first glimmers before daybreak) until sunset, from all food, drink and intimate relations. It concerns all Muslims who have reached puberty, are of sound mind and have no decisive obstacles to performing it: travel under precise conditions of distance and duration, illness requiring daytime care, a state of weakness linked to age or disability, and for women a situation of legal impurity linked to the hormonal cycle, involving suspension of the performance of ritual acts.
The Ramadan fast is thus of an obligatory character for the Muslim, or at least for the one who aspires to the experience of inner Islam. It constitutes a particular moment of acceptance of the divine indication and of the aspirant’s conformity to that indication.
Let us recall that the Qur’an was revealed during the month of Ramadan.
The Qur’anic foundations of fasting
The verses instituting the ritual fast of Ramadan are found in the surah al-Baqara (surah 2):
“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for the generations who preceded you. Perhaps you will fear God.” (v. 183)
“Fast during counted days (ayyam). Whoever of you is ill or travelling shall fast later an equal number of days. Those who could fast but dispense themselves from it must, in compensation, feed a poor person. Whoever, voluntarily, does more will find his own good in it. Fasting is a good for you. Perhaps you will understand it.” (v. 184)
“The Qur’an was revealed during the month of Ramadan. It is a Direction (huda) for men, a clear manifestation of the Direction and of the Law (furqan). Whoever of you sees (shahida) the new moon shall fast the whole month. Whoever is ill or travelling shall fast later the same number of days. God wants ease (al-yusra) for you; He does not want constraint (al-’usra) for you. Complete this period of fasting; exalt the greatness of God who has guided you. Perhaps you will be grateful.” (v. 185)
“I am near, in truth. When My servants question you about Me, I answer the call of the one who calls upon Me, when he calls upon Me (da’wata-d-da’i; the term employed is da’wat and not dhikr). Let them then answer My call: let them believe in Me. Perhaps they will be well guided.” (v. 186)
“Lying with your wives is permitted to you during the night following the fast. They are a garment for you, you are a garment for them. God knew that you were cheating yourselves; He has turned back towards you, He has forgiven you. Now lie with your wives. Seek what God prescribes for you. Eat and drink until a white thread can be distinguished from a black thread at dawn. Then fast until nightfall. Have no relations with your wives while you are in retreat in the mosque. Such are the laws of God; do not transgress them. This is how God explains His signs to men. Perhaps you will fear Him!” (v. 187)
Other verses deal, notably, with the question of making up for days not fasted.
Particularities of the Ramadan fast
A specific status: “nothing is like it”
“Nothing is like it” (Qur’an XLII, 11).
The Prophet, peace be upon him, emphasised this specific character. Ibn ’Arabi reports this hadith in the Futuhat: an-Nasa’i relates these words of Abu Umama: “I approached the Messenger of Allah and said to him: ‘Give me an order that I shall take directly from you.’ He answered: ‘Devote yourself to fasting, for it has no like.’”
The fast belongs to God
Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, reports that the Messenger of Allah said (hadith qudsi): “Allah the Almighty said: ‘Every act of the son of Adam belongs to him, except fasting, for fasting is Mine and it is I who grant its reward. Fasting is protection. When it is a day of fasting for one of you, let him hold no indecent or outrageous talk, and let him not shout. If someone insults him or attacks him, let him say: “I am fasting, I am fasting.”’”
The fast is owed by the Muslim, who cannot take pride in it for himself.
According to Ibn ’Arabi
Ibn ’Arabi recalls the divine words “fasting belongs to Me”, and states: “It is neither a work of worship nor an act (’amal)”; he specifies: “fasting is not an act, but the abandonment of an act (tark)”.
A fast whose meaning goes beyond the physical prescriptions
Hadiths indicate the incompleteness of fasting if it is limited to physical abstinence.
Hadith according to Abu Hurayra: “There are fasters who will have no other effect from their fast than hunger (without reward); and there are men who spend their nights standing in prayer who will have no other effect from their prayer than the night’s wakefulness (without reward).”
Hadith according to Abu Hurayra: “Fasting is a protection. Let him who fasts utter no coarse word and not act like the ignorant. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say twice: I am fasting” (al-Bukhari, 1894).
Ibn ’Arabi: abstinence and elevation at once
Ibn ’Arabi recalls that the Knowers “do not oppose what Allah commands them and they accomplish what they are ordered” (Qur’an LXVI, 6).
Ibn ’Arabi gave the following definition of fasting: “an abstinence (imsak) which procures for the fasters an elevation (rif’a) before Allah the Most High with regard to everything from which the divine Right (al-Haqq) has enjoined them to keep their souls and their members away” (Futuhat).
Ibn ’Arabi: “Know that fasting is abstinence (imsak) and exaltation (rif’a). Of the day it is said that it ‘fasts’ (sama) when it reaches its zenith. Imru’ al-Qays1 said ‘when the day draws away and fasts’, that is, when it reaches its summit. Fasting was so called because it rises in degree above all the other works of worship.”
Continued: the three degrees of fasting according to al-Ghazali and the spirit of Ramadan. See also the Night of Destiny.
Footnotes
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Often considered the greatest pre-Islamic Arabic poet. ↩
