Believers, fasting have been made\nmandatory for you as it was made mandatory for the people before you, so that\nyou may have fear of Allah. (The holy Quran, 2:183)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are several passages in both the\nNew Testament and Old Testament that discuss the greatness and importance of\nfasting. Even today we witness Jews and\nChristians to fast an optional number of days in a year by refraining from\nmeat, milk or other foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also notice fasting in the story of\nZachariah and Maryam (Mary) in the Holy Quran whom made a fast of speech. Apart from the examples present in the\nscriptures, fasting can even be seen in ancient atheist tribes such as\nEgyptians, Greeks, Romans and idol-worshipers of India had a practice of\nfasting. Hence, fasting is understood by human nature as an act that brings\nthem closer to their Creator and Lord. For instance, the idol-worshipers used\nto fast in order to repent and reduce the anger of their idols after committing\nany sin. They also used to fast when they had a specific request from idols.\nThis action was a deal between them. The worshiper attempted to achieve his\/her\nrequest by fulfilling the needs of the idols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the act of fasting in Islam\nis not considered as a treaty between people and their Lord. Allah the Almighty is the Creator of the\nwhole universe and is far from any need or imperfection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, just as the result of sin\nreturns back to the sinner himself, similarly the benefits of worship return\nback to the worshiper himself, “We told you if you do good, it will be for\nyour own benefit, but if you do bad, it will be against your souls” (The\nholy Quran, 17:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allah (SWT) reminds us in the Holy\nQuran (2:183) that the result of fasting is piety. Because of their fitra-a soul that was\ninspired with the faculty of knowing what is evil and what is good- humans have\nan understanding that if they want to reach a high status of spirituality, then\nthey should stay away from aspects of useless pure desire. They should consider themselves more valuable\nthan to set a materialistic life as their utmost goal. In other words, humans should make sure to\nkeep away from things that prevent them from Allah (SWT). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And purity (Taqwa) is gained through\nfasting and avoiding carnal desires. The simplest and most effective spiritual\ndiet, that is both beneficial for this life and the hereafter, is to avoid the\nlust of hunger and sex. If a person continues to avoid these lusts, he will\ngradually control of himself from committing sins. Then he will have strength\nto stand against sin, For, he who accepts this invitation and stays away from\nlawful acts of eating and drinking will become more obedient in avoiding sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Selected from\nal-Mizan Interpretation, under the verse 183 of Surah al-Baqarah)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roshd website congratulates the\narrival of the holy month of Ramadan, the spring for human spiritual growth,\nand the month for reading and contemplating Quran to all Muslims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Believers, fasting have been made mandatory for you as it was made mandatory for the people before you, so that you may have fear of Allah. (The holy Quran, 2:183) There are several passages in both the New Testament and Old Testament that discuss the greatness and importance of fasting. Even today we witness Jews […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28248,28437],"tags":[25567,17778,21727,21693,25564,22446,18131,20756,21297,18418,25565,17943,25566],"class_list":["post-4972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","category-the-holy-month-of-ramadan","tag-2003-10-27","tag-allah","tag-believer","tag-christians","tag-fasting","tag-food","tag-holy","tag-importance","tag-jews","tag-occasion-letters","tag-piousness-and-closeness-to-allah","tag-quran","tag-the-holy-month-of-ramadan"],"yoast_head":"\n