Fasting – Islam’s Liberating Program

His holiness, Master of the Faithful, Imam Ali (a.s.), leader of the freemen and the liberalizers, is reported to have said:

[1]«ألا حُرٌّ یَدَعُ هذِهِ اللُّماظَةَ لأَهلِها إنَّهُ لَیسَ لأنفسكِم ثَمَنٌ اِلّا الجَنَّة فَلا تَبِیعوها الّا بِها»

   “Is there no free man who can leave this chewed morsel (of the world) to those who like it? Certainly, the only price for yourselves is Paradise. Therefore, do not sell yourself except for Paradise.”

        There are many such people who are known as liberalizers and invite others towards freedom but unknowingly, they themselves are slaves and bondages who have no free-will of their own.

          A lot of people who have stampeded the freedom and rights of others, and have made them a subject of their own desires and intentions, and consider themselves the supreme authority over all the nations and societies, often lack freewill for themselves.

          Both these groups are slaves, bondages and servants; but not bondages and servants of a single body, not a slave whose body is in the possession of someone else but his thoughts are in his own control.

          They are the slaves of desires, slaves of wealth, slaves of money, slaves of rides and slaves of positions. They are the bonded slaves of lust, the servants of the rich, the emperors and the Emirs; the slaves of evil motives, cheap objects, and the slaves of evil customs and superstitions. They are such slaves whose bodies as well as spirits and thoughts are enchained; all their belongings are bonded; they have not sensed the smell of spiritual freedom and independence of thought.

           Their habit of eating and drinking, habit of sensuality, gambling, alcohol, dissipation, malignant evenings, atrocities and oppressions, apathy towards the weak and downtrodden etc. enslaved and enchained them in such a manner that freedom from this talisman of habits is unimaginable for them.

          Such people have given themselves and their humanity in the slavery of habits and have become incapable of flying with their wings of aspirations away from the narrow and dark valley of slavery and bondage of creations alike themselves, and cannot enter the orchard of actual freedom. In short, their day-to-day program and the result of their life is nothing but a series of continued habits.

          Is someone who has spent his entire life in pleasures and amusements and cannot distance himself from it even for a moment, a freeman or a slave?!

          Is someone who cannot withhold himself from gambling and spend his nights until dawn on gambling tables, thus wasting his precious time and money, a freeman or a slave?

          Is someone who cannot reduce anything from his luxurious life, the multi-coloured dishes of his dining table, his expensive clothes and its varieties, to help his weak and destitute human brothers, the sick and the oppressed ones, the ones who have suffered from calamities and afflictions, a freeman or a slave?

          Is someone who stampedes the rights of the weak in order to attain posts and positions, and to secure his supremacy and extravagant luxuries, and also his gluttony, a freeman or a slave?

          Is this a free and dignified life for human beings? Indeed such people are slaves and freeing them is much more difficult than freeing friends and slaves. Therefore, Islam has shown fruitful endeavour to set free the slaves and maids, and has planned beneficial programs, thus regarding it among one of the great acts of worship. In some of the instances, it has been made obligatory and in other cases, it has recommended the Muslims to set these slaves of thoughts free. Islam has laid extensive plans to set free these actual slaves and servants so that mankind can be liberated from the chains of slavery, evil habits and carnal desires.

One of these liberating programs of Islam is Fasting. Fasting liberates mankind from the chains of animalistic habits and helps him ascend towards the heavens.

طَیَران مرغ دیدی تو زپای بند شهوت * به در آی تا ببینی طیران آدمیّت

You have witnessed a bird’s flight in the cage of lust, now come and witness the flight of humanity

خور و خواب و خشم و شهوت، شَغَب است و جهل و ظلمت * حَیَوان خبر ندارد زِ جهان آدمیّت

Eating and sleeping, angering and lusting, is nothing but tumult, ignorance and darkness

What does an animal know about the world of humans?

A Muslim person, with the intention of fasting, forsakes his bed, his place of rest, at the time of dawn, to eat his dawn-meal, offer his prayers, and recite the supplications and sets himself free from the chains of sleeping and his habit of resting. Throughout the daylight, he frees himself from the dominance of his body and physical demands, and the habits of eating and drinking, thus breaking the talisman of carnal desires, and prevents himself form eating delicious dishes, sweet and tasty fruits, cold and wholesome drinks, without thinking about the habits of those days when he is not fasting, forsaking his daily dietary plans, thus liberating his thought, intellect and conscience; he witnesses himself in a more sublime horizon with a different brightness and light.

He recites the supplications that have arrived regarding the month of Ramadan, for the time of dawn, day and night. Supplications that comprise of thoughtful expressions, truth and spirit of freedom; supplications that are enrich one’s heart, soul and conscience with the faith of monotheism and liberates the readers from the evil and wicked chains of undesirable attributes and traits, thus inviting towards the desirable and noble qualities and attributes.

Yes! The month of Ramadan is the month that teaches the lesson of freedom. We must learn the lesson of liberty and freedom from the blissful messages of the holy Quran in the holy month of Ramadan. Most of our adversities and great misfortunes are due to the lack of understanding of the truth of liberty and the Islamic notion of freedom, or from lack of steadfastness on its path.

Therefore, those who do not succeed in this understanding and steadfastness, accept the tyranny, arrogance and enslavement of others; and become the cause of an increase in their arrogance and tyranny by expressing flattery against these tyrants and rebels; whereas Islam invites the mankind to show humility before Allah (s.w.t.) and His kingdom.

One of the most unfortunate things is that Muslim pay minimal attention towards those verses of Quran which explain the concept of monotheism and do not each much fruits from the good tree of monotheism.

If we carefully contemplate in the following verse

یا أَیهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِی خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِینَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ، الَّذِی جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَكُمْ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَنْدَادًا وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ[2]

we can comprehend the great realities and lofty meanings that are mentioned in it.

This verse addresses the entire mankind and invites them towards the worship of one God and to abandon the association of partners to Him, and presents the loftiest meanings of freedom and liberty for the human beings.