In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
It was in the month of Ramadan that the Quran was revealed as guidance for mankind, clear messages giving guidance and distinguishing between right and wrong. Qur’an 2/185
FIRST POINT
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the first of the five pillars of Islam. It is also one of the highest of the marks of Islam.
Here are the many wisdoms of fasting in Ramadan;
It has wisdoms regarding the rububiyyah of Allah Almighty, the life of man, his social life, his personal life, the education of the nafs (lover self), and the gratitude for the blessings of Allah.
One of the many wisdoms of fasting in terms of the rububiyyah of Allah Almighty is this:
Allah Almighty created the surface of the earth as a table of blessings. And since he has arranged all his blessings on that table in a way that says “And will provide for him from where he does not expect” Qur’an 65/3 he expresses his perfect rububiyyah and mercifulness and mercy with that situation. Under the veil of heedlessness and in the circle of causes, people do not fully see the truth expressed by that situation, sometimes forgetting it.
In Ramadan, the people of faith suddenly become like a regular army. As if they were invited to the banquet of Pre-Eternal Monarch and were waiting for the order “Enjoy your meal” near the evening, they respond to that compassionate, majestic, and multitudinous mercy with a vast, grand, and orderly obedience. Are people who do not participate in such sublime servitude and the honor of generosity worthy of the name ‘human’?
SECOND POINT
Since the fasting of the holy month of Ramadan is in gratitude for the blessings of Allah Almighty, one of its many wisdoms is this:
As it is said in the First Word, the food brought by a tray bearer from the kitchen of a sultan demands a price. Just as it is the ultimate foolishness to tip the person carrying the tray, but not to recognize the giver, thinking that those precious blessings are worthless, Allah Almighty has revealed His infinite blessings to human beings on the face of the earth. In return, he wants gratitude as the price of those blessings. The apparent cause and owner of those blessings are like tray bearers. We pay a certain price to them and we are grateful to them. We give them much more respect and thanks than they deserve. But the True Owner of the blessings deserves infinitely more thanks than the mere causes of the blessing. To thank him; to know those blessings directly from him, it is to appreciate their worth and to perceive one’s own need for them.
The fasting in Ramadan is the key to a true and sincere, great and universal gratitude (shukr). Because most people who are not under compulsion at other times cannot appreciate many blessings unless they feel real hunger. A dry piece of bread is not understood as a blessing to men who are full, especially if they are rich. However, the sense of taste testifies that that dry bread at iftar time is a very precious blessing in the eyes of a believer.
Everyone, from the sultan to the poorest of the poor, experiences a spiritual gratitude by understanding the value of those blessings during Ramadan.
And also, because he was forbidden to eat during the day;
“These blessings do not belong to me. I am not free to eat them because they are someone else’s property and gift. I am waiting for his command.” He knows the blessing as a blessing; he gives spiritual thanks.
In this way, fasting becomes the key to gratitude(shukr), which is the true human duty, in many ways.
THIRD POINT
Fasting is a very important aspect of human social life.one of the wisdoms is that:
Humans have been created in various forms in terms of livelihood. Because of that difference, Allah Almighty invites the rich to help the poor. The rich, on the other hand, see the misery of the poor and they can feel their hunger fully with the hunger of fasting. If there is no fasting, there may be many rich people who are selfish and do not realize how cruel hunger and poverty are and how much they need compassion. In this respect, compassion for one’s fellow human beings is the basis of true gratitude (shukr). Any individual can find someone who is poorer than him in some way. He is obliged to have compassion for her/him. If he is not obliged to starve himself, he cannot give the kindness and help that he is obliged to help through compassion; even if he does, it cannot be complete. Because he does not feel that state in his own soul.
FOURTH POINT
The fasting in Ramadan is a time of nafs (lover self) discipline. One of its many wisdoms is this:
Nafs (lover self) wants and considers itself free and independent. It even desires a fictitious rububiyyah and arbitrary movement. It does not want to think that it has been educated with infinite blessings. Especially if it has wealth and power in the world, and if it is helped by heedlessness; it swallows the blessings of Allah like an animal, like a thief.
In Ramadan, the nafs of everyone, from the richest to the poorest, realize that It is not a master, but a slave; not free, but a servant. If it is not commanded, it cannot perform even the simplest and most comfortable tasks, nor can it extend its hand to water. Thus, its imagined rububiyyah is shattered, and it submits, entering into gratitude, which is its true duty.
FIFTH POINT
One of the many wisdoms of the fast of the blessed month of Ramadan, in regard to its effect on the purification of the nafs and the abandonment of its rebellious actions, is as follows:
The human nafs, in a state of heedlessness, forgets itself. It is unable to see, nor does it wish to see, its infinite weakness, its boundless poverty, and its immense flaw inherent in its nature. And it does not think how weak and subject to destruction and targeted to calamities, and that it is nothing but perishable and disintegrating flesh and bones. As if it has a body made of iron, it assaults the world as though it imagines itself to be eternal, completely disregarding its limitations. It throws itself into the world with intense greed and desire, accompanied by a strong attachment and affection. It is attached to every delicious and beneficial thing. Moreover, it forgets its Creator, who nurtures it with perfect compassion. It does not contemplate the ultimate purpose of its life or its afterlife; instead, it spirals within the vices of bad character.
Indeed, the fast of the blessed month of Ramadan makes even the most heedless and rebellious individuals aware of their weakness, impotence, and poverty. Through hunger, they reflect on their stomach. They become aware of the needs within their stomach. Their weak body recalls how frail they are and realizes the extent to which they are in need of mercy and compassion. The soul abandons its pharaoh-like arrogance and, with a sense of complete weakness and poverty, feels a desire to seek refuge at the Divine court, preparing to knock on the door of mercy with a hand of spiritual gratitude (thanks of a sort), if heedlessness has not corrupted their heart.
SIXTH POINT
Ramadan is the beginning of the revelation of the All-wise Qur’an. One of the many wisdoms of Ramadan is that it is the most important time of the revelation of the Holy Qur’an is as follows:
Since the Holy Qur’an was revealed in the month of Ramadan; By recalling the time of the Qur’an’s revelation and in order to receive that heavenly address with beauty and preparedness, during the blessed month of Ramadan, it is essential to purify oneself from the base desires of the nafs and distractions of the mundane world, by abstaining from eating and drinking, thus resembling the state of angelic purity. In a certain manner, to read and listen to the Qur’an as though it is being revealed anew, and experience the divine addresses within it as if hearing them at the very moment of revelation. To listen to this address as if hearing it directly from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), or perhaps from the Angel Gabriel, or even from the Eternal Speaker (Allah) Himself. In this way, one may attain a sacred state. Furthermore, to act as a translator and convey the message to others, one also demonstrates, to some degree, the wisdom behind the Qur’an’s revelation.
Yes, during Ramadan, it is as if the world of Islam becomes a mosque; such a mosque that millions of hafiz, in the corners of that mosque, make the people of the Earth hear that Qur’an, that heavenly address.
Each Ramadan, the verse The month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was revealed (2:185) is displayed in a radiant, luminous manner; it proves that Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an. The members of the large congregation, some of them listen to those who have memorized the Qur’an with reverence, while others recite it to themselves.
As it is ugly to leave such a state of nur in a holy mosque by eating and drinking and following the desires of the lower self, and as it is the target of the spiritual hatred of the congregation in that mosque, so those who oppose those who fast during Ramadan are the target of the spiritual hatred and insult of the whole world of Islam.
SEVENTH POINT
One of the many wisdoms of the fasting in Ramadan, in the aspect of its consideration of the earnings of the human being who comes to cultivate and trade in this world for the Hereafter, is as follows:
The reward of good deeds in Ramadan is a thousandfold. Each letter of the Holy Qur’an has ten rewards according to the hadith; it counts as ten good deeds and brings ten fruits of Paradise.
In the blessed month of Ramadan, each letter (of the Qur’an) is not just worth ten, but rather a thousand, and each letter of verses like Ayat al-Kursi (Qur’an 2/255) is worth thousands, and during the Fridays of Ramadan, it is even more. And on Laylat al-Qadr, each letter is counted as thirty thousand merits.
Indeed, each letter of the Qur’an, the Wise Qur’an, which yields thirty thousand eternal fruits, becomes like a luminous tree of Tuba, granting millions of those eternal fruits to the believers during the blessed month of Ramadan.
Come, observe and reflect upon this sacred, eternal, and profitable trade, and realize the immense loss of those who do not appreciate the value of these letters.
Indeed, the blessed month of Ramadan is, so to speak, a highly profitable marketplace for the trade of the Hereafter. It is an exceptionally fertile ground for spiritual harvest, and the spring rains of April for the growth of good deeds. It serves as the most radiant, sacred festival for the human worship to make its ceremonial submission before the Divine Sovereignty of Allah’s Rububiyyah. And since it is so, in order not to engage in the heedless animal needs of the nafs, such as eating and drinking, and in idle and whimsical desires, he has become obliged to fast. It is as if a person, by temporarily rising above animalistic traits and abandoning the calls of this world, approaches the state of angelhood, enters into the trade of the hereafter, and by fasting, draws closer to the state of the hereafter and a spiritual state that appears in bodily form, and through their fast, in a way, reflects the Divine Eternity (Samediyah).
Indeed, the blessed month of Ramadan, in this transient world, within the fleeting lifespan, and in such a short life, encompasses and grants an eternal life and a long-lasting, everlasting existence. Yes, a single Ramadan can yield the fruits of eighty years of life. As for Laylat al-Qadr, it is, by the explicit text of the Qur’an, better than a thousand months, and this truth serves as a definitive proof of its significance. Indeed, the most luminous night in this dark worldly life is Laylat al-Qadr during Ramadan. Yes, just as a king, during the span of his reign, perhaps every year, celebrates certain days as festivals, either under the name of his royal enthronement or through some other grand display of his sovereignty. On that day, the king does not treat his subjects within the general framework of public laws, but rather bestows upon them his special favors, grants them access to his unmasked presence, directs his personal attention to them, and engages in extraordinary acts, conferring his direct favor upon those who are worthy and loyal. Indeed, the Sultan of Eternity and Infinity, the King of Majesty of the eighteen thousand worlds, He who oversees and turns His attention to those eighteen thousand worlds, the Most High Decree that is the Qur’an al-Hakim, He revealed it during the blessed month of Ramadan. Certainly, that Ramadan, a special Divine festival and a manifestation of the Lord and a spiritual assembly, is in accordance with the exigency of wisdom.
Since Ramadan is that festival, it is certainly ordained that fasting be commanded in order to draw people away, to some extent, from base and animalistic distractions. And the perfection of that fast is to make not only the stomach, but also all the faculties—such as the eyes, ears, heart, imagination, and intellect—observe a kind of fasting. That is to say, it is to refrain from trivialities and distractions, and to direct each faculty toward its specific form of worship. For example, making the tongue fast by keeping it away from lying, gossip, and foul language, and engaging it in reciting the Qur’an, remembrance (dhikr), glorification (tasbih), sending blessings (salawat), and seeking forgiveness (istighfar); similarly, preventing the eyes from looking at what is unlawful and the ears from listening to inappropriate things, and instead directing the eyes to contemplation and the ears to listening to the truth and the Qur’an—this is how one makes the other faculties observe a form of fasting. Since the stomach is the largest ‘factory,’ if it is given rest through fasting, it becomes easier for the smaller faculties to follow suit.
EIGHTH POINT
One of the many wisdoms of Ramadan al-Sharif, regarding the aspect in which it looks at the personal life of a person, is as follows:
It is a most important kind of medicine, both material and spiritual, and it is a kind of diet in terms of medicine, such that when a person acts according to his own desires in eating and drinking, not only does it harm his material life physically, but also attacking anything that comes by without distinguishing between lawful(halal) and unlawful(haram), it almost poisons his spiritual life as well. Furthermore, to obey the heart and soul, this is hard for the nafs, it takes control of the reins arrogantly. Moreover, a person cannot ride it; it rides the person. In Ramadan, through fasting, one gets accustomed to a kind of diet, works on asceticism, and learns to obey commands. The weak, helpless stomach does not attract illnesses by being filled with food before digestion. And by abandoning the lawful through obedience, it gains the capacity to listen to the command that comes from reason and the law (sharia) in order to avoid the unlawful. It tries not to spoil the spiritual life.
Most people are often afflicted with hunger. Hunger, which provides training for patience and endurance, requires training. The fast in the blessed month of Ramadan, which lasts for fifteen hours, or twenty-four hours if without a pre-dawn meal (sahur), is a period of hunger that involves patience, endurance, training, and training. Thus, the remedy for the impatience and lack of endurance that double the misfortunes of humanity is also fasting.
Moreover, that stomach factory has many attendants. And there are many human devices related to it. If the soul does not suspend its activities during the day of a temporary month (i.e., Ramadan), it causes the attendants of that factory and the human devices to forget their special duties, makes them busy with itself, and places them under its control. It confuses those other human devices with the noise and smoke of the spiritual factory’s gears. It constantly attracts their attention to itself. It temporarily causes them to forget their noble duties. Therefore, for a long time, many people of sainthood have accustomed themselves to training, to eating and drinking little, in order to achieve spiritual perfection.
However, with the fast of the blessed month of Ramadan, the attendants of that factory realize that they were not created solely for that factory. And the other devices, instead of engaging in the base pleasures of that factory, delight in angelic and spiritual pleasures during Ramadan, and they fix their attention on them. It is for this reason that, in the month of Ramadan, believers, according to their ranks, attain various lights, blessings, and spiritual joys. The heart and soul, the intellect, and the subtle faculties like the secret, experience great advancements and progress through fasting in that blessed month. Despite the stomach’s crying, they smile innocently.
NINTH POINT
One of the wisdoms of the fasting of Ramadan is that it directly breaks the imaginary rububiyyah of the nafs and declares its submission by showing its helplessness:
The ego (nafs) does not want to recognize its Sustainer; it desires its own lordship in a Pharaoh-like manner. No matter how much punishment is inflicted, that character remains in it. However, with hunger, that character is broken. Indeed, the fasting in the Blessed Month of Ramadan directly strikes and breaks the Pharaoh-like aspect of the nafs. It shows its helplessness, weakness, and poverty, and announces that it is a servant.
There are narrations in the hadiths that say:
Allah Almighty said to the nafs: ‘Who am I, and who are you?’
The nafs said: ‘I am I, and You are You.’
He inflicted punishment, threw it into Hell, and asked again. It said again: ‘I am I, and You are You.’ No matter what kind of punishment was given, it did not abandon its egotism.
Then He inflicted punishment with hunger. That is, He made it hungry. He asked again: ‘Who am I? And who are you?’
The ego said: You are my Sustainer, the Most Merciful, and I am Your helpless servant.
O Allah! Send blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad, and his family and companions, with a mercy that You will be pleased with, and one that is befitting and deserving of him, as many as the letters of the Qur’an recited in the month of Ramadan. Ameen.
Glory be to your Lord, the great Lord; far above their claims.
Peace be upon the messengers.
And praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds!
Qur’an 37/180-182
[1] Rububiyyah: The term expresses the attribute of ownership and nurturing, which refers to the fact that Allah always provides what is needed to every creature, everywhere, and at all times, along with educating and taking care of them[2] “nafs” refers to the self, soul, or inner essence of a person.
[3] İftar: the evening meal eaten for breaking fast after the sun has gone down during Ramadan
[4] hafiz: the one who entirely memorizes and recites the Qur´an, which is over 600 pages.
[5] nur : guidance – knowledge – enlightenment
[6] hadith : refers to the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as well as reports about his teachings, actions, and personal characteristics.
[7] Tuba : is a tree which grows in Jannah (the Garden of Eden) according to Islam.
[8] Samed: One of Allah’s names. The One Who is in need of nothing and Whom everything is in need of. (the Eternally Besought One)
