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AN IMPORTANTPOINT TO

REMEMBER

Fasting in between the believer and the world, resulting inRamadan creates a mental barrier

a form of detachment which is of the highest value indevotional life. The Qur’an declares the primary pur-

pose of fasting is that, “word taqwa, for which there is no precise equivalent in...you may learn taqwa...”. The

English, refers to the immediate consciousness thatAllah is watching one’s acts. Those who have carried

out the Ramadan fast know how much one’s other actsof worship improve as one’s awareness of Allah pro-

gressively grows through fasting.

Fasting awakens in man the feeling of gratefulness.The temporary deprivation of food and water empha-

sizes the importance of these mundane things as divineblessings. Then when he partakes of food and water

after having experienced hunger and thirst, he can feelhow truly precious the food and water provided to him

abundantly by Allah is. This experience increases man-ifold his feelings of gratitude to Allah.

Fasting produces moral discipline within man. Byrestricting the basic things he desires, the devotee is

trained to lead a life of self-restraint and not of permis-siveness. What the speed-breaker does for the speed-

ing motorist, fasting does for the devotee.

By having a curb put on his various desires for onemonth at a time man is trained to lead a life of self-

restraint for the whole year, making no attempt to

exceed the limits set by Allah

What man does by fasting is engage himself more andmore in the remembrance and worship of Allah, and in

the recitation of the Qur'an. Thus fasting serves as a

strategy to increase the efficacy of worship. In this wayAllah accepts our worship in its heightened form.

Fasting is, in short, a training course. Its purpose is toplace man on a special spiritual plane for one month so

that he may be better able to lead the life of a truedevotee of Allah and a true lover of humanity.

T P

The Holy Prophet Muhammad [s] has said
that, “There are some people who fast who get noth-
ing from it except hunger.” Which of the two men in
the picture has learnt valuable lessons from his fast
and which has not? List some of the lessons you think
he may have learnt. Colour-in the picture too.

C P