Imam Ghazali says there is an outward and inward fasting (pretty obvious). The outward is of course to abstain from drinking, eating, and sexual intimacy, while the inward is making sure that our fast is accepted by Allah. The prophet s.a.w. said “Many are those who fast attaining nothing but hunger and many are those performing solah by night attaining nothing but tiredness” [Ibn Majah, Nasaa’i]. Outwardly they seems fine, but inwardly they ‘break’ their fast with such things as backbiting, lustful glances, lies and other violations of inward fast.
Ibn Qayyim said that the body of the human being is like a country, whose capital is the heart and whose frontiers are the seven limbs. Satan reaches the heart through one or more of these appendages. Fasting guards the boundaries and trains its sentinels so the heart has a greater chance of drawing near to God[1]. In a hadith (sahih Bukhari), the Prophet s.a.w. said that fasting is a shield, and someone who is fasting should not indulge in obscene language, nor raise the voice, and if someone tries to quarrel with him, he should say “I am a person fasting” [2].
Imam al-Ghazali said, “How many people are not fasting, but with God they are fasting? And how many people are fasting, but with God they are not fasting?”[3]. Questions that we should ask ourselves are: Will we still be 'fasting' even after Ramadhan? Are we even 'fasting' in this month of Ramadhan?
The day of judgement is described as “a day which neither wealth nor children shall be of any benefit, except one who comes to God with a sound heart” [Qur’an 26:88-89]
So have we tried our best to purify our heart during this blessed month? Do we long to attain a sound heart? Or we just don't care, do we?
Footnotes:-
[1] Purification of the Heart, page 191, Hamza Yusuf, Starlatch Press 2004
[2] Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 31, Number 128: Volume 3, Book 31, Number 128:
[3] Purification of the Heart, page 192, Hamza Yusuf, Starlatch Press 2004
p/s: sorry for keeping this blog dormant for a long time.
Ibn Qayyim said that the body of the human being is like a country, whose capital is the heart and whose frontiers are the seven limbs. Satan reaches the heart through one or more of these appendages. Fasting guards the boundaries and trains its sentinels so the heart has a greater chance of drawing near to God[1]. In a hadith (sahih Bukhari), the Prophet s.a.w. said that fasting is a shield, and someone who is fasting should not indulge in obscene language, nor raise the voice, and if someone tries to quarrel with him, he should say “I am a person fasting” [2].
Imam al-Ghazali said, “How many people are not fasting, but with God they are fasting? And how many people are fasting, but with God they are not fasting?”[3]. Questions that we should ask ourselves are: Will we still be 'fasting' even after Ramadhan? Are we even 'fasting' in this month of Ramadhan?
The day of judgement is described as “a day which neither wealth nor children shall be of any benefit, except one who comes to God with a sound heart” [Qur’an 26:88-89]
So have we tried our best to purify our heart during this blessed month? Do we long to attain a sound heart? Or we just don't care, do we?
Footnotes:-
[1] Purification of the Heart, page 191, Hamza Yusuf, Starlatch Press 2004
[2] Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 31, Number 128: Volume 3, Book 31, Number 128:
[3] Purification of the Heart, page 192, Hamza Yusuf, Starlatch Press 2004
p/s: sorry for keeping this blog dormant for a long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment