Each religion has a history. Among the aspects common to most of them is the fact that seasons of fast have long been part of their spiritual regimen. For millennia sages of diverse experiences have offered insights, esoteric and practical, on the benefits associated with voluntary deprivation for a specific time and for a transcending purpose. They have expanded on how the molecular realm of food and drink, for example, connects with the intangible realm of will and choice and of gratitude and conscience, and how certain sublime knowledge comes only to those who have mastered their desires. But nestled among the insights there may also be an indictment especially germane today: apparently, there is something corrupting about going through a full year in this life without some major interruption in habit, a break from conformity, that helps us to step outside our cartoon world. Ramadan, the Muslim season of fast, is such a disturbance.

In one month we're given the peculiar assignment to defrock the ephemeral world of its authority over us and to reinstate a spiritual bearing that, if unsuppressed, is competent in perceiving where permanence lies and privy to the sham of postmodernism and its strobe-light logic. In contemporary terms, fasting the month of Ramadan is a countercultural movement that confronts an ethos that tries to cancel the interior of religion and discount the importance of rituals in human life. What the modern aspirant does in Ramadan is hardly subtle. In depriving ourselves of food and drink from dawn to dusk, we implicitly defy a despotic marketing imagination that has deputized nearly all of us to serve a culture of "buy and dispose and buy more." This depletes resources, darkens the sky, and melts Arctic glaciers. But it also dulls our sense of the sacred.

We each have a body, a fact we're constantly reminded of, and a body does have needs, organic and sensual, which we cater to day and night. But to submit to the curriculum of fundamentalist secularists that "body" defines humanity is a dereliction that revealed religion has always warned of. We are created from the clay of the earth but are also infused with a soul that has no material correlate in this world. Religion has recognized this duality, not as a glitch in our creation, but as a trial. Somewhere in the teachings of all the great ones (including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad), there's an un-asterisked point: in negotiating the material and spiritual selves, one brushes up against salvation. The choice, they have stressed, comes down to the question: what aspect of our humanity do we devote ourselves to?

For the Muslim, the nurturing of the soul is paramount and is guided by what we offhandedly call in pamphlets the "five pillars of Islam," essential rites of worship that have been passed down from the Prophet Muhammad. These pillars start to lose their meaning when we forget a baseline understanding of religion: Islam insists that each of us is born into this world with a pure condition, a state of grace, in fact. While humans may be feeble, sometimes foolish, belligerent, and forgetful, our center was made uncorrupt. This is equally true for men and women. The rites of worship and the way of life they engender are meant to bring us closer to our original state because it is not confused about God nor indifferent to our role in His world.

Fasting the month of Ramadan is one of these pillars, unique among them, in fact, because, as far as rites go, its very form connects well with the unseen, since the "act" of fasting is about refraining, which is invisible and altogether private. Unlike prayer, pilgrimage, charity, and even the testimony of faith, which involve body, money, or voice, fasting is hidden and is permitted close dwelling with other concealed aspects of the human creation that the consumer of popular culture is scolded to neglect.

As far as time is concerned, Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, but it is also a word with a lexical meaning. It refers to heat, the intense temperatures required to purify a precious metal from alloys mixed with it. The end result is an uncontaminated shine, purified by trial. On this count, Ramadan can be a disrobing experience. It's a month that can expose the unsavory alloys that dodged our defenses, not the least of which are envy, arrogance, selfishness, pretension, and a general inclination toward the ephemeral and a discounting of what lasts forever.

During this time, our devotions are supposed to help us reclaim the organizing principles of revealed religion, which cannot really happen without regaining control over our desires. If the coup is successful, scholars say, then there's spiritual manumission, a kind of freedom in which we "remember." Interestingly, the Arabic word for "humanity" is related to the Arabic term that means "forgetfulness" (as some Arab linguists have suggested). What this implies is that the human being's chief hurdle in his salvation-quest is to actively remember the ultimate drama of life: we have a Maker; our lives are brief and with purpose; we are accountable for what we do; and after our earthly lives, we all shall live again and be brought back to God.

The religion project has always sought to help us remember, not something new, but what we all know intuitively. In each of us there is this soul, a spiritual master, originally very close and aware of God. In the tumble of a crowded life, however, we are prone to silence or ignore that spirit. This is especially true when there is subtle pressure to forget our unseen origins. Ramadan mitigates this pressure. The spiritual aspirant is freer to see gain through subtraction: more faith through emptying, eloquence by learning silence, and honor in being humble.

It is an axiom of Islam that matters of salvation and faith involve choice and effort, everyday. Faith in God and purity of heart do not survive a passive relationship. God-consciousness is not a state per se, but a course and always so. God by His very nature is forgiving and merciful. He does not need an event in history or violence to forgive. What He asks of us is to remember Him and have this remembrance honorably expressed in what we do. And in the event of failure, there is recourse in asking for forgiveness, supplicating with a penitent heart that rejects despair. In the Quran, despair is severely censured and associated with disbelief itself. The reason for this is self-evident: without hope, faith is simply not possible.

I remember a conversation with a zoology professor of mine during my undergraduate days. He said that it is unlikely that creatures deep in the sea have any kind of awareness of what it means to be wet, not even an awareness commensurate to primitive brains. But the irony is not restricted to fish: the greater the immersion the less aware we become of it. There is an observation generally agreed upon among religious folk, that there is indeed an immersion in the fleeting realm, and it's nearly impossible to escape it without help. It is before our senses, from billboards to broadcasts. And after a while, we're disabled from even noticing. Ramadan is help, a knock on a door, an invitation to walk out of the cave.

This is all fine for our own individual enrichment- but it's tangible impact on the people around us is what validates it on this, yes- material plane.
If our own experiential benefits don't grow into an action to carry our taqwa and developed compassion to those who feel these privations every day of the year- it stays in the realm of the esoteric. And that is , ultimately, a very selfish place to reside.

I strongly believe that the idea that Ramadan is for social justice towards the hungry is not rooted in the sources of Islam, but rather a later invention. I've heard this idea many times since I was young, but have yet to find it directly stated in the Quran or Sunnah or the Sufi writings (as limited as my readings are in all three literatures). It usually seems to pop up in apologetical tracts trying to explain to non-Muslims embedded in the matrix (sorry, couldn't resist) why we would possibly not eat with reasoning that (we think) makes sense to their secularized minds intent on social(ized) justice.

Abu Sharif's masterful piece really sums up the spiritual benefits of change. Do you know that if you use the same perfume or cologne every day, you eventually become so desensitized to it as if you can't smell it when everyone around is gasping for air? But, if you use a different one and then go back to the older one after a while, you can smell it all day long at first? Its like that, I think.

Anyway, this was one damn good piece to read this fine Ramadan evening!

Interesting point OmarG- I'll keep half an eye out for references to in my reading.
But empathizing with the hungry is just a natural thought that occurs to one when they fast. Does such a thing really need to be spelled out?
The importance of social justice in Islam is one of the things that drew me to it. I got that from the Qur'an, but I don't remember where.

I don't know about the embedded matrix- possibly I never fit in to it- I don't know what it means to you exactly-= but I certainly fasted as a christian-

With Ramadan fasting there is a relief- that I think has it's psychological calming effect-
Christian fasting lasts longer- but you can drink. SO, 24 or 48 hours- liquid intake- but no food. 3 days you start hallucinating and I don't recommend that.
I have often wondered if some of the visions by the saints were just hunger induced-

The length and periods of relief in Ramdan give one a more balanced and controlled over a period of time approach- just like our lives, part spiritual part material..

Well, I'm rambling- I thought the giving of charity during Ramadan was also a way of cleansing our material wealth.
Now, I don't know for sure where I even got that idea- it may be a christian holdover in my thinking.

Resensitizing oneself is an elegant analogy.

I have an overreaction to searching for the personal sensory experience- it may be a personal prejudice, borne out of distaste for many hindu and christian spiritual practices (that I also engaged in) that I felt were extreme and greedy for sensation- meditations, extreme fasting practices etc-
like trying to force the god's hand to give one an experience-

Let me know your futrther thoughts- I admit to a certian spiritual social isolation so I get alot from these interactions online.
peace

Empathy is certainly a part of our faith and feeding the hungry is a duty on us. But, I simply am not so sure about attributing sympathy with the hungry as a *reason* for fasting. Afterall, the Prophet and some Companions had to tie stones tightly around thier stomachs to ward off hunger during lean times. However, they were not allowed to take Ramadan off just because they were hungry. And, there are no exemptions from fasting in Islam for the poor or chronically undernourished. If sympathy with hunger was the reason for Ramadan, wouldn't only the non-hungry have to fast?

Good points from OmarG and MRS. A. When the brain/eye connection sees something, it immediately runs through a categorization of possibilites to make sense of what is seen. How many times have we "filled in the blanls" and thought we saw something only to get a closer look and see it was something very different. There are times in religion for all the elements of social life and civic concern. But I believe Ramadan is multifaceted, and the primary focus is on development of the individual and his realignment to God and the spiritual life. But then, what better position from which to engage in important social actions? It's like the gym. The gym is something we do presumably for ourselves and the health and wellbeing of the self. But through these actions we fortify ourselves for our journey through life and make ourselves stronger for the tasks at hand. Ramadan can, if we are blessed, enlarge our understanding and appreciation for all of existence as Allah's creation. And that includes humanity and our responsibility towards it. Without that perspective, where is the likelihood that one will even care enough to engage with the poor and other struggling people? Ramadan is for the individual, but the fruits of the Ramadan well lived are for all.

What a great piece, it expresses exactly what so many of us go through in that we tend to be so involved in the day to day basics of life that we lose sight of the bigger picture, or even that there is one. I totally agree, we do not need to justify fasting by claiming that it is out of empathy for the poor, that's like saying that alcohol is forbidden because of the health risks associated with it, and if that's so then how do we explain the prohibition on eating pork...This is an endless cycle that we shouldn't go down, besides ours is a deeply individualistic religion despite it social and communal imperatives and we don't need social reform shoved down our throats by those with certain agendas.

Does fasting need to be justified? Maybe it's a cultural difference, but I am just not getting this.
Is there someone somewhere who has suggested that empathy for the hungry is the reason people fast?
Isn't it just a natural reaction?

So, OmarG- what I was asking before is- you don't feel that social justice is at the core of Islam, and is an idea retroactively invented and applied?

All I can say about the poor who are hungry all the time OmarG, having cooked and worked in poor neighborhood mosques during Ramadan- is that is a time when they are guaranteed a good meal.

But it is, to my mind- the heightened sense of social repsonsiblity during Ramadan that compels the Muslims I've known to invest in those meals- gladly because of the blessings associated with it-

Quite honestly, I am confused by this reaction.

Nadia86 actually seems angry that such a connection exists.

Are you all speaking in some code I am out of the loop from?
'Matrixes' and 'certain agendas'.

It seems like there is some kind of resistance to a western philosophy brought to bear on already extant islamic thought.

I have puzzled over this one before- and asked myself- with my strong western upbringing, and unorthodox spproach- why would ALLAH have led someone like me to Islam?

Social conscience was a strong part of my personality before I became Muslim- and it was in Islam that I found my (admittedly) already developed sense of that confirmed and identified.

It is also, in my humble experience, magnified in the mosque during this time- this sense of giving and distributing charity in a responsible and effective way- noticing what one's neighbor lacks more astutely-

Isn't it possible that the Qur'an is deep enough and out of time enough to have a different appeal for different mentalities?

To me, it validates it's evocative and compelling message to a wider universal audience.

I am still interested in why Omar G feels that the needs of society- and contemplating and working on them as an important part of one's consciousness and purpose- are somehow anathema, o a false innovation.
Well, that's why I'm here also-to learn.

>>Isn't it possible that the Qur'an is deep enough and out of time enough to have a different appeal for different mentalities?

Absolutely! And therein lies its beauty and timeless appeal, just as I beleive God intended. I think you shouldn't try to apply me opinion about the origin of fasting to the scale of Islam and Social Justice as a whole. I do believe that God wants us to worship him/her/it (language is so inadequate for this) through self-less giving as a way to deny the ego. Thus, even the apparent self-less acts of giving to others is really intended as a self-cleansing exercise.

Nevertheless, the reason for Islam's existence is the worship of God, not the worship of the indigent.

PS, the Matrix reference was a joke, meaning that we try to explain the meaning of fasting to non-Muslims thinking that because they are outside Islam, they are in a different reality (thus, The Matrix reference) and talking spiritually to them is bad, but talking socially is good.

I have the 3 DVD collection and just needed to weave in the reference as a running geek gag, kind of like this: "In Soviet Russia, you don't find social justice, social justice finds YOU!"

Ibrahim,

I miss your writings on your blog. This is a good article. Inspiring as always.

Mohammed

The sense of social responsibility towards others less fortunate is an integral part of Islam, and one of the most beautiful aspects of it, but it shouldn't be dominant and not overshadow the the importance of the spiritual, religious exprience itself. And in the case of Ramadan, I think that the individual's connection with God is the main theme. I don't know, maybe I'm just too obsessed right now with Emerson and his values of self-reliance and individualism that its crept into my religious outlook as well

That is funny, I have found in Islams a certain relief from that individualism- just goes to show how differently people can think but still find much in common-

I missed noting what is (for me) a renwed appreciation for those material things also, and jumped ahead to the greater family of man- because that is what I was thinking about at the time.

I have to be honest- I don't find Ramadan as revolutionary as the author- Ihave a suspicion people have been rediscovering that for a millenium.

It was depair that led me to Islam, so it certainly has it's place in our spiritual journey. I didn't look at it as bordering on disbelief- but the necessary conduit to travel through to get there.

I'll have to keep an eye ot for that one too.

>> It was 'depair' that led me to Islam <<

I think she means 'diaper'......

All in all the Islamic way is ultimately quite boring and dry. No music, no wine or spirits, no smokes, no hanky panky, no divorce, no nothing. I imagine TV would have been haram had it come out 1400 years earlier. On a broader scheme, even debt financing is haram, no mortgages. A religion for faqirs. Anybody who wants to enjoy life, wine, women and song, is immediately thrust into a dichotomous guilt-ridden existence where he prays fervently half the time to ask forgiveness for his 'enjoying life too much' the other half of the time. Thats most Muslims enjoying the good life in the West right there.

Which explains at the micro-economic level the state of the Muslims in the world pecking order. Islam thrives among the poor and under-privileged. Wherever there is wealth, it seems to quickly run into problems. But then again wherever there is wealth who needs Islam anyway!!

>> Which explains at the micro-economic level the state of the Muslims in the world pecking order. Islam thrives among the poor and under-privileged. Wherever there is wealth, it seems to quickly run into problems.

Its like you have an allergic reaction to the truth and start sneezing up theories. Where do you come up with this stuff? lol

>> I have to be honest- I don't find Ramadan as revolutionary as the author- Ihave a suspicion people have been rediscovering that for a millenium.

I agree that the article is a little romantic, but if people didn't make such strange personal discoveries repeatedly, it wouldn't be a coherent religion from Allah SWT.

"It seems extreme to me."
"Why do you starve yourself all month long?"
"Maybe that's why you got that cold-you're not taking care of yourself by not eating."
Anyone else get these kind of comments?
It is unimaginable to me that people can exist with such ignorance weighing down their mental processes.
Of course, in a land where a "small" drink is 15 ounces, I can see why depriving oneself of food would be such a shock.
But honestly, can't people, for just a moment, step outside of their own boxes and see things from another perspective?

>> Anyone else get these kind of comments?

I dont get those kinds of comments. People have pointed out a Danial fast? And its not that bad actually. We don't suffer too much. It takes some getting used to. Yes, things are a little slower, but its not overwhelmingly difficult. Many children manage. The tough part for me is taraweeh and the early morning. I've missed a few. But its manageable.


BTW Eid Mubarak