5 December 2001, 01:47am IST
M Aslam.
Ramadan, the month of fasting is the holiest month of the islamic calender. roza or fasting not only provides an opportunity to its believers to reinforce their faith in the almighty; it is also an effective process of self-purification that has great social significance. it is one of the five mandatory obligations a true muslim is expected to follow. apart from roza, the other four are, belief in one god or tauhid, praying five times a day, salat, charity, zakat and pilgrimage to mecca or haji. fasting achieves special significance, because it helps to reinforce all the other obligations. what does it mean to those who want to understand what fasting is all about? it essentially means that the practitioner has to start fasting from dawn to dusk for a month after the moon in the month of ramadan is sighted. a person on fast has to have sahri or pre-dawn meal. it is a light meal which can be taken up to roughly one hour and twenty minutes before sunrise. the breaking of fast is called iftar. the fast is broken 2-3 minutes after sunset with any food available but dates are preferred. after breaking the fast one can eat anything till the next sahri. a muslim in general and a rozadar or one who keeps the fast has to pray five times. the basic objective of this month-long annual ritual is to mould the behaviour and pattern of life of its practitioners to become ideal human beings. a rozadar will not only observe abstinence from eating and drinking but will get into a sublime state of mind in order to develop positive feelings. it essentially means restraining oneself from listening, speaking, hearing or thinking negatively about others. once this month-long process of self-purification is complete, it is expected that its impact will last at least for the remaining eleven months. after that, this process will be repeated. unfortunately, more importance is given to the physical fasting; so a holistic makeover is not achieved. it has also acquired political overtones as is evident from the series of iftar parties hosted by political leaders, mostly in the capital. even the white house this year hosted one. the other areas of social significance expected to be developed and addressed during ramadan include helping the poor by giving alms, charity and the concept of neighbourhood and hospitality. apart from helping to purify mind, body and soul through the process of self-purification, addressing these areas are bound to help people come closer together. a true muslim is expected to take stock of his personal wealth, both cash and kind, every year and calculate zakat at the rate of about .5 per cent, which is to be set aside for distribution among the poor and needy. in return, god is believed to safeguard his wealth and property. it is also believed that if one gives to charity an amount of rupees ten during this month, he will get blessings, (sawab) that is 70 times the original amount. surely, this is a wonderful scheme to bring about social justice! the concept of neighbourhood is equally important. it has wider connotations than its literal meaning. the prophet had said, ‘‘one should behave decently with the whole of humanity and foremost among them is your neighbour’’. if one connects it with the concept of fasting, an immediate implication is that a true muslim cannot see any human being hungry, even if it means having to sacrifice iftar and continue fasting for the next day. similarly, a true muslim cannot see a human being in pain or misery. it applies to both immediate neighbourhood as well as humanity at large. what we are witnessing around us in the name of islam is not islam. in essence islam in general and roza in particular teaches a person to address human concerns and values. this is a good time for muslims to help diffuse global tensions and demonstrate the importance of self-purification through observance of roza in its totality. true fasting inculcates in a person the habit of speaking the truth — something that is becoming very rare indeed in today’s world. if a person speaks the truth, practices the concept of hospitality and neighbourhood and gives charity as advocated above, he will certainly become a true insaan and will be bestowed with god’s blessings and protection, which we all need so desperately in these troubled times.
(the author is a social scientist and is professor at ignou, new delhi)
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