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FASTING in ISLAM Before Presenting Material on Fasting in Islam, I Want

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FASTING in ISLAM Before Presenting Material on Fasting in Islam, I Want CHAINING THE DEMONS, LIBERATING THE SOUL: FASTING IN ISLAM David D. Peck—Department of History, Geography, and Political Science Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of essays on Islam written by Brother Peck. The first in the series, “Judge Righteous Judgment: Appreciating What Islam ‘Has,’” was published in Volume 4, Number 1 (Spring 2004). The reader is encouraged to begin with that essay and read subsequent essays in order of publication. efore presenting material on fasting in Islam, I want readers to Bunderstand my approach to the subject of comparative religion. The essays in this series represent an effort to answer the question, “how should Latter-day Saints approach the study of religions?” I am convinced that Mormons are in a position to attain what I call “a nobler estimate” of religions, including Islam. President Hinckley advocated, as indeed many other modern prophets have advocated, a uniquely LDS approach The people of the in this regard: “The people of the earth are all our Father’s children and are of many and varied religious persuasions. We must cultivate earth are all our tolerance and appreciation and respect one another. We have differences Father’s children of doctrine. This need not bring about animosity or any kind of holier- than-thou attitude.”1 Tolerance, appreciation, and respect will be forever and are of many unattainable so long as Latter-day Saints focus solely upon doctrinal and varied religious incompatibility. Without denying doctrinal differences, we must move beyond doctrinal considerations, and discover ways in which religions persuasions. contribute to overall moral and spiritual improvement of our world. This essay presents positive aspects of one such religion, Islam, in order that Saints may chose to draw informed conclusions about Muslim practice and belief, hopefully leading to tolerance, appreciation, and respect. We live in a time when tolerance, respect, and appreciation are in decreasing supply. Latter-day Saints should take the lead in reversing this trend. To this end, I adopted the following guidelines: . This is a discussion of selected principles and practices of Islam, together with necessary Islamic doctrines. This series of essays will emphasize somewhat widespread themes and practices in Islam, providing a basis for appreciation and respect.2 2. I use the name “God” to indicate either primarily Mormon doctrines and views, or instances where LDS views and Islamic teachings are essentially in agreement as to a divine purpose, activity, or intention. I use the name “Allah” to draw attention to Islamic practices and teachings.3 08 • PERSPECTIVE 3. I strongly emphasize the positive aspects of Islam, which are indeed very many. There are enough uninformed critics of this religion. I hope to impart a different point of view that is of use to those Latter-day Saints interested in cultivating tolerance, appreciation, and respect.4 4. This is not an effort at ecumenism, a philosophy that seeks to eliminate all doctrinal differences and to create a single universal religious doctrine. Doctrinal differences exist but do not pose a serious obstacle to the cultivation of tolerance, appreciation, and respect for such aspects of Islam as are virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy. FASTING AND RELIGIOUS DEVOTION Fasting is among the most common of religious practices. Native Americans practiced ritual fasting: Lakota braves fasted four consecutive days while wandering in the wilderness, seeking communion with Wakantanka, their Supreme Being. Roman Catholics forego meat every Friday. Jews fast annually on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Fasting is not only a contemporary near-universal religious practice but also has strong historical roots. Ancient Egyptians and Babylonians fasted.5 The mystery cults of Ancient Greece, as well as the Pythagoreans fasted. Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists fast (Buddhist monks eat one small daily meal, practicing a lifelong form of fasting). Furthermore, J.A. MacCulloch identified several purposes underlying fasting rituals among the various religions: marking entrance into a new stage of life, as an act of mourning, as a rite of preparation, as a rite of formal initiation, as part of a magic ritual, as an act of penitence, and as part of a formal program of self denial, or asceticism.6 Finally, it is conceivable that millions of people around the It is conceivable globe are fasting in one way or another on any given day. It should come that millions of as little surprise then that historical and contemporary fasting practices and objectives are parallel, or at least strikingly similar, among the world’s people around the religions. Islam, like many other religions, advocates fasting as a means globe are fasting in to the attainment of virtue and spiritual enlightenment. one way or another FASTING IN ISLAM on any given day. Muhammad said, “When Ramadan begins, the gates of heaven open, the gates of hell are closed and the demons are chained up.”7 Muhammad suggested three areas of spiritual benefit associated with fasting. First, fasting opens the “gates of heaven.” The believing Muslim, utilizing the fast as a tool of sanctification, attempts to open the windows of revelation and spiritual enlightenment. Fasting additionally strengthens personal commitment to God’s work. It also provides access to divine grace BEYOND OUR BORDERS • 09 and guidance. Second, the “gates of hell are closed.” The gates of hell represent in Islam the overall societal influence of sin and the effects of material deprivation manifest throughout the world. The fasting believer comes to understand the pains of hunger and want, promoting a spirit of empathetic generosity. Fasting as a community of the faithful, a Muslim practice during the month of Ramadan and an LDS practice on each Fast Sunday, promotes an egalitarian spirit since all members are reduced to dependence upon God, no matter one’s station in life. Third, the demons inherent in mankind’s “animal appetites” (what Latter-day Saints call the “natural man”) are chained.8 Fasting is therefore also a time of The appetites of introspection and self-evaluation, a time for repentance. The appetites of the natural man are put off for a season in an effort to eventually master the natural man are those desires and passions that lead to sin. Muslim believers are taught put off for a season not only to temper the urges of the natural man but also are encouraged to speak well of each other and to share their material means generously. in an effort to In this way, the temptations of the flesh are gradually replaced by virtues. eventually master Selfishness and backbiting may be thus transformed into generosity and honest speech. Self-denial in Islam is coupled with spiritual satiety. those desires and Consequently, chaining one’s personal demons hopefully leads to the passions that lead liberation of one’s soul. Devout Muslims fast more frequently than perhaps any other people. to sin. (The Arabic word for fasting issawm , meaning “abstention,” or self-denial.) The annual Muslim fast, practiced during the ninth month Ramadan( ), is required of all believers and lasts through the entire month. Devout Muslims also fast at other times throughout the year, following an earlier pattern established by the Jews. The most devoted of Muslims fast over one hundred fast days annually. Any spiritual exercise requiring this level of devotion must be viewed a central practice and tenet of faith that assists in overall moral and spiritual development. Islam therefore links fasting to other spiritual practices, such as scripture reading, in order that the fast may be whole, or as the Doctrine and Covenants suggests to Latter-day Saints, that a believer’s “joy may be full.” Fasting is more than merely foregoing food and water. This is the central spiritual aspect of fasting in Islam, and in the LDS religion. Sister Sheryl Condie Kempton noted: “even though I did not eat or drink for twenty-four hours, I was not really satisfied with my effort. The day hadn’t been much different from most Sundays… it seemed to me that if fasting were important, it should make a difference. I knew that it was important, so I concluded that I must not be doing it right.” A notable commentator on the Qur’an, Ahmad bin Hanbal commented, “how many fasters there are for whom only hunger and thirst are the results of their fast.”9 Such a fast, in Islam or in Mormonism, is essentially all form, but without substance. 0 • PERSPECTIVE For those unfamiliar with the spiritual objectives inherent in both Muslim and in LDS fasts, the ritual may seem like little more than self- starvation. An examination of the traditional academic treatment of fasting illustrates this. Scholars of comparative religion classify rituals according to their assumed functions: those that “fill” (plerotic rites) and those that “empty” (kenotic rites).10 Fasting is commonly viewed as primarily kenotic, a conclusion that focuses upon ritual self-denial. Within Christianity, Judaism and Islam, however, fasting has concomitant plerotic qualities, since it is also a method of filling oneself with spiritual strength. The Islamic cycle of fasting during daylight hours, and eating a modest meal at night, combines a sense of material need with spiritual satiety. It joins meekness with profound gratitude toward the Divine Provider. Each twenty-four hour period of sincere fasting is essentially the spiritual union of plerosis and kenosis. Fasting in Islam is intended to be much more than an exercise in self-mortification. Allah decreed to Muslims that fasting is more than mastering the carnal “difficulties,” or physical obstacles, presented by abstention. Fasting is, instead, a path to spiritual realization, to reconciliation, and to genuine enlightenment, opening up a vision of God and community bound together through humble charity and generosity.
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