Rationale of Ramadan fasting

Fasting is one of the commandments of Al-mighty Allah on Muslims and it is not identified with the Muslim world alone but with other  faiths as well.

Fasting, according to Muslim scholars, has literal and technical meanings. In the book, Minhaj-l- Muslim , authored by Sheikh Abubakar Jaabir AlBuha, fasting is defined as ‘abstainance’in literal Arabic language while in technical parlance, it means abstainance with intention of servng Almighty Allah, from eating, drinking, sexual intercourse with one’s wife and from the likes, from the appearance of dawn till sunset.

Fasting is divided into two categories, that is, voluntary and obligatory. Allah has some purposes for enjoining fasting on people of faith from generation to generation.

One of these purposes, and the most important, is piety (taqwa). Allah says in the Holy Quran, chap 2 verse 1 & 3. “O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may ward off (evil). “

In another translation of Yusuf Alli, “that ye may learn self-restraint”. It is important to note that service to Almighty Allah (Ibadah) has taqwa as its soul. No service to Almighty God can be accepted when it lacks this important element of taqwa. This is because the summary of what Allah wants from human being in life is to live a life full of piety. This piety will transfer to a self-driven acts that reveal this element, acts emanating from fear of Almighty Allah. The life of the person with this element would be one liveable to Allah and would be in the best interest of the actor and fellow human being.

Almighty Allah says in the holy Quran: “And whoever fears Allah, Allah will appoint a way out for him And will provide for him from (a quarter) whence he hath no expectation. And whoever fears Allah, He makes his course easy for him.”

From the above verses, fear of Almighty Allah secures a way out in case of difficulty, it guarantees  a life of fulfillment from a source unexpected and it makes a course of struggle an easy one. All these are required from every Muslim from time to time and place to place and that is why fasting is not restricted to month of Ramadan alone. Every lunar month of the year has a period of fasting although it is forbidden to fast everyday of the month apart from the month of Ramadan. The analogical deduction one can make from obligation of Ramadan is to train the body to get used to fasting in all other days prescribed or enjoined by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Irtiqa: Review of Dallal's “Islam, Science, and the Challenge of History”

Dallal is a historian of science who has specialized in Arab-Islamic heritage. He is currently provost of the American University of Beirut (AUB), having gone there in 2009 from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where he served as the chair of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies. He had previously held academic appointments at Stanford University (2000-03), Yale University (1994-2000), and Smith College (1990-94). I often describe the field of ‘Islam and Science’ as a cultural and intellectual space in three dimensions: a) the historical developments of science during the Islamic civilization; b) the conceptual discussions of conflict, harmony, or separation between Islam and modern science; c) the issues of practical application of science in Islamic life (ranging from the calculation of prayer times to in vitro fertilization and euthanasia). Ahmad Dallal’s book, though rather concise, manages to encompass all three dimensions in a grand narrative and with a bold thesis. Indeed, while surveying the major trends of scientific activity from its emergence in the early Islamic civilization to the present time, he takes special interest in at least one specific case of application of science and intersection with religious rules (the direction of the qibla), and by the last chapter he dabbles in the conceptual issues raised by Darwinism and ‘the new astronomy’ (i.e. the heliocentric revolution). The thesis he is attempting to prove, however, is never stated clearly, but any careful reader will figure it out, especially since Dallal attempts to draw conclusions toward it at the end of each chapter. What he tries to show is that science in the Islamic civilization slowly but successfully was extricating itself from the double embrace of (Aristotelian) philosophy and religion. Dallal clearly believes that any link, whether strong or weak, made between science and religion or philosophy is counterproductive and regressive. He writes: “Yet while religion dominated the moral sphere and claimed a higher rank there […], it did not exercise an epistemological hegemony over science” (p. 147); “[w]hen Muslims were the main producers of science in the world, they did not advocate wedding science and religion” (p. 170). In summary, this is an important book, with a grand narrative and a bold thesis. It is very well written, though one can find weaknesses, biases, or short-cuts here and there.

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