8 Ramadan 1431

One week of fasting is finished, and where do we stand?

I feel a bit more light-headed during the days, and by iftār, somewhat weak. But do I realize how weak I am?

Sometimes it is said that through worship, including fasting, and other spiritual disciplines, the wayfarer seeks to take on the attributes of Allah. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that we try to take on attributes that reflect in a very limited way the attributes of Allah.

How are we to achieve that?

One place to start might be by recognizing our weaknesses. Since I am weak, I do better to trust my affairs to Him. Since I am weak, I do better to ask for His protection.

This is a kind of self-effacement. We should give up the illusion that we have sufficient strength that we can go our own way without His guidance. Only then can we begin to exhibit the reflections of His strength in ourselves.

How can we reflect the strength of God? Maybe by emulating His beneficence. By feeling weak we may commiserate with the weak, and so seek to aid them as we can.

Fayz writes:

Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq said: 'Allah made fasting obligatory in order that the wealthy and the poor [in the worldly sense] be made equal. That is because the rich do not taste the hunger that would cause them to be kind to the poor. Whenever the wealthy want something they can achieve it. So Allah desired to make equality within His creation, the wealthy tasting of hunger and pain so that they could have sympathy for the weak and compassion for the hungry.'

And it was said: It is enough that fasting is a means of elevating the lowest level of the human being to the highest level which is that of imitating the spiritual angels. Surely, that is enough of a virtue and a glorious deed.

Thanks to Saleem Saab and the Arc of London for the translation of Fayz’s remarks on fasting at:

http://sites.google.com/site/wwwthearcoflondon/thevirtuesoffasting