Ramadan and Disciplining the Self - I

12/07/2011| IslamWeb

Allah The Almighty has created people in a state of poverty and need. It is indisputable that people are in need of food, drink, sexual desire, dealing with others, obtaining benefits through wealth, and so on. Allah The Almighty has provided man with instinctive desires and inclinations in order to fulfill these needs because he cannot live without them. Nonetheless, such matters are not the purpose for which man has been created; rather, they are subjugated for him in order to fulfill the purpose for which he has been created. These desires, however, caused destruction and ruin to the largest part of humanity when they became engaged in serving these desires and they lived only to eat, drink, reproduce, collect wealth, have children, and so on. This was the reason why the hearts of mankind turned wretched and souls turned aggressive. 

A person who has a higher purpose in life realizes that these things are the means by which he can reach the desired end. Thus, he does not need more than what is necessary in this world and he dispenses with other things which,in fact, lure him away from fulfilling the goal he seeks. Nonetheless, most people live in this world without thinking: why have we been created? Where will we go? What is the intended purpose of our existence? What does our Creator want from us? They fail to think about these matters. Rather, they find themselves hungry and thus they eat; feel sexual desire and thus they satisfy it through either legitimate or illegitimate means, and feel a desire to have wealth and thus they get it through either legitimate or illegitimate means. This causes their selves to transgress and become corrupted. When people live solely for these desires, they become wretched and ruined.    

Allah The Almighty is the Most Merciful. He has revealed the most perfect laws which discipline souls, reform hearts and urge people to remember the essence of these desires and realize that they have been created in order to help them attain the purpose they seek. Allah The Almighty ordered people not to be excessive in fulfilling these desires so that man does not become preoccupied with things beyond his needs. Had people not been excessive in fulfilling their desires, they would not have destroyed themselves in this world, vied with each other and focused on obtaining the pleasures of this world. Does a rich man, who has collected millions, eat more than his fill? If he did that, he would suffer from harmful indigestion. The same applies to clothes, wealth and all other desires.

Thus, we say that Allah The Almighty has prescribed for us the most perfect laws which enable us to control our desires and direct them, instead of letting them direct us. Fasting during Ramadan includes all the good characteristics of disciplining souls. The scholars mentioned that man should get rid of excessive indulgence in food, drink, talk, socializing with people, wealth, sexual desire and sleeping. When man is preoccupied with these six things, he wastes his life.

In Ramadan, Allah The Almighty has prescribed laws which train us how to control our desires. During this month one cannot eat whenever he feels hungry; rather, he has to abstain from food and drink during a certain period. This provides one with the ability to discipline and control himself. This also makes the soul submissive to the commands of Allah The Almighty. Therefore, when one is fasting in general, and during Ramadan in particular, it is easy for him to perform acts of worship and obedience that are difficult for him to do at other times. Allah The Almighty makes it easy for him to lower his gaze, turn away from hearing what is evil, control his tongue, perfom voluntary prayers, and observe fasting. The soul urges one to satisfy its desires while a wise man tries to control it and become its ruler. People are not similar in dealing with their souls. Similarly, the hearts of people are not similar in dealing with the soul which is a persistent enjoiner of evil and inclines to desires. Some people have strong hearts which control and subjugate the souls. After a long period of disciplining and controlling the self, its evil is removed, so that the soul becomes a sincere advisor of the ruler, which is the heart. This is its condition in the beginning. The human soul cannot be obedient, submissive, loving obedience and hating disobedience from the beginning. Rather, it begins as a persistent enjoiner of evil;shows laziness to do acts of obedience and inclines to disobedience and lust. The heart which overcomes the soul can later teach and discipline it until it becomes full of faith. When one disciplines his soul it hastens to perform the night voluntary prayer, observe fasting during the daytime and spend in charity, after it was being forced to do so at the beginning. In this condition, the soul has become a sincere advisor which helps the heart. When the retreating whisperer comes to this soul and says to it: look at this forbidden image, listen to this song and music, and so on, it responds: I seek refuge in Allah. This self has found assurance and tranquility with the rememeberance of Allah The Almighty and worship has become its delight and happiness. It was narrated that the Prophet, , asked his Lord, saying: "I ask You to grant me the pleasure of seeing Your face and the longing to meet You, with no harmful adversity or misleading temptation (Fitnah)."

(To be continued)