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For
most of the required duties (takalif shar`iyyah) in Islam,
there are two prerequisites for their fulfilment: 
 (1) Attainment of the age of maturity
(bulugh), and,
(2) Properly articulated intention
(niyyat) that affirms the
purpose of the religious practice.
The
first prerequisite takes for granted that no duties will be
imposed on a person who does not have the capacity to
perform them. Hence, an underage person or an insane
and legally incompetent individual are exempt from
performance of the duties laid down by the Shari`ah.
The
second prerequisite is connected with the development of
sincerity in one’s performance of religious duties.
Sincerity
(khulus)
Without
sincerity (khulus), all forms of worship and service
to God suffer in quality and impact they have on the
development of human conscience. According to the
Qur’an, human conscience is given the ability to know
right from wrong, beneficial from harmful, and praiseworthy
from blameworthy through its creation in nature (fitrah).
All religious duties, whose performance leads to affirmation
of one’s relationship to God in sincerity, also lead to
the maturity of human conscience. In other words,
religious duties, when performed sincerely, increase the
ability of a person to willingly and enthusiastically
perform them for their moral and spiritual benefits.
The reason is very simple: whenever we wish to perform
anything good, it requires a lot of effort on our part to
defeat all those negative forces that try to convince us not
to perform it. This battle with such negative forces
is known as jihad bi-n-nafs (the “struggle” to train
one’s personhood). In fact, in order to perform the
acts that are covered under `ibadat in the Shari`ah, one has
to undertake this `struggle’ (the essential meaning of the
word jihad) to overcome the mental laziness and lack of
motivation.
Fasting
in Ramadhan
Among
all the religious duties one performs as part of one’s
commitment as a Muslim, it is fasting during the month of
Ramadan that is given the most prominent station in the
training of the self (nafs) to become purified and
worthy of God’s mercy and forgiveness. However, let
us ask this question:
“What is it about the fasting that
results in the purification of the self and its placement as
the most beneficial spiritual and moral training?”
Among
all the acts of devotion, it is fasting that is least
visible outwardly, unless a person makes a show and
announces that she/he is fasting. Unlike prayers that
require certain external postures visible to others if one
is praying in public, fasting is mostly internal, firmly
founded upon a spiritual discipline that controls the
movement of entire body in accordance with God’s command
to become aware of God’s presence in our life. Hence,
while one avoids food and drink from dawn to dusk in
fasting, the eyes need to be trained not to look at
something that is harmful to one’s morals; the ears need
to be trained not to listen to any backbiting or dirty and
false conversations; the bodily limbs need to be trained to
obey the rules of the conduct that is pleasing to God.
All in all, fasting can become existentially related to the tranquillity
and repose of one’s mind (sukun an-nafs), only when
this discipline of the self becomes internalised. When
this transformation takes place the person fasting feels the
lightness of the burden of duty and enjoys the state of rare
purity through the avoidance of everything and anything that
is harmful to one’s spiritual and moral health. Of
course, the constant danger that faces the performance of
religious acts is the attitude of self-righteousness and
pride (`ujb), which actually end up corrupting the
benefit of devotional acts, the `ibadat. In this
connection, it is worth remembering Imam Zaynul Abidin’s
prayer known as Makarim al-Akhlaq, in which he prays to God
in these words:
“O
God, do not let my worship become corrupted by
self-importance and pride.”
 Human
conscience is like a mirror that must be kept clean and
polished so that it can reflect the true image of an object
that is viewed in it. Fasting is the major source of
cleansing and polishing that the self requires.
Closeness (qurbat) to God is conditional on one’s
inner purity. As such, we will not fail to notice that
we derive a special pleasure in doing good deeds during the
holy month, such as, feeding the poor, inviting families and
friends to share the meal with us, praying with extra
enthusiasm and care, and so on. All these acts are key
to spiritual maturity and our ability to draw closer to God
by coming closer to the people in kindness and forgiveness.
I mention forgiveness because without our ability to forgive
and restore those who have wronged us, we should not expect
God’s mercifulness and forgiveness. As the Prophet
(peace be upon him and his family) reminds us:
“The
one who does not show mercy, will not be shown mercy [by
God].”
There
are several traditions that speak about the merits of
fasting on Mondays and Thursdays through out the year.
There are also other days in the Muslim calendar that are
mentioned as days of recommended fast. However, the
month of Ramadan is the source of special blessings.
What makes this month a special period is the centrality of
the Qur’an and its recitation during the days and nights
of Ramadan. Imam `Ali describes the month of Ramadan
as the `spring season’ of the Qur’an during which the
recitation of the Qur’an and reflection over its message
revives the hearts (rabi` al-qulub). There is
nothing more pleasing to God than to sit in reflection (tadabbur)
and remembrance (dhikr) of His special favour to the
Muslim community: the Qur’an.
The
recitation of the Holy Book requires preparation of the
heart for its message to take roots. Imam `Ali has
pointed out the preparation in a very important passage in
the Nahjul-Balagha:
“Reflect
on the Qur’an because in it is cure from major diseases,
namely, disbelief, hypocrisy, temptation, and misguidance.
So ask God through it; apply its [teachings] for [the
sake of] His love.”
Pretension
One
of the most severe symptoms of a sick heart is hypocrisy,
which is to show something other than what is hidden in
one’s heart. In simple terms, it is pretension to be
religious or pious in public. Nothing is more dangerous and
harmful to one’s faith than pretension. The duty of
fasting is to combat this satanic tendency. The
Qur’an is the medication to cure this sickness. The
more we recite the Qur’an in this holy month, the more we
achieve the inner purity and moral spiritual strength to
fight diseases like self-importance, false pride, and
pretentious religiosity. The purification resulting
from the fasting and the learnt self-discipline during this
month provides us with the energy to meet the life
challenges as we face the material world and its
temptations.
Imam
Hussayn ibn Ali (A.S.)
It
is worth pondering on a living miracle of the Qur’an in
the life of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him). This
miracle is the source of “the soul at peace” (nafs
mutma`innah) that becomes manifest in Karabala. As
`Allamah Iqbal celebrates in his Mathnavi: “The secret of
the Qur’an, we learnt from Husayn. From his fire we
have kindled the flames [of guidance].” Let us
recall here that very sad night in the history of Islam,
when the grandson of the Prophet, Imam Husayn, spent his
last night praying to God and reciting the Holy Book.
It is instructive and amazing to read about Imam Husayn’s
request to the enemy to postpone the impending battle until
the following day. The request was carried to the
enemy by his brother, `Abbas b. `Ali, in these terms:
“Tell them [o `Abbas] to postpone the attack until
tomorrow so that we can pray this night and invoke God’s
mercy and seek His forgiveness, for surely God knows how
much I love to supplicate to Him and to recite His Book and
present my needs to Him.” This strength of Imam
Husayn’s spirit was the result of the `soul at peace’
– the inner discipline - that he had inculcated in
himself, his family and friends. To be sure, the
Qur’an was at the heart of the Ahlul-bayt’s devotion to
God and to the message of His beloved Prophet.
Dua
Iftitah
In
the light of this act of devotion to God and His blessing on
the community through the Prophet and the Qur’an, we can
appreciate the supplication taught by the Ahlul-Bayt, which
we recite every night during the holy month. In the
du`a
–Iftitah, towards the end, we pray for God’s blessings
and salutations on our Twelfth Imam (peace be upon him) and
ask God:
O
God, make him [i.e., the Imam Zaman], the one who calls
people towards Your Book; the one who stands by Your
religion, choosing him as the one who represents Your
religion in the world, just as You have appointed
representatives among those who came before him. Amin.
 In
other words, the mission that began in the month of Ramadan
by the revelation of the Qur’an to our Prophet will be
completed by the Twelfth Imam al-Mahdi, who will call people
towards the Qur’an, and will revive its teachings by
establishing peace with justice in this world. May God
hasten that period of his return. Amin.
In
the meantime, as we await this return, our duty is to work
hard to purify ourselves through devotional acts like
praying, fasting, and sharing our wealth with those in need,
so that we can qualify to be part of that divine mission
under the Imam of the Age. This is the thrust of the
Qur’an, when it connects worship with charity, religious
with ethical, and spiritual with moral. The
performance of devotional acts leads to the purification of
conscience – the major source of human moral development.
It is worth keeping in mind that the month of fasting
(spiritual) ends with the act of charity (fitrah),
that is, a concern for the less fortunate (moral). The
philosophy of the Qur’an is very clear: our spirituality
should inculcate in us ethical commitment. This is the
connection that exists between `ibadat – acts of devotion
– and akhlaq – concern for others as members of human
community. The more we worship with sincerity, the
more it results in the brilliance of the mirror of
conscience. In this spirit, the great mystic, Rumi,
alerts us:
Learn
from `Ali how to be sincere in your deeds,
Remember
that this Lion of God is free from pretence.
 (Az
`Ali aamuz ikhlas-e `amal, Shir-I Haqqraa daan munazzah az
daghal)
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