Dave Andrews

Day 15

A Swiss Muslim philosopher, who serves as the professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford and teaches at the Oxford Faculty of Theology, and who writes a lot about Ramadan, goes by the name serendipitous name of Tariq Ramadan. He writes ‘What is quite important for the Muslims and the non-Muslims is really to understand the very meaning of this month of fasting, because sometimes we are just fasting in a very formalistic way, we fast, we don’t eat, we don’t drink, but we don’t get the substance, the essence of why we are fasting.’[i]

Day 16

Tariq Ramadan writes: ‘“Fasting has been prescribed to you as it was prescribed to the people before you”.(2.183) “To the people who came before you”, to the “previous revelations’ in fact, meaning by this is; what we are doing today as Muslims, the followers of the last revelation – according to the Islamic tradition – are following the footsteps of all the previous messages. Meaning by this of course; Judaism and Christianity, but not only (Judaism and Christianity).’ We are seeking ‘the very essence of Islam … a universal message that we find in Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.’[ii]

Day 17

In the Qur’an, it says, ‘There is only one God, I am your only God, worship me and perform the prayer in order to remember me.’(20.14) And Tariq Ramadan says we fast and pray to remember the ‘One God’, who belongs to us all and to whom we all belong. He says ‘We fast to come close to God, this is the way we serve, to come close to God, and this is the way we live, just to prepare ourselves to come back to God, because at the end of the day “innalillah wa innaa ilaihi raaji’un” we belong to Him and to Him we will return insyaAllah.’[iii]

Day 18

My Muslim colleague, Nora Amath, with whom I do my interfaith community work, says ‘The Qur’an instructs Muslims to fast during the month of Ramadan for the purpose of acquiring something in Arabic called “taqwa”. “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) taqwa”.’(2.183) In the Qur’an taqwa appears over 100 times. and its derivatives appear more than 250 times. Taqwa at a basic level can mean ‘fear’ and at an advanced level can mean ‘awe’. And according to Nora, in its fullest sense, taqwa means ‘God-consciousness’.[iv]

Day 19

The Quaker theologian, Richard Foster says, ‘Fasting must forever centre on God. It must be God-initiated and God-ordained. Like the prophetess Anna, we need to be “worshiping with fasting” (Luke 2.37).’ Fasting is to be for God and to increase what Nora would calls our ‘God-consciousness’. Foster warns us against using fasting for spurious reasons. He says that ‘to use good things to our own ends is always the sign of false religion’.[v] He cites ‘the very first statement Jesus made about fasting (that) dealt with the question of motive’ – like pharisaical self-righteousness or self-aggrandisement. (Matthew 6.16-18)

Day 20

The scriptures are replete with repeated prophetic warnings about ritual fasting: “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.’ (Isaiah 59.1-2) But, ‘the Lord said, “these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote”.’ (Isaiah 29.13)

Day 21

True fasting means going beyond ‘a human commandment learned by rote’. As Tariq Ramadan says, ‘fasting really means to go beyond your human nature, (to) come to the divine closeness, and remember what He says in the Quran: “if my servant is asking you about me, I am very close and I answer to the call of the one who calls”.(2.186)’ A companion of the Prophet said when we fast ‘the gates of Paradise are opened,’[vi] And the great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said it was true: “Our seasons of prayer and fasting in the tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has Heaven’s gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer the central Glory (of God).’[vii]

[i] Ramadan, T. ‘The Essence Of Fasting’, https://www.facebook.com/notes/islamic-religious-council-of-singapore-muis/prof-tariq-ramadan-the-essence-of-fasting/10150244332710696/

[ii] Ramadan, T. ‘The Essence Of Fasting’, https://www.facebook.com/notes/islamic-religious-council-of-singapore-muis/prof-tariq-ramadan-the-essence-of-fasting/10150244332710696/

[iii] Ramadan, T. ‘The Essence Of Fasting’, https://www.facebook.com/notes/islamic-religious-council-of-singapore-muis/prof-tariq-ramadan-the-essence-of-fasting/10150244332710696/

[iv] Amath, N. ‘Ramadan: Cultivating a culture of compassion for meaningful co-existence’ Lecture Notes

[v] Foster, Richard J. (1978). Celebration of Discipline. Harper & Row. Kindle location 1005-8

[vi] Ahmad and an-Nasa’I ‘In Ramadan Paradise Opens its Doors, Hell Closes its Doors and Satans are Chained’ http://www.missionislam.com/ramadan/satanchained.htm

[vii] Foster, Richard J. (1978). Celebration of Discipline. Harper & Row. Kindle location 1011