There are many ongoing studies into fasting, a practice prescribed across many religions. Increasingly, there is evidence to support that intermittent fasting is beneficial to human health.

The opposite of fasting – overeating – has been revealed to be a major culprit in many illnesses, including cancer, obesity, and heart disease. For many years, the medical consensus was that fasting, i.e. prolonged hunger, too, could have deleterious effects on the human body. From kidney failure to loss of muscle, fasting was believed to be harmful – thus calling into question the benefits of this widespread religious commandment.

People of faith – including Muslims – have long believed that God wouldn’t recommend a practice that was harmful to the body. The hardships and troubles that accompany a religious practice are not too extreme for people aware of their servitude to God: they regard their trials as a testament of their faith. Part of that faith is the certainty that God wouldn’t recommend a harmful or unbearable practice.

In this article, we will share with you two unknown benefits of fasting that have been recently discovered.

Regenerating stem cells

There is a substantial body of evidence showing that staying hungry during certain periods of the day heals the body’s metabolism, hastens loss of fat, decreases oxidative stress,* and improves the functions of the tissues that make up various organs including the liver, the intestines, and the brain. The first of the two new discoveries about the underlying processes, however, provides a missing piece of the puzzle by helping us understand the incredible changes hunger triggers in stem cells.

Researchers at MIT, Duke University School of Medicine, and Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge published an article recently on stem cells, indicating that part of stem cell’s mystery could lie in the oxidation (burning) of fat in the mitochondria [1]. Omer H. Yilmaz and his fellow researchers found that a 24-hour fast hastens fat breakdown in intestinal stem and special progenitor cells of rats.

To run the study, Yilmaz and colleagues let the mice go hungry for 24 hours to study the state of their stem cells. They found that the functions of intestinal stem cells increased, and fat metabolism quickened, in both young and aged mice, even during early periods of hunger. They saw that the body’s tapping into fat for its energy needs maintained the health and strength of the intestinal stem cells. Moreover, they noticed that if the aged mice did not fast, they started to lose their ability to break down and use fats for energy expenditure.

The researchers obtained more interesting results as the studies progressed. It was found that a single period of hunger for 24 hours boosted renewal of intestinal cells – and the stem cell functions increased even more significantly in aged mice. Another interesting finding was that mice with damaged intestines that were fasted recovered faster than those that were fed.

“My lab is really interested in understanding how diet, in general, can be used to improve tissue function,” Yilmaz said. “One of the tissue types I study is the intestine. In my lab we study the intestine because it’s one of the largest organs in the body. It’s also a tissue that experiences rapid cellular turnover.” [2]

The intestine is lined by a single layer of cells, Yilmaz explains, that turns over every 5 to 7 days. The workhorses of the intestinal lining and this cellular turnover are intestinal stem cells. These cells must retain a high level of function or cellular health in order to replenish the intestinal epithelium on a regular basis. Intestinal stem cells are particularly important in terms of repairing intestinal damage caused by gut infections and chemotherapy, for example.

The single layer of epithelial cells needs to be renewed every 5-7 days: the aids and enzymes secreted in the intestine for digestive and absorptive activities damage cells despite the protective mucus layer, and some other cells already burst and die as they empty their secretions. Moreover, some medications, particularly chemotherapy, cause the destruction and breakdown of the epithelial cell layer. However, fast-multiplying stem cells replenish the epithelial cells. Stem cells are very active and young and have the ability to divide and multiply continuously.

Dr. Yilmaz also says:

“As we age, stem cells in the intestine as well as in many other tissues of the body, including in the blood and nervous systems, become less functional. We believe that reduced adult stem cell function contributes to some of the decline of function associated with old age. My lab is very interested in studying low-calorie interventions to delay this decline. As a field, we’ve known for over 100 years that low-calorie states such as fasting or caloric restriction can have positive effects on tissue health and aging. We’ve seen evidence that fasting during times of intestinal infections that lead to diarrhea may promote healing of the intestinal lining, for example.” [2]

This quote emphasizes the importance of the issue. Yilmaz adds that despite all this knowledge, the cellular mechanisms of this renewal have not been discovered, and he and his team are working to find out how fasting and hunger enable this recovery.

Stem cells become happy in fat!

The researchers discovered through the experiments that the stem cell function could be brought about in hungry mice by the burning (oxidation) of fatty acids in intestinal cells. When they stopped the fat metabolism through genetic engineering, they noticed that the benefits of fasting on intestinal stem cells were negligent.

In the present dietary conditions, we obtain nearly 60-70% of our energy from carbohydrates or sugar, 20% from fats and 10% from amino acids. Yet an interesting finding revealed by Dr. Yılmaz and his research team is that we essentially obtain much greater energy from using fats once we fast. According to their experiments on mice, during fasting, the intestinal stem cells in both young and aged mice switch from carbohydrates to fats as the primary source of energy, and this shift enables improvement in stem cell functions.

It is not yet known what underlies the fat metabolism that boosts stem cell functions in response to fasting, but it is observed that stem cells work better when they burn fat. The ability to metabolize fats efficiently decreases with age.

It is likely that this hastened metabolism – encouraged by certain diets, like the keto diet, where the amount of fat ingested is raised to 70% and carbohydrate intake is limited to 5% – helps with epileptic seizures and similar neurological disorders: the ketone bodies generated during metabolism of fats are used as energy sources by the brain.

According to Dr. Yilmaz, if fasting can improve the functions of intestinal stem cells through metabolism of fats, the key is the mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell responsible for this function. Fat metabolism, or the immediate breaking down or “burning” of the fat entering the cell, is carried out in the mitochondria. Disrupted energy generation associated with aging and decreasing mitochondria can be a reason for the brain’s susceptibility to age-related illnesses. Positive developments in brain functions can therefore be viewed in connection with the correlation between fasting and the oxidation of fatty acids.

Cleaning by fasting

Just like the spring cleaning in our homes, our cells need a thorough cleaning to function properly. Wrongly folded protein particles, remains of damaged organelles, broken molecular pieces, and aged cells that can no longer divide should be disposed out of our cellular structure. Fasting perfectly performs the task of cleaning these wastes and clearing the area in the cell.

“Everything has zakat (a means of cleaning), and the zakat of the body is fasting.” (Ibn-i Majah, Siyam: 44)
“Fasting is a protective shield.” (Bukhari, Sawm: 2)

What is autophagy?

Autophagy is the compound of two ancient Greek words: auto (self) and phagos (eating). What is meant by “self-eating,” is the breaking down and recycling of protein waste and old, impaired molecules by intracellular digestive organelles called lysosomes. In this way, proteins or cellular organelles are digested and taken out of circulation. We can liken autophagy to garbage collection.

Japanese researcher Yoshinori Ohsumi’s study, which brought him the 2016 Nobel Prize for Medicine, found that the autophagy that occurs inside the cell due to fasting or starvation plays an important role in preventing ageing, infections, and tumors. If autophagy breaks down, many illnesses may be triggered, including cancer. Conversely, if autophagy activity is regular, tumors may be suppressed – depending on the stage of development and type of tumor. Cancer research has long focused on channeling these autophagic activities. Restriction of food intake through fasting shows promise: it may protect normal cells while triggering autophagy and thus increasing the effect of cancer treatments. Autophagy might offer solutions or treatment options for other illnesses, too, including inflammatory diseases [3], neurodegeneration [4], metabolic and cardiovascular diseases [5], obesity [6], and metabolic disorders.

Preclinical studies have shown that dietary restrictions by fasting contribute to the increase of a person’s lifespan and slow the development of age-related diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases [7].

* Oxidative stress: The damage caused as a result of excessive proliferation of free oxygen radicals released from foods that spike blood sugar (with high glycemic index) as metabolic waste. A good example of oxidative stress is the browning of certain foodstuff such as apples, bananas, etc. sometime after they are peeled.

References

1. Yilmaz, Omer H. et al. 2018. “Fasting Activates Fatty Acid Oxidation to Enhance Intestinal Stem Cell Function during Homeostasis and Aging.” Cell Stem Cell, Vol. 22, Issue 5, May 3, pp. 769–778.
2. Paige Brown Jarreau. 2018. “Eating (Or rather, Fasting) Our Way to Rejuvenated Stem Cells?” in Life and Tech @ LifeOmic. June 7. A Medium Corporation.
3. Cadwell K. 2016. “Crosstalk between autophagy and inflammatory signaling pathways: balancing defence and homeostasis.” Nat Rev Immunol.16 (11): 661–75.
4. Menzies FM, Fleming A, Caricasole A, Bento CF, Andrews SP, Ashkenazi A et al. 2017. “Autophagy and Neurodegeneration: Pathogenic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities.” Neuron. 93 (5):1015–34.
5. Bravo-San Pedro JM, Kroemer G, Galluzzi L. 2017. “Autophagy and Mitophagy in Cardiovascular Disease.” Circ Res. 120((11)):1812–24.
6. Lavallard VJ, Meijer AJ, Codogno P, Gual P. 2012: “Autophagy, signaling and obesity.” Pharmacol Res. 66 (6):513–25.
7. O’Flanagan CH, Smith LA, McDonell SB, Hursting SD. 2017. “When less may be more: calorie restriction and response to cancer therapy.” BMC Med. 15(1):106.

“There are numerous perfect mechanisms put to work by our Creator in a fashion that is impossible for us to know; it is equally impossible for us to control each of them.”

“This body is mine! Thus, I have a right to use it as I like!”

How do we own our body? How much of it belongs to us? Can we still stand behind the phrase “this body is mine!” when we explain “scientifically” that it is not? To what extent does that statement meet the truth?

First paragraphs of human biology textbooks strongly mention the phenomenon that the sustenance of life takes place outside our will. Does our first creation in our mother’s womb, when we become existent out of nowhere, happen by our will? Do we have a say in the creation of our body, which is the dress of our soul? Of course we don’t. Even our senses, which are involved in eating and drinking, exist outside of our will. The feeling of hunger, for instance, does not come forth from our control; it is dependent on the emptiness of the stomach, and low blood sugar. Hunger is not only a sense of alarm or warning, but also a feeling that forces one to eat; it disappears when one is full. If it was only a sense of alarm, one could get away with it. This situation shows that the human is not a machine composed of flesh only. If we refuse to respond to this feeling of hunger, it may eventually lead to serious, even fatal, consequences, such as patients suffering from Anorexia nervosa, a severe psychological disorder that can lead to self starvation.

If there were no such thing as hunger or appetite, humans would not be interested in working. The feeling of hunger is a remembrance to the One who provides. As a matter of fact, all our emotions are temporary belongings that provide for the sustenance of life, and for the continuation of generations. Sexual desires are provided so that we can have families and can continue the human race; an appetite for food is given so that we can maintain our lives, and the sense of cold is given so that we dress.

In our village, one of our neighbors suffered from a stroke. All of the senses of pain, hot or cold, and touch disappeared from his legs. A pathological sense urged the patient to ask care takers to warm the stroked leg. Upon the patient’s strong request, care takers tried to warm the underside of the foot with a hot iron over a piece of cloth. As a result, the patient suffered severe foot burns all the way to the bone, since neither the patient nor the care takers noticed the damage. The nerve endings embedded in our skin are in charge of sensing hot or cold; and nerves that are buried deep in our legs and arms are tasked with relaying those senses to our brain.

Despite feelings of cold or excess heat being connected to certain areas of the brain and nerve cells, these senses are not completely delivered to brain. That is to say that we are not simply machines made out of elements found in the earth. We do have emotions and a soul in charge of controlling those emotions, and a spiritual world connected to it. It is such that even senses of hot and cold do not belong to us and we cannot even generate or control them.

We cannot start our body just like we start a washing machine. We do not have a button to restart our heart in case it stops. How does a heart work? Have we ever thought about the number of nerves employed in sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomous nerve networks that make the heart work? All of the muscle cells of the heart contract with perfect timing. Do you know that special channels called “gap junctions” in between neighbor muscle cells are put to work wondrously in order to let electric signals pass from one cell to another? If millions of muscle cells in a heart did not have to work like that, how could all our cells get their nourishment, necessary substances, and oxygen in time? All of these processes happen outside our will.

How many red blood cells or white blood cells do you have, and how are they working? When the hemoglobin molecule reaches cells, it releases the oxygen molecule that is bound in lungs. Does the hemoglobin do this act of binding and releasing by its own discretion? Red blood cells get accelerated with proper speed so that cells get their nourishment on time. Is this something we do on our own? Our body is protected from diseases as white blood cells recognize and attack foreign microorganisms and substances. How can a white blood cell separate normal cells from harmful bacteria? There are numerous perfect mechanisms put to work by our Creator in a fashion that is impossible for us to know; it is equally impossible for us to control each of them. We do profit-loss calculations in every business of ours. Our body employs a great principle of economy; do we know how that is put to life or who makes that work?

Neurons, axons, dendrites, synapses, and neuro-transmitters exist and function in amazing numbers in our brains. Countless connections between neurons, and electric currents through synapses, happen without us even noticing them. How do neurotransmitters only bind with their own receptors and open ion channels? How does this relay of information occur in our brain when Na and Ca ions, existing in soil, rocks, and salt – which we use as a condiment – pass through these electrically controlled ion channels? Even if we know about these intricate works, it is still not up to our will to enable or control them.

How do nerve networks function? How many types of neuron circuitries exist, and how do they work? How does membrane potential form in nerve and muscle cells? How is action potential generated? When we touch a substance, which nerve tracks are utilized to transport the information? Do we have the option to pull the plug of pain and feel free of it? If this machine-like body belonged to us, then we could control and regulate it.

When we are purchasing a computer, we get the hardware according to our budget. We ask and order for the processing speed, memory, and the capacity of a computer to meet our needs. Do we get to arrange the capacity of our brain that we think we own?

Do we know that more than 75% of chewing is a reflex and happens outside our control and will? How good is it that we realize that only one of the three phases of swallowing is actually under our control and the rest of the process happens by our reflexes during eating and drinking? If swallowing was to be in our control, it would be highly likely that pieces of food and fluid droplets would easily choke our lungs and might cause death. How do our stomach and intestines work? At what speeds do secretions and movements take place? The content and amount of oral, gastro-intestinal, and pancreatic secretions are regulated according to the amount and type of food we intake. These regulations continue through our lifespan without any cessation.

Are we able to stop our heart beat when we are just a baby in our mother’s womb even for a minute? How does our heart work? How much blood is pumped in a minute? Approximately how long after the conception of egg and sperm does the heart start to beat: weeks, days? Do we know that our heart starts beating when we are as small as a tiny piece of flesh around week four?

How can we assert that we control our body, even when, to this day, scientists do not have a solid comprehension other than some assumptions of the rhythmic continuation of respiration during sleep or coma?

Since we own this heart and lungs, therefore can we manage to die whenever we want to stop them? Never!

We can conclude that the assertion of “this body is ours” is a deceptive, misleading perception. This body is given to us as a temporary belonging. It is very clear scientifically that all of the works, acts, and wondrous arts of the body do not belong to us, but to the One who created them. Our responsibility is to keep that in mind and be thankful for all the bountiful blessings.

Omer Arifagaoglu is a professor of medicine in Turkey.

Biologist and physicians are trying to understand what kind of molecular mechanisms organisms are using to cope with dehydration in order to continue their lives.

Humans are incapable of preserving themselves by shutting down their metabolism completely. Human energy reserves can last for up to 70 days. Our ability to withstand life without water can vary between 1-10 days. In fact, when people suffer long term dehydration and hunger, they experience gastro-intestinal problems after they resume nutrient intake. However this is not the case for other organisms. There are interesting examples regarding this issue:

Easter pygmy possum

The eastern pygmy possum, Cercartetus nanus, one of the marsupials living in Southeast Australia, is a small mouse-like animal which sleeps during the day and hunts at night. They weigh about 15-45 grams and have a length around 7-11 cm. They live in an environment known for its irregular climate, sometimes receiving abundant nutrients, sometimes receiving scarce. This small creature takes advantage of the plentiful days and stores fat. They can hibernate up to 310 days by utilizing this reserve very carefully. That is why it holds the record for the longest hibernating organism among mammals! Another species belonging to the same genus lives in Tasmania (average length 6.4 cm, height 7 grams) however it only remains in hibernation for a maximum of 6 months. Both species live off eating insects, pollens and nectar.

The ground squirrel

The ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) of the Arctic tundra near the region of Alaska takes energy conservation very seriously. During hibernation, this organism can lower its body temperature from 37 °C to -2.8 °C. On the other hand, the American black bear (Ursus americanus) shivers in its spot in order to keep its body temperature at a normal level. A frog living in Australia with yellowish-green stripes on the back (Litoria alboguttata) can sleep up to five years without food and water in times of drought. This frog – obviously inspired from a reliable source of knowledge – digs a tunnel underground and covers itself with a tiny film of dirt in order to reduce the negative effects of the drought. It also slows down its metabolism by carefully consuming energy reserves to adjust itself for the food shortages and the drought. Frogs resurface with the start of the rainy season and begin their feeding frenzy. They can even eat organisms half their size since they will need the energy for reproduction.

Grey mouse

One of the typical examples of energy conserving animals is the fat-tailed dwarf (grey mouse) lemur (Microcebus murinus). This animal inhabits the dense forests of Madagascar and surrounding islands. It spends the day resting on tree branches and is active during the night. They hibernate up to seven months in hollow logs by pulling in their legs towards their abdomen. During this episode of their lives, they survive by consuming the fat reserves in their tail. They adjust their body to the ambient temperature just like reptiles to conserve energy. Body temperature therefore fluctuates depending on the weather in logs with poor insulation. However it is relatively stable in well insulated logs.

Malaysian night moth

Another amazing example is the local Malaysian night moth, Attacus atlas. Caterpillars of this species do consume a lot of food whereas adults do not eat anything. The mouth structure of this particular moth and other moths do not develop as much in adult form. Therefore, these moths must rely on larval fat storage and eventually die in two to three weeks when they run out of reserves.

Bar-tailed godwit

Another example is the Bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica). The Alaskan version of this bird migrates amazing distances without a break. It does not eat anything during flight, almost flying 7000 miles with one tank of gas. In one study, it was observed that a female bird left the nest in Western Alaska and without feeding in eight days, flew 7257 miles and arrived in New Zealand. Also observable is that these female birds, as a work of Divine mercy, experience a reduction in their digestive organs and convert half their body weight into fat before undertaking such flights.

European land snail

The European land snail, Helix pomatia, is another typical example of this phenomenon. These creatures lock themselves into their shells for days and weeks during seasons of long drought and cold. They secrete special mucus to seal the shell as soon as they pull themselves in. This mucus film slows water loss caused by evaporation. They reduce metabolic activities to conserve energy. Snails pop back out of their shells upon the arrival of warmer weather or water.

African gilled lung fish

The next example is the African gilled lungfish (Protopterus amphibius). This fish both possess gills and lungs and also conserves energy by a substantial reduction in its physical activity. It buries itself in a river or lake bed by digging tunnels. It secretes a protective mucus layer when water levels drop. This way it can withstand starvation for almost two years.

Python

The python is another animal also resistant to starvation. This snake, which can swallow animals as big as their size, or even bigger, shrinks its digestive organs when there is scarcity of food, and can survive up to a year and a half without eating. Apart from other animals and humans, their digestive system only functions when they consume their prey. Their intestines swell almost twice as much within 24 hours when they start eating. It shrinks back to its original size upon completion of digestion.

Emperor penguin

The final example regarding this topic is the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri). Male penguins face starvation for up to four months because of paternal care and compassion. New chicks hatch into a -76°C world because breeding season coincides with the Antarctic winter. After laying their eggs, the female penguins leave the task of incubation to their male partners and depart towards the ocean to bolster their food and nourishment intake after laying eggs. Male penguins left in charge of incubation take care of the eggs inside skin folds and maintain the incubation temperature during this time without any food intake. Tasks are once again exchanged upon the arrival of the mother penguin and this time the male penguins head out for nourishment.

The sustenance of life in a majority of the species of animal kingdom depends on the sensitive balance between times of starvation and nourishment. In times of shortage and hunger, the trick to survival depends on how energy is utilized efficiently. If an organism successfully manages its hunger in the best way possible, the greater chance it has for survival. For life is built upon the principle of conservation and balance, and God-given equipment with various mechanisms for living things to be protected in harsh times of famine, drought and shortages. Animals can feel the changing conditions when nutrients increase or decrease in availability and develop behaviors accordingly, maintaining a life style adapted for these periods.

If we can analyze how these organisms that are adapted to starvation can switch into a long term stagnant life style and regulate their metabolisms under harsh conditions, maybe we humans can, too, develop treatments one day that will enable us to turn our metabolism on and off like a thermostat. Furthermore, molecular treatments that control weight loss and gain can also be developed. Survival methods in extremely hot and cold conditions could be put forth with some inspiration from the living world.

Reference

“The Superstarvers.” Zoology. Scienceillustrated.com. July-August 2010, pp. 60-66.

]]> https://fountainmagazine.com/all-issues/2010/issue-76-july-august-2010/are-you-pregnant-with-yourself/ Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://107.21.79.195/all-issues/2010/issue-76-july-august-2010/are-you-pregnant-with-yourself/ Have you ever been pregnant? No matter your gender or age, you have been pregnant in your life! Even now, you may be pregnant. Do you wonder why? To learn the answer, we need to set out on an exploration. During our journey, we will face hardship and hunger. The inability to know when we will reach the end of our exploration will exacerbate the impatience that we are trying to suppress. However, the very same inability will evoke a growing excitement and wonder about the final point, at which the meaning of all our adventures, fears, hardship and hunger on the way will be revealed to us. But, why do we need to go via this long way if it is only the final point that carries the ultimate meaning? Is it going to be worth all the bother if the end is not as we expected? But the question is still there: what if I am pregnant? So, we decide to go on.

Here is our vision on the eve of our journey: Pregnant women go through a period when they feel hungry for a great quantity and variety of food. This is because of what is growing in them; what is buried in the night of the womb. Similarly, when somebody is seeded with an inspiration or when one reaches a time in life that marks the activation of a potential, one feels hunger according to the needs of that inspiration or potential so that it can realize itself in this physical world. A child needs to eat in order to build his body; hence, they feel hunger for food. Adolescents need to become separate individuals by finding their own personalities; hence, they feel hunger for freedom. As young people grow, they reach a time when they are ready to establish a family; hence they feel hunger for beauty and loyalty. The elderly experience the hardships of this life more intensely, and they feel the proximity of the end of their lives; hence, they feel hunger for relaxation and eternity.

On the day of our journey, as we reflect on our vision of the past night, we conclude that depending on the way it is created, each organ of the human body feels hunger, and needs food accordingly. The hunger of the body is satisfied with food, the hunger of the mind is quenched by knowledge, and the hunger of heart by inspiration and love. This list can be extended for the other organs or faculties of a human. Therefore, as human beings, we need not only food to sustain the life of our biological body, but also food for our other faculties such as vision, hearing, spirit, mind, and so on.

As our ship sails through the ocean, we experience a storm in the early afternoon. The clouds make the day seem like night. As the hours pass, we feel saddened. Since we have already been craving light, the nightfall brings a definite darkness to the world outside and inside. This sad state shapes the vision of the second night. We come to understand that we need light and, therefore, we feel hunger for light. The daytime corresponds to our period of feeding with light, and the nighttime to the period when we feel hunger for light. Thus, alternation of day and night also becomes a part of our spiritual lives, aside from the astronomical sense.

Interestingly, just as night and darkness on one side of the earth correspond to daytime on the other, the hunger of one part of the human body corresponds to the feeding time of some other parts. For example, the spirit is fed by keeping away from the material world, and conversely, our body is fed by the material world. As we feed our spirit, our body becomes hungry; then, as we feed our body, our spirit becomes hungry. This is the state of a healthy human character. Trying to make the day of one part permanent will result in the collapse and death of the entire system. Therefore, too much indulgence in worldly pleasures or an extreme refusal of the world are both unhealthy attitudes. This fact brings us to the conclusion that change is a blessing for the continuity of our biological, spiritual and mental lives.

With these thoughts in our minds, we get up the next morning to bright sunshine. As we inhale the fresh air, our contemplation brings us to the conclusion that we need opposites or contrasting experiences in order to appreciate the value of the blessings we have in our lives. The continuity of blessings without their opposites leads to a degeneration in our perception of them. For example: a child who has caring parents does not understand how valuable it is to have such parents; people who do not suffer from hunger cannot appreciate the value of the food they eat; people who have never been poor would take for granted the peace derived from being able to find what they need. Given that the manifestations of God’s attributes are the provisions to quench the varying hunger types arising from our organs and senses, a lack of appreciation of these foods means ignorance of God. To save us from this innate ignorance, God changes His creation periodically so that different kinds and levels of hunger make us understand, feel and experience all levels of qualities in God’s works.

After so much sailing in the spiritual and mental realms, our body falls hungry, and we share lunch with friends. The minor rain shower in the afternoon reminds us of the vision in the previous night, which was inspired by the analogous relation between daytime and feeding, and nighttime and hunger. Knowing that these alternations are omnipresent, the entire universe becomes a palace filled with different kinds of feasts that address the hunger of all our senses.1 An explosion of gratitude towards God shakes us.

During the night, the clouds disappear from the skies, and the face of the heavens draws our gaze with irresistible beauty. Our eyes remain locked on deep distances, as the fresh waters of inspiration flow into our hearts. The level of satisfaction we feel at that moment recalls the moments before setting out on this exploration, and there comes the vision of the night: all this started because of our desire to learn what was hidden behind the question regarding the kind of pregnancy to which everybody is entitled. Desire is a kind of hunger. For anybody, the possibility of change depends on the level of desire, and hence the level of hunger, and hunger is a means of education. Many people can remember how they changed during their adolescence when they felt intense hunger for beauty. Even animals can be trained to perform certain actions based on a hunger-feeding cycle that reinforces those actions. Also, it is reported that God tested Satan with very many different things upon his rebellion. Each time, Satan would not give up his rebellion. But when he was tormented with hunger, only then he said, “You are my Lord, and I am Your slave.”

By now, it has been several days since we left the comfortable lands, where we did not have these questions in mind. At this moment, we are in the middle of the ocean with no land on the horizon, no clue to the answer to the initial problem we set out to solve. It could be that we have undertaken all this toil in vain, that everything was just a figment of our imagination. What if we cannot even go back, and instead we drown in this ocean of questions and visions? No, no, all this cannot be a mere lie. But what if …

We are in a deep and vast ocean, nobody knows the way back home, and nobody knows if the new land really exists. Our food is almost gone, and the extreme uncertainty of the future increases our tension. We need someone who can turn our night into day, someone who knows where we are and where and what our imagined reality actually is. Along with the imaginary character of our visions, the alternation of day and night betrays us; we are stuck in a night of uncertainty and sadness. We need someone to make them alternate. “Please! Save us!”

The following night, in our dream, we see ourselves in the front line of an army ready to fight. We think that this fight is, maybe, the price we have to pay to deserve the answer to the pregnancy question because, without sacrifice, the answer would not be legitimate food for our mind. At the end of the battle, with the excitement and joy of victory, we cry out to people, “This is a realization! ‘God is the friend of the believers; He takes them from layers of darkness into the light.’” With that, we wake up. Pondering the dream of the night before, two flashes of lightning illuminate our minds. The first flash is a further understanding that hunger is a means of education. Our most sincere prayers come in times of misfortune, which take the veil from our eyes which keeps us from seeing God as the only and the ultimate point of help. Therefore, if we are patient enough, our Lord wants to further our relationship with Him, that is, our faith, by answering our sincere prayers. In the light of the second flash, we see that hunger is not only a means of education but also a means of examination because our inner condition is revealed in the face of the uncertainties inherent in the challenges throughout our lives. Hunger forces us to move towards the sustenance that is going to satisfy it. However, there are both legitimate and illegitimate ways to find sustenance; and also, there is legitimate and illegitimate sustenance. Are we to diverge from the straight path, blinded by our hunger? Or are we to keep upright with God’s pleasure as our only and ultimate goal? Thus, hunger reveals what is inside, and in that way, eliminates the immature and the hypocritical.

Hunger has an inherent link to hardship. So, the properties of hunger can be observed in hardship as well. Times of hardship are times when we feel a strong desire for that which is going to deliver us. Therefore, similar to hunger, hardship is a time of education and examination, too. To use another analogy, just like hunger is linked to the nighttime, hardship is also like the night that brings a break in the flow of our lives. That is why we feel under pressure in times when we have to resist the great momentum of events in our lives. Therefore, with the motivating hunger it brings, a night of hardship provides us with an opportunity to evaluate ourselves for a new start. As prayers and worship performed in the lonely hours of the night are invaluable, so too are actions and intentions during times of hardship very important; not only because they are the basis of a new start, but also because they are part of the reason for our existence in this world: to worship God. Therefore, we have to pay the dues of the night.

After a final night of hunger and hardship, the land appears in the horizon as a distant darkness enshrouding the fertility, and we realize that if we are in a period of hunger, then we are pregnant with a new personality and life.

Sermed Ogretim has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at West Virginia University. He has a special interest in psychological fiction.

Notes

1- Nursi, S., Second fruit of fifth branch, 24th Word, The Words, Kaynak 1997.

2- Nursi, S., First Aim, 30th Word, The Words, pp. 240, Kaynak 1997. This is the place where Said Nursi describes the three journeys to the other side of the earth. At the start of these symbolic journeys, he explains the darkness covering the side he departs from, and expresses his desire for light.

3- Quran (3:190–191), “Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day, there are signs for the people of discernment. They remember and mention God, standing and sitting and lying down on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth.”

4- Nursi, S., First Aim, ibid, pp. 228–229. “An entity that is absolute and all-encompassing has no limits and no terms: it cannot be shaped or formed, it cannot be ‘determined’ in any way such that its essential nature can be comprehended.”

5- Quran (2:155), “We will certainly test you with something of fear and hunger and loss of wealth, and lives, and fruits (earnings); but give glad tidings to the persevering and patient.”

6- Nursi, S., Ninth point of second section, 29th Letter, The Letters, Vol. 2, Kaynak 1995.

7- Quran (3:27) “You make the night pass into the day and You make the day pass in to the night, …”

8- The quoted text is a part of a verse from the Quran (2:257).

9- Quran (3:138-140) “This is a plain exposition for all people, and a clear guidance and an instruction for the God-revering, pious. Do not, then, bee faint of heart, nor grieve, for you are always the superior side if you are believers. If a wound has touched you, a similar wound touched those people. Such days – We deal them out in turns among people so that God may mark out those who Believe and select from among you such as bear witness to the truth;”

10- Quran (2:168-169) “O humankind! Eat of what is on the earth provided it is lawful, and pure and wholesome; and do not follow in the footsteps of Satan; indeed he is a manifest enemy to you. He only commands you to evil and indecency and that you should speak against God the things about which you have no knowledge.”

11- Quran (51:56) “I have not created the jinn and humankind but to worship Me.”

The father of humankind had no eyes and ears for the world, his life was a fasting life walking in the burning desert of human existence. He lived a life of seclusion with his Lord. His life signifies the true khalwat, true asceticism. He was made to leave the exalted station of paradise where the angels prostrated to him. But his pain of separation was not caused by the loss of paradise, the loss of the company of the angels, his loss was the loss of his Beloved!

Therefore, if fasting is not directed toward fasting from the world for the sake of the increase of love for the Lord of the worlds, our fasts are wasted effort and struggle. The result degenerates into a good meal at fast breaking. The opposite of fasting is not luxury, wealth, status, ownership, as the opposite of wealth is not poverty. Wealth, glamour, luxury is the absence of love, which means the opposite of fasting is the absence of the most Graceful, most Merciful! Fasting from the world means to dive into the ocean of God’s mercy and gain the treasury of intimacy and love. This is our Prophet Adam, who reached the most exalted degree of love, described by Rumi:

When Adam lapsed, God exiled him from paradise. God said to him, “O Adam! Since I have held you responsible and punished you for that sin you committed, why did you not dispute with Me? After all, you had an argument. You could have said, ‘All is from You, and You make all. Whatever You desire in the world comes to pass, and whatever You do not desire will never come to pass.’ After all, you had such a clear, correct and patent argument. Why did you not give expression to it?” Adam replied, “I knew that, but I did not abandon courtesy in Your Presence; love for You did not allow me to reproach You.”

This conversation shows the most noble feature of modesty, humility, love and shame or “haya.”

Observing the life of Prophet Adam, we learn that the human heart has to be cleansed with two attributes; repentance and muhabba. Repentance opens the door of one’s helplessness, need, poverty and the recognition of one’s servanthood and total dependence on the All-Majestic Lord of all the worlds. The recognition of one’s mistakes, insufficiencies, heedlessness, weakness, incapacities, and imperfections is the crucial point where love starts. Truthful repentance creates modesty or haya and haya is the awareness of love.

The wisdom we can draw from the father of humankind is that without seclusion from the world, there is no love. Love is only sold in the house of human hardship, efforts, fasting, works. We have to see the world as a plane of the hereafter! The fruit of eternity and divine harmony are only earned through struggle in daily life. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, “Struggling makes one witness the Sacred Essence.” This principle is especially effective in terms of fasting. We fast in the world from the world. We fast with the body to overcome the body. Through our temporal, limited existence, the material self, we can realize our true existence and reach selflessness. The education of the body through fasting is nothing but making matter subtle, making the heavy light, striving towards cleanliness and purity. In short, the body has to become refined by our own efforts up to the point of transforming it into a holy instrument through which God Himself can act as stated in the holy tradition, “When I love a servant I become the eyes with which he sees and the ears with which he hears…”

A wise man said, “True comfort is freedom from the desires of the lower self! Your prison is your own lower self. As soon as you escape from it, you will live in the comfort of eternity.” In other words, what makes you free is the abundance of what imprisons you! Fasting is the method to free oneself from the tyranny of one’s lower self. The wisdom of the fasting month is that you do not fill your stomach with food, so you might see the light of “marifa” within yourself! To become the king of our own heart is the result of true fasting! The root of all sicknesses is attachment to the world and the healing for all sicknesses is attachment to the hereafter! With fasting one learns to say no to the world and yes to the hereafter. With the help of fasting one is empowered by the world and enriched by the divine Presence. God’s Messenger said, “The one who fasts has two satisfactions. One is when he breaks his fast at the end of the day. The other is when he sees.” There are numerous levels of fasting, apart from fasting exclusively with one’s stomach, and the ultimate fasting of truth is the fasting which is not limited to the month of Ramadan, nor any other time. On the way of truth we have to answer to everything with hunger, referring to the famous utterance of the Prophet: “Knock on the door of hunger.” Hunger generates the absolute need of creatures for their Creator; hunger burns away impurities and clears the way to the Lord of Majesty and Bounty; hunger is our supreme teacher for all spiritual sicknesses. It is a remedy for all human distress, calamities, fears, depression.

The great saint Jalaladdin Rumi commented on so-called modern man eight hundred years ago:

You have an escape from God, but not from food. You have an escape from religion, but not from idols. Oh you who cannot bear to be without this despicable world! How can you bear to be without Him who spread it as a carpet? Oh you who cannot be without luxuries and comforts! How can you bear to be without the Generous God?

The crucial point is this; if we wish to save ourselves from the dangerous and low places of human existence, we have to discover the thirst of our souls. Today, modern societies obviously suffer a great thirst due to the unfortunate fact that the human soul is not attracted by the Water. Humans veil the light of their own sun by their own clouds of unconsciousness. Thus fasting is the perfect means to wake up from our sleep of unconsciousness and our ignorance. Fasting effectively increases our divine thirst! More precisely, it increases the need for the truth! In order to understand our true nature and find the purpose of our lives, we have to occupy ourselves with God. We have to drink from the water of life, we have to eat from the banquet of heaven, and we have to experience the heavenly ascension. There is no other reason why fasting is given to humanity except that it enables us to realize the eternal secret of human existence. When we do not build our lives on belief, we will be lost in moral decay, disorder and ignorance. In other words we will lack humanity.

To conclude, fasting from the world brings us paradoxically closer to the world, penetrating into the dynamic of human life on earth. It brings us closer to ourselves, it brings us closer to our fellow beings, and therefore it brings us closer to our Lord. This is the treasury of fasting-healing from the terror of selfishness, from the lower desires of the flesh, from the darkness of unconsciousness.

***

Oh Lord, turn off the hatred, envy, indifference, lightheartedness, and darkness of our hearts and replace them with affection, love, mercy, compassion, and generosity to our brothers and sisters! Oh Lord, enfold us in the robe of firm belief.

Oh our Lord, increase our immortality and decrease our profanity, increase our spirituality and decrease our materiality, increase our admiration and decrease our calculation.

We ask ourselves how much is the most precious of all books, the holy Qur’an in our hands, on our lips, in our eyes, in our hearts? How much is the Qur’an in our lives? Is it just placed on a shelf in our houses or is it not there at all? We ask ourselves how much do we run to do good deeds? How concerned are we to help our fellow beings in need? How much time do we reserve for the service of the poor and sick?

Oh Lord, we are ashamed of the answer to these questions. One of Your greatest servants, the venerable Abdul Qadr al-Jilani never slept at night for forty years! He made his morning prayer with the ablution he had taken to make his night prayer. He read the Qur’an every night so that sleep should not overtake him. He stood on one foot and leaned against the wall with one hand. He did not change this position until he had recited the whole Qur’an. When he could not fight sleep himself, he would hear a voice that shook every cell of his body. It would say, “O Abdul Qadr, I did not create you to sleep. You were nothing. I gave you life. So while you are alive you will not be unaware of Us!”

O my heart which finds rest in fasting, what a miraculous blessing of healing! What a relief from these constant ego attacks, what a great comfort, what freedom having cleaned the mirror of our hearts from dirt and dust, what a benefit, what a present for my soul having made order and set the barriers for the human kingdom of the body!

Rabia Christine Brodbeck is the author of From the Stage to the Prayer Mat: The Story of How a World-Famous Dancer Fell in Love with the Divine.

Ramadan is a time of intensive worship and devotion to God, of reading the Qur’an and reflecting on its teachings, of comprehensive thanksgiving, giving to charity, practicing self-control and kindness, of training oneself to be a better person spiritually and improving relationships with others.

Fasting is not that difficult

To non-Muslims fasting in Ramadan may appear to be a time of hardship and deprivation, but that is not the experience of Muslims. There are at least five ameliorating factors that make fasting much easier than it appears. These are (1) the magic of intention, (2) the community spirit, (3) the ability of the human body to adapt, (4) social/cultural cooperation, and (5) divine help. The initial intention significantly reduces the perceived difficulty. Once one commits to fasting, it becomes much more doable and feasible. Knowing and seeing that fellow believers are fasting with you and sharing the early breakfast or the dinner with them strengthens the community spirit. Thirdly, the human body is amazingly adaptable. Within the first few days of fasting the body adapts to the new schedule and one does not feel hunger as one normally would. In communities where Muslims are a majority or a significant minority, there is assistance or cooperation offered to the fasters, such as flexible holidays and working hours. Finally, for any worshipper, there is divine help which eases the task once the worshipper has committed to doing it.

Over 500 million Muslims, from age 9 to 90 fast every year. Fasting does not prevent them from conducting their mundane work or business as usual. As a pillar of the religious life in Islam, fasting is probably the most practiced form of worship. Muslims think of Ramadan as a kind of tune-up for their spiritual lives.

The four dimensions of Ramadan

As the third “pillar,” or religious duty in Islam, fasting has many dimensions: The behavioral dimension, the religious dimension, the social dimension and the spiritual dimension.

The first is the obvious behavioral dimension. Fasting in Ramadan is a means of learning self-control. Due to a lack of preoccupation with the satisfaction of bodily appetites during the daylight hours when fasting, the spirit gains a measure of ascendancy. The soul is freed of the chains placed by carnal desires. Fasting provides a break in the cycle of rigid habits or overindulgence.

During fasting, not only the stomach, but also the tongue, eyes, ears, other limbs, and the heart and mind are equally obligated to be restrained. Just as we control our physical appetites, we also must control our negative emotions and actions. The Messenger of Islam, Muhammad, peace be upon him, expressed that fasting is not only restraining from food and drink, but that it also means refraining from impious acts. He said that if a person does not control their senses and behavior, then God does not require that person to refrain from eating. He added that if someone verbally abuses you, acts ignorantly towards you, or even hurts you, you should respond by only saying, “I am fasting; I am indeed fasting.” According to the masters of Sufism, the spiritual dimension of Islam, not only one’s organs, but also one’s thoughts and feelings need to be tightly controlled during this month.

As far as the social dimension is concerned, fasting is a way of experiencing hunger and developing sympathy for the less fortunate and thus learning thankfulness and appreciation for all of God’s bounties. Fasting increases people’s sympathy and compassion for those who have been deprived of their daily means of survival. Although everybody knows, in an abstract sense, that there are people who suffer from hunger and poverty around the world, this knowledge may not be great enough to have an impact on our daily behavior. During the fast of Ramadan, this knowledge is internalized, because we now not only know that there are hungry people, but we have a glimpse into their experience of hunger. This deeper, internalized knowledge helps us minimize wastefulness and to sincerely do our best to help those in need.

Ramadan is also a time of generosity. People are more generous, more cordial, and more ready than at other times of the year to do good and charitable work. Muslims often invite one another, friends and guests, Muslims and non-Muslims, in particular neighbors, regardless of creed, to share the evening meal and exchange gifts and best wishes.

Fasting establishes a continuity of practice with religions such as Judaism and Christianity, in which fasting is recognized as an important element of devotion to God. The very verse in the Qur’an that commands Muslims to fast reminds them of this connection: “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed on you just as it was prescribed on the people before you.”

The spiritual dimension

In the spiritual dimension, fasting during Ramadan is an act of obedience. It leads to sincere thankfulness, which is the heart of worship. It also empowers our spiritual side over our physical tendencies. If we imagine our body as a vessel, such as a ship, our mind, heart and carnal desires are like hands that are trying to control this vessel. Fasting weakens the effect of the carnal self and strengthens the effects of the mind and the heart on the control of the body.

The experience of hunger in fasting breaks the illusory lordship of the carnal self, or ego, and, reminding the carnal self of its innate helplessness, convinces it that it is only a servant. Self consciousness, or the notion of “I,” is part of the “trust” that has been given to humans as the vicegerents of God on earth [The Qur’an, Ahzab 33:72]. “The All-Wise Creator entrusted each human being with an ego that has clues and examples that urge and enable them to recognize the truths about the attributes of the Lord of Creation and His essential qualities. Ego is the measure that makes known the qualities of His Lordship and the functions of His Divinity.” [Nursi, 2005, 552] Although God is closer to us than our jugular vein [The Qur’an], His names and attributes cannot be fully comprehended as they are infinite and we are finite, mortal, limited creatures. The virtual attributes that God gives us can serve as units of measure for comparison and for a better appreciation of God’s names and attributes.

It may be asked “Why did God make our ego a means to know His attributes and names?” Nursi answers this question as follows:

An absolute and all-encompassing entity has no limits or terms, and therefore cannot be shaped or formed, and cannot be determined in such a way that its essential nature can be comprehended. For example, light undetermined by darkness cannot be known or perceived. However, light can be determined if a real or hypothetical boundary line of darkness is drawn. In the same way, the Divine Attributes and Names (e.g., Knowledge, Power, Wisdom, and Compassion) cannot be determined, for they are all-encompassing and have no limits or like. Thus what they essentially are cannot be known or perceived. A hypothetical boundary is needed for them to become known.

In our case, this hypothetical boundary is our ego. Ego imagines within itself a fictitious lordship, power, and knowledge, and so posits a bounding line, hypothesizes a limit to the all-encompassing Attributes, and says: “This is mine, and the rest is His.” Ego thus makes a division. By means of the miniature measure it contains, ego slowly comes to understand the true nature of the Divine Attributes and Names.

Through this imagined lordship, ego can understand the Lordship of the Creator of the universe. By means of its own apparent ownership, it can understand the real Ownership of its Creator, saying: “As I am the owner of this house, the Creator is the Owner of this creation.” Through its partial knowledge, ego comes to understand His Absolute Knowledge. Through its defective, acquired art, it can intuit the Exalted Fashioner’s primary, originative art. For example, ego says: “I built and arranged this house, so there must be One Who made and arranged this universe.”

Ego contains thousands of states, attributes, and perceptions that, to some extent, disclose and make knowable the Divine Attributes and essential Qualities. It is like a measure, a mirror, or an instrument for seeing or finding out, an entity with an indicative function. [Nursi, 2005, 552]

It is not necessary for a unit of measure to actually exist; like hypothetical lines in geometry, a unit of measure may be formed by hypothesis and supposition. It is not necessary for its actual existence to be established by concrete knowledge and proofs. The self, however, sometimes forgets its true nature and imagines its “knowledge,” “power,” “ownership,” and “ability” to be real. When the self forgets its true nature and the purpose of these feelings, it becomes a seed that may grow into a tree of arrogance. Nursi points to the importance of fasting for keeping the self under control:

Fasting Ramadan breaks the carnal self’s illusory lordship and, reminding it that it is innately helpless, convinces it that it is a servant. As the carnal self does not like to recognize its Lord, it obstinately claims lordship even while suffering. Only hunger alters such a temperament. God’s Messenger relates that God Almighty asked the carnal self: “Who am I, and who are you?” It replied: “You are Yourself, and I am myself.” However much God tormented it and repeated His question, He received the same answer. But when He subjected it to hunger, it replied: “You are my All-Compassionate Lord; I am Your helpless servant.” [Nursi, 1995, 222-3]

Conclusion

Fasting in Ramadan may appear to be a difficult form of worship to those who have not experienced it. But there are many factors, some of which are listed above, that help the faithful to fulfill their commitment. Only God knows the true wisdom behind fasting, but we get a glimpse of it through the Qur’an, the prophetic tradition, and our personal experiences. Fasting is first a means of self-control, a way to increase in piety and find freedom from the tyranny of carnal desires. Secondly, fasting provides an opportunity for reflection, intense worship, and thankfulness. It enables members of the community to empathize with those who suffer from poverty and hunger. In the spiritual dimension, fasting leads to a sincere appreciation of God’s bounties and deep gratitude for the same, which is the essence of worship. Finally, the experience of hunger in fasting reminds the self of its true nature; that is its weaknesses and its dependence on the grace of God. It breaks the illusory lordship of the self and it reminds the carnal self of the purpose for its creation, which is faith, knowledge, worship, and love of God, as well as service for humanity.

Yuksel A. Aslandogan is the Vice President of Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Houston, Texas.

Muhammed Cetin is the editor and Publications Coordinator of IID, Institute of Interfaith Dialog.

References

• Nursi, S. The Words, The Light, Inc. NJ: 2005.
• Nursi, S. The Letters, Truestar, London: 1995.

The month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was revealed, a guidance for humanity, clear signs of guidance and the criterion. (2:158)

First point: Fasting Ramadan is one of Islam’s foremost pillars and greatest symbols. Many of its purposes relate to God’s Lordship and giving thanks for His bounties, as well as to humanity’s individual and collective life, self-training, and self-discipline.

One purpose connected with His Lordship is that God displays His Lordship’s perfection and His being the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate upon Earth’s surface, which He designed as a table to hold His bounties in a way beyond human imagination. Nevertheless, people cannot perfectly discern this situation’s reality due to heedlessness and causality’s blinding veil. But during Ramadan, like an army waiting for its marching orders, believers display an attitude of worship toward the end of the day as if they expect to be told to help themselves to the banquet prepared by the Eternal Monarch. Thus they respond to that magnificent and universal manifestation of Divine Mercifulness with a comprehensive and harmonious act of collective worship. I wonder if those who do not worship or share in the honor of being so favored deserve to be called human.

Second point: From the viewpoint of its being related to gratitude to God, one of the instances of wisdom in fasting during Ramadan is this: As stated in The First Word (The Words, from the Risale-i Nur Collection), there is a price for the food brought by a servant from the king’s kitchen. Obviously, it would be an incredible folly to tip the servant and not recognize the king, [for this would show] a clear disrespect for that gift. In the same way, God Almighty spreads His countless bounties on Earth and bestows them for a price: thanksgiving.

The apparent causes of those bounties or those who bring them to us are like the servant in the above example. We pay servants, feel indebted to and thank them, even though they are only causes or means. We sometimes show them a degree of respect they do not merit. The true Giver of Bounties is infinitely more deserving of thanks for these bounties. Such thanksgiving assumes the form of acknowledging one’s need for the bounties, appreciating them fully, and ascribing them directly to Him.

Fasting Ramadan is the key to a true, sincere, comprehensive, and universal thanksgiving. Many people cannot appreciate most of the bounties they enjoy, for they do not experience hunger. For example, a piece of dry bread means nothing to those who are full, especially if they are rich. However, the believers’ sense of taste testifies at the time of breaking fast that it is indeed a very valuable bounty of God. During Ramadan, everyone is favored with a heartfelt thanksgiving by understanding the value of Divine bounties.

While fasting, believers think: ‘These bounties do not originally belong to me, and so I cannot regard them as mere food or drink. Since the One owns and grants them to me, I should wait for His permission to eat them.’ By thus acknowledging food and drink as Divine gifts, believers tacitly thank God. This is why fasting is a key to thanksgiving, which is a fundamental human duty.

Third point: Fasting is related to humanity’s collective life, for God’s decision not to give each person livelihood means that the rich are to help the poor. Without fasting, many rich and self-indulgent people cannot perceive the pain of hunger and poverty or to what extent the poor need care. Care for one’s fellow beings is a foundation of true thanksgiving. There is always someone poorer, so everyone must help such people. If people do not experience hunger, it is nearly impossible for them to do good or to help others. Even if they do, they can do so only imperfectly because they do not feel the hungry one’s condition to the same extent.

Fourth point: Fasting Ramadan contains many Divine purposes related to self-training and self-discipline, such as: The carnal self desires ‘and considers itself’ to be free and unrestricted. It even wishes, by its very nature, for an imagined lordship and free, arbitrary action. Not liking to think that it is being trained and tested through God’s countless bounties, it swallows up such bounties like an animal and in the manner of a thief or robber, especially if its wealth and power is accompanied by heedlessness.

During Ramadan, everyone’s selfhood understands that it is owned by One Other, not by itself; that it is a servant, not a free agent. Unless ordered or permitted, it cannot do even the most common things, like eating and drinking. This inability shatters its illusory lordship and enables it to admit its servanthood and perform its real duty of thanksgiving.

Fifth point: Fasting Ramadan prevents the carnal self from rebelling and adorns it with good morals.

A person’s carnal self forgets itself through heedlessness. It neither sees nor wants to see its inherent infinite impotence, poverty, and defects. It does not reflect on how it is exposed to misfortune and subject to decay, and that it consists of flesh and bones that disintegrate and decompose rapidly. It rushes upon the world with a violent greed and attachment, as if it had a steel body and would live forever, and clings to whatever is profitable and pleasurable. In this state it forgets its Creator, Who trains it with perfect care. Being immersed in the swamp of immorality, it does not think about the consequences of its life here or its afterlife.

But fasting the month of Ramadan causes even the most heedless and stubborn to feel their weakness and innate poverty. Hunger becomes an important consideration and reminds them of how fragile their bodies really are. They perceive their need for compassion and care and, giving up haughtiness, want to take refuge in the Divine Court in perfect helplessness and destitution, rising to knock at the door of Mercy with the hand of tacit thanksgiving’provided, of course, that heedlessness has not yet corrupted them completely.

Sixth point: God began revealing the Qur’an during Ramadan. This has many implications, such as: To welcome the month when the Qur’an, that Divine address, was revealed, believers should try to be like angels by abandoning eating and drinking. They also should seek to divest themselves of the carnal self’s vain preoccupations and gross needs. During Ramadan, they should recite or listen to the Qur’an as if it were being revealed for the first time. If possible, they should listen to it as if they were hearing Prophet Muhammad recite it, or Archangel Gabriel reciting it to Muhammad, or God revealing it to Muhammad through Gabriel. They should respect the Qur’an in their daily actions and, by conveying its message to others, demonstrate the Divine purpose for its revelation.

Ramadan transforms the Muslim world into a huge mosque in which millions recite the Qur’an to Earth’s inhabitants. Displaying the reality of: The month of Ramadan, in which the Qur’an was revealed (2:185), Ramadan proves itself to be the month of the Qur’an. While some in the vast congregation in the great mosque of the Muslim world listen to its recitation with solemn reverence, others recite it. It is most disagreeable to forsake that heavenly spiritual state by obeying the carnal self, and thus eating and drinking in the sacred ‘mosque,’ for this provokes the whole congregation’s hatred. It is also most disagreeable, and must provoke the Muslim world’s dislike and contempt, to counter and defy those Muslims who fast Ramadan.

Seventh point: Fasting Ramadan has many purposes related to a person’s spiritual rewards, as everyone is sent here to sow this world with the seeds of the next life. The following paragraphs explain one such purpose, as follows:

The rewards for good deeds done during Ramadan are multiplied by a thousand. One Tradition states that 10 rewards are given for each letter of the Qur’an. Reciting one letter means 10 good deeds and brings forth 10 fruits of Paradise. But during Ramadan, this reward is multiplied by 1,000 and even more for such verses as the ‘Verse of the Throne.’1 The reward is even greater on Ramadan’s Friday nights. Furthermore, each letter is multiplied 30,000 times if recited during the Night of Power.

During Ramadan the Qur’an, each letter of which yields 30,000 permanent fruits of Paradise, becomes like a huge blessed tree producing millions of permanent fruits of Paradise. Consider how holy and profitable this trade is, and how great a loss for those who do not appreciate the Qur’an’s letters.

So Ramadan is the most proper time for such a profitable trade in the afterlife’s name. It is like a most fertile field to cultivate for the afterlife’s harvest. Its multiplication of rewards for good deeds make it like April in spring. It is a sacred and illustrious festival for the parade of those who worship His Lordship’s Sovereignty.

This is why fasting Ramadan is obligatory, why believers are not allowed to gratify the carnal self’s animal appetites and indulge in its useless fancies. Since they become like angels while fasting or engaging in such a trade, each believer is a mirror reflecting God’s Self-Sufficiency. They move toward becoming a pure spirit manifested in corporeal dress by abandoning the world for a fixed period. In fact, Ramadan contains and causes believers to gain, through fasting, a permanent life after a short period in this world.

One Ramadan may enable believers to gain 80 years’ worth of reward, for the Qur’an declares the Night of Power to be more profitable than 80 years having no such night (97:3). A king may announce a few holidays to mark a special occasion, like his enthronement, and then honor his faithful subjects on those days with special favors. Likewise, the Eternal and Majestic King of the 18,000 worlds revealed the Qur’an, His exalted decree, to each world during Ramadan. Thus wisdom requires that Ramadan be a special Divine festival during which God’s Lordship pours out bounties and spirit beings come together. Given that Ramadan is a Divinely ordained festival, fasting is commanded so that people withdraw from their bodily preoccupations to some extent.

Fasting also enables people to abandon sins committed by their bodily senses or members and use them in the acts of worship particular to each. For example, those who fast should stop their tongue from lying, backbiting, and swearing by busying it with reciting the Qur’an, glorifying God, seeking His forgiveness, and calling His blessing upon Prophet Muhammad. They should prevent their eyes from looking at, and their ears from listening to, forbidden things; rather, they should look at things that give a spiritual lesson or moral warning and listen to the Qur’an and truths. When the factory-like stomach is stopped from working, other members (small workshops) can be made to follow it easily.

Eighth point: One purpose of fasting is to put people on a physical and spiritual diet. If the carnal self acts, eats, and drinks as it wishes, people’s physical health is harmed. But, and more importantly, their spiritual life is harmed because they do not discriminate between the allowed and the forbidden. Such a carnal self finds it very difficult to obey the heart and spirit. Recognizing no principles, it takes the person’s reins and drives him or her as it pleases.

Fasting Ramadan accustoms it to dieting, and self-discipline trains it to obey. The stomach is not harmed from overeating before the previous meal has been digested properly and, learning to forsake what is allowed, can follow the decree of reason and religion to refrain from what is forbidden. Thus the carnal self tries not to corrupt its owner’s spiritual life.

Also, most people suffer hunger to various degrees. To endure a long-lasting hunger patiently, people should train themselves in self-discipline and austerity. Fasting Ramadan provides this patience-based training by causing people to feel hungry for 15 hours, or even for 24 hours if the predawn meal is missed. Thus fasting cures impatience and the lack of endurance, which double humanity’s misfortune.

Many bodily members somehow serve the stomach. If that ‘factory’ does not stop its daytime routines during a certain month, it keeps those members busy with itself and forgetful of their own worship and sublime duties. This is why saints always prefer austerity as a way to spiritual and human perfection. Fasting Ramadan reminds us that our bodily members were created for more than just serving the stomach. During Ramadan, many bodily members take and experience angelic and spiritual’as opposed to material’pleasures. As a result, fasting believers receive degrees of spiritual pleasure and enlightenment according to their level of spiritual perfection. Fasting Ramadan refines the person’s heart, spirit, reason, and innermost senses. Even if the stomach complains, these senses rejoice.

Ninth point: Observing the fast of Ramadan breaks the carnal self’s illusory lordship and, reminding it that it is innately helpless, convinces it that it is a servant. As the carnal self does not like to recognize its Lord, it obstinately claims lordship even while suffering. Only hunger alters such a temperament.

God’s Messenger relates that God Almighty asked the carnal self: ‘Who am I, and who are you?’ It replied: ‘You are Yourself, and I am myself.’ However much God punished it and repeated His question, He received the same answer. But when He subjected it to hunger, it replied: ‘You are my All-Compassionate Lord; I am Your helpless servant.’

O God, grant peace and blessings to our master Muhammad in a way to please You and to give him his due, to the number of the rewards for reciting the Qur’an’s letters during Ramadan, and to his Family and Companions. Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Honor and Power; exalted above what they falsely ascribe to Him. Peace be upon the Messengers, and all praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds. Amen.

Footnotes

1 Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, Self-Subsisting, Supporter of all. Slumber and sleep do not seize him. Everything in the heavens and on Earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede in His presence unless He permits it? He knows what (appears) before and after and behind His creatures, and they can only acquire as much of His knowledge as he permits. His Throne extends over the heavens and Earth. He feels no fatigue while guarding and preserving them, for He is the Most High, the Supreme. (2:255)

Adapted from the 29th Letter, the Risale-i Nur Collection

More than a billion human beings on this planet are chronically hungry: every 24 hours some 40,000 die directly or indirectly from lack of food; a child starves to death every 2.5 seconds. In short, more people die every two years from hunger than were killed in the First and Second World Wars.

Yet, never before has the world produced more food per head of population. While there are places where huge numbers die because they have no crops or no money, there are other places (notably in the West) where the granaries are overflowing with all kinds of foods. While food is stockpiled in some areas, then dumped or wasted in huge quantities in order to maintain price levels, elsewhere, helpless mothers, starving and unable to produce milk, watch their babies die in their arms. Uneven distribution mocks the theoretical sufficiency of global food supply: there should be no world hunger problem but there is (UNO, 1989, p.3).

The ‘world food order’ is a scandal crying out for remedy. It arises within the context of the prevailing economic and political ideologies which are rooted in a crude laissez-faire mentality. According to this mentality, individuals are entitled to absolute ownership over whatever they have acquired lawfully, that is, they have the right to use, to transfer and even to destroy their property (Article 1 of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966) without being held legally accountable.

It is this mentality, entrenched in law, which prevents the right to food from becoming one of the binding principles of international human rights. Yet, without a right to food, all other human rights are of little value. Once starvation afflicts a people, the very human life for whose sake all human rights are proposed wastes (Alston, 1984, p.4).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 provides that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food…”. Since then, many international documents and most of other normative instruments aiming to secure the right to food of peoples have been agreed upon (Tomasevski, 1987, p.19; see also the 1974 Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition, and the 1986 Food Aid Convention). However, in spite of the enthusiasm and unanimity with which the right to food is endorsed, the amorality of the economic order encourages its constant, continual violation. Measures against world hunger are temporary palliatives in the form of ‘charity’ from governments politically embarrassed by crises (Alston, 1984, p.90).

The impotence of the present world order to eradicate hunger and starvation contrasts sharply with the Islamic world order which enshrines the right to food not only in its ethos but also in its positive laws. To begin with, the Qur’an teaches that all resources are put at the disposal of all human beings by God, the Sustainer. Human beings have no right of absolute ownership, but have right as just trustees (2.30). As God’s vicegerent (khalifah), man is enjoined to deal justly with everyone (not every Muslim) (5.8). To act with justice in the use and management of one’s resources requires the satisfaction of at least the subsistence needs of everyone in society: nothing is more closely connected with the concept of justice than “human rights” (Ahmad, 1991, p.15).

Once the close relationship between justice and human rights is recognized as a fundamental principle, it is a natural next step to base the right to food on the socio-economic teachings of Islam. The aim of the concept of trusteeship (khilafat) is to establish ‘global justice’ in the use of the earth’s natural resources. No discrimination is made between Muslims and non-Muslims, as humanity is a single creation of God, and all have equal right to sustenance from God’s bounty (ni’ma). If one group of the human brotherhood is unable to provide sufficient food to sustain life, for whatever reason, they have a right (haqq) to provision from the wealth of others (Ahmad, 1991, p.17).

The ‘right’ of the hungry is not merely a moral claim; it has a positive, specific counterpart in the corresponding legal obligation to satisfy that right. The authority for this legal obligation is the Qur’an itself whose precepts are binding upon all Muslims (Ahmad, 1991, p.15). The refusal to feed the hungry and to urge the feeding of the hungry is equated with a refusal of religion: Have you observed him who denies religion? That is he who rebuffs the orphan and urges not the feeding of the needy (107.1-3).

In other verses, (e.g. 2.29), the Qur’an specifies that resources be used equitably for the benefit of all mankind (see Chapra, 1992, p207). No people have the right to dump or waste the resources at their disposal in order to manipulate prices (Qur’an 2.205).

The concept of a right to food is explicitly embodied in the teaching and practice of the Prophet, upon him be peace. The civilization of Islam is dated to the Hijrah, the migration to Madina. One of the first measures instituted by the Prophet was to ‘spread peace and distribute food’ (Hamid, 1989, p.l56). He explained that poverty can lead to kufr (ingratitude and rejection of God), and emphasised the link between Muslim solidarity and the right to food: ‘He is not a (true) believer who eats his fill while his neighbour goes hungry’. In another hadith, duty to provide food encompasses animals as well as humans: ‘Whoever brings dead land to life, for him there is a reward in that, and whatever creature seeking food eats of it, shall be considered as charity from him.’ (For other ahadith which clarify the duty to feed and the accountability for failure in it, see Nadvi, 1969 and Ishaque, 1969). The importance of land cultivation in Islamic Law may be gauged from the right of the legitimate authorities to sequester land which is being left idle and apportion it to those who are willing and able to cultivate it: absolute ownership of land is not recognized by the Law.

The right to food is so important in Islamic practice that it is not denied to enemies even in time of siege and war. During the lifetime of the Prophet, upon him be peace, some of his companions blocked the supply of food to Makka, intending to maintain the blockade until Makka surrendered. However, when the hunger of the Quraish was reported to the Prophet he ordered the blockade to be lifted. Following that example, Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, sent Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan on a campaign with the specific instruction that he should not destroy the crops and livestock of the enemy. The same principle is seen in action when the Ottoman army, for example, besieged Vienna, and the city’s poor and sick came to its outskirts to get food from the besieging forces. (What a contrast with the Serbian and Croat militias who are at this time attacking and preventing relief supplies from reaching the Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina with the explicit intention of starving them to death.)

Islamic Law provides for each individual’s basic rights to life and food through zakah and usr, two compulsory annual levies on, respectively the general wealth and the crops and livestock of the better off. Zakah is fixed at one-fortieth and usr at one-tenth of disposable wealth. In the event of the state being unable to meet its commitment to the needy from this revenue, it may compel the rich to give more. The Prophet, upon him be peace, said: ‘God makes it an obligation for the rich of a country to provide for the needs of their poor. Authority must compel them when the resources from zakah are insufficient’. Ibn Hazm and other Muslim savants, on the basis of this hadith, declared that if a person dies of hunger the individual’s neighbourhood is responsible and must pay the bloodwit (diya) by way of atonement (Belkacem, 1979, p.144). (One is bound to reflect how near Somalia is to oil-rich Saudi Arabia.)

Refusal to pay the obligatory levies is equivalent to denying the rights of the needy and a reversion to the values of paganism. Abu Bakr was prepared to go to war in precisely this issue.

Sadaqat al-fitr, a charitable donation made either in money or in kind, at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, is a further instance, in this case voluntary, of collectively meeting the sustenance needs of the poor.

There is a world of difference between the anthropocentric and egocentric philosophy which has taken such a firm root in the Western mind since the secularization of human rights in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the theocentric ethos of Islam. The latter sees the right to food as a duty, even a debt, owed by those who have a surplus to those who do not have the bare minimum. Further, Islam seeks to establish a social order which recognizes the essential community of all human beings. Without a feeling for that essential community, and a commitment to it in economic transactions, it is hard to see how solidarity can be realized even at a national, let alone an international level. Presenting human beings as objects of ‘charity’ cannot begin to address the problem-for, very soon, the rich become ‘fatigued’ by the demands made upon their compassion and their resources. For people to be dying of famine in a world of plenty, even of excess, is an intolerable scandal and shames us all (Bedjaoui, 1982, p.465). A new ‘world food order’ must be sought as a matter of urgency: if not, the threat of rumbling empty stomachs in Africa and Asia will disturb international peace in the post Cold War era rather more than the threat of nuclear war disturbed it during the Cold War.

References

• AHMAD, Z. (1991), Islam, Poverty and Income Distribution, The Islamic Foundation,Leicester
• ALSTON, P. (1984) ‘lnternational law and the human right to food’ in Tomasevski(ed.) 1984.
• BEDJAOUI, M. (1982) ‘Are the world’s food resources the common heritage of mankind?’,Indian Journal of International Law, 22, pp. 459-67, (Bedjaoui is a former president of the International Court of Justice.)
• BELKACEM, N,M.K. (1979) ‘The concept or social justice in Islam’, in GAUHAR (ed.) 1979, pp. 135-52.
• CHAPRA, M.U. (1992) Islam and the Economic Challenge, The Islamic Foundation, Leicester.
• FAO, 1985 The Hunger Project: Ending Hunger.
• GAUHAR, A. (ed) (1979) The Challenge of Islam, Islamic Council of Europe, London 1979.
• HAMID, A (1989) Islam: the Natural Way, IELS, London
• ISHAQUE, K.M. (1979) ‘Islamic laws ideals and principles’, in GAUHAR (ed.) 1979, pp. 155-75.
• NADVI, A.H.A. (1979) ‘Islam the most suitable religion for mankind’ in Gauhar (ed.) 1979, pp. 17-30.
• TOMASE VSKI, K. (ed) (1984) The Right to Food, Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht. Extensive details and documents with regard to this right TOMASEVSKI, K(1987) The Right to Food. A Guide to International Law Documents. Martinus Nijboff, 1987.
• UNO (1989) Right to Adequate Food as a Human Rights, Centre for Human Rights, New York.