In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
“Prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, so that you may be Godwary. That for known days. But should any of you be sick or on a journey, let it be a [similar] number of other days. Those who find it straining shall be liable to atonement by feeding a needy person. Should anyone do good of his own accord, that is better for him, and to fast is better for you, should you know. The month of Ramadan is one in which the Quran was sent down as guidance to mankind, with manifest proofs of guidance and the Criterion. So let those of you who witness it fast [in] it, and as for someone who is sick or on a journey, let it be a [similar] number of other days. Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire hardship for you, and so that you may complete the number and magnify Allah for guiding you, and that you may give thanks” (Qurʾan 2:183–185).
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Fasting
in the month of Ramadan is a season of worship and a spiritual program that the believer practices, and it is an obligatory duty
that Allah the Exalted has prescribed for the Muslims. The month of Ramadan is a complete program, and we can
make it a model for any program we may carry out. From these verses, and what complements them from the Noble
Qurʾan, we try to bring out the characteristics of this program and to extract the rules that can contribute
to the success of any program we undertake.
Psychological Preparation
The divine etiquette is so very lofty that it does not charge the servants with tasks and duties in the dry military manner;
rather, it looks at the psychological state and prepares the suitable ground so that the ruling is received willingly
and with contentment, and so that the ruling finds receptiveness. Therefore, the obligation of fasting, which a person
may believe to be a difficult obligation, since it breaks the routine he has become accustomed to of eating numerous meals
throughout the day, night and day, and of practicing all the other pleasures he has become accustomed to.
Hence we find that the preparation and the consideration lie in several matters that came in the blessed verses, namely:
1/ Informing that this obligation is not new, and that the Muslim is not the only one who has been charged with it;
there are others with him, from before the message of Islam was sent down, in His saying, the Exalted: “as it was
prescribed for those who were before you” (Qurʾan 2:183), so that a person does not feel lonely, thinking that this
obligation falls on him alone. When we charge a person to go to some island, for example, he will face important
questions, apprehensive and feeling lonely; but when we tell him that people come and go to this island repeatedly,
the loneliness will clear away. This is exactly what informing the recipient of the obligation of fasting produces in
his soul: that it was prescribed for other peoples.
2/ Making small the days whose fasting was prescribed for him, so that a person can count them easily; they are very few
in relation to the enormous energy latent in man. He, Almighty, said: “for known days” (Qurʾan 2:184), and
maʿdudat means that we can count them, as the Exalted said: “Certainly He has counted them [all] and numbered
them precisely” (Qurʾan 19:94).
And in the story of Joseph, He, Almighty, says: “And they sold him for a cheap price, a few dirhams” (Qurʾan 12:20). That is, paltry dirhams.
3/ This obligation's inclusion under the rule of ease and the negation of hardship and constriction, as He, Almighty, said: “Allah desires ease
for you, and He does not desire hardship for you” (Qurʾan 2:185), since the rule of ease covers whoever wants to reach Godwariness by any
path, and so every deed that is of the nature of Godwariness or that moves in its direction. The Exalted said: “And whoever is wary of Allah,
He shall grant him ease in his affairs” (Qurʾan 65:4). And He, Almighty, said: “As for him who gives and is Godwary and confirms the
best promise, We will surely ease him toward facility” (Qurʾan 92:5–7).
There is no doubt that fasting leads to Godwariness, because of His saying, the Exalted: “so that you may be Godwary” (Qurʾan 2:183); so
it is covered by this rule, and in the preceding verses it was specified by way of emphasis: “Allah desires ease for you” (Qurʾan 2:185)..
As for facilitation, it comes through laying down detailed rulings that take into account those with special needs,
those with excuses, and those in difficult situations for whom fasting is a hardship, as the Exalted said: “But should any of you be
sick or on a journey, let it be a [similar] number of other days” (Qurʾan 2:184); that is, they can make up the days in
which they were in a state of constriction and hardship with days in which they are able.
“Those who find it straining shall be liable to atonement by feeding a needy person” (Qurʾan 2:184): those for whom fasting is the utmost limit
of their capacity, such that it is a hardship for them, compensate for that instead with food they offer to the needy.
Here is an observation: many people believe that the legal rulings make the performance of obligations difficult, so they
shun learning and knowing them so as not to fall into difficulties—even though the exact opposite is true,
because Allah the Exalted has placed facilitation in the detailed and secondary rulings that take a person's circumstances
into account, directing to him the ruling that suits him and that he is able to carry out. Therefore, we should
spread the culture of the legal rulings of the obligations that Allah the Exalted has made obligatory upon us, so that
we do not fall prey to ignorance and incur something greater, or resort to making the obligations difficult of our own
accord, which consequently causes aversion to the rulings and to religion.
The Program of the Month of Ramadan
In order to discover rules for the ideal, successful program
Striving for Assurance
The obligation that Allah the Exalted prescribed for His believing servants is the fasting of the month of Ramadan, and
its aim is reaching Godwariness during this period, as He said: “so that you may be Godwary” (Qurʾan 2:183). But not everyone
who passes through this period fasting reaches Godwariness, because every program has principles. (Laʿalla) shows that not everyone
who lives through the blessed month of Ramadan will necessarily benefit from it, because (laʿalla) conveys expectation
and is specific to the possible whose occurrence is not certain,
So one should exhaust one's capacity, and know the paths that lead to that.
And the Messenger (s) says in his sermon about the month of Ramadan: “For the wretched one is he who is deprived of Allah's forgiveness
in this great month.”
Because we do not possess assurance, we need resolve and attentiveness, and knowledge of the clear path that brings
us to what is sought,
For there is a difference between truth and reality.. Perhaps someone performs a deed and believes that he is doing the right
deed, but this belief of his is not necessarily the reality; he may be heading in the opposite direction. The Exalted says:
“Say, ‘Shall we inform you who are the biggest losers in their works? Those whose efforts are misguided in the life of the
world, while they suppose they are doing good.’” (Qurʾan 18:103–104).
Defining the Goal
For every deed and program you want to carry out, its goal and aim must be defined, so that all the sub-parts and activities of the
program are directed toward it. The Exalted says: “Be modest in your bearing” (Qurʾan 31:19). In fasting and the program of the
month of Ramadan, the aim is (Godwariness), as in His saying, the Exalted: “so that you may be Godwary” (Qurʾan 2:183); and Godwariness
is fear of Allah and refraining from what He has made unlawful.
So for the program to be carried out successfully, the goal must be defined clearly.
· The Story of the IBM Company
(Thomas Watson) was forty years old when he became the manager of a small company that specialized in making meat
slicers, time clocks for recording working hours, and card-punching machines; and he, with his ambition, perceived
the potential of the machine to take in information and store it..
In keeping with his aspirations, he gave his small company the name International Business Machines,
which was abbreviated to IBM. And when that company became one of the largest giant companies,
(Thomas Watson) was asked: Since when did you expect your small company to become this size? He answered:
(From the beginning). Learn How to Succeed, vol. 1, p. 84.
Belief in the Goal
A person will not be able to perform a perfected and successful deed without believing in it and being convinced of it. We derive
this truth from the obligation that the Lord of all the worlds addresses to man: fasting here is an obligation from the Lord of all
the worlds to those who have faith in Him. The call says: “O you who have faith!” (Qurʾan 2:183), then it says to
them: “Prescribed for you is fasting … so that you may be Godwary” (Qurʾan 2:183). The person without faith cannot commit
himself to an obligatory charge that he does not believe in; and how can you tell him, Be Godwary, when he does not believe in Godwariness
at all..
So belief in the goals and the means is an important factor in realizing achievements.
· The Most Noble Messenger was able to accomplish the greatest achievement on the face of the earth, for he changed the
entire world. Those efforts that he (s) exerted would not have come about but for his commitment and his deep belief in
what he wanted to do. That is why, when they tempted him and bargained with him to abandon what he aspired to, he said: “By
Allah, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left on condition that I abandon this matter, I
would not abandon it until Allah makes it prevail, or I die for it..” All that was because he believed in what he wanted.
Motivation toward This Goal (the Justifications)
It is not enough for a person to define the goal of the program he wants to carry out; rather, he must find what drives him to
realize it and accomplish it in the best manner. The factor of motivation—through encouragement and through describing the goal
and its benefit to the person himself—achieves this task.
That is why we find that the Noble Qurʾan contains many encouragements, or warnings, which serve as the
incentive that makes a person commit to a matter.
And so that a person may set out in his work from conviction and contentment—and in the month of Ramadan the verses inform us of that. The Exalted
said: “Should anyone do good of his own accord, that is better for him, and to fast is better for you, should you know” (Qurʾan 2:184).
Acting of one's own accord is that a person performs the obligation upon him with contentment and willingness, and this is the best state for
accomplishing acts of obedience, and indeed various deeds.
And fasting is better for us if we know; here lies the motivation. The verse says that in fasting there is good for
us, so we should discover this good and know it so that the drive is formed. So what is that good?
The verses of Surat al-Ahzab tell us that for the men who fast and the women who fast “Allah holds in store for them
forgiveness and a great reward” (Qurʾan 33:35).
So the motivators are this great reward, which we should know because in it is much good, as it
comprises two dimensions:
The first: forgiveness of past sins. This is an irreplaceable opportunity for a person to begin anew as though he had done
nothing. The Messenger (s) says in his sermon about the month of Ramadan: “For the wretched one is he who is deprived of
Allah's forgiveness in this great month.” This is a great opportunity for a person to resume work. How many people are not
satisfied with their performance in worship, and see their shortcomings in acts of obedience and in carrying out responsibilities,
from which numerous consequences result! This opportunity of erasure is a golden opportunity for renewing life, and it
is a great drive and motivator for setting out to perform the duty that guarantees this matter for us.
The second: the great reward, which is the recompense that Allah the Exalted gives a person in the Hereafter when he
achieves that goal and passes through that program successfully.
The Uncounted Reward in the Counted Days
In the counted days of the blessed month of Ramadan, our Lord, Almighty, gathers for us reward that is uncounted,
since it is not possible for a person to count it, because He described it as great; and when Allah the Exalted
describes something connected with Him as great, it is a matter that human perception cannot reach. Similar
to this is what came in the following story:
A man came asking Imam ʿAli (a), wanting him to describe to him the character of the Greatest Messenger (s). Imam ʿAli (a) said: How can I describe
to you the character of the Messenger of Allah, when Allah says: “If you enumerate Allah’s blessings, you will not be able to count them,” and He
says about them: “The enjoyments of this world are trifle,” and He says about the character of the Messenger: “and indeed you
possess a great character.”
So the divinely great cannot be reached by our knowledge and our perception..
These two qualities, as a drive for the one who fasts that is consistent with the Qurʾanic data, are embodied in a hadith from al-Rida
(a), where he said:
“Allah has angels assigned to the men who fast and the women who fast;
they stroke them with their wings and make their sins fall from them. And
Allah has angels whom He has assigned to supplicate for the men who fast and
the women who fast; none counts their number except Allah, the Exalted.” (Wasaʾil al-Shiʿa,
vol. 10, p. 405).
Timing .. Proportion
The program of fasting is set at a specific time and with a number of days: one month, which falls in Ramadan, one of the Arabic months.
He, Almighty, says: “for known days” (Qurʾan 2:184), from which we understand that there is a specification of the number
of days in which the work should be performed; and He, Almighty, says: “The month of Ramadan is one in which the Quran was sent
down” (Qurʾan 2:185), and here we understand that there is a timing for those days, which is the month of Ramadan.
So the ideal state is that this obligation be fulfilled in this number of days in this month, for which Allah has made special
merits and a distinctive spirituality, by sending down the Noble Qurʾan in it: “in which the Quran was sent down as guidance to
mankind” (Qurʾan 2:185). In it, then, is the atmosphere that is guidance for people. But which people are they? They are the
Godwary, as the Exalted says about the Qurʾan: “This is the Book, there is no doubt in it, a guidance to the Godwary” (Qurʾan 2:2).
And since Godwariness is the aim of this program, the month of Ramadan is the one in which the Book that is guidance to the
Godwary was sent down, so that the atmosphere suits the purpose.
And He also placed in it the Night of Ordainment, which is better than a thousand months—“The Night of Ordainment is better than a thousand
months” (Qurʾan 97:3)—because it has distinctive features: “In it the angels and the Spirit descend, by the leave of their Lord, with every command.
It is peaceful until the rising of the dawn” (Qurʾan 97:4–5). For there is a correspondence with the purpose, which is attaining the
building of the Godwary personality; and Godwariness needs an atmosphere in which supplication is received and deeds are accepted manifold,
and so on..
In a word, we say: there is a suitable duration at a suitable time, for accomplishing the suitable goal.
Action and Completing the Action
We notice that for every legally responsible person who is healthy and present in this month it is obligatory to
actually begin fasting and to pass through the period set for him at the specified time; and when a person
cannot perform some of these days at this time, he must keep to the number, to complete the program at another
time.
As the Exalted says: “So let those of you who witness it fast [in] it, and as for someone who is sick or on a journey, let
it be a [similar] number of other days” (Qurʾan 2:185); that is, if the preparatory preliminaries and the rest are
realized and the suitable time has come, he must begin the action. His saying, the Exalted: “fast [in] it” (Qurʾan 2:185) indicates
performing the act in practice, not relying on words.. Belief in the goal or the program is not enough without action. The
Exalted says: “Allah has promised those who have faith and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a great reward” (Qurʾan 5:9)
So the men who fast and the women who fast, for whom Allah holds in store forgiveness and a great reward, as
in verse 35 of Surat al-Ahzab, must keep faith in a thing and acting upon it together, as in this verse.
And to make clear the inseparability of faith and action, we cite this hadith, which expresses the same subject: “Faith
is not accepted without action, nor action without faith.” Kanz al-ʿUmmal, vol. 1, no. 59.
And He, Almighty, says: “and so that you may complete the number” (Qurʾan 2:185), that is, so that you complete the
prescribed period. Many people begin some program but do not strive to complete it and reach its end, so they do not see the hoped-for
results of their deeds. If a person wants to accomplish his tasks successfully, he must carry out the work to its end and
then see the extent of what has been accomplished.
Choosing Another Path to Reach the Goal
The Exalted says: “Those who find it straining shall be liable to atonement by feeding a needy person” (Qurʾan 2:184).
The Ramadan program includes fasting, supplication, reciting the Qurʾan and all other righteous deeds; and
fasting is a basic dimension. But when a person cannot perform it—as when it involves hardship for him—he resorts to
feeding as an alternative righteous deed that fulfills the same purpose, considering that feeding one needy
person is equivalent to fasting one day, as in His saying, the Exalted: “or an atonement by feeding needy
persons, or its equivalent in fasting” (Qurʾan 5:95).
We can derive from this measure that when we face difficulties on the path leading to the goal, we
must look among the available options for the alternative path that supports the same goal and
is equivalent to it in effect.
Results and Effects
Does the matter end upon completing the number and finishing the work?
No.. One must reap the results, and so see what the duty is toward them.
After that, the Exalted says: “and magnify Allah for guiding you” (Qurʾan 2:185). Guidance is reaching the
state of Godwariness, which is the aim and purpose of the Ramadan program; and what makes clear that guidance is reaching
the state of Godwariness is what came in the blessed verse of Surat al-Zumar: “Or say, ‘Had Allah guided me I would
have surely been among the Godwary!’” (Qurʾan 39:57).
Magnifying Allah is knowing His station in one's soul; the greater the station of Allah the Exalted becomes in one's soul, the
smaller everything besides Him becomes. This is one of the signs of guidance and one of its effects.
Here comes another step after completing the program, which is reviewing the results, in the light of which a person
will know the extent of the benefit.
So the duty of a person, when he feels the ascent of his spirit and the effect of the Ramadan program upon him, is to appreciate
the One who granted him this blessing; thanksgiving is thus incumbent upon him—lo, by thanksgiving blessings increase.. And so He, Almighty,
says at the end of the verse: “and that you may give thanks” (Qurʾan 2:185).
Rules Derived for Accomplishing the Ideal Program, in the Light of the Ramadan Program:
1/ Defining the goal of the program.
2/ Belief in and conviction of the goal.
3/ Finding motivators and drives.
4/Setting a duration suitable for accomplishing the program.
5/Choosing the suitable time to begin the program.
6/ Actually beginning the work, and completing the set period.
7/ Searching for a similar alternative that fulfills the same goal.
8/ Checking the extent of success by knowing the results and effects.
