FASTING AND EID AL-FITR
Ramadan being a month to be trained in inculcating spirituality, every ritual connected to fasting has a spiritual aspect. Fasting is not just an annual custom. It is a living creative process. It is related to the entire life of a human being, the aim of which is to make man’s life a fasting-oriented life.
Fasting puts a curb on desires. As food and drink are desires. So, the reality of fasting is to put a curb on desires. It can be referred to as ‘renouncing one’s desires.’ Food and water are essential needs of man. Sleep and rest are also requisites of man. During the month of fasting there are restrictions to these essential needs by compulsion. This training inculcates in man the capability to restrain his desires willingly so that he consciously leads a disciplined life.
Symbolically speaking, the position of fasting in human life is akin to the brakes in an engine. Brakes keep the engine of a vehicle in control so that the journey can be completed successfully. If there are no brakes in the engine, the vehicle will not be able to function effectively. The same is the case of fasting in the life of a believer. Man should accord the place of brakes to fasting in his life so that he may travel successfully on the path of God. The fasting of that person is true for whom fasting is like applying brakes on the things forbidden by God.
Just like the symbolism of fasting in our worldly life, the breaking of the fast presents a semblance of the life Hereafter. The breaking of the fast brings an end for a few hours to the restrictions placed during the day, and the day of the festival of Eid al-Fitr, brings an end to the prohibitions and restrictions placed during the entire month.
Eid al-Fitr, the day of the festival, also gives us a faint taste and semblance of the life Hereafter. It reminds us of the joys and pleasures of the Hereafter promised to a believer who has successfully passed this worldly test.
A true believer, having undergone the period of fasting in a most sincere manner, gets the feeling of the Hereafter as soon as the month of Ramadan is over and the celebrations for Eid are underway. He feels as if he is being entertained as a guest by God Himself. From the depths of his being, his heart cries out: ‘O God, as You have helped me carry out the injunctions of fasting and at the culmination of the month, have bestowed on me the joys of Eid, accept this life of mine as one spent in fasting and bestow on me the delights of Paradise. Include me amongst the list of persons who have been bestowed the life of Paradise by opening Thy gates of mercy!’
The message of Eid fosters the rekindling of our faith and the opening of new vistas and an entirely fresh and innovative approach to the struggles of life which would culminate by the grace of God with the rewards of everlasting Paradise.
