S
SalamKhan
Guest
Greetings! I just thought I would take this opportunity to explain why Muslims fast during Ramadan, this is preceded by an explanation of Prophecy in Islam, God willing:
Everything in the universe, whether intelligent or non-intelligent, living or non-living, follows divine guidance. The patterns we can observe, or the ‘laws of nature’ as we call it, are manifestations of this divine guidance; and so everything worships God in its own way. Human beings are rational animals, what we have in common with the angels is that we have intellects, and what we have in common with the animals is that we have desires. Yet, we are no exception to the rule of divine guidance and worshiping God.
And so God sancitifies certain human beings to comprehend the entirety of the divine guidance, and inspires them to teach the rest of humanity to worship God, through symbols & parables about their origins & their eventual return to God, calling them towards peace & justice, setting up rites & rituals to establish harmony in the universe, and to set prohibitions in order to help control their natural desires.
We believe that Prophet Muhammad (S), was the last of these sanctified & inspired human beings. The general reason for rites, rituals & prohibitions, is to test our devotion to God; in order to separate the genuine gold from the fool’s gold. However, there is a specific wisdom behind each rite, ritual & prohibition, which may or may not be obvious to us.
We have certain prohibitions regarding food, drink, and sex. Human beings who follow their intellect, and learn to control their desires, are considered to be better than the angels, because the angels lack desires & have no choice but to follow their intellect, whereas these humans follow their intellect despite their natural desires. On the other hand, human beings who abandon their intellect, and become slaves to their desires, are considered worse than animals, because animals lack intellects & have no choice but to follow their desires.
As Muslims, we are obligated to fast during the month of Ramadan. During this fasting, we are prohibited from food, drink & sex altogether. This stirs our nature violently, not simply controlling our desires, but supressing them, like keeping a beast in shackles and chains. This helps us to remember our absolute need for God, and although relatively speaking our bodies need food, drink & sex; these things are meant to serve us, not the other way around.
And God knows best. Thanks for reading, and I hope this was beneficial.
Everything in the universe, whether intelligent or non-intelligent, living or non-living, follows divine guidance. The patterns we can observe, or the ‘laws of nature’ as we call it, are manifestations of this divine guidance; and so everything worships God in its own way. Human beings are rational animals, what we have in common with the angels is that we have intellects, and what we have in common with the animals is that we have desires. Yet, we are no exception to the rule of divine guidance and worshiping God.
And so God sancitifies certain human beings to comprehend the entirety of the divine guidance, and inspires them to teach the rest of humanity to worship God, through symbols & parables about their origins & their eventual return to God, calling them towards peace & justice, setting up rites & rituals to establish harmony in the universe, and to set prohibitions in order to help control their natural desires.
We believe that Prophet Muhammad (S), was the last of these sanctified & inspired human beings. The general reason for rites, rituals & prohibitions, is to test our devotion to God; in order to separate the genuine gold from the fool’s gold. However, there is a specific wisdom behind each rite, ritual & prohibition, which may or may not be obvious to us.
We have certain prohibitions regarding food, drink, and sex. Human beings who follow their intellect, and learn to control their desires, are considered to be better than the angels, because the angels lack desires & have no choice but to follow their intellect, whereas these humans follow their intellect despite their natural desires. On the other hand, human beings who abandon their intellect, and become slaves to their desires, are considered worse than animals, because animals lack intellects & have no choice but to follow their desires.
As Muslims, we are obligated to fast during the month of Ramadan. During this fasting, we are prohibited from food, drink & sex altogether. This stirs our nature violently, not simply controlling our desires, but supressing them, like keeping a beast in shackles and chains. This helps us to remember our absolute need for God, and although relatively speaking our bodies need food, drink & sex; these things are meant to serve us, not the other way around.
And God knows best. Thanks for reading, and I hope this was beneficial.
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