[2:185]
We harm ourselves when we deviate from The Straight
Path by failing to live according to God's laws.
A deviated soul is unable to distinguish truth from
falsehood. The soul becomes a slave to satanic
whispers and takes to evil ways.
The Islamic way to remain steadfast in
The Straight Path begins with strengthening the soul.
Through obligatory and other acts performed to
please Allah The Most Merciful, the layers of
falsehood covering the soul are removed.
A soul that is free of falsehood is able to protect
itself from satanic temptations.
The fast of Ramadan is a personal obligatory duty
in Islam that aims to strengthen our God-consciousness.
When the soul deprives itself of the basic needs from
dawn to sunset for one month each year, to please
Allah, it strengthens itself to resist the pull of the
lower desires that cause it to go astray from The Right Path.
Sawm differs from the other obligatory duties. For example
one may pray (solat) just to be seen to be praying, and
not really pray!
But how can one suffer hunger as a show-off? The hunger
in sawm is real and can be felt but not "seen" by others.
No one abstains from things (such as food and sex) that are
normal, natural and permissible. Being hungry and abstaining
from pleasure is no pleasure in itself except when it is
experienced for the sake of Allah.
To be continued........
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