Spiritual delights of fasting Ramadhan (8)

Today on the 8th day of the blessed month of Ramadhan, we start our daily programme titled “Spiritual Delights of Fasting Ramadhan” with the special supplication for the day:

“O Allah, grant me this day compassion for the orphans, and enable me to provide food (to the hungry), to greet others in an expressive manner, and to keep the company of the virtuous, with Your bounty, O Refuge of the hopeful!”

A statement from Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) says: “Whoever fasts solely for the sake of God at the height of (summer’s) heat and endures thirst, God assigns one thousand angels to wipe his face and say: O my angels bear testimony that I forgave him.”

This hadith from the Prophet is indicative of the rewards reserved for the sincere servants by God Almighty. A sincere person is the one who is in full control of his/her emotions, including the tongue through which God has granted human beings the power of speech. In fact, the tongue is the cause of either dignity or humiliation. If used properly it speaks the truth and expresses the inner thoughts of our minds and the fruits of our intellect. If misused, the tongue would lie, which is a cardinal sin that erodes the credibility of a person. Moreover, the main cause of malice, violence, and even murders in society, is the misuse of the tongue to insult others, to brag about one’s own presumed superiority, and to utter any stupid sentence that comes to our mind. The Prophet’s First Infallible Heir, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) says: The human being enjoys two gifts, that is, the power of the intellect and the power of speech. It is the intellect that acquires, builds, and promotes knowledge, exploring the vistas of science and technology for the benefit of the individual and society. On the other hand, it is the power of speech that puts knowledge into practice, promotes goodwill, builds relations through wise talk, and serves as the medium for exchanging each other’s experiences. The tongue is thus the real indicator of the true personality of a person.

In view of this fact, Imam Ali (AS) says: Make your selves known through speaking, for the tongue hides a person’s true personality.

Giving free rein to the tongue and failure to control it, leads to sins. Among the sins of the tongue are: backbiting, lying, heaping accusations, and creating sedition. That is the reason the Prophets and Imams have advised us against being loose cannons, and have stressed the benefits of silence as a sign of patience and wisdom. It means that one should speak only when it is necessary and should express good words in a polite manner in order to foster friendship. When God formally entrusted prophethood to Moses, He told him and his brother and assistant Aaron to go to the tyrant Pharaoh of Egypt and through soft and kind words convey the invitation to monotheism and the virtuous way of life. It means that a harsh tone and words would have the wrong affect, irrespective of the truth they convey. That is the reason the Prophet of Islam has shown us the art and skill of eloquence or the use of the right words in their proper places for expressing truth in order to attract others. The Prophet’s vicegerent, Imam Ali (AS) was the master of the art of eloquence. Like the Prophet he never said anything, but the absolute truth. As a matter of fact, his sermons, letters and maxims have earned lasting fame, and the most famous book that contains them is the Nahj al-Balagha or the Highway of Eloquence.

Once there was a wicked boy who used to annoy others with abusive words. One day, his father, in order to make him realize the consequence of his evil deeds, gave him a box of nails, saying: whenever you annoy anyone with your words, hammer one nail into the wall. The boy was surprised but he obeyed his father. The first day, he hammered 20 nails into the wall. The father advised the son to control his words. The son did his best and the next day the number of nails hammered into the wall became less. In the following days, the number of nails hammered into the wall became lesser and lesser. Finally, the day came when the boy did not hammer a nail into the wall since he didn’t annoy anyone. The father was pleased and said to his son: whenever you manage to apologize to anyone of those whom you have hurt with your words, pull one nail out of the wall. Days passed until the son came to his father and said happily: Father today I pulled out the last nail from the wall. The father looked at the wall and said: You did a good job my son, but look at the holes on the wall. It is no longer a smooth wall. There is a lesson to be learnt here. When you hurt the feelings of others with your tongue, the words act like daggers. It means a thousand apologies may not heal the harm done. Therefore, reform yourself, and rectify your behaviour, so the need of apology does not arise, since you have not hurt anyone with your tongue.

The month of Ramadhan reforms us and rectifies our behaviour. It teaches us how to behave with others. There are many a hadith that stress that the fasting person should either keep silent or reply in a soft manner, when confronted with rude behaviour. God says in Surah Mominoun, ayah 96:

"Repel ill [conduct] with that which is the best."

Now we present you part of a Munajaat or Whispered Supplication of the Prophet’s 4^th Infallible Heir, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). It focuses on complaints about the heart that has become cruel and teaches us how to supplicate in the Divine Court for self-reform:

"My God, to You I complain of a heart that is hard, turned this way and that by tempting thoughts, clothed and sealed in rust."

The heart in this phrase is not the physical heart in the chest but the reference here is to the human soul, which is pure by nature, and begins to rot when a person commits sins and wrongdoing. So one should not be despaired of God’s Infinite Mercy. And to cleanse our soul, the 4^th Imam teaches us how to pray to the All-Forgiving Creator. The Prophet’s 5^th Infallible Heir, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS) says: The heart of every faithful person is made up of white dots, and every time a sin is committed these begin to turn into black dots, until all whiteness disappears in the case of habitual unrepentant sinners. Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) in continuation of the Whispered Prayer of the Complainers, complaints about the eye which does not weep for fear of God, and says:

"I complain of the eye too indifferent to weep in fear of You and eagerly seeking that which gladdens it."

It means that when the heart becomes cruel, it ceases to have any remorse and thus the tears no longer flow from the eyes, even at the awe and majesty of God. In other words, a heart that is in the service of the Satan becomes oblivious of Divine Punishment. Thus, tears and weeping are signs of a heart that is alive and seeking repentance. This is the philosophy of the feeling of grief and shedding of tears for the calamities afflicting fellow humans. That is the reason the eyes that weep for the heartrending tragedy that befell the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Husain (AS), are a blessing of God for purifying the soul. Imam Ali (AS) says: Eyes never become dry of tears unless the heart has become cruel, and the heart does not become cruel unless one commits so many sins.

AS/SS