Islam Rediscovered
12. Islamic Fundamentalism
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accomplishment of the rites which really matter, but
the circumspect conduct accompanying each act,
the restrained and disciplined behaviour which
reveals the earnest intentions of the pilgrim to lead
a righteous life then and throughout the rest of the
year. Again it is the spirit of the thing which counts.
The fifth pillar of Islam, fasting (
sawm
) for the whole
of the month of Ramadan, is not concerned merely
with abstinence from food and drink during each
day from sunrise to sunset, but with the devotion
and gratitude to God which self-denial teaches
(2:183). Thus the essence of fasting is to produce the
spirit of piety. In the words of the
hadith
, a fast
without this spirit is only the experience of hunger
and thirst. As such, it is not a true fast in the
religious sense of the word (
Mishkat al-Masabih
).
That these are the five fundamentals of Islam has
been made quite clear by the Prophet himself.
Furthermore, what is desirable in the observance of
all of these five pillars is the internal spirit and not
the external form. Now if certain people take it
upon themselves to revive these five fundamentals
of Islam, their endeavours will be confined to an
