Principles of Islam
10. Fasting
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permissiveness. What the speed-breaker does for
the speeding motorist, fasting does for the devotee.
By having a curb put on his various desires – for
one month at a time man is trained to lead a life of
self – restraint for the whole year, making no
attempt to exceed the limits set by God.
What man does by fasting is engage him more and
more in the remembrance and worship of God, and
in the recitation of the Qur’an. Thus fasting serves
as a strategy to increase the efficacy of worship. In
this way God accepts our worship in its heightened
form.
Fasting is, in short, a training course. Its purpose is
to place man on a special spiritual plane for one
month so that he may be better able to lead the life
of a true devotee of God and a true lover of
humanity.
