T h e V i s i o n o f I s l a m
34
When a person has elevated himself from the world, God
endows him with wisdom, which emanates from his lips. He is
shown the ills of the world, and their remedies. He is brought
safely to the abode of peace. (
Mishkat
)
There comes a point on this path when one passes so far beyond
the veil of matter that one can see realities exactly as they are.Then
one “worships God, as if one were seeing Him.” (
Bukhari
)
A common man can also elevate his soul to this degree.
Prophethood, however, is thefinal stage of this path.The difference
is that a prophet is one chosen by God. There is no obscurity in his
vision of the divine world; it appears before him in absolute, certain
form; it actually becomes a part of his consciousness. The prophet
is thus in a position to say: “I know that I know.”While a common
man can never reach this stage, because he is not ‘chosen.’ Unlike
the prophets, his contact with the divine world is neither absolute
nor conscious.
Of the verses of the Quran prescribing the fast of Ramadan,
there is one which does not apparently seem to deal with fasting,
but it is in this verse that the significance of fasting has been
explained:
And when My servants question you concerning Me, tell them
that I am near. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls
upon me. (Quran 2:186)
The prophets, because of their being chosen, are in direct
contact with God through angels. For others, the Quran takes the
place of the angel Gabriel. By fasting and abstinence, the prophets
cleansed and purified their souls or minds of all material stain, thus
detaching themselves inwardly from the world. It was then that
God’s angel descended to them and directly communicated to
them the word of God. Others who hope to attain God through
the Quran must also engage in fasting and abstinence in order to
understand what they read. Although the Quran is with us today,
preserved in written form as it was revealed, it enters one’s heart
only when one is spiritually prepared to receive it by living a life of
fasting and devotion.
