FASTING, THE RIGHT WAY FOR GLOBALISTS

By Muhammad Zuhri
(Translated By M. M. Medeiros)

Fasting is a correct way to face ourselves and our environment, so that we may achieve a lasting balance between them.

All the great religions of the world, both the divinely inspired (samawi) and the wisdom religions, accept fasting as the only practical technical means for making the self reach a personal condition that has the character of the divine, which can offer it eternity. Hundreds of millions of people every year try to maintain their own survival and that of their environment by traversing the Path of Hunger.

Nobody knows who invent this miraculous Path of Hunger, which makes all Prophets and wise men call without hesitation all human beings to follow it. The Holy Qur'an also mentions the age of this tradition of hunger in: "...kama kutiba 'alalladzina min qoblikum (as it was prescribed to those before you).." (Q:183)

This phenomenon proves that each one of The Prophets already had an awareness not achieved by The Scientist until in the 19th century, which are "The Consciousness of The Limited Natural Resources" and "The Consciousness of Living Together".

If both of these consciousnesses meet in a materialistic or greedy person, then they will yield colonialism and imperialism, which was accepted by most of the human race until about fifty years ago, and the wounds from which are not healed yet.

But when these consciousness states dwell in a person who loves life and fellow human beings, it will give birth to positive attitudes towards the self and the environment in the form of Fasting (being frugal in exploiting nature's facilities for one's life needs). This is because these limited natural resources are not to be fought for by sacrificing others or to be wasted to satisfy one's whims and cravings, but to be managed efficiently for the sake of an everlasting human society.

So fasting is the participation of the faithful in God's management of all that exists on the face of the earth.

The actual phenomenon of a sincere person's (shoimin: one who fasts) self sacrifice for others reveals the person's firmness in facing reality and the person's positive view about possibilities. In other words, one who fasts (shoimin) is a person who has been graced with a self which is undamaged by changes in space and shifts of time. This kind of psychological effect is natural for someone who has done something or given himself for the sake of the present or the future.

This is because in fasting (or 'sacrifice for others') for one month (the fasting month of Ramadan), a person has the possibility of experiencing a change of consciousness process which starts with the annihilation of 'iradah insaniah' (human initiative) and its alteration into 'iradah rabbaniah' (Divine initiative). The individual's initiative has become one with God's Will. At the same time, various superhuman powers can be revealed, but this is not the goal of the Islamic way of fasting. Such powers are no more than a kind of bonus from the Lord of The Universe for those who need them (a stimulus from God). But such stimuli can have negative effects on those who are satisfied with such facilities and do not want to go further to reach the true aim of fasting.

The condition of 'taqwa' which is promised by God to faithful shoimin is like the state of someone who has never committed a sin-unburdened by his own existence.

" ... And for those who are 'taqwa' to Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out. And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. " (Q.65: 2-3)

It can be witnessed that those who are lucky enough to attain such a condition will have a positive impact on their communities, because their self-capacity will have changed from that of the vested-interests into to a personal capacity with a willingness to take over God's management whenever and wherever they can.

Such people are the ones who have been granted the 'Lailatul Qadar' (Night of Power) as a result of their Permanent Fast in the midst of communities eagerly hoping they will participate creatively in the liberation of their fellow human beings. And such people are already capable of accepting the mission of 'Rahmatan Lil 'Alamin' (a mercy for all creatures) passed down by the Prophet (peace be upon him) as the inheritance of those faithful whose existence is as it should be and who are prepared to be the means for what in Javanese is called hamemayu hayuning jagad wasana (safeguarding the coming prosperity and security of the world).

This is as it should be.