Feasting on divine light

“Fasting is half the prayer, the other half is patience,” said Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325), the revered Sufi saint. During the holy month of Ramadan, fasting acquires deeply spiritual significance for the devout.

Hazrat Rumi (1207-1273), the greatly loved Sufi mystic and poet, called man’s pursuit of material desires as his “habitual rut”.
“When you fast, good habits gather like friends who want to help,” said Hazrat Rumi. The same principle of friends and the community coming together applies to Iftiyar, the practice of breaking fast at sunset during Ramadan. In Sufi shrines and also in mosques across the world, people from diverse backgrounds eat the evening meal together at sunset, thanking the Almighty for the sustenance provided and to reflect on the blessings in their lives.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya would welcome people from all walks of life to his hospice. During Ramadan, he would host Iftiyar gatherings where food was shared among his followers and visitors regardless of their background – reinforcing the idea that spiritual connection transcends social divisions.

For the Sufi saints, fasting goes beyond abstinence from food and water from dawn to dusk. It is the coveted time to withdraw their senses from the blinding light of the material world and turn in inward, making it receptive to God’s light.

Hazrat Junayd of Baghdad, (about 830 to 910), one of the most famous of the early Islamic saints and a central figure in the spiritual lineage of many Sufi orders, wrote that fasting is akin to “dying to oneself and becoming resurrected in one-Self (God),” symbolizing a process where the ego’s impulses are subdued to allow for spiritual awakening.

Persian Sufi saint Hazrat Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111), a highly prominent and influential jurisconsult, philosopher and mystic in Islamic history, believed that fasting was not restricted to refraining from food and drink. Fasting equally applied to exercising restraint in one’s thoughts, speech and actions. He wrote: “The true fast is when the tongue abstains from lies, the eyes from forbidden sights, the ears from gossip, and the heart from evil intentions.”

Sufi saints have regarded fasting as the means to purify the soul, enhance one’s self-discipline and expand the connection with the Divine. Sufi saints have equally stressed upon generosity towards the needy.

Revered Sufi saint Khwaja Gharib Nawaz (1142-1236), regarded love, compassion, and service as essential virtues. He said, “The best way of evading the fire of hell lies in feeding the hungry, providing water to the thirsty, removing the wants of the needy and befriending the miserable.”

The old Sufi story of the Dervish and the rich man illustrates the importance of fasting and also of helping the needy. A dervish invited a rich man to break the fast, offering him only dry bread.

The rich man later sent the dervish a purse containing a thousand gold coins. The dervish returned the purse with a note: “Bread is useful; gold is not – you only imagine it is.”

The dervish then sent a beggar to the rich man’s house. The beggar returned and said, “He gave me nothing.”

“Such foolishness!” said the dervish. “People think bread is equal to gold and try to exchange one for the other. Then, when a needy person asks for help, they don’t help.”

Sufi saints have advocated that one must undertake any action in the service of the Almighty without any selfish purpose. It must be driven only by a deep and complete love for the Divine.

Hazrat Rabia al-Adawiyya, one of the most revered Sufi saints, opened the gates of Divine Love through her complete surrender, faith and reverence. When asked by some seeker as to why she fasted so rigorously, Hazrat Rabia responded, “I fast because I seek nothing but His pleasure. My hunger reminds me of my dependence on Him alone.” Her burning thirst for seeking the Almighty was quenched only by her complete surrender to God’s will.

Sufi saints have taught that fasting awakens an individual from the “sleep of ignorance”, which may be understood as the state of being unaware or disconnected from one’s spiritual journey. It is a powerful tool for breaking free from the ties that bind us to nafs (ego or lower self). Nafs is typically galvanized by desires, attachments and worldly distractions.

Khwaja Najmuddin Kubra (1145-1221), a widely acclaimed Sufi mystic who travelled to Turkey, Iran, and visited Kashmir in India, spoke of the significance of fasting for those on the path of God. He said, “Included in the mystical journey “way of Junaid”, are practices such as: constant ritual purity, constant fasting, constant silence, constant retreat, constant recollection of God, and constant direction of a spiritual Guide who explains the meaning of one’s dreams and visions.”

In this way, fasting serves as a conscious act of self-restraint which diminishes the grip of nafs upon our soul, makes us aware of the divine rhythm of our inner self and shifts our consciousness towards the pursuit of the Almighty.

The loss of ego, the subsequent cleansing of the soul and the resurgence of the holistic consciousness thereafter is one of the most coveted treasures of the true seeker. Hazrat Rumi held fasting in high esteem. He compared the state of fasting to the emptiness of a lute, which holds great promise for being played to divine music.

Hazrat Rumi beautifully illustrated that spiritual melodies and divine connections can arise from human experience only when the body is empty and free from excess. He wrote, “There’s a hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness. We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox is stuffed full of anything, no music.”

Fasting is a time to hone one’s awareness of God. It is the time that can prepare the seeker for the mystical path, and shine upon him the knowledge which is the fruit of direct mystical experience and brings with it a certainty of heart.

Hazrat Rumi wrote, “Fasting interrupts this habitual rut, it pulls us out of the ‘sleep of ignorance.’ Each loss of ego control is like a small death, followed by rebirth into a more holistic consciousness.”

As Hazrat Rumi wrote, fasting was “the soul’s way of feasting on Divine light.”