Much appreciation to my friend and teacher Tom O’Brien (whose New Testament Bible Study Course just started up again at  Bethesda-by-the-Sea) for recommending this wonderful video of Lesley Hazelton’s 9-minute talk so aptly described at the TED site:

“Lesley Hazleton sat down one day to read the Koran. And what she found — as a non-Muslim, a self-identified ‘tourist’ in the Islamic holy book — wasn’t what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazleton shares the grace, flexibility and mystery she found, in this myth-debunking talk from TEDxRainier.”

I know nothing of this amazing lady beyond what I saw and heard in the video. And what I learned from following the TED-provided links. Such as her accidentaltheologist.com site, where I’d love to spend more time.

But I’ve already taken to quoting this self-described agnostic Jew. In part because, as I’ve been known to say, I love hearing my own spirituality coming back at me in different language.

Question: In the video, Ms. Hazelton describes the opening chapter of the Quran, Al Fatihah (literally, “The Opening”), as a combination of The Lord’s Prayer and … what sounds like a Hebrew title that I can’t quite hear clearly.

I can ask her, of course, but who else might help me with that? First one gets a free year’s subscription here at InterFaith21.com

ADDENDUM. Our Dear Lady, Lesley Hazelton, was first to respond:

“Greetings and many thanks for the kind words, which came bouncing back to me this morning on the ‘dashboard’ of the Accidental Theologist –

“What I was referring to is indeed Hebrew: the Shema Israel, the central declaration of faith in Judaism (“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One”). And the way the Fatiha is used in Islam — the frequency and variety of its use, that is — does indeed give it the status of the Lord’s Prayer and the Shema combined.

“Here’s to arcing, graceful bridges — Lesley H.”

— C.B. Hanif

“With reference to a saying of the Holy Prophet, your Imam calls attention to the fact that Muslims are to contribute to the wholesomeness of Christian religious holiday festivals. An indication of the Muslim role in promoting respect for wholesome and sacred celebrations is found in the teaching of Prophet Muhammed, which prohibits arbitrary fasting during the holidays of people of the Book. The purpose serves to preserve and to promote solemn respect for G-d and for the sacred devotion of all people.”

My thoughts in that spirit, in my latest Florida Weekly commentary:

“We need no labels to reflect on traditions, values at Christmas“

The column’s here. See the entire digital edition here. Or keep reading:

Amid all the joys of Christmas, most folks find time for reflection, if only for a moment, seeking meaning in the holiday season. So, dare I wade into the social and political swamp of (yikes!) “meaning” in this winter holiday season?

You betcha. Because despite rampant commercialism, Christmas is a spiritual commemoration of the miracle birth of Christ Jesus, peace be upon him, and of that great teacher’s way of bringing the light into the world.

Of course, a lot of folks these days are scared of spiritual. That’s largely due to the tumult throughout history and throughout the world in the name of spiritual.

Yet the horrors that have been done in Jesus’ name — and those of many other great lights throughout the ages — hardly are representative of them. It’s worth noting that the Bible-totin’, cross-burning Ku Klux Klan and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. both claimed guidance from the same holy book.

One result today is that people increasingly aren’t inclined to consider themselves aligned with any particular religious label. More and more, it seems, people are spiritual independents, so to speak. Not affiliated with any particular… er, party.

And that’s fine. It’s way past time for quibbling over how good people conceptualize their spirituality.

In fact, we’d all be better off if the world could grasp the simple concept that there should be no compulsion in matters of religion.

I’m finding that more and more people, some more actively than others, are trying to learn what other folks are spiritually about — or not — and honor that.

Given the occasion, I keep thinking back to what I wrote a few years ago in a column titled, “This Muslim Honors Christmas.”

“I hardly claim to speak for all Muslims, who are as diverse as humanity. But count me among those for whom this day highlights the spirit of love and humility that Jesus taught and lived, and of whom God says in the Quran (57:27): ‘We gave Jesus the Gospel and put compassion and mercy into the hearts of his followers.’ ”

I mentioned that for decades it has been my practice to bestow ribbon-bedecked bottles of Martinelli apple cider upon friends, a token of both the season’s joy and sober reflection.

I cited, though not by name, my dear now departed friend Stebbins Jefferson’s query: “I thought you didn’t celebrate Christmas.”

I don’t, was my reply, but I honor it because she — and so many others whom God has made the repositories of so much grace and good in America and the world — do.

A lot has changed since then, of course — and little has.

Roberta Popara, associate director of Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center in North Palm Beach, said that being in Iraq for Christmas in 2003 “gave me an opportunity to see how a Christian minority and another culture celebrate one of the most important feast days second only to Easter.”

Most countries don’t observe the cultural Christmas that Americans do, said the Dominican Sister. “Rather the religious significance takes precedent. Even so, in homes and shops there are modest displays for this holiday. Even some Muslim shopkeepers display Christmas lights and images of Baba Noel, as Arabic speakers call our Santa Claus. Special foods such as kibbi and pasha become usual fare for the holidays. There is some gift giving but again, very simple. The Christian community gathers for plays and pageants as well as prayerful observance of the holy season.”

“Even so,” she said, “since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the rise of counter insurgency, holy seasons such as Christmas bring their own fear upon this minority community as certain groups, claiming they are doing God’s will, bring terror and death by targeting Christian churches and gatherings.

“This needs to be understood in balance with the continued experiences of terror for the ordinary Iraqi citizen regardless of religious identity.”

Methinks Muslims and others should be more aware of an episode in the early history of the Muslim community.

Severely persecuted in Mecca, some left to Ethiopia, whose Christian Negus sheltered them. The Meccans pursued, seeking their forced return. The Muslims appealed to the king that they once had been steeped in ignorance, worshiping idols and committing abominations, but had turned to worship only the creator. They recited the opening verses of the Quran’s chapter 19, named for Jesus’ mother Mary, at which the ruler wept.

The Meccans then claimed that Muslims disrespect Jesus, to which the reply came that the prophet taught that Jesus was a creature of God and his prophet, as well as his spirit and his word, which was cast unto the Blessed Virgin Mary. Upon which the king said he would never give up the Muslims to their persecutors.

There’s been way too much suffering among religious folk since. Witness “An Advent Evening of Commemoration and Reflection” for the four U.S. churchwomen martyred in El Salvador on Dec. 2, 1980.

The Dec. 14 advent program, hosted by Pax Christi Palm Beach at St. Ann Church in West Palm Beach, remembered Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel and lay missioner Jean Donovan.

They had accepted dire risk in choosing to remain and serve as a shield for El Salvador’s persecuted poor. What else would his sincere followers do, than what Jesus would do?

Hearing their stories, my sense is the sisters would have appreciated a moment of levity from several Sundays ago, courtesy of the Rev. Carol Yorke of the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches.

“So, you do know what would have happened if it had been three wise women instead of men, don’t you? They would have asked for directions. Arrived on time. Helped deliver the baby. Cleaned the stable. Made a casserole. And brought disposable diapers as gifts.

Rev. Yorke went on to remind that, “Horror and tragedy do not mean the end of meaning, unless we choose to view it that way.”

Instead, she said, “We can choose gratitude.”

There’s room to remember that meaning of this day and season.

Christmas, as someone once said, is what you make of a reflection of your values, desires, affections and traditions.

With spiritual label or not.

— C.B. Hanif

On the courtyard of Temple Israel following “An Interfaith Thanksgiving Service Celebrating Our Diversity.”

Before sharing more scenes from some wonderful recent activities — among them the Thanksgiving interfaith gathering at Temple Israel in West Palm Beach, and at the Friends (Quaker) Meeting House in Lake Worth — I  should mention the next installment in our monthly interfaith DVD & Discussion series. Coming up this Sunday, Dec. 19, it’s “Different Books, Common Word: Baptists and Muslims.” This notable documentary by EthicsDaily.com posits:

From Boston to the Bible Belt and from Beaumont to the nation’s beltway, Baptists and Muslims are changing history with the way they change each other. Tired of being defined by extremists, some Baptists and Muslims in the United States have sought and found common ground: the common word in both traditions to love God and love neighbor. The courageous Baptists and Muslims in “Different Books, Common Word” will surprise you.

Robert Parham, executive editor of EthicsDaily.com and the documentary’s co-producer/director, says: “The Bible calls us to love our neighbors, not as a means of conversion, but because it’s the right thing to do.” That’s the Quranic view too — as in myriad other traditions.

All are welcome to join our warm company of spiritually and ethnically diverse friends, 2-4 p.m. at the United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches, 900 Brandywine Road, West Palm Beach 33409.

As always, these “Models for Interfaith Dialogue and Unity” gatherings are organized by New Africa of the Palm Beaches, with support of local clergy and lay friends. The programs provide opportunities to transcend religious, ethnic and cultural divisions by learning from and about each other, while developing exemplary models for human interaction and cooperation. There’s no fee; donations to support this effort are welcome. More info: 561-309-5476.

With our dear Mercedes Mont of the Focolare, the worldwide Christian movement, than whom I know no better followers of Christ Jesus, upon whom be Peace.

Aneesha and Mercedes, caring, sharing, not wanting to leave.

More scenes:

Rabbi Richard Chapin, our humble host, welcoming all to "An Interfaith Thanksgiving Service Celebrating Our Diversity," Nov. 23 at Temple Israel in West Palm Beach.

It was a joy to meet Pastor Acosta.

Cantor Paul Offenkrantz and the Temple Israel musicians were spirit-moving.

Cantor Offenkrantz

My dear friend Deacon Dennis Demes, of the Diocese of Palm Beach, touched my heart with his comments.

The Children's Choir of Church Jesus Redentor de Vida was awesome.

In my Thanksgiving remarks...

...I shared the advice embraced by Luqman the Wise: "And whoever is thankful, is so to the profit of his own soul. And any who is ungrateful should know that G-d is Self-Sufficient, free of all wants, worthy of all praise" (Quran 31.12).

Our guest speaker Melanie Nezer, senior director, U.S. Programs and Advocacy, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

Delightedly reconnecting with Charles Damsel, one of my longtime readers.

Whether with longtime friends or new...

... it truly was "An Interfaith Thanksgiving Service Celebrating Our Diversity."

Meanwhile, during the Lake Worth Interfaith Network's "6th Annual Thanksgiving Service of Gratitude"...

...at the The Friends (Quaker) Meeting Nov. 25...

Deacon Patricia Masterman of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, who pulled us all together this year...

... offered a Native American Prayer replete with drum.

I reprised many of my Thanksgiving comments from Temple Israel.

Nirmi & Vinod Sandanasamy shared a Tamil Indian Prayer.

Our friend Cynthia Friend of the Palm Beach Dharma Center, who shared a Buddhist prayer.

After, some of us paused for a photo (L-R): Rabbi Jenny Skylark, Noam Brown, Hanif, Pat Masterman, Javier del Sol, Rev. Taylor Stevens.

Later, enjoying Thanksgiving time with Melton Mustafa...

...and family and friends — and his video camera.

A few days later, checking in at the Palm Beach County Convention Center Dec. 2 ...

...to join in honoring my friend, master photographer Bevins Bennett, and others....

...as host committee members celebrated the Black Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County's annual Ascension Awards. (L-R): Keely Taylor, Verdenia Baker, Bevins Bennett, Thais Sullivan, Aneesha Hanif.

— C.B. Hanif

“As usual, the Founders were way ahead of us. They thought hard about how to build a country of many different faiths. And to advance that vision to the fullest, they read the Koran, and studied Islam with a calm intelligence that today’s over-hyped Americans can only begin to imagine. They knew something that we do not. To a remarkable degree, the Koran is not alien to American history — but inside it.”

Ted Widmer, The True History of the Koran in America

In 1806, Qurans printed in Springfield, Mass. In 1663, a Quran in a Germantown, Pa. newcomer’s library. Thanks my friend Jill for sharing this, written by the Beatrice and Julio Mario Santo Domingo director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. I found it at the Boston Globe, and Loonwatch. Check out the informative WBUR Radio interview. According to this additional bio:

From 1997 to 2001 (Widmer) worked in the Clinton White House as a foreign policy speechwriter. He is the author of Ark of the Liberties: America and the World, and the editor of the Library of America’s two-volume set, American Speeches, and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other publications. He received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

There are some weaknesses from a scholarly Muslim eye. For example, the PBS documentary A Prince Among Slaves offers perspective on Islam here among countless Africans and their descendants (see here and here).

But good work.

— C.B. Hanif

My latest InterFaith21 essay in The Coastal Star:

“For those of us who experienced 9/11 in America, our hearts were heavy in two respects. One, because of the senseless loss of innocent life. But then there was a double blow to us, because in the process, the religion of Al-Islam was blemished, by the conduct of people who called themselves doing something in the name of Islam.”

— David Shaheed, Superior Court Judge

Given the choice between catching up on my Quran reading (as we try to cover 1/30 during each day of this fasting month), or, providing details regarding the start of things at the Garden State Exhibit Center here in Somerset, NJ — well quickly, here are some scenes. Ramadan Mubarak (Ramadan Blessings) All.

— C.B. Hanif

Through their mosques, U.S. Muslims are embracing the community involvement that is a hallmark of the American experience. In this light, mosques should be welcomed as premier sites of American assimilation, not feared as incubators of terrorist indoctrination.

Islam, by defintion, rejects terrorism

By C.B. Hanif

The Palm Beach Post

October 15, 2006

As one who grew up rooting for Tarzan and Cheetah to whip up on my Afro-wigged cousins portraying Hollywood’s idea of Africans, I can understand how people buy into social myths of one sort or another. And having been as clueless as most folks regarding religious traditions beyond the ones with which we grew up, I am not surprised to hear certain perceptions some folks have of Muslims.

But it is curious to observe otherwise rational people defining Islam by those who behave opposite of what the faith prescribes. To confuse the lunatic fringe with Islam’s mainstream is where much of the discourse on significant current events gets off track.

So as a Muslim heading down the home stretch of our month of rededication and dawn-to-dusk fasting called Ramadan, it is heartening that despite the barrage of guilt by association of Muslims as terrorists, many people know better.

Newsweek reports (http://www.msnbc.msn.com) that thousands of members of the Roman Catholic peace group Pax Christi USA are fasting for Ramadan. And that especially since 9/11, “non-Muslims have fasted to express political solidarity with Muslims, to increase awareness of global hunger, as a spiritual discipline, or to strengthen interfaith friendship.”

Rather than campaigning for folks to change their religion, that sounds like encouraging more who claim one to live their religion.

It also suggests fewer folks are buying when a Tom, Dick or Hanif claims the cultural practices or politics of his native Egypt, Sudan or Brooklyn represent Islam. And that more people are correctly associating Muslims with the authentic sources of the faith: the Quran and true example of Mohammed the prophet.

Another take on fasting friends came in the letter my close friends in the Focolare lay Catholic community (www.focolare.org) just shared from their Center for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome. It announced that members of the movement, along with fellow Christians and folks of other religions and convictions who would like to do so, will “be united with you in a day of prayer and fasting for peace,” as proposed by other organizations, on Oct. 20, the last Friday of Ramadan.

The letter also conveyed the hopes of Focolare leader Chiara Lubich that, “as our spirituality suggests, every obstacle may become a springboard toward a much deeper brotherhood among us.”

The statement exemplifies how when I’m among members of that worldwide, multiethnic, multi-religious family that lives like the first Christians, I hear the articulation of my own spirituality as a Muslim coming back at me in different language. So much so that I realized days after a recent Focolare meeting in Hialeah that Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on Islam had not even come up.

I’m with the Muslims who join the pope in calling for an end to all religiously motivated violence and persecution in some so-called Muslim societies.

One interesting analysis, however, comes from journalist, peace activist, former member of the Israeli Knesset and self-described atheist Uri Avnery. On “Mohammed’s Sword” (http://world.mediamonitors.net/content/ view/full/35746), he wrote that:

“The story about ‘spreading the faith by the sword’ is an evil legend, one of the myths that grew up in Europe during the great wars against the Muslims — the reconquista of Spain by the Christians, the Crusades and the repulsion of the Turks, who almost conquered Vienna. I suspect that the German pope, too, honestly believes in these fables. That means that the leader of the Catholic world, who is a Christian theologian in his own right, did not make the effort to study the history of other religions.”

But those are points for dialogue among our responsible religious leaders. Down on our level, familiarity is breeding knowledge, respect and love. The talk is of family, cultivating the human spirit, building our communities and maybe a bit of World Cup soccer. Through the fog of old assumptions comes clarity and even agreement on what we believe. Such as that there should be no compulsion in matters of faith, as the Quran prescribes.

When others take such verses out of their historical context, I am reminded that both the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Ku Klux Klan taught from the Bible. And Mohammed of Arabia wasn’t the first prophet contradicted by alleged followers of the principles he taught. Moses stepped away for a talk with God and his followers, despite all the miracles they had seen, began worshipping a golden calf.

Anyone seen all-American icon Muhammad Ali rioting over the pope’s comments? With his annual appearance at our Muslim Convention, which took place last month in Chicago, the increasingly frail former heavyweight champ makes clear that he’s standing with Imam W. Deen Mohammed, the son of his former teacher the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and sincere people of other faiths who are advancing these sentiments among Muslims and humanity.

This year, our scintillating banquet speaker, the Rev. Dr. Annie O. Oliver of Milwaukee, said well what applies to Muslims and anyone who claims a particular faith or philosophy: “If I was accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?”

C.B. Hanif is an editorial writer for The Palm Beach Post.

Copyright (c) 2006 Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.

As Salaamu ‘Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatu

The Khutbah Given By The Prophet Muhammad

(peace be upon him)

On The Last Friday Of Sha’ban

On The Reception Of The Month of Ramadan

O People!

Indeed ahead of you is the blessed month of Allah.

A month of blessing, mercy and forgiveness.

A month which with Allah is the best of months.

Its days, the best of days, its nights,

the best of nights, and its hours, the best of hours.

It is the month which invites you to be the guests of Allah 
and invites you to be one of those near to Him.

Each breath you take glorifies Him; 
your sleep is worship, 
your deeds are accepted 
and your supplications are answered.

So, ask Allah, your Lord; 
to give you a sound body 
and an enlightened heart 
so you may be able to fast and recite his book, 
for only he is unhappy who is devoid of Allah’s forgiveness during this great  month.

Remember the hunger and thirst of the day of Qiyamah (Judgment) 
with your hunger and thirst; 
give alms to the needy and poor, 
honor  your  old, 
show kindness to the young ones, 
maintain relations with your blood relations; guard your tongues, close your eyes to that which is not permissible for your sight, 
close your ears to that which is forbidden to hear, 
show compassion to the orphans of people 
so compassion may be shown to your orphans.

Repent to Allah for your sins 
and raise your hands in du’a during these times, 
for they are the best of times and Allah looks towards his creatures with kindness, 
replying to them during the hours 
and granting their needs if He is asked…

O People! Indeed your souls are dependant on your deeds, free it with Istighfar (repentance), 
lighten its loads by long prostrations; 
and  know that Allah swears by His might:

That there is no punishment for the one who 
prays and prostrates and he shall have no fear of the fire on the 
day when man stands before the Lord of the worlds.

O People! One who gives Iftar to a fasting person during this month will be like one who has freed

someone and his past sins will be forgiven.

Some of the people who were there then asked the Prophet (s): “Not all of us are able to 
invite those who are fasting?”

The Prophet (s) replied: “Allah gives 
this reward even if the Iftar (meal) is a drink of water.”

One who has good morals (Akhlaq) 
during this month will be able to pass the 
‘Siraat’…on the day that feet will slip…

One who covers the faults of others 
will benefit in that Allah will curb 
His anger on the day of Judgment…

As for one who honors an orphan, 
Allah will honor him on the day of judgment.

And for the one who spreads his kindness, 
Allah will spread His mercy over him on the day of Judgment.

As for the one who cuts the ties of relation; 
Allah will cut His mercy from him…

Whosoever performs a recommended prayer in this month Allah will keep the fire of Hell away from him…

Whoever performs an obligatory prayer 
Allah will reward him with seventy prayers [worth] in this month.

And whosoever prays a lot during this month 
will have his load lightened on the day of measure.

He who recites one verse of the holy Qur’aan 
will be given the rewards of reciting the whole Qur’aan during other months.

O People!

Indeed during this month the doors of heaven are open, therefore ask Allah not to close them for you;

The doors of hell are closed, so ask Allah to keep them closed for you.

During this month Shaytan (Satan) is imprisoned so ask your Lord not to let him have power over you.

____________________________________________________________

Ramadan

Its Meaning For Muslims!

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Fasting is as popular today as it has been in the history of humanity. Today people are fasting for health reasons and for spiritual growth and experience. But it seems that people are more weight conscious today than they have ever been, and many are fasting to lose weight. In Islam, fasting has its own special meaning — a meaning that is natural in the religion. It is a meaning that is understood by religious people all over the world who truly practice divine worship.

Fasting in Islam is no new institution or new practice. With the following quotation from the Holy Qur’an, we can see that Prophet Muhammad, to whom the Qur’an was revealed, did not at any time claim to be offering any new fundamental teachings in religion to the religious world:

“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.” (Holy Qur’an; Sura II Verse 183)

This verse clearly tells us that fasting was prescribed in other revealed books before the revelation of the Holy Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad of Arabia (upon whom be peace), and that fasting is no new institution for the religious world. The proper practice of fasting in religion has withstood many threats to take it over and to corrupt it.

Dualism has threatened the meaning of the fast in religion. Also it has been threatened by the belief that the carnal life should be punished. Today, in our time, it is somewhat threatened by vanity. People who are selfish and vain take up the fast only as a passing fad and they fast to present or to keep themselves physically attractive.

No dualism is in Islam. In Islam, creation is one, Creator is One, and that creation of the Creator is His wonderful works.

We do not fast to merely fight the enemies of the spiritual man. We fast to fight the enemies of the total man. We fast for God’s pleasure. While fasting we are conscious of the need to appreciate and to respect both man and the outer world as creation of the Almighty God. Those who are to fast during the month of Ramadan are those Muslims who are physically able, who are adults, and who have sound minds.

Both male and female are to fast. However, during the period called the menses, the women are exempt but they are to make up an equal number of missed days when the period is over. By this, the sister is able to continue her fast and complete 30 days of fasting.

Fasting is among the discipline practices in Islam. The entire month, day and night hours is given to the forceful self-discipline. The habit-formed life that is called by us “daily routine” usually allows moral sleep and too much selfish indulgence.

Ramadan fast is enforced as a periodic adjustment in our lives for proper human balance. It follows the lunar calendar. The book by Muhammad Hamidullah titled “Introduction to Islam” on page 59, section 173 reads:

“The fast extends over a whole month and, as is known, it is the purely lunar month that counts in Islam. The result is that the month of fasting (Ramadan) rotates turn by turn through all the seasons of the year (autumn, winter, spring and summer) and one gets accustomed to these privations in the burning heat of summer, as well as the chilling cold of winter.”

I have quoted from Hamidullah on fasting because I find it very significant that Ramadan is regulated; that is, this calendar is regulated by the lunar phases. Islam is a universal religion and a religion recognizing Divine: that is the Divine plan and the Divine law working throughout the creation.

With the discipline of the inner body, Muslims read 1/30th of the Holy Qur’an each day so as to complete the Qur’an over this 30-day-month fast period. Those who are unable to read should get with one who can read and repeat to oneself so that only the reader’s voice is heard on a pleasing but moderate sound level, thus keeping the practice of Prophet Muhammad (on whom be peace).

Many Muslims complete the recitation with the prescribed daily prayers within the 30-day period. Such very outstanding reciters of the Holy Qur’an are rewarded the title “Hafis.”

One booklet talking about prayer says that the Muslim prayer service is unequaled.

Study the Muslim’s way of worship and you will agree with me that there is no better way of Divine worship. Why? For one thing, the Muslim always washes himself before communicating with God. In other words, he first cleans his own body and then invites the clean Holy Spirit to come into his body.

That is the best state of body, as well as of mind, in which to say one’s prayer.

Among the things to avoid during the fast period is the tendency to be spiritually idle or morally absentminded and the lazy tendency to miss daily prayers with no acceptable excuse. Also, avoid the self-righteous tendency and the self-enrichment spiritual efforts which overlook the crying needs sounding out in others near and distant. And avoid the desire to see God over the human need to emulate the Divine attributes as a worshipful and obedient slave (servant).

As many of you know, among those things to abstain from during the daylight hours of Ramadan are the taking of anything into the mouth such as food or drink; carnal or physical pleasures with wife or husband during the daylight hours; mental mastication, which responds to the above appetites. It is permissible to be with one’s wife or husband during the night hours.

The fact that the entire month of Ramadan is a month of strenuous discipline should be constantly among our thoughts on God’s pleasure, which serves to increase the growth and human excellence.

Every one of you who is present at your home during that month should spend it in fasting. But if anyone is ill or on a journey, the prescribed period should be made up later. God intends every facility for you. He does not want to put you through difficulty. He wants you to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you and, perchance, you shall be grateful.

The whole month of Ramadan is a month of fasting.

During this month period, Muslims are not to overeat, over drink, oversleep, or overindulge for selfish pleasure. Your daily meal should be the meal of a poor person.

Muslims should sacrifice time from their usual pasttimes of pleasures to give time to Islamic growth. The extra time is to be spent praying, reading the Qur’an, and helping the propagation (spread) of Islam.

If you eat expensive cuts of meat, etc., you will miss one of the important benefits of the fast, which is to bring to your mind the hardships of the less fortunate ones in our community so that we will be aware and more sympathetic to the needs of others.

The Ramadan fast has been divinely ordered by God. If you deviate in any way from the strict instructions, you break the fast. You are to eat after sunset prayer time and you are to take light food before morning prayer time. During the daylight hours, you are to abstain from food, drink, sex, and non-Islamic activities.

If you fast in excess of the stated time (hours) for fasting (eating every other day or missing whole days), you are ignoring the discipline of the fast. Then you are guilty of setting up and following your own rules, thus breaking the fast. It is not how much or how long you can fast, it is how well you can follow the guidance of God.

Any food that is “halal” (permissible) for consumption in the Holy Qur’an is permissible to eat during Ramadan. Remember, however, that it is expected for you to stay away from expensive food, or “rich people’s food.”

The thoughts of all Muslims should constantly be on God during the Ramadan season. You should show the love and the unity that we have as brothers and sisters.

Loudness of voice (talk), excessive talk, gossip, and aggravating others is strictly forbidden during the fast.

Fasting, or abstaining from food and drink, is easy if you keep your mind on something that is worthwhile. During Ramadan, the Muslim keeps his mind or her mind on things that are valuable, important, good, and clean.

If you don’t keep your mind on God and on the higher values of life, fasting will be hard for you. If you keep your mind on God, on the higher values of life, and read the Holy Qur’an as we have suggested in our articles, fasting will not be that difficult for you.

Remember, the Ramadan fast is not just a fast of physical food; it is a fast of the whole human body (whole human being). It is not just a fast for spiritual benefit; it is a fast for the benefit of the total person — physically, spiritually, mentally.

In keeping your mind on God and the higher values of life, force yourself to take time from something you have been doing during the day (listening to the radio, watching television, etc.) and read the Holy Qur’an.

The great benefit of fasting is the development of self-mastery. It is hard for us to make ourselves do what we know is good for self and others because we are weak. Prayer, right thinking, and fasting helps us to overcome this weakness. Fasting gives us the strength to overcome the drive of physical hunger.

Almost the whole life of the animal world is ruled over by the drive to overcome hunger. That is the drive of the flesh for something to satisfy the flesh. If you can control that very powerful drive, it not only gives you the power to withstand the flesh, but it helps you in every way because everything in the universe is related. The body affects the mind, the mind affects the body, morality is affected — all these things influence each other.

In the Holy Qur’an, God says that fasting is for Him. The power of hunger drives animals and humans to kill and to eat other animals. Yet the Muslim man and woman lives with that hunger, denies it, and moves about peacefully without grumbling. It drives an animal mad, but the Muslim is spiritual and happy containing it.

The Muslim on the Ramadan fast thanks God and reflects on the wisdom and the beauty of God. With the hunger that drives the world mad the Muslim acts as though he is in heaven. Under the power of God and under the power of His truth, the Muslim thinks on God’s wonders, on the truth of creation that supports the heavens and on the design and the order of creation.

By thinking on God’s great wonders, we are kept powerful and very much alive. Our mind (the inner being) is awakened and it makes us stand up independent of the outer body. Though the outer body is crying for food, the inner being can’t hear it. It has separated itself from the outer body and it is living in the world of the higher form then.

This kind of fasting should not be done for extensive periods of time. We are just to fast during Ramadan through the daylight hours. If you fast for more than that time, you have broken the fast. As long as we are free to do things as we want to do them, we will destroy the benefit of discipline and order. Take the Ramadan fast exactly as it is prescribed and you will get the benefits.

At the end of Ramadan, those who have kept the fast will receive their benefits very soon. Not only will you see a change in your personal life, but you will also see a change in the community of Islam.