Ali Ataie – Fasting is Not a Muslim Invention The History of the Fast
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AI: Transcript ©
That fasting has been prescribed upon you just
as it was prescribed upon those before you,
that perchance they may have taqwa of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So, there's an axiom amongst the ulama that
says, a thing is known by its objective,
and the objective of fasting is to gain
taqwa, therefore fasting is a highly exalted thing.
And,
we become conscious of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
through our fasting, And part of being conscious
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
is to be conscious of our fellow creature,
our fellow man. And this increases empathy. When
we fast, we
experience what it's like not to have food.
And people live like this on a daily
basis. And when we increase our empathy, we
increase in our compassion.
And when our compassion increases, we become like
the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, which Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala describes him by saying,
You're almost killing yourself grieving over them, that
he is harisun alaykum, that he's deeply concerned
about us. So this is something that we
need to inform our non Muslim friends and
neighbors, that fasting is not something that comes
out of thin air. It's not something that
Islam invented, or that the Quran invented. That
fasting has deep Abrahamic roots. In fact, the
word for fasting in Hebrew and in Syriac,
which are the languages of Musa alayhi salam
and Isa alayhi salam respectively, The word for
fasting is also som. It's pronounced exactly the
same. It is an exact cognate of the
Arabic. And this word is mentioned dozens of
times in the Old Testament. For example, David
writes in the Psalms, chapter 35, verse 13.
He says, Ineti but Psalm nefshi.
He says, I have disciplined or I have
humbled my soul through fasting.
Not only is fasting found deeply rooted within
the Abrahamic tradition, but the Prophet
his
typologies are also found within the books of
Ahlul Kitab. Of course we know the events
that happened during the month of Ramadan,
during Leiratul Qadr. Allah says,
that this night of power is greater than
a 1000 months. We read in proto Isaiah
chapter 2912,
he says, The book shall be given to
1 lo yada'asayfar,
he doesn't know a book, meaning he's unlettered.
And it shall be said to him, qira'
which is the exact
cognate of the Arabic iqra, present active imperative.
Read and he shall answer, lo yada'ati safer.
I don't know a book, I am unlettered.
This is what it says in the book
of Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 12. This lateratulqadr
was prophesized in the books of Ahlul Kitab.
Of course we know when the prophet
when he went to Madinatul Munawara, and the
Jews were fasting on Yawmi Ashura, he said
Mahadah, in other words why are you doing
this? And they said this is to commemorate
the exodus of Musa alaihis salam from the
Fir'awn and the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He
said we have a greater claim to Musa
alaihis salam. And interestingly back then,
the day of Ashura
corresponded exactly
with the 9th, with the 10th day of
the 1st month of the Hebrew calendar, which
is called Asarebi Tishri. And this is also
known as Yom Kippur. This is the holiest
day of the Jewish calendar.
And after the Christian era, the Jews began
to use a leap month every so often,
every 3 or 4 years, to put their
calendar more in line with the Gregorian Christian
calendar. But Muslims continue to fast on the
true authentic
Yom Kippur. This is something we should tell
our non Muslim
friends and neighbours about. We read in Matthew
chapter 4
that he went to the wilderness just before
the Injeel, the gospel was revealed to him.
And Matthew writes in the original Greek, he
says:
That he fasted
for 40 days
40 nights. Isa
We have to let people know that Isa
fasted. This is a confirmed practice of Isa
and of course devout Christians will fast during
this 40 day period, which begins on Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday, this is called Lent,
that Isa also did. And of course, Isa
is mimicking the fast of Musa
Musa
according to the Torah, he fasted 40 days
40 nights on Mount Sinai. Allah
says,
that we gave 40 nights to Musa
in the great medieval Jewish theologian
systematic scholar Namanides, he said that Musa alaihis
salam during this time he neither ate nor
did he drink. And this happened over a
40 day period. So the number 40 is
very significant
in salvation history, and this is something we
should inform people about as well. That the
prophet
he was preserved from idolatry
for 40 years before the Quran was revealed
to him on laylatul qadr, which by the
way again was prophesized in the book of
Isaiah chapter 29. There's also an interesting document
called the Didike. Didache means teaching in Greek.
This was written around the time 100 or
so of the common era. The Didache is
believed by many pre Nicene church fathers, patristic
scholars, as being authentically from the disciples of
Isai
and many scholars believe it was actually originally
written in Syriac, the language of Isai
to the gentile believers.
And what does it say? It says Christians
are expected to fast 2 days a week.
Christians fast 2 days a week. And of
course the
prophet he used to fast regularly on Mondays
Thursdays as well. So this is something that
we've inherited from our Abrahamic
ancestors.
In Matthew chapter 6 verse 16 through 18,
it's very very clear, Isa
during the sermon on the mount, he says
whenever you fast,
don't be like the hypocrites who walk around
groggy and they're tired. He says wash your
head, anoint your face
because your father in heaven And when he
says your father in heaven,
he means your spiritual father. This has nothing
to do whatsoever with God being the literal
father of anyone. This is still found in
Jewish liturgy even today, when Isa alaihis salam
taught his disciples how to pray. According to
Matthew chapter 6, in the Syriac language, he
said,
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. All of us. But this idea
was corrupted by Christian theology, therefore we don't
call Allah our
father. But when it occurs in the Old
Testament, it's meant to be like rub. He
is our rub. He is our sustainer. He
is our cherisher. So he says, when you
fast, do it in secret so your father
in heaven will reward you in secret. And
this reminds us, of course, of the beautiful
hadith Khutsi, which the prophet
tells us that Allah
said,
That every act of the son of Adam
is for himself except fasting.
That is for me, and I will reward
my servant. And the reward of Allah
is manifold, without any parameters.
There's no storehouses of Allah
He gives and gives and gives,
There are also health benefits of fasting that
we should convey to our non Muslim friends
and neighbors. Fasting reduces our caloric intake, It
reduces the risk of obesity, which is the
number one killer of Americans, even more so
than heart disease, obesity.
Also, it's confirmed in research that fasting reduces
the risk of cancer and heart disease and
diabetes. It slows the aging process.
It increases the maximum lifespan of a human
being. Doctor Mark P. Matson, who's chief of
neurosciences
at the National Institute of Aging, he says
fasting every other day, which is called intermittent
fasting. Intermittent fasting. Of course, we know this
as being the fast of Dawud alaihis salam.
And the Prophet
he said the most beloved type of siam
to Allah
is the fast of Dawood alaihis salam. Now
we have this doctor Mattson saying that fasting
every other day has major major health benefits
and includes a significant reduction of bad cholesterol
in the blood. May Allah
increase all of us and accept our fasting
for his sake.