Walead Mosaad – The Spiritual Dimensions of Fasting Part 3
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Without further delay overnight, I mean, while those with emphysema,
I remember working rocketing and I mean, so you didn't come in
early you as highly as worthy verbal reality. For many theater
the heavy Western the vicinity they will redeem for that. So we
continue in reading from this four part series on the inner
dimensions of ADA and fasting in Ramadan as we end the month of
Ramadan. However, these aspects are not specifically
relevant
only for Ramadan, but also relevant for all times. And we
have gone over two of the four dimensions, we are gone over salt
or silence. And the last time that we met we also went over Oslo or
seclusion. And now we get to the third pillar of spiritual
transformation according to an event with Mohammed and Alaina
Huffman odia are shifting according to a lot of you had him
on the line who fossil fuel Juha. Now we talk about hunger.
So he says, I have a whole lot of your own. Our Luqman said if you
mean of Ken had a political leader with a terminal Brooklyn raga. And
then you know, a circle Rosalita dominoes something.
Hungry hunger is the third pillar of this divine way. It includes
the fourth pillar, which is vigilance, in the same way that
seclusion includes silence. So as we went over previously, one one
is secluded, you aren't necessarily silent, because
there's nobody else there with you. And that is referring to the
silence of the tongue. A lot of you also talked about the silence
of the heart. And he said that even though you may be alone, you
may not have a silence of the heart, your heart may be
chattering, right? It may be busy with many other things that are
distracting. But the idea is that silence of the tongue and
seclusion of the body physically, will then lead to a seclusion of
the hearts. In other words, a detachment of the heart, from all
creative things and a complete devotion and attachment to the
creator of the greatest things, namely Allah.
So here he says that
hunger includes a sub or vigilance. So the translator
translate as vigilant Saha also means avoidance of sleep.
How are the two related traditional Muslim scholars and
metaphysicians they said that
increase of food income increase leads to an increase of sleep.
Because it kind of softens the body. It softens the senses, it
makes one actually physically heavier, and hence, have more of a
desire for sleep or desire to, to rest or a desire to be inactive.
And thus the desire not to be very vigilant as in the MACOM of the
Sahara, or the pillars of facade. So one one is practicing hunger in
the proper way. Right and hunger, we don't mean here starvation, as
we'll get to, we'll talk about that, when we're talking about
eating as much and taking in as much as you need as the body
needs, and not to take in something above and beyond that.
And there are many, many Hadith about the prophesy said and
especially in talking about hunger. You mentioned about
himself that we are people that we do not eat until we are full of
other ones. When we eat, we eat up until a point before complete
satiation. And we do not eat until we are hungry.
And if we were just to apply those two principles,
people would have a lot easier time with their diet and with
their health and with their physical activity and their
alertness, and their ability to memorize things and their ability
to recall things and the ability to absorb and read, taking
information. All of these things are affected by one style,
specifically, how much one is and obviously what one needs as well.
So, being one of the four pillars of spiritual transformation, it's
a good place for people to start to think about especially in the
month of Ramadan.
He then goes on to say
when June, July
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The Catholic accrue for Concerted Activity Mahato fee in the United
States authority and water Catholics either follow the him
behind the llama team English who the him.
There are two kinds of hunger, voluntary hunger, which is that of
the seekers said again those who are on a path, but not those who
have reached the destination in this path or at least traversed a
particular
distance in this path
and obligatory or in what he describes as involuntary hunger
and your theory, right something that you do without realizing it,
which is that of the verifiers or Mahato clean our wall soon, as we
said earlier, that will happen or the verifier does not impose
hunger upon him or herself. Rather, his or her physical
nourishment decreases when he or she is in the station of intimacy
or owns
and increases when he is in the station of haga, or all.
When the verifiers eat a large quantity of food, it is a short
side of the force with which the lights of reality capital are
Russia upon their hearts in their contemplation of asila or majestic
grandeur.
Eating a small amount of food, on the other hand is a short side of
the converse, they enjoy in their contemplation of intimacy, a
capital Ilos. What does all that mean?
We noticing that I'm allowed to some extent, that when we fast, we
refrain from food or most of today, as the month goes on, our
desire for food in general. For many people, I can't say all
people, but for many people, decreases. And we become satiated
with a lot less. Even after that if our pie was laid out to support
time, then then we did when we began the month. And you can't
just
explain that away with
you know, the stomach got smaller and contracted and can't hold as
much anymore. So you don't want to eat as much even though that may
be true. But there's also a spiritual aspect to it, that when
you become busy with Allah, it makes you less interested in
anything other than a lot. And so thinking about what you're going
to eat and how you're going to eat and how it's going to be prepared
and how good is going to taste and general all those things will
become less interesting as you go along this path. And so naturally,
you eat less, you know, and it's even related of some of the Sahaba
they chose what they say daddy around the lawn and said that he
ate he refrain from eating bread and he would eat something that
was more like dried cake type of thing. Why? Because it was easier
for him to eat alone took less time to chew and digest and any
more time for the vicar of Allah the remembrance of Allah subhanaw
taala so evil anything that takes them away from the romance of God
which includes food they only want to do in as much as they need. And
the hadith of Apollo seven which is so here has no claim anything
from the inside from Canon law but for sort of insomnia from Sharia
so they never seen everybody memorizes the last part they said
oh brother you know, sister, remember 1/3 for food and 1/3 for
drink and 1/3 for breathing. That's the second the last part of
the heavy the first part I had the factory says something else
hospital will no look I met him that nice London, it's enough to
have no claim. Look, Matt means a morsel of food. Your claim it
means this does the year in Arabic which means a small morsel of food
so it will claim that small morsels of food enough to keep you
off right? Right The problem is slavery is enough to do our part
to keep you healthy, right and the prophesy centum said so
motorcycle, so motorcycle fast and you will be healthy. So
Muslims believe it or not should be practicing what they call
intermittent fasting every day. In other words, you eat at mealtime
and that between meals and as we said in a previous session not to
have this kind of constant food encounters. Throughout the day.
The whole idea of snacking is very problematic not just from from
from the point of view of
of health but also from a spiritual aspect that you
constantly need to be interacting with your mouth and food and
putting things in it and
you know, being distracted by that and feeling the need for it. And
most snacks have little to no nutritional value to begin with.
And it's a good sign when something doesn't have a lot of
nutritional value in it. It's not gonna have a lot of spiritual
value either. So
that if biller what she calls them Hathcock these these words are
similar so that if it was him, and when he of Allah is what he's
talking about when they eat not
surely they're going to eat less not because we're thinking about,
Oh, I have to eat less. That's the Salic the salagou consciously and
say, Oh, let me let me slow down here, I don't worry too much. I'm,
I'm happy, he's already there. Or she's already there, they
naturally eat less. So he's saying he doesn't impose hunger upon him
or herself, rather than physical nourishment decreases, because
you're in a session of the lab. Right? Your intimacy is with God,
why do you need to, you don't need comfort food.
Right? Most people today have a problem foods eat food
emotionally, and not because they need to eat, they need to eat
because they're depressed, or there's an emotional need, or
they're lonely, or whatever. And then, you know, they eat. And also
eating alone is a sign of that, right? Most people today in the
modern West,
in what are called highly developed societies, most of the
time, they're three meals or whatever having to reveal as I
have the envelope. And contrast that with a traditional Muslim
lifestyle, when people would never get a loan, it was considered sort
of bad for bad etiquette that, to eat alone, you'd always, you know,
if you're about to eat your breakfast, you'd always like look
for people around and say, Come join me, you know, have some
breakfast needs and offer to here three, and not eat alone. And this
is how, you know from a social aspect, this is also how the
blessing in the baraka becomes distributed.
So he says, when he's in the station of intimacy or owns,
the food will naturally decrease and increases when he in the
station of or, or hey there. So when they eat a large quantity of
food, and I should qualify what he means by large quantity of food,
large quantities of food does not mean to trips to the buffet table.
That's not his definition of large quantity of food, large quantity
of food, what we would say today would be like moderate to average
or even a small amount. So relatively speaking, he's saying
that they eat more than just a few morsels that they go to the second
part 1/3 for food and 1/3 for drink and 1/3 for leave your
stomach empty to you know, definitely a second degree. So
that would be large quantity was the first part is a small
quantity. So he said, When you eat that amount, it's a sure sign of
the force with which the lights of reality Allah Spano, Powell rush
upon their hearts, in their contemplation of majestic grandeur
of album, right, so it's almost like they're compelled. It's like
Allah subhanaw taala, saying, This is for you. And this is a way of
recognition of the havior and awesomeness and other of the last
part of diet,
eating a small amount of for another hand, a short side of the
converse, they enjoy their contemplation of intimacy, right,
there's this intimacy with Allah. So they're distracted from or not,
not distracted from God. And so they're completely with guidance,
so they don't have a desire or a kind of interest in increasing
their food. So it comes from a lot of the push or the pull, then for
them, or the addict comes from a hospital.
On the other hand, I was going to talk about 17 Rocafort will
actually say to him, they didn't bother him in Allah, that Allah
will talk to him. And maybe he will say that enough such shock
when you hear that he may be so funny or
whatever it will actually don't even identify how to do it that he
added up him for years. He contributed, resuming
eating a small for the seekers, an increase in food indicates their
distance from God for lost
their banishment from his door, and then sleep enslavement to the
covetous animal self, through its * of them. For them a
decrease in food indicates that sense of Divine Generosity of
passing over their hearts, causing them to be oblivious to their
bodily needs. That's
right. So in their decrease in food, they're similar to the
market but not quite. The market is in a state of points. The other
one, the Salic, Allah's trying to bring them to that electronic he
is bringing them to that place. And so it makes them oblivious to
everything else. And so they may not even eat enough, sometimes,
some people get into kind of almost like us, or like a manic
state of remembrance of God, or they could completely forget that
they need to eat and sometimes we bought from I know you have to
eat. Right. And that can happen to people when they are consumed with
anything, even if it's something of the dunya these these kids who
who play these video games for 24 hours on end, right, and it's more
of a phenomenon. It happens in America as well for them in the
Far East.
It's led to them like not eating for days or drinking for days, and
some of them actually suffer and go into comas. And some of them
have passed away as a result of them neglecting themselves because
they're so consumed with what they're doing. So that would be
more like an ascetic. I'm happy to know he's eating enough that they
Need but their state of owns regulates them
would you be fully hiding over Jim Seven Who then is Sally key one
mohila Navia name and all Lehman when the sandy Keane was robbed
them half the team
by them you free to be the general manager if you're now either a
floater at the Illinois house where they have an athlete who has
said in massage philosophy was set up and you are you are an MK will
be needed actually. I'm going to show you one my wife, who for
those of you looking at it now to set up that can talk a little bit
minute Bobby was to demo to see what was only accurate and why
hasn't been lately when I have said a lot that hunger is in every
state.
And every respect a means whereby the seeker and the verifier can
attend to more exalted degree,
for the secret terms of spiritual states for the verifier in terms
of a straw, he or he translates as mysteries, I would say secrets.
Mystery is more like a term from the Christian tradition. Mystery
means like you can't know it's unknown by anybody. Whereas a
secret is unknown by some people but known by others. So a Seraph,
then Assad will call Assad and the reality is now the secrets of
Allah's father and things like that can be revealed when people
are in these highly elevated spiritual states. And that is for
them. Not necessarily for the second.
One who practices hunger should not overdo the period of being in
a state of alertness or hunger, he wounds since an excess in this
respect leads to delusion and loss of reason, as well as a weakening
of physical health, so that if we're out of it, if not, please
don't overdo it. Right? Don't go to the degree that your physical
health is, is threatened.
You know, you're in that of consciousness, and not really sure
what's going on, we've become delusional. Anything that's in
excess is always going to lead to the opposite results of what
you're seeking. So everything imbalance, and obviously, there's
like a range of that balance. And the promise is outlined that
range, he said, we'll find that small morsels of food to keep you
upright. Or if you're gonna go more than that, then once or for
food, water to drink, and then keep the rest empty, and don't
need to complete satiation to completely fall. And you can even
contemplate another morsel of food coming in. And I believe modern
medicine, studies say that, it takes like 10 to 20 minutes or
something for the brain to get the signal from a stomach that you're
full. So you can technically keep eating, and not be aware of your
fault. But if you try to stop eating, when you're not full, and
then leave it for 20 minutes, you're not going to feel like oh,
I didn't get enough to eat. Because now your brain has gotten
the message. Okay, we're full here, we don't need to go anymore.
So oftentimes, this type of overeating is a result of people
just eating for the emotional reasons that we said earlier than
that, because they're just eating for nutrition.
There is no way the secret should practice hunger in order to attain
spiritual states, except under the direction of a spiritual master or
shape. If he has none, it is not possible though. In this case, he
may reduce the quantity of food he eats and absorb ordinary fasting
and eating only one meal a day. So doing a particular regimented
program
of any type of spiritual practice, generally, it's ill advised to do
it by yourself, whether it's in terms of Vic, right, certain US
GAAP, that you want to say, you know, certain names of Allah
subhanaw taala, are quite powerful. And if you go and try to
see them by yourself, without the direction of someone who's trained
in that spiritual master, then they could have a really
maybe even harmful effect upon you and put you in a state that you
don't know how to get out of it. And the same thing with a sort of
unregulated sort of unsupervised program of hunger, so to speak,
you know, eating much less than usually eat in order to get to a
higher spiritual state that also should be done under the
supervision of a chef.
So he said, even if you don't have one, then you can reduce the
quantity of food that you eat and observe ordinary fasting, right
fasting Mondays, Thursdays, three days, three times a month, you
don't need to check for that, that you can do that prophesy seven
gave me Joseph, so to speak for everyone to do that. And then
eating only one meal a day.
People will wait isn't that like extreme? No, actually, one meal
was kind of par for the course for most traditional people and
actually for many people will work today and what they mean by what
real is like one like what we consider to be the meal with rice
and bread and meat.
and all that sort of thing that was like you know that the heavy
meal that they would have and they would have you know fruits and
other things that you could perhaps eat throughout the day but
the really one meal
when you get billed me at the same for the team in geomatics, who
among rotini in other any endeavor had to issue the shelf and sell
them umbra, who either he or she who ended up bill Hara who are
Amana? Who is a che who out of you know, Solomon.
Should you want to eat a fatty stool with meat, right and eat
them the way that it used to be described as you had bread and you
had what's called the damn what you eat with the bread. This is
mentioned in the amount of profits why sounded. So if you want to
have something that's That's him, that's it means like fatty and
meat and sauce and things like that, let him do so more than
twice a week. If he wants to have benefit, until he finds a master
chef, when he has found one, he should place himself in his hands
and the master would look after him in his affairs, since he knows
better than he does what is most beneficial for him. So people
probably thinking like, we actually eat that every day, and
Ramadan, and then some of them have some warts or whatever was
left over and we have more of that.
But then we wonder why people feel the way that they do you know why
people have these, you know, very
oscillating emotional states, you know why people can become very
depressed, and then people come in very euphoric, and people become,
you know, anything in between, and it doesn't seem like it's
regulated. And I think, honestly, that a lot of that has to do with
the way that we eat. And it has to do with our diet and what we eat.
I can't imagine that, you know, eating highly processed foods, and
eating things that were developed in the food laboratory, run by
Procter and Gamble or whoever.
And then that's the staple that you eat. That's your diet. I can't
imagine it's not also going to have an accompanying spiritual
effect upon me.
And it's it's Mugello, Majora means it's been tried and tested
when you eat food that's prepared by people of God people the last
final data, and in a manner that's pleasing to Allah subhanaw taala.
It's nourishing in a way that you can have a five course meal.
You know, the Russian Tea House in New York City, it won't give you
it's always going to be something that has to be tried has to be
tasted from everyone to to actually appreciate it. And our
teachers, they used to tell us that when you go to the people are
slaughtering people of Allah eat a lot of words don't don't hold back
when you're there, because their food is cheap. Right, their food
is a form of healing. So when you eat from their food, you're
getting healed. On Milani, I've tested it. And it's true. I'd be
in like, in order amounts of food, answering people's houses. And
normally, I think I would have indigestion and this sort of
thing, but I go home. And I feel like, I feel like actually, it was
a type of type of healing. So
the person who prepares the food, the manner that's prepared, how it
was sourced, you know, people, obviously, there are social
justice aspects to all of those things. But what I think is more
important we focus on are the spiritual aspects, how it's
actually going to affect your soul, because indeed it does.
It says twice a week, you know, for things like that, which is
generous, if you read the memo, as anybody will say, once a week. So,
but that's, you know, these are histories addressing people who
are kind of this is their focus, you know, someone who wants to be
trained, somebody wants to, you know, if you go to
a UFC gym, and you want to be trained to be a UFC fighter, he's
going to change your diet, your trainer is going to change your
diet completely. And he's going to change your sleep schedule, and
he's going to have a training schedule for you and you're going
to live a sort of life that most other people would be hard pressed
to be very difficult for them to do. So he's talking to this group
of people if you really want to do this and you want to do it right,
then these are the things that he's recommending that you do
otherwise it's not necessarily a general admission for everybody to
try to do that. But if you want to be on a path of spiritual
transformation, these four pillars are where you start these are the
foundations of it and hunger being the third one that we're
discussing that
so he then says the jury handle normal calm for how to Alpha sure
we'll do our when the scanner
was doula will if you thought one football was supporting jewelry,
why don't throw it in Ruthenia her hand it was said again, I'm gonna
handle from half of infant or suffer or Ernesta with a heaven
colony with a Nezumi. I will solve the Sharia will visit you either
here also point of a Ben
hunger has a spiritual state and a station had an mclubbe. So the
hand is kind of temporary and the McCollum is something that's more
has more permanence.
So it is characterized by humility, submission, civility,
lack of self importance, indigenous in diligence,
discretion, tranquil emotions and an absence of base thoughts. This
is the state the seeker has. So all those things he described
there, they're more or less all soft, definitely,
definitely a means removal advice. So when one is in the Sadek stage,
it's removing that advice. So humility, what is it's more in
essence, it's removal of arrogance. And submission is a
removal of, you know, having thoughts of power and grandeur and
sublime over compelling people. Lack of self importance, you
mentioned right?
discretion, as opposed to promiscuity, of promiscuity, not
in a certain sexual sense, but in the general sense
and an absence of based thoughts, right. So this is all the process
of definitely which is more or less what makes up the process of
the stick. And so look for the Salic among haptik know there's
different MACOM for him, or her for the verifiers that will happen
it stay consists of
he's what he describes you as delicacy of feeling
which he translates
Ripka so recommends
I wouldn't say delicacy a feeling I would say it would be a
cuteness, a feeling. You know, once one's emotional IQ, let's say
becomes more cute. When you when you've now entered into the phase
of Dahlia. Dahlia means now you're adorning yourself with virtue. And
so this is that will happen after they've gone through their period
of removal advice.
Serenity, intimacy with God, disappearance of worldliness and
transcendence of ordinary human characteristics to the Divine
might and lordly dominion. This is now the MACOM of it will happen so
notice that they're virtuous and of themselves and not just about
removal of something. It becomes a more sort of intimate practice and
relationship with Allah subhanaw taala
Well, my father well mahkamah Who made a more permanent state and
MACOM as some Danny warmer farm Well, I didn't know Assad with
Virginia to Iowa. The Connecticut mo up in new Doom fear Old Wounds
call the wind who would like to give out the recipe for in the US
the Doctor Who will be the winning PJ Yeah, so that's about the same
if I'm scimitar what kind of college I mean, who most often
cathedra for delivery lamb Yes. Bucha has a Menza
rather than most are happy to imitate lurgy well
when you're an amateur your Salah and his urge what's an even better
Neva Sati level you will draw you to value the Shefali as someone
along what you mean.
So as a station other words for them haptic, the station of hunger
it is the station of makan solidarity or eternal cell
systems, Allah Who solid right and they say the sum of money also
it's the angels have that because they don't eat and they'll have a
need to eat. So the human being can also have some Nasi, but some
allotment of that when food doesn't become this thing that
controls them and rather than control it.
So it's the most elevated station characterized by a Thrall by
secrets, revelations and states. We have already mentioned this in
our book more than usual, which is another book of equality
in the section on the origin of the heart.
However, it's only in certain copies of the book, as I finished
writing this point in the town of Brasilia, which is I believe in
Algeria, it says, In the or 597, after several copies that did not
contain details of the spiritual abode had already come out. This
then concludes is the benefit of hunger for the one who possesses
spiritual intention him. Not ordinary hunger, which as I said
earlier, this is for the people of him. It's not for everybody, for
ordinary physical hunger, restores good temperament, and brings
bodily health, nothing more if it doesn't have the spiritual aspect
to it. So people who can want to go on on us particular type of
diet, whether it's keto or 30 year low carb and they're doing it to
get physically in shape, they will get physically in shape. But if
they don't have the spiritual component to it, then they're not
going to get anything out of it except that physical fitness for
US diet you know maybe I wouldn't even call this hunger I would call
it diet because it's really talking about regulating your diet
it's also leads to spiritual health. So just as it's important
for physical health it's even more important for spiritual health is
kind of the main point is making your
hunger bequeath knowledge of Satan may God preservice and you from
him. Why? Because the prophets I send them said that Satan runs
through the veins Magilla them he runs through the veins like blood
runs through the veins further you finally he will do our so
you know, make his path narrow make things difficult for him by
100. So he uses one's level of satiation. In other words, one
becomes more susceptible to Satan's machinations to his wasa
his whisperings. When you're in a more satiated and sort of
a fleshy steak you become consumed and distracted by things of the
flesh, which include hunger and carnal pleasures. This is the
metric for the shape bar, this is his door. That's how he likes to
enter. And once he answers from that door, then you can enter into
other aspects of your heart. So it can plant within you the seeds of
rancor and enmity and of jealousy and bad opinion of people and bad
opinion of God and so forth.
But you can lessen his power, so to speak, and lessens the ability
to get to you by being in a more highly elevated state, which can
be brought upon by this program of hunger or diet to elevate your
spiritual state.
And we'll stop there we'll also add our Adam from the the * did
it mean in the last session so long ago over the last pillar of
transformation, namely a PSA or vigilance May Allah insha Allah
give us the ability to live to them and to do from amongst other
trivial about to be amongst those emancipated from the chastisement
of punishment in this glorious and blessed month of Ramadan? May
Allah Swatara give us the ability to stand at night and prayer for
laser cuts. Whatever night it may fall apart into the give us all of
our sins, and that no, not a single person of our loved ones
and of the Muslim ummah, comes out of this month, except that all of
the sins have been forgiven. 100 ended up at an equal sort of
ceremony.