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? ? ? ? И И И D ќ d И И И ќ И И И Є Є Є Є Є Є џџџџ Nursis insights into Ramadan: Lessons for our age
By Auwais Rafudeen
The loss of the sacred is perhaps the most glaring characteristic of the modern age. In contrast, it appears that there was a far greater sense of the divine in pre-modern societies. Whatever their religion, the customs, traditions and systems of law of almost all societies were firmly anchored in religious foundations. But with the rise of an unfettered rationalism in Europe, and the exporting of this mentality globally, the sense of the sacred became eroded. Reason, utility and progress, rather than a connection to the divine, became the fundamental yardsticks by which all social activity was to be measured. Human beings, in other words, generally became more absorbed with themselves than with the sacred. With the current unbalanced emphasis on rights rather than duties, and a secular moral relativism that shamelessly has no compass in the divine, such self-centredness is only exacerbated.
Against this backdrop, Bediuszaman Said Nursis insights into Ramadan are particularly pertinent to our times. Nursi, who was born in the second half of the nineteenth century, had a key role in keeping Islam alive in Turkey during particularly difficult times for the religion. Through his struggles and writings he bridged the gap between the old and the new, demonstrating the beautiful, vital relevance of Islam to the age of science and reason. The fruits of his persistence are being seen today in Turkeys Islamic renaissance and his work is now being made available to Muslim communities worldwide.
In a short but profound meditation on the holy month, Nursi reflects on how fasting breaks down our self-centredness, allowing the divine to flow back into our consciousness. He notes that fasting returns us to our primal state of being totally in need of Allah. In the normal run of things, we tend to become heedless of this primal state since we rely and depend on intermediate causes for our sustenance, forgetting about the true source which is none other than Allah. These intermediate causes veil us from recognizing and paying due heed to the real origin of our sustenance. I may add that in the modern age in particular intermediate causes are even seen as ultimate ones, and this makes the breakdown of such causes even more necessary. Ramadan suspends the normal run of things and we are forced to keep away from intermediate sources of nourishment such as food and drink. In being compelled to do this we gradually come to recognize that the true Nourisher and Sustainer is Allah. And, consequently, in Nursis beautiful image, As sunset approaches, they [Muslims] display a worshipful attitude as though, having been invited to the Pre-Eternal Monarchs banquet, they are awaiting the command of Fall to and help yourselves!
Fasting, as Nursi points out, also destroys the illusion of self-sufficiency, of the self seeing itself as having a dominion of its own, of being in control over its own affairs. This is indeed one of the great illusions that characterize our modern era. It is manifested in an almost religious belief in the ability of science and technology to solve all our problems, in arguing that we can make up the rules as we go along, in the whole belief- stated or otherwise - that might is right. But the roots of such illusions are, of course, in individuals. It is with our selves. And fasting, Nursi declares, is effective in crushing these illusions of the self. The self by nature does not want to admit the true source of its bounties. The situation is made worse when it possesses worldly wealth and power and, heedless of the divine, it devours Allahs bounties like a thieving animal. But in Ramadan this lower self comes to understand that it does not own itself, but is totally owned; that it is not free, but is a slave. It understands that if it receives no command, it is unable to do the simplest and easiest thing, it cannot even stretch out its hand towards water. Its imaginary dominicality [dominion] is therefore shattered; it performs its worship and begins to offer thanks, its true duty.
The giving of thanks to Allah- a true, sincere and extensive thanks- is, in fact, for Nursi, the key outcome of fasting in Ramadan. In compelling us to look beyond the intermediate causes to the true Cause of our bounties, we are simultaneously driven to give thanks to that cause and truly appreciate the value of the bounties He has given us. Nursi provides us with a poignant image in this regard: Fasting in Ramadan, then, is the key to a true, sincere, extensive, and universal thankfulness. For at other times of the year, most of those who are not in difficult circumstances do not realize the value of many bounties since they do not experience real hunger. Those whose stomachs are full and especially if they are rich, do not understand the degree of bounty there is in a piece of dry bread. But when it is time to break the fast, the sense of taste testifies that the dry bread is a most valuable Divine bounty in the eyes of a believer. During Ramadan, everyone from the monarch to the destitute, manifests a sort of gratitude through understanding the value of those bounties. In an age when the rat-race makes it difficult for us to stop and smell the roses, when the modern lifestyle, and often artificial, pressures put on our time depreciates the true value of little things, Nursis observation is very pertinent. This great scholar and Friend of Allah has provided us with many other insights into the mysteries of Ramadan and fasting. It is gratifying to note that we in South Africa are able to increasingly benefit from his works through the activities of the growing Turkish community here.
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