"It should be known that there are three grades of Fasting: ordinary, special and extra-special.
Ordinary Fasting means abstaining from food, drink and sexual satisfaction.
Special Fasting means keeping one's ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet - and all other organs - free from sin.
Extra-special Fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but God, Great and Glorious is He. This kind of Fast is broken by thinking of anything other than God, Great and Glorious is He, and the Hereafter; is is broken by thinking of worldly matters, except for those conducive to religious ends, since these constitute provision for the Hereafter and are not of this lower world."
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
al-Ghazali is, not surprisingly, entering into a section on the benefits of fasting as part of worship. I was thinking of setting this discussion aside and revisit it during next Ramadan's fasting, although I guess this year of discussing faith will have run its course before Ramadan rolls around again (this is already day 214!?). At this point I think what I want to point out is fasting, or as part of this specific discussion Ordinary Fasting, is a means and not an end. The very fact that al-Ghazali ranks Ordinary Fasting squarely below Special Fasting and Extra-special Fasting makes this point clearly. If we only focus on the lowest level of fasting, using al-Ghazali's definition, then we're potentially missing the bigger picture, not only of Ramadan but maybe of our faith itself. If we don't eat and drink during daylight hours but don't tie that to an effort to change our behavior then what have we accomplished?
Ordinary Fasting means abstaining from food, drink and sexual satisfaction.
Special Fasting means keeping one's ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet - and all other organs - free from sin.
Extra-special Fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but God, Great and Glorious is He. This kind of Fast is broken by thinking of anything other than God, Great and Glorious is He, and the Hereafter; is is broken by thinking of worldly matters, except for those conducive to religious ends, since these constitute provision for the Hereafter and are not of this lower world."
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
al-Ghazali is, not surprisingly, entering into a section on the benefits of fasting as part of worship. I was thinking of setting this discussion aside and revisit it during next Ramadan's fasting, although I guess this year of discussing faith will have run its course before Ramadan rolls around again (this is already day 214!?). At this point I think what I want to point out is fasting, or as part of this specific discussion Ordinary Fasting, is a means and not an end. The very fact that al-Ghazali ranks Ordinary Fasting squarely below Special Fasting and Extra-special Fasting makes this point clearly. If we only focus on the lowest level of fasting, using al-Ghazali's definition, then we're potentially missing the bigger picture, not only of Ramadan but maybe of our faith itself. If we don't eat and drink during daylight hours but don't tie that to an effort to change our behavior then what have we accomplished?
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