Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 292
292 Then there is before him the darkness of night. Corresponding to this state of physical adversity are the night-prayers which are said when the darkness of night fully sets in. This long interval of darkness is again followed by a light in the East which gives news of the rising sun. The period of imprisonment is over, and the sun of prosperity again begins to shine upon the man, In accordance with this change the next prayer-time is the morning which brings the glad tidings of the new sun. The third principal injunction of the Muslim law is fasting. There are some men who say that changes must be introduced into these practices. They are spiritually blind and ignorant of the deep wisdom which underlies every injunction given by Al- mighty God. Fasting is necessary for the perfect purity of the soul. ID is persumptuous on the part of those who have never walked in the spiritual paths to suggest reforms in these paths. ' They are engrossed day and night with their worldly affairs and their whole lives pass in temporal concerns. How absurd on their part to handle matters religious notwithstanding their absolute ignorance about them. The fact is that the suffering of hunger and reducing the quantity of food which one generallv takes is an essential step in the spiritual progress of man. It strengthens the visionary power of man. Man does not live by bread alone. And after this life there is another and eternal life to neglect which is to seperate oneself entirely from God. The man who fasts should bear in mind that fasting does not mean only abstaining from food for a stated time. Its true signifi- cance is that man should abstain from every kind of evil. In fact, food is a thing which Almighty God has not forbidden bub He has forbidden evil. If then He requires us to abstain while fasting from that which he has not ordinarily forbidden, how much more necessary it is that we should abstain from, that