Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 63
63 person improve their morals. One moves away from i njustice and nurtures the emotions of honesty, trust, kindness, and justice. Such a person develops a desire to be of service to humanity. They develop a desire to love and be near to Allah. Afterwards, they not only do this for themselves , but t he y enjoin others to do the same. For example, they do not tell lie s and they strive to forbid others from telling a lie. They n ot only refrain from hurt ing other people but persuade others to refrain from hurting other people. Their thoughts are purified, and t he y strive to purify the thoughts of others. In short, their soul is busy night and day in reforming mankind. The Sal ā t in itself is not the final goal. God Almighty s tates in the Holy Qur’an : E ِا َّن ا ﻟ َّﺼ ٰﻠ ﻮ َۃ َﺗ ۡﻨ ٰﻬ ﻲ َﻋ ِﻦ ا ۡﻟ َﻔ ۡﺤ َﺸ ﺂ ِء َو ا ۡﻟ ُﻤ ۡﻨ َﻜ ِﺮ Surely, prayer restrains one fr om indecency and manifest evil. (Holy Qur’an , Ch. 29: V. 46) Just as eating food is not the ultimate goal but provides energy for a man to accomplish worldly tasks similarly Sal ā t is not the ultimate goal. I nstead, it restrains one from indecencies. The one who says p rayers, his soul is provided with energy , which prepares him to fight against evil. He develops the virtues of honesty, trust, justice, fairness, and kindness. In short, he nurtures all high morals and further develops the capability to instill these virtues in others as well. The same is the case with fasting. God Almighty says about fasting: َﻟ َﻌ َّﻠ ُﻜ ۡﻢ َﺗ َّﺘ ُﻘ ۡﻮ َن U “S o that you may guard against evil. ” (Holy Qur’an , Ch. 2: V. 184) The purpose of fasting is to provide energy to the soul for it to become righteous. The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa said, “ That person who merely stays hungry and thirsty is not fasting. A tru ly fasting person is the one who controls his tongue. ” So, the purpose of fasting is not merely to stay hungry and thirsty; it is to develop such a passion that even if he must let go of his personal belongings and lawful provisions for the sake of his brothers or for mankind, he will be able to do so. During our fast we have our food , which we have earned by lawful means and is not unlawful according to Shariah and w e have our own wate r ; yet we do not eat that food nor do we drink that water. By doing this , the lesson we are given is that while following God’s commandment for the sake of