Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 197
197 is abstention even from that which is lawful and permissible: food and drink, which sustain life, and marital intercourse, which promotes the continuance of the species. It is a symbolical pledge or covenant that a worshipper enters into, signifying that if in the course of his duty of submission to the will of God he should be called upon to put his life in jeopardy or to sacrifice the interests of his progeny, he would not hesitate to do so. Such a discipline carried on through a whole month every year should ensure that after each Ramadhan, the participant would, in the remaining eleven months of the year, progressively achieve greater and greater adherence to moral and spiritual values. During the last ten days of Ramadhan some people stay continuously in a mosque and devote the whole of the time, not occupied by the obligatory and supererogatory services, to the study of the Quran and to the remembrance of God ⎯ reflection over His attributes and the manner of their manifestation. This period of complete devotion of a worshipper’s time to the exercise of the purely spiritual values, is the culmination of the moral and spiritual discipline instituted by Islam. To carry this discipline farther would be a sort of monasticism or asceticism, which is not permissible in Islam (57:28). On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that the whole purpose of fasting, whether obligatory, as