The month of Ramadhan is an important month to the Muslims. It is the time for the Muslims all over the world to fast, an obligation comprising one of the five pillars of Islam. As the end of Ramadhan approaches we see Muslims from all walks of life busy preparing for that day marking the end of fasting.
In our country that day is popularly referred to as Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. ‘Hari Raya’ literally means ‘great day’, while the phrase ‘Aidil Fitri’ is Arabic in origin, ‘Id al-Fitr. Why is ‘Id al-Fitr considered a great day?
In Arabic ‘Id literally means a day that is celebrated with the purpose and in the manner of remembering something noble or desirable. What is being remembered in this celebration is fitrah.
What is fitrah? Fitrah refers to the original disposition upon which every creation is created. It refers to the uncorrupted natural disposition. When we talk about a man having sound natural disposition we are referring to the fact that he has the capacity to make correct judgements and to differentiate truth from falsehood.
Every man, according to the religion of Islam, is created by God with sound natural disposition. However, this natural disposition is susceptible to corruption. The cause of this corruption is no other than one’s own self (nafs), which is described by the Holy Prophet as one’s worst enemy. As such, the struggle to defeat this enemy is considered the greatest of all struggles (jihad akbar). God, out of His Mercy, sent the Prophet to guide and lead mankind in this struggle by the way of His religion as a guide. He made fasting an obligation as a means to weaken desire and anger, the cause of all evil and wrongdoing. And He made the month of Ramadhan a special month for His servants to intensify that struggle. So, for one month man is trained to abstain from things that are most pleasurable to the desire particularly sex and food, and to restrain from anger. The purpose, however, is not to get rid of desire or anger altogether but to control them and put them under the command of the rational soul.
The purpose of this spiritual struggle, according to Islam, is to battle against extreme inclinations of the soul towards either excess or deficiency because both extremes are harmful. The absence of anger will manifest cowardice, while excessive anger will manifest recklessness; both, as far as Islam is concerned are blameworthy attributes. Similarly, excess or deficiency in terms of lust for sex or desire for food will produce all sorts of blameworthy behavioural traits. Ramadhan must be taken as an opportunity to search for the hidden defects of the soul and to rectify them. Only then will the soul be returned to its original disposition: its fitrah.
Many people, according to the Prophet, do not get any benefit from their fasting other than hunger and thirst. The Prophet was once told about a woman who continually fasted during the day and performed supererogatory prayers throughout the night; yet she had very bad behaviour: she liked to insult her neighbours with her tongue! To this the Prophet remarked: “There is nothing good in her; she is among the dwellers of hell !”. The principle is clear: any act of worship that does not lead to the purification of the soul and result in good conduct (akhlaq) has no value in the sight of God!
‘Id al-Fitr is actually a victory celebration announcing the defeat of the worst enemy. Only those who really take part in the struggle and win are entitled to celebrate. Losers, what more bystanders, have no reason to celebrate. If they do, it simply means they have become utterly confused: they have no idea of who they are, of the purpose of their existence, and of their ultimate destiny.
Here we can see the connection between ‘Id al-Fitr and the greatest question of all concerning human existence: the question of identity and destiny. It is assumed that everyone who celebrates ‘Id al-Fitr is in possession of a clear answer to that question, otherwise he has no genuine reason to celebrate. In other words he must be conscious of his fitrah, and consciously live his life accordingly. He must not be one who wrongs his own soul, meaning one whose actions and behaviour contradict his own conscience. Such a person cannot be happy. A truly happy person is not only certain about the ultimate truth underlying his existence, but also conscious of his state of being in relation to that truth.
It is true that ‘Id al-Fitr is supposed to be a happy and joyful day. However, happiness itself is something profound. It has to do with real accomplishment. Happy is he who in his life has accomplished what is good to his self in accordance with the Will of God. He is one who has freed his self from the dictates of the animal soul. ‘Id al-Fitr is a day for him to express his gratitude for what God has bestowed upon Him.