Today is the fourth day of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar.
And Muslims worldwide are observing one of the five pillars of Islam, the obligatory fasting throughout the days in the blessed month of Ramadan.
It has indeed been an established practice among Muslims to remind themselves of the virtues of fasting in general, and the importance of Ramadan in particular, including reflecting on those Prophetic sayings pertaining to fasting, pondering their different layers of meaning and significance as well as emulating them.
One such saying is the famous Hadith Qudsi which reads: “Every act of obedience of the son of Adam belongs to him except fasting, IT BELONGS TO ME (ALLAH) AND I WILL REWARD FOR IT” (kull ‘amal ibn Adam lahu illa al-siyam fa-innahu li wa ana ajzi bihi).
[Hadith Qudsi is a special category of the Prophetic sayings in which the Prophet Muhammad relates what Allah the Almighty says in the form of the first person.]
Given that the above saying may appear to be an oxymoron, any discerning Muslim will surely be curious about its real intent who knows full well that according to the religion of Islam, as explained in some Quranic verses and Prophetic sayings, any act of obedience—not only fasting—ought to be performed with sincerity and devotion for the sake of Allah alone and it is Allah who will ultimately reward for such an act.
Many Muslim scholars in the past were indeed driven by such curiosity to reflect on what the saying ultimately seeks to convey and, as a result, they had offered at least three main explanations.
Although all such explanations appear to be different, they all stem from the basic meaning of sawm or siyam-the Arabic terms for fasting-being self-restraint (kaff or imsak), involving at its most basic level the restraining of oneself from eating, drinking, and sexual congress with one’s spouse.
In the IKIM Views of August 26, last year, which was roughly a week before the beginning of Ramadan of the Year 1429 After Hijrah (AH), I had the occasion to highlight one such explanation which basically revolves around fasting being an act of worship that allows no room for insincerity.
Compared to the aforementioned explanation which places great emphasis on the spiritual and moral dimension of fasting, another explanation offered by them seems to emphasize its theologico-metaphysical dimension.
This latter explanation points to an important Name and Attribute of Allah, al-Samad (the eternally Besought), one which most Muslims are familiar with even if solely because of its striking appearance in the second verse of the 112th chapter of the Holy Qur’an, the oft-recited Surat al-Ikhlas.
According to the voluminous, authoritative Arabic lexicons such as al-Qamus al-Muhit, Lisan al-‘Arab and Taj al-‘Arus, among the many significations of the term al-samad—apart from “an obeyed master without whom none shall be executed (al-sayyid al-muta‘ alladhi la yuqda dunahu amr),” “the one a person will walk up to when the person is in need (alladhi yuqsad ilayhi fi al-hawa’ij),” “one who prevails, staying through it all (al-da’im),” “the lofty and sublime one (al-rafi‘),” and others—is “the one who does not eat.”
In fact, the term is employed at times to signify an individual who neither thirsts nor starves in a battle.
It is perfectly logical and in line with valid inference from human experience that one who does not eat, yet being neither thirsty nor hungry, is better qualified to be the one who can last out forever and, thus, become a Lord who rules over us, mortals, and everything evanescent and to whom we turn whenever we are in need.
Indeed, the aforementioned significations as a whole and in an absolute sense apply solely to Allah.
Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali (d. 505AH/1111CE), in his famous work on the Divine Names and Attributes, Al-Maqsad al-Asna fi Sharh Asma’ Allah al-Husna, clarified that al-Samad essentially means “the one to whom one turns in need and the one who is intended in our desires” and, as such, ultimate dominion culminates in him.
And Allah, being the absolutely eternal, is indeed the only one to whom one turns in every need.
Yet, it is also an established moral teaching in Islam, grounded in a number of Quranic verses and numerous sayings of the Prophet, that man has to emulate such Divine Names and Attributes as befit man according to his real ability.
For in truth, the Names and Attributes of Allah constitute the standard of manners and praiseworthy deeds for Muslims.
Therefore, in attempting to fast sincerely and correctly, one is actually trying to emulate the Divine Name, al-Samad.
In this respect, Imam ‘Abdul Wahhab al-Sha‘rani (d. 973AH) had made an interesting observation in his work, Al-Fath al-Mubin fi Jumlah min Asrar al-Din.
“Fasting (al-sawm) is an attribute from among the Divine Attributes which none is entirely possessed of except Allah who nourishes but is Himself not fed (alladhi yut‘im wa la yat‘am). For He said in a Hadith Qudsi ‘FASTING BELONGS TO ME AND I WILL REWARD FOR IT’, attributing it to Himself, hence meaning that none is characterized by it save Allah since He is from eternity not in need of nourishment (al-akl) while other than He, whether angel or not, has to depend on nourishment and daily stuff….God has called on His servants to emulate His Attributes and devote themselves to His service by means of such Attributes as far as possible and in accordance with their capacity. Fasting is among His Attributes and is among the hardest acts on the human selves because it is against their nature. For they cannot continue surviving in this world except by things material in utter contrast to God whose existence is absolutely independent of everything.”