Is Fasting Yearly really commanded by God?
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SaLaM Tony
therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein
Bro, God is talking here in present tense. Not past tense.
Yes present tense. During that time. Are you present in the month that the Quran was revealed?
Take note of the wordings WHOEVER OF YOU IS PRESENT. That means not everybody is present during that month. How can you be even" absent" in a month if that meant every year? If the verse is a command to fast every year, that would have been worded differently.
Peace.
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Peace brother Tony
I think your onto something here - well done - I'm intrigued. D
Thanks natu. Its just that I have been bothered by fasting. Its not fun, sometimes painful in the stomach and weakens the body. Of course there are benefits, but I aslo read that God does not wish us difficulty. If my idea is proven wrong, I am more than willing to submit. D
I hope this would be discussed with more depth.
Peace!
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therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein
The underlined words are mistranslated. We witness/observe a specific event (shahr ramadan) during a specific night.
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O you who believe, fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you perhaps you may be righteous.
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A few number of days. Whoever of you is ill or traveling, then the same number from different days; and as for those who can do so but with difficulty, they may redeem by feeding the needy. And whoever does good voluntarily, then it is better for him. And if you fast it is better for you if you knew.
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The full moon of scorching heat is when the reading was descended as a guidance for people and clarifications from the guidance and the criterion, so whomever witnesses the full-moon, let him abstain it. And whomever was sick or traveling so a count of other days. The God wants to facilitate and not make it hard on you. And so complete the count and magnify The God for what He guided you and perhaps you would be thankful.
For more information
Blind Dating Versus Perfect Timing -
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Peace Marie, Tony, everyone,
So we fast every full moon?
This is a specific full moon the full moon (shahr) of scorching heat (ramadan), so whomever witnesses the full-moon of scorching heat (singular form), let him abstain it .
Let me just add to Marie's answer a small comment.
When one looks at ancient cultures, there is really nothing particularly special or strange about denoting a certain time of the year in this manner. For example, other ancient cultures used similar descriptions such as "strong sun moon" and "rose moon" to describe the full moon after the summer solstice. This is due to its reddish color and its relationship to the hottest time of the year. Similarly, the word "rmdan" has a connotation of scorching and reddish (like red hot coals). So "scorching full-moon" is a pretty normal description. This simple and straight forward meaning was lost when "rmdan" became a meaningless proper name.
I hope this helps.
Peace and all best wishes,
Ayman
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Peace Tony,
The Quran was revealed only once, a long time ago.
I said it before and I say it again, the quran is being revealed even as we speak. idea
Can you please elaborate??
PEACE
Quran is being revealed to us, individually, when we truly seek quidance from God. An example is, when you read the book over and over again, and suddenly "out of nowhere", come to a realization/understanding... that's a revelation. Quran isn't just a dead book that was revealed over a thousand years ago... it's being revealed right now.Peace
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Its just that I have been bothered by fasting. Its not fun, sometimes painful in the stomach and weakens the body. Of course there are benefits, but I aslo read that God does not wish us difficulty.
There are several things to note here. Abstaining/Fasting is not meant to be "fun". The fact that it bothers you, or others for that matter, is mostly a mind thing, if you think about it. We feel weakened or hurt only because we believe that this is what fasting does to us. I'm not talking about people who are unwell at the time, there are provisions for this. I'll give you a couple of examples;I have stomach ulcers that come and go every once in a long while. They used to really affect me during fasting, but not anymore. In such cases, you can either take medicine at the 'appropriate time', or as in my case, just realize that the disease is really caused from stress or the mind and do something about that.
Another example is, an average guy I know, decided not to eat for a month (NOT just daytime... Full time!). He drank water and juice, and thats it, for 30 days. He says, spiritually, he felt he transcended to a whole different level. But, other than losing some weight, he was just fine.
Yet another example was of a teenager who never much liked eating. Just a snack here and there. His mom would always complain and try forcing him to sit at the table to eat. Come 'ramadhan', first day, 10am, he would complain of how hungry he was. Literally writhing on the floor holding his stomach, saying things like he would die if he didn't eat. The mother would feel sorry for him after a while, let him eat. He eats a bag of chips and doesn't eat the rest of the day.
All in the mind. Once you fix that, fasting becomes 'fun'. D
As for God doesn't wish us difficulty, yes, that is true... but God also says;
...God does not burden any soul more than He has given it. God will provide ease after difficulty.
Chapter 90
10. And We guided him to both paths?
11. He should choose the difficult path.
12. Do you know which is the difficult path?
13. The freeing of slaves.
14. Or the feeding on a day of great hardship.
15. An orphan of relation.
16. Or a poor person in need.
17. Then he has become one of those who have believed, and exhort one another to patience, and exhort one another to kindness.
18. Those are the people of happiness. -
Salam and thanks for your opinions. But do you think my opinion is wrong? If so, why ?
Yes, the Quran is being revealed to us even today, and I "felt" that God has revealed to me that fasting during the month of ramadan is a man-made tradition and that it was required (fasting during ramadhan) only for those who witnessed or who was present in the month of the revelation of the Quran a long time ago as I understood the verse.
Lets focus on the verse.
Peace.
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Peace Tony,
On the one hand you say...
Yes, the Quran is being revealed to us even today...
And then in the same breath...
it was required (fasting during ramadhan) only for those who witnessed or who was present in the month of the revelation of the Quran a long time ago...and I "felt" that God has revealed to me...
Be careful of desire, it's not always necessarily God revealing when you 'feel' it.But do you think my opinion is wrong? If so, why ?
You're not wrong, and I'm not right... we just have the information, the trick is to put it all together. I think Marie and Ayman have presented it pretty well on this and other threads.Peace.