DISADVANTAGES OF FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN THE DAYS AND METHOD OF FASTING

There were, thus, no fixed days of fasting nor detailed regulations concerning it in some of the earlier faiths. It was left to their followers to decide whether to abstain totally from food and drink or only partly. With most of the religions originating in India it is the same, so that while some of their adherents simply refrain from eating meat on fast-days others avoid only such articles of food as are cooked on fire. There is also a section which takes only water with a little salt or lime-juice added to it or something of the fort.

These practices have, to a great extent, destroyed the spirit of fasting and impaired its efficacy. Since the choice was left to the individual who kept the fast and the determination of the days of fasting and the degree and duration of abstinence was made a matter of his preferment it paved the way for slackness and evasion. People began to take all kinds of liberties with fasting and it became very difficult to keep an eye on them for if anyone who was fasting was asked how it was that he was eating at day time he could very well say that his fast had ended. Similarly, if it was enquired why was he keeping fast at the time of breaking it he could reply that his fast had just begun.

The ancient religious communities were deprived of the moral and spiritual advantages of fasting due to this drawback. After their experience, the wisdom of fixing the days and time-schedule of fasting and framing elaborate rules for it becomes apparent. As Shah Waliullah writes:

'If the right to exercise one's own judgment in fasting is conceded it will open the door of evasion, the path of sanctioning what is allowed and forbidding what is prohibited will be obstructed and this foremost event of obeisance in Islam will fall into negligence.'

With regard to the prescribing of the period of fasting he remarks: 'It was also necessary to determine its period and duration so that no room was left for excess or slackness. But for it, some people would have observed so little of fasting that it would have been fruitless while others would have carried it so far as to inflict upon themselves excessive hardship. In truth, fasting is a remedy to counteract the effects of the poison of sensuality and, therefore, it is essential that it should be administered in the right quantity.' (Hujjat vol.2 pg.37)
Total Abstinence or Partial?

Drawing a comparison between the two categories of fasting (one in which complete abstinence is observed from all the things that are inimical to fasting and the other in which only partial abstinence is practiced) Shah Waliullah shows his preference for the former and explains its superiority in the following words:

'There are two ways of reduction in diet. One is to eat sparingly and the other is to observe such a long interval between meals that the object of curtailment is gained. In the Shari'ah, the latter course has been prescribed because it induces an adequate appreciation of the torments of hunger and thirst and strikes at the root of the carnal appetites, a definite reduction in whose force and intensity is noticed. On the contrary, in the former case, these results are not obtained owing the continuity of meals. Besides, it is not possible to lay down a general rule for reduction as the circumstances differ from one individual to another. A person takes half a seer of food while for the other only a quarter of a seer suffices. Thus, if a general limit is laid down for everyone, one will profit by it and the other will suffer.'

Shah Waliullah goes on to observe that moderation should be the rule in determination of the hours of fasting, 'It, again, was desirable' says he, 'that the hours of fasting were not o long as to entail unbearable hardship as, for instance, three days and three nights. Apart from being opposed to the spirit of the Shari'ah, it would also have generally been impracticable.' (Hujjat pg.31)
Continuous Fasting – Days or Periodic?

A common practice among the ancient religions was that fasting was observed at intervals. Different days of the year were set aside for it and the gap between them was so long that the effectiveness of the act was lost. The period of fasting would end before one was morally, mentally and spiritually brought into accord with it. In the words of Hadhrat Shah Waliullah, 'It was necessary that the opportunity to abjure food and drink occurred repeatedly and in succession in order that it could serve the purpose of an exercise in submission. To go without food only once (however hard it was) would avail nothing.'

Viewed against it, the Islamic Sawm will seem to satisfy all the essential requisites of fasting and be capable of yielding the desired moral, social and spiritual benefits.