Fasting of Tariqa
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15 April 2020
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4 May 2020
The fasting of tariqa [the Sufi path] is to protect all of the senses, day and night, from all haram [forbidden] things or actions. It is to leave those things that are bad and unreasonable in the batin [inner] as well as in the zahir [outer]. If one of the actions mentioned above occurs, the fasting is nullified. The fasting of sharia [Islamic canonical law] is temporary, but the fasting of tariqa continues for a lifetime. This is the real fasting, because our Prophet (peace be upon him), in one of his honorable hadiths [traditions; sayings] grants us:
“There are many people who fast, but they only attain hunger and thirst and nothing else.”
Therefore, many people who fast do iftar [breaking the fast at the end of the day] while others doing iftar are still fasting. In other words, they protect their senses from sliding into evil. They do not give aza [abuse] to other people with their hands or tongues. It is this kind of fasting that Allah the Most High describes thus:
“Fasting is for Me; I will personally reward it.”
Our Prophet (pbuh), grants the following for those who fast this greater kind of fasting:
“The one who is fasting has two joys: one at the time of iftar, the other at the time of sight (the time of seeing Allah the Most High in the Hereafter).”
May Allah the Exalted grant us this kind of fasting and this kind of joy. Amin.
This is an excerpt of Grand Masters of Sufism, translated by Es-Seyyid Es-Shaykh Taner Ansari.
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And when My dependents ask you about Me, I am most certainly near. I respond to the callers when they call Me. So let them hear My call (also) and let them believe in Me, so that they may have an opportunity to grow in maturity. (Al Baqara 2:186)
Translation by
Es-Seyyid Es-Shaykh Taner Vargonen el Ansari
