The wisdom of fasting in Imam Sya'rani's view

 

The wisdom of fasting in Imam Sya'rani's view

Abdul Wahhab As-Sya'rani is one of the prominent scholars of the 10th century hijriyah. Usually a scholar at that time, he also mastered various sciences and had works in all fields under his control. The expertise and personality of Imam Sya'rani can be seen in his works discussing fiqh, faith and especially tasawwuf. He is able to reason with the teachings of the Sufis which some people consider heavy and harmonize them with the Al-Quran or hadith. He can also be considered as the spokesman for Shaykh Akbar Ibn Arabi. In his hands, the teachings of Ibn Arabi, which were often misunderstood, giving rise to the label of heresy or influenced by Greek philosophy, became clear and clearly aligned with the Al-Quran hadith and the teachings of the experts in the sunnah wal jama'ah.
One of As-Sya'rani's views on fasting can be found in his work Lawaqih al-Anwar Al-Qudsiyyah. The first thing he stressed was the obligation for every Muslim to love fasting. According to As-Sya'rani, this love should not be due to the reward that is multiplied in the month of Ramadan or the melting away of sins by fasting. This love is appropriate because fasting does have an important value in the sight of Allah. Allah says in a hadith qudsi " Every deed of the son of Adam is for himself except fasting. Fasting is for Me and I will give the reward." In this hadith, fasting is directly based on Allah, fasting is for me.This is the privilege of fasting and we should enjoy fasting from this point of view. There is no worship that is directly dependent on God other than fasting. This reliance according to Ali Al-Khawwash as quoted by As-Sya'rani is viewed from the side of the nature of shamadiyah, which is the absence of eating and drinking. Allah is the One who does not need all that, while those who fast do not eat or drink. This kind of situation is like the nature of God so it is appropriate when the reward of fasting is directly attributed to God.
Among the several benefits of fasting that received special attention from As-Sya'rani is its function as a shield that closes the path of satan to tempt humans. This Faidah applies from the current Ramadan to the coming year. This benefit is important because when the door of satanic temptation has been successfully closed, there is great hope that in the future the fasting person will lead a better life, a more religious life and not be confined to momentary pleasures because lust has no supporting power from satanic whispers.
Furthermore, As-Syarani explained that this benefit can only be obtained if we observe fasting by reducing the portion of eating and drinking from the size of normal days. Breaking the fast and sahur with a menu that is amazing and varied beyond ordinary days actually opens the way for satan so that in the future satan is more free and has many ways to tempt humans. Fasting is purification outwardly and inwardly. The main point of fasting is to train ourselves to control lust. With lust that can be controlled more and more space for Satan to move. This is because Satan does not actually have the ability to lead people to sin. He can only encourage, provoke and invite to sin while the decision to execute lies with the human being himself which is reflected in lust. When breaking the fast and sahur we use it to vent all desires, this is where we actually increase our appetite so that in the future Satan's efforts to invite sin are lighter. Therefore, a quality fast that can really forge the soul is when the hunger you feel exceeds an ordinary day and the iftar menu is simpler than a normal day.
Physical and mental forging since the beginning of this fast is also one of the lessons of lailatul qadar placed in the last days of Ramadan. Fasting from the first day to the middle of the day is a kind of physical and psychological self-preparation for the night of lailatu qadar. By organizing and maintaining high-quality fasting from the start, we can carry out worship on the night of lailatul qadar with a clean heart so that we deserve a great gift on this great night. Finally when fasting has passed, we become new people with clean hearts and ready to look at life with a new perspective.
That's a bit about fasting as-Sya'rani conveyed. Quality fasting is what can change our hearts. When lust can be controlled and Satan's space for movement becomes narrower, selfishness will disappear. At that time, people will have a higher social sensitivity, a sharper soul sensitivity to understand the words and gestures of Allah SWT. And of course it will be better in worship and serve Him.