Imam Ghazali on Sin : From Minhajul Abideen:
One who takes to Repentance is facilitated to worship Exalted Allah. When a
man is addicted to sins, he is deprived of the virtue and facility of worship
because of the curse of his sins. sins stand in the way of service and
obedience to Allah. The burden of sins retards the prayers and activities of
good deeds and servitude to Allah. insistence and firmness on sins blackens
the heart. On account of this the sinner always remains afflicted with the
darkness and hardness of the heart. He possesses neither sincerity nor the
purity of the heart nor the sweetness of iman (belief). this hardness of the
heart sometimes leads to-God forbid infidelity and permanent misfortune.
In such a situation how can that man be assisted at worship and accepted
for religious service who is caught in the curse of sins and hard-heartedness.
How
can a man drowned in sins deserve nearness to Allah for invoking Him.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) has said that when a man tells lies, the Angels get
away from the liar on account of the bad smell emanating from his mouth (which
the Angels can realize). how can such a foul smelling tongue be fit for the
remembrance of Allah? a sinner cannot hope to devote himself to worship,
because his outer body is not fit for worship. If he is ever compelled to
worship he does it with difficulty and hesitation.
Taubah (repentance) is one of the acts of the heart. according to the Ulama
it means briefly that we should purify our hearts from the filth of sins. It
is Taubah that we give up a sin after understanding the greatness and grandeur
of the Lord of the worlds and in fear of Allah's wrath and punishment....
work hard, brothers and sisters of Islam.... stay away from committing sins
as far as possible....
Inner Dimension of Fasting:
Excerpts from Ghazali's
Inner Dimention of Islamic Worship
Three grades of fasting
It should be known that there are three grades of fasting: ordinary, special
and extra-special.
Ordinary fasting means abstaining from food, drink and sexual satisfaction.
Special fasting means keeping one's ears, eyes,tongue, hands and feet-and
all other organs-free from sin.
Extra-special fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and
worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but Allah.
See not what displeases Allah
A chaste regard, restrained from viewing anything that is blameworthy or
reprehensible, or which distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance
of God. The Prophet, said: the furtive glance is one of the poisoned arrows of
Satan, on him be God's curse. Whoever forsakes it for fear of God, will receive
from Him, great and gracious is He, a faith the sweetness of which he will find
within his heart.'
Jabir relates from Anas that God's Messenger, on him be peace,said: 'Five
things break a man's fast: lying, backbiting, scandal mongering, perjury and a
lustful gaze.'
Speak no evil
Guarding one's tongue from twaddle, lying, backbiting, scandal mongering,
obscenity, rudeness, wrangling and controversy; making it observe silence and
occupying it with remembrance of Allah and with recitation of the Quran.
This is the fasting of the tongue. Sufyan said: "backbiting vitiates the
fast." Layth quotes Mujahid as saying : "Two habits vitiate fasting:
backbiting and telling lies.'
The Prophet said: ' Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is fasting he
should not use foul or foolish talk. If someone attacks him or insults him, let
him say: "I am fasting, I am fasting!"
Hear no evil
Closing one's ears to everything reprehensible; for everything unlawful
to utter is likewise unlawful to listen to. That is why Allah equated the
eavesdropper with the profiteer " (They like to) listen to falsehood, to
devour anything forbidden" (part of Qur'an 5: 42).
Do no evil
Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin: the hands and feet from
reprehensible deeds, and the stomach from questionable food at the time for
breaking fast.
It is meaningless to fast, to abstain from lawful food, only to break one's
Fast on what is unlawful.
The object of Fasting is to induce moderation. The Prophet said 'How many of
those who Fast, get nothing from it but hunger and thirst!'
Avoid overeating
Of what use is the fast as a means of conquering God's enemy and abating
appetite, if at the time of breaking it not only makes up for all one has missed
during the daytime, but perhaps also indulges in a variety of extra foods?
It has even become the custom to stock up for Ramadan with all kinds of
foodstuffs, so that more is consumed during that time than in the course
of several other months put together.
It is well known that the object of fasting is to experience hunger and to
check desire, in
order to reinforce the soul in piety.
If the stomach is starved from early morning till evening, so that it's
appetite is aroused and it's craving intensified, and it is then offered
delicacies and allowed to eat its fill, its taste for pleasure is increased and
its force exaggerated; passions are activated which would have lain dormant
under normal conditions.
It is therefore essential to cut down one's intake of what one would consume
on a normal night, when not Fasting. No benefit is derived from the fast if one
consumes as much as he or she would usually take during the day and night
combined.
Look to Allah with fear and hope
After the fast has been broken, the heart should swing like a pendulum
between fear and hope. For one does not know if one's fast will be accepted, so
that one will find favor with God, or whether it will be rejected, leaving one
among those He abhors. This is how one should be at the end of any act of
worship one performs.
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