According to all the revelations whose quintessence is summed up in the Quran, man is on trial in his earthly phase of life. The basis of all his greatness and superiority is the spirit within him which appears in the bodily from in the space- time framework of terrestrial existence. The body and its physical needs connect him with the animal world whereas the spirit connects him with God which is its source. Man’s test lies in salvaging the spirit even as the requirements of its bodily frame are duly fulfilled.
As Allah has willed it, the only path of the evolution of the spirit lies through the dialectical struggle between bodily temptations and the holy aspirations of the spirit. The bodily temptations try to pull him to the asfala safileen ( lowest of the low) of the animal existence whereas his spirit tries to soar to the lofty heights of ahsan- i taqweem ( the most exquisite of formations).
What better way is there to achieve this goal than to temporarily deny the body its indulgence in eating, drinking and sensual pleasure? These requirements are essentially lawful but, left to themselves, would pull man into the quagmire of mere animal mode of existence. Fasting enables us to free the spirit from the fetters of sensual indulgence so that it can soar to the heights to which it essentially belongs. Our beloved Prophet ( SAW) used to spend most of his days fasting.
His holy companions followed in his footsteps in this respect as well as in other respects. Among those who came later Hazrat Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani ( RA) and Junaid of Baghdad used to remark that the spirit is never so free as when one is fasting.
As the spirit awakens and gains strength through fasting, the animal in man becomes subservient to it and this is the ultimate goal of all true religion. This subservience of the animal has certain indicators. Man begins to control himself and does not lose temper. He does not let his tongue loose to utter invective and falsehood. He neither tells a lie nor practices it. If indicators like these are absent even though one is apparently fasting, the reality of fasting is lost. This is why the Prophet ( SAW) remarked: “ One who does not abandon uttering falsehood and acting up to it, Allah is in no need of his abandonment of eating and drinking” ( Bukhari )
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