Jaburan english edition

WE FAST as required at the formal times, such as at Ramadan – the “Sunnah” fasts – as well as at other times in the momentum of Islam. But we may also fast in a form, type, context, time and space of our own reasoning: a form of fasting that we mean to enrich our inner selves, outside of the Sharia.

There are two sources (for fasting): the first is from Allah, namely the instruction to fast that was given by way of the prophets. This did not begin only with the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as long before his time the prophets had received the instruction to fast.

The second source of fasting; this can be at the initiative of our own hearts, both with the awareness of the importance of deepening our inner lives, and perhaps as well for social interests. Because sometimes we need certain boundaries in a number of areas, and it is the reality of fasting that provides those boundaries.

So besides the fasting that we perform for Allah SWT, how beautiful it would be if for the duration of the 11 months that follow Ramadan we could also seek other forms and ways of fasting that arise not from the instructions of Allah, not because anyone has given the example to do so, but because we have the awareness that we must make our own boundaries, and that is the fast of our own initiative.

Translated from the Indonesian by Ian L Betts