Fasting makes us nice people and acceptable slaves

Some social surveys that were made show that the number of those who perform fasting is near eighty percent of the people who can fast in some years. This is an example of a “social religious attitude, tendency to religion” that can be rarely found in the world.

Those who deal with religious sociology and psychology should dwell on the causes and effects of this fact. Politicians and pedagogues should dwell on what kind of a cultural and pedagogical policy should be applied for a community that is so sincere and involved in religion, along with the correct and wrong policies applied so far.  

Allah promises that He will protect the Quran and hence Islam. Despite such destructive and corruptive activities for fifteen centuries, Islam is still standing with the purity and soundness in its basic resources; he who wishes can learn and practice Islam.

Worshipping is for slaves. Allah does not need our worshipping. As it is stated in a sacred hadith, if all people become unbelievers, it will not harm Allah’s greatness; if all people become believers and obey Allah, it will not add anything to Allah’s greatness. Deeds of worshipping were ordered as means for humans’ becoming individuals that would be in accordance with the divine plan. Those deeds of worshipping performed with the participation of the body and the spirit enable man to approach Allah; various information, belief and ethics are obtained through this closeness.  

I do not agree with so called religious teachers who say as if scolding people, “The deeds of worshipping that are performed are of no good unless they are performed regularly.” A person who performed fasting only one day in his life or performed only one prayer did something good compared to others that did not perform any. However, what is desired is performing worshipping in a balanced way and regularly. Human body needs balanced and sufficient nutrition; similarly, human spirit needs balanced and sufficient worshipping. Those who worship irregularly and perform some prayers but skip others are like the people who exercise one day and stop exercising for five days and the people who eat a lot when they have, and eat very little when they cannot find enough food. Allah arranged fard and nafilah prayers in such a way that it is impossible for those who do not act in accordance with this program fully to attain good results.

It has become impossible for an individual to follow a stable line or not to skip any duties of worshipping by relying on his individual will and belief alone in this world, which is very active and noisy and which has been dirtied both spiritually and materially. It is necessary for the individuals to come together, to form small groups of friendship, solidarity, etc. and to help one another. It is wrong to regard the insistent advice of the Prophet about performing prayers in congregation only as “advice aiming to make people get twenty-seven times more thawabs”; one of the reasons of that advice is that it is necessary to live in congregation and solidarity in order to practice the religion, which is also a social phenomenon.