Al-Ghazali: -Abstance in Islam

AL- GHAZALI

ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

Kasr al Shahwatayn
(Curbing the Two Appetites)

FROM

Ihya"Ulum al-Din
(Revivification of the Sciences of Religion)

Translation and Notes by

Caesar E. Farah

University of Minnesota

BIBLIOTHECA ISLAMICA

Minneapolis

Copyright ©1992 by Caesar E. Farah
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IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Madelain

CONTENTS

PREFACE .9 INTRODUCTION 15 PROLOGUE 31

I. On The Virtue of Hunger and

Rejection of Satiation 35

II. The Benefits of Hunger and Ills of Satiation 47

III. Exercising to Curb the Lust of the Stomach 63

IV. Differences Concerning the Impact of Hunger,

Its Virtues, and How it Affects Differently Conditions in People . 84

V. Impact of the Ailment of Dissimulation on

Those Who Abandon Lustful Appetites

and Eat Less 92

VI. Sayings Concerning the Lust of the Genital 95

VII. Marriage and Abstinence for the Novice 101

VIII. The Virtue of the One Who Defies the

Lust of the Genital and the Eye 112

ANNEX 123

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 125

PREFACE

For pious Muslims of the Sufi persuasion, abstinence is a necessary virtue for the conduct of spiritual exercises leading to union with God. They preached against all that which distracted from concentration on the worship of God. They looked upon excessive eating and copulation as the major media of distraction, a sort of ailment to be shunned and if too entrenched, a weakness to be overcome by rigorous exercises. Marriage was recommended only as a last resort for those whose sexual urges were too strong to contain. The Sufi perception tended to contradict the official Muslim conviction that marriage was necessary for the propagation of race and faith and accounted for much of the date that centered on the subject historically.

In Kasr al-Shahwatayn (Curbing the Two Appetites) we have a classical Islamic position on how to combat the urge to indulge food and sex. The author of this work, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111), is generally regarded as the leading theologian and synthesizer of Sunni and Sufi perceptions of Islam. He is credited with enshrining the Ash'arite system in the main body of Islamic theology as the sole unchallenged creed of Islam. Professor Hitti refers to him as the "father of the church in Islam" and the final authority for Sunni, or Islamic orthodoxy.' In his religious experience first as an orthodox theologian then as a mystic, author and traveller, al-Ghazali came to embody all that Islam itself experienced in its multiple spiritual

1. Philip Hitti, History of the Arabs (New York: St. Martin's Press), p. 431.

ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

phases, ranging from the formal doctrinal to the experien

tial and mystical.

His transformation² from a mainliner to a skeptic took place while he headed the famous Nizamiyah school of theology in Baghdad, designed by its Selcuk founder to serve the educational training needs of the four main rites of Islam (Hanafite, Shafi`ite, Malikite and Hanbalite). It was after a ten-year period of self-imposed seclusion and meditation in his native Khorasan that he undertook to pen his masterly work, Ihya' `Ulum al-Din, the cornerstone of orthodox Islamic theology until today. By incorporating into it the views and experiences of the mystics, he added a dimension that made complete the prevailing experiences of Islam in its two dimensional approach to the worship of God.

Al-Ghazali's Kasr al-Shahwatayn constitutes Book Three of Volume III of his Ihya"Ulum al-Din (Revivification of the Sciences of Religion). The Ihya'consists of forty `books" uneven in length, varying from between thirty eight and fifty one pages in the edited version of the Arabic by `Iraqi. The Ihya' treats al-Ghazali's whole system of thought and is the main reason for his unique position among both the ulema and mystics of Islam. Each of the four volumes comprises ten "books" and embraces the following categories: Cultural Practices (I), Social Customs (II), Instruments of Destruction (III), and Means of Salvation (IV):

The contents of volume 3, grouped under headings which the author calls "books", treat in broad terms ten specific categories which in his estimation lead the indulgent to destruction or halak, whence the title Muhlikat (Media of Destruction). These books are: "Explaining the Wonders of the Heart" (1), "Training the Self, Rectifying Morals, and Treating Ailments of the Heart" (2), "Curbing the Two Appetites" (3), "Evils of the Tongue" (4), "Criticizing

2. For more on his transformation, see infra, pp. 23-24.

PREFACE

Anger, Hatred and Envy" (5), "Criticizing the (material) World" (6), "Criticizing Greed and Love of Possessions" (7), "Criticizing Fame and Pretension" (8), "Criticizing Grandeur and Pride" (9), and "Criticizing Vanities" (10).

In Kasr al-Shahwatayn, the book herein translated and commented on, al-Ghazai defines what he considers the evils engendered by the cravings of the stomach and the genitals and how they can be overcome. In his arguments throughout he presents the perspective of the Sufi, since it is they who had to undertake the arduous journey that led to fans' or passing away from the conscious self to a sort of union with the imperceptible reality (al-Hagq) which could be achieved by them only through an experiential awarenss of God's presence within themselves. The process of dissociating themselves from the tangible world around them and escaping the temptations and distractions thereof necessarily influenced their attitude towards men and women alike, particularly to the extent they might be diverted from their mystical journey to God. For them the role model is that of their fellow Sufis who had attainied gnosis (ma`rifah).

The forty books of the Ihya have been studied by Arab, English, French, and German scholars. A number of them have been also translated into one European language or another: sixteen in English, six in French, three in German and one in Russian according to currently known bibliographical data. There is what appears to be an incomplete, and not so accurate a translation of this work without any form of annotation and wherein the translator takes the liberty to make honorific and other modifying insertions at will (see Annex). We have besides these translations numerous articles in languages other than Arabic reflecting on one aspect or another of this monumental work of the eleventh century.

The basis for the present translation is the Azhar University edition, one of the earliest and most reliable yet not without problems since there is little punctuation,

ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

few titles, fewer subtitles, lengthy and complicated sen

tences, and no annotations. Koranic references have been

documented in the translation with recourse either to

Pikthall's translation, The Meaning of the Glorious

Koran, or A. Yusuf 'Ali's The Holy Qur'an. Some of the

shorter quotations were retranslated. Where sentences

appear ambiguous in the main body of the text, comments

and qualifying expressions are inserted to assist the

reader in comprehending it. In certain passages some

restructuring of the text in English is introduced for the

sake of clarity and the avoidance of awkward literal trans

lations. The main concern in such circumstances is with

conveying the intended meaning rather than with adher

ing to the letter if it might confuse the reader.

Al-Ghaziili does not identify all his sources of reference,

giving often only partial and incomplete names. He as

sumes the reader is familiar with them, which is under

standable since he wrote for his contemporaries as well as

for those fully conversant with the Sufi personalities on whom he relied often for justification of points being made. The process of identification becomes understandably difficult. When no annotation appears for such persons, it is not because of oversight but rather because of the absence of accurate and corroborative evidence. Where the reference is clearly discernible in the context of the material discussed, the data is enlarged from recognized sources.

There is no precise citation of hadith sources. Where scholars of Islamic tradition are in agreement, we had recourse to one or more of the recognized six compilations and they are included in the bibliography. Al-Ghazali, however, relies often on much less verified hadith, some of which have been relayed on weak or relatively unreliable authority. It seems that he was more interested in the didactic message, used often in the Ihya' to support a contention, than in what purists of later years might perceive as precision. Apparently he was willing to risk the judgement of posterity and criticism for incorporating traditions that could not be verified.

The Cairo (Tijariyah) edition of the Ihya; and the one

PREFACE

with which we compared the earlier Azhar edition, attempts to cite sources for the little known or recognized hadith, but again with no documented reference to such sources. Since some of the texts cited do not exist in published form, these are conveyed strictly on the authority of the editor.

The problem of sorting out hadith and putting it in perspective is not our immediate concern. Scholars who have studied, analyzed and commented on hadith literature have done so in separate competent works. Our concern is with providing annotation from the known and reliable sources of reference on which scholars tend to depend for corroborative evidence. We were not able to do so in a number of instances. For example, `Iraqi cites such works by al-Bayhaqi as "Kitab al-Zuhd" and "Shu'ub al-Iman"; Tirmidhi's "Hadith al-Migdam"; Abu Mansur al-Daylami's "Musnad al-Firdaws"; ibn abi 'l-Dunya's "Makayid al-Shaytan"; Abu Musa al-Madyani's "Istihla al-Mawt", and al-Tabarani's "al-Mu`jam al-Awsat", as well as other sources which can not be located, even when reference is made to Fuat Sezgin's Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums (9 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1967-84).

Added titles and subtitles designed to facilitate the reader's comprehension are placed in brackets. Sentences are simplified in the translation and often rendered into shorter form in the interest of furthering the reader's understanding of the intended meaning. Whenever a literal translation yielded an awkward equivalent in English, an expression was used to simplify it. Dates are cited in accordance with the Islamic calendar first followed by equivalents in the Christian. The Library of Congress method of alphabeticizing Arabic names is used in the Bibliography, as is its system of transliteration: an apostrophe (' ) represents the glottal stop (hamzah), the inverted comma ( `) is used for the voiced pharyngeal fricative (`ayn), and "al-"for the definite article "the." Also used is the popular spelling of "Koran" rather than the more representative equivalent "Quran."

Technical terms like, "Shari`ah", "hadith", " `5lim",

ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

"sunna", "sura", and "fiqh" are used in their common spelling and are italicized.

In translating Kasr al-Shahwatayn we relied primarily on the Azhar edition of the Ihya' and only secondarily (where clarification was intended) on the Tijariyah (Cairo, n.d.) reprint. In comparing the two texts it was obvious that the editor, `Iraqi, had introduced modifications in the wording of the Azhar edition. These were taken into consideration whenever lucidity was a factor.

References to hadith sources derive from this printing and are so acknowledged in the notes. Since the major compilations of verified hadith are well known, when attribution occurs, it is to the compiler and his compilation's title only. Citations adopted from the Tijariyah printing, particularly to inaccessible sources, are listed where they occur under "Ghazali".

I wish to express my gratitude to my wife, Professor Irmgard Farah, for her assistance in the preparation of the manuscript.

This was to have been a collaborative work with my sister, Madelain, who died shortly after drafting part of the introduction. I have completed the work and publish it in her memory.

Caesar E. Farah
University of Minnesota
January, 1991

INTRODUCTION

The subject of sexuality is no less sensitive to discuss in the twentieth than it was in the eleventh century. Not all societies, however, view sexual intimacy in the same light. Discussion thereof can range from one extreme to another as pertains to openness, value judgements, and promiscuity due to the injunctions of religion and conditioned social perceptions of sex and its role. Taboos existed for Muslims as it did for Christians. The subject of sexual intimacy is rarely discussed in Islam since it is held to impinge upon personal privacy. Consequently, very few authors have had the courage to write about this delicate subject before Abu Hamid al-Ghazali launched a full and uninhibited discussion of its role in family, society, and faith. He is one of those few brave souls who; assisted by his towering prestige in the world of Islam as an unequaled scholar of religious values, could undertake with some ease to delineate the role of sexuality in the life of the Muslim, especially for the pious, without incurring the wrath or reprobation of his contemporaries in the orthodox Islamic community.

In his two works, "Etiquette of Marriage"1 and "Curbing the two Appetites," the second part of which deals with carnal lust, al-Ghazali had the courage to discuss openly such a delicate subject without inhibition. His approach to it, and to other sensitive topics generally in his voluminous writings, stresses the Aristotelian principle of

1. Arabic: Kitab Adab al-Nikah, being the twelfth book of the Ihya. Translation and edition Madelain Farah (Marriage and Sexuality in Islam).

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1984.

ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

the Golden Mean in enjoining against over indulgence

whether in sex or in food intake on both moral and health

grounds. These fascinating works and supportive arguments are not anchored in society's mercurial and wavering values but in the firmer and more permanent standards established by religious ethics, particularly those enshrined in the Koran and the fundamental law of Islam, the Shaii`ah.

In the last two decades we seem to have acquired a substantial wealth of knowledge on how to process, analyze, and comprehend economic and political trends but much less, by comparison, on how to understand and assess cultural and social change. We appear to be part of a transitional period characterized by values, attitudes, and lifestyles in a constant state of flux and gradual change, in stark contrast to the rapid pace of change brought about by the electronic revolution and the technological advances of great scientific breakthroughs resulting therefrom in this same time frame. Social changes reflect an attempt to cope with and adapt to the powerful impact of industrialization and urbanization on mankind's values and religiosity.

Social and cultural values of the West have penetrated the Islamic world at a rapid pace in recent years because of a vastly expanding network of communications abetted by the electronic media. Muslims have become familiar with a concept of education which the West deems necessary for other peoples of the world who entertain notions of either attempting to catch up or simply become part of progress considered modern and relevant for achieving a life of ease. To the traditionalists such values gnaw at the fiber of Islamic institutions, not the least of which is that of marriage. The full range of social and psychological effects are still to be assessed. What is clear, however, is that Muslim revivalists everywhere are strongly resisting such an intrusion to the extent that it might tamper with time-honored traditions, besides having negative social and psychological effects upon the individual and his society.

INTRODUCTION

Not until the increase of Western influence and the rise of the feminist movements during the last two decades did pressure build up for a better understanding of sexuality in men and women within the matrix of Islam. Muslim authors have responded, albeit somewhat hesitantly, to the challenge by addressing the social and cultural issues, as well as changes associated with human sexuality. Their response, however, is somewhat reserved and cautious in that the subjects they treat are those that have been discussed since early Islam: rights of women and men, divorce, dowry, choosing a mate, and the like.

These are also the same topics that al-Ghazali dealt with in the eleventh century. None treated directly the question of human sexuality outside the context of religious injunctions. On the other hand, few modern authors explain the biological functions of the body and fewer still resort to illustrative devices. For reference they rely often on English and French sources. There are nevertheless some isolated studies on fertility among Muslim women, birth control and population growth. While, on the other hand, one finds much apologetic literature discussing what is held to be the true status and role of the Muslim woman in family and society.

This type of literature is on the increase because of a felt need among Muslims to counter stereotypical views and fantasies about Arab women propogated by Hollywood and its patented notions of the harem and veiling among Muslims and by a hostile press and electronic media depicting Arab and Islamic societies as backward and repressive of women.

Feminist movements in the West during the last decade have begun to impact women in the Muslim world, their thinking and their perception of what their role should be in the modern world without reference to traditional constraints in Islamic societies. One might delineate, consequently, three broad categories of feminists since the movement began to evolve in the late nineteenth century, centered principally in the Syrian and Egyptian regions.

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INTRODUCTION

The first movement was led by Christian (and some

Muslim) women who were prepared guardedly to avail

themselves of modern ways to improve the quality of

family life and the social milieu nurturing it. The second,

largely Muslim, consisted of those who would honor the

traditional functional roles defined for them by the Islamic Shari'ah but with better safeguards. And thirdly, those who under impeti generated by direct exposure to trendy Western values and social norms of behavior would integrate such experience into their own pattern of behavior.

The first group were the pioneers of Arab and Islamic feminism. They sought the betterment of women's lot in order to enable them better to carry out their family and social responsibilities in a society gradually being impacted through indirect contacts (largely journalistic literature) by Western perceptions of emancipation and freedom. They were not afraid to speak out, nor to institute separate periodical publications of their own to express their views on what their role ought to be.

In addition to these pioneering modernizers, we had also a more restrained Islamic feminist movement that called attention to the Muslim woman's role traditionally as the upholder of family virtues; also to the role of Muslim women as educators, on whom Islam of the Koran anchored the family and made women the the cornerstone thereof. Recognition did not imply partaking of roles traditionally associated with men. While their rights were better defined and protected in the Islamic than in the pre-Islamic era, the notion of "equal treatment" did not come into play as modernists would have it.

The Koran defined woman's role and status, her rights and duties and enjoined modesty in public display. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) became the role model for a Muslim aspiring to a life style pleasing to God, as the women of his household provided examples for Muslim women to emulate. His treatment of women in his family reflected much of what became the traditional standard of care and respect for Muslim women folk generally. They were separate but equal in the sight of God. They were

respected and cared for. Yet they had their role and the male members had their role in one and the same society. Together they constituted the twin pillars that upheld family and community and accounted for the coherence and stength of Islamic society when it upheld the teachings of the Koran and of the Prophet. Muslim traditionalists saw no discrimination in this equation.

In focusing on what they construed as the non egalitarianism of Islamic laws, Western critics tended to cite often the laws of inheritance as proof positive of the unequal relationship. They also tended to ignore the economic criterion there for, namely that the male was the chief provider, not only for his immediate family, but for all the women folk in his care-unmarried sisters, mothers, grandmothers, divorcees, widows, aunts, etc... It stood to reason that he would be allocated a larger share of the inheritance in order to care for and provide sustenance of such an assortment of charges. Woman who were married were the wards of their husbands; those unmarried, remained dependent for sustenance on the leading male or family head.

feminism in the late twentieth century generated confusion, uncertainty and doubt concerning the role of women in the Islamic world, by no means uniform and not subject to detailed discussion in this expose. Suffice it to say, as young Muslim women flocked to Western centers of education, it was inevitable that they would either develop a certain rapport with their Western counterparts and share in their values and outlooks or be repulsed by the latter's free wheeling attitude, openness and indulging the carnal annd material pleasures of life. Which course they chose to pursue tended to depend on the backgrounds they brought with them. Those trained in strict Muslim milieus might have shared with some pleasure the freedom of movement and expression denied them at home but were not prepared to burn their bras, kick up their heels, bare their physical charms and go for it.

The other type, coming largely from upper middle class urban elites and already at home in Western dress and

It

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INTRODUCTION

modes of behavior found little difficulty in blending right in with their indulgent counter parts. This is the element which argued most vociferously that with the triumph of Islam, the women of Arabia lost much of the equality they shared with men in the good old pagan days without particular reference to the harsh and hostile environment in which the ancients labored for survival. Islam was seen as having restricted the freedoms they enjoyed in pagan days by enshrining what they came to regard as male dominance and chauvenism.

It is this third category of feminists who seek to compete with males today on equal grounds and in every department of social life, even in military service-a phenomenon appealing apparently even to their conservative counterparts, namely the women of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Libya. While the "liberated" move with ease in their modern milieus, their conservative sisters prefer to observe in public the rules of modesty enjoined by a stricter interpretation of the Islamic Shari ah as symbolized in the wearing of the chadur. In their own milieus they expect to participate in all areas of the professions and usually do. Many of those who do not wish to raise families are successful in pursuing professional careers, particularly in education and medicine.

Women in societies dominated by fundamentalist Wahhabi ideologies, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are perhaps the most restrained and encumbered. While they may have their own banks and social organizations, they are confined only to certain professions-education, medical, social services and the less strenuous undertakings. They are the most dissatisfied with their lot and frequently avail themselves of the opportunity to escape their confining milieus for the less restraining and more liberal surroundings of Western capitals like Paris, London, Geneva and Vienna, where they can interact, albeit for a short while, on equal terms with their European counterparts.

To understand this dichotomy in social aspirations and behavior of Muslim women, one must have recourse to the fundamental laws of Islam governing deportment in Islam

for females. Behavior in Islam is governed by the Shari ah, a code of law undefined in the same context as we understand, for example, the constitution of the United States, yet a living and growing organism. It is the result of a continuous process of unfoldment over a period of fourteen centuries and yet flexible enough to allow for adjustment in interpretation. Since every utterance and act of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is regarded by Muslims everywhere as divinely inspired and guided, the socioreligious implication thereof is one of permanence and finality. He becomes the exemplar for all Muslims whose conduct and mode of personal behavior are to be emulated.

Prior to the rise of the Sufi orders after the twelfth century, devoted mystics stressed asceticism and detachment from the world around them. Their perception of women as a force for distraction governed their attitude towards them. They did not regard them as inferior when they insisted on a life apart but rather that they should be less visible to avoid temptation, particularly for those who were commencing the arduous task of denial, abject humility and withdrawal. If women are perceived by the extremists among them as agents of temptation, this is not to attribute malicious intent to them, but rather to highlight the inherent weakness in those males who might not have been qualified, or were even ready, for the spiritual journey to God. Those who are not familiar with Sufi literature on love, excessive love, and the position of women in Sufi undertakings are understandably misled by their symbolisms and similies.

Those who would interpret the sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet strictly (namely subscribers to the fundamentalist Hanbali rite) argue for permanence and finality in the interpretation and application of the Shar't`ah thereby setting limits to notions of progress and reform. To them the law of the faith as inherited is both inviolable and immutable. There is, consequently, widespread dissatisfaction today with this authoritative socio-religious system that had been endorsed in the ninth century by the fundamentalist ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855), jurisconsult and

ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

INTRODUCTION

spiritual godfather of present day Wahhabi fundamentalists, because it ignores Islam's potential for adjustment and change without compromising its power and essential teachings.

Nevertheless, change in degree rather than in kind is a more likely trend because Muslim societies everywhere accept the authority of Islam to determine the bounds of social progress. Many have reached a level of understanding that necessitates the reconciliation of the new with the old way of life and to fuse the priceless values of the old heritage with the rich possibilities of the new freedoms. But in the final analysis, and as Muslim leaders understand well, all social reforms and advances must be carefully justified on grounds of being in harmony with the letter and spirit of the Koran. Therein lies the key, for Muslims today as it was for al-Ghazali nine centuries ago.

Relevance of "Curbing the Two Appetites"

His work "Curbing the Two Appetites" is as relevant today as it was in yesteryears because it represents a synthesis of existing and acceptable views among orthodox Muslims which prevailed up to Ghazali's own times. Like no other author or theologian, al-Ghazali restated and summarized the Islamic views on sexuality in law and applicability from the beginning of Islam until he undertook authorship of his monumental work, The Revivification o f the Sciences of Religion. In this landmark of Islamic religious reflections on a Muslim's status in faith and society, al-Ghazali delineated the Islamic perceptions of marriage and sexuality, which still hold validity for the Islamic world until today. He addressed in depth and perspicacity those issues which twentieth-century authors have generally reiterated while juxtaposing Western views with their own interpretations. The question regarding lack of information could be attributed either to issues considered sensitive or to the fact that modem Muslim authors have not been able to reconcile the forces without with those within themselves, those issues that inhibit them from applying the teachings of

Islam to twentieth-century notions of sexuality and to social research dealing with changing values and mores.

In the light of these observations, one need not wonder why the principal authority today is the same al-Ghazali of yesteryears, a towering figure, scholar and intellect, who dared to challenge the conventional thinking of his predecessors and contemporaries alike. He was, and still is, widely read and cited as an unquestioned authority on Muslim sexuality. As one authority put it in his assessment of al-Ghazali: "Islam has never outgrown him, has never fully understood him. In the renaissance of Islam which is now rising to view, his time will come, and the new life will proceed from a renewed study of his works."²

In "Curbing the Two Appetites," al-Ghazali speaks against homosexuality as constituting a practice contrary to the decrees of the Koran and God's laws. His expose on the lust of the genitals is designed to stress abstinence, albeit his premise is that of the Sufi (mystic) as evinced in the numerous citations from their known and revered leaders. This is understandable since prior to writing his Ihya' al-Ghazali had gone into a ten-year period of withdrawal and when he emerged he had become a confirmed Sufi. With this in mind one can see clearly the heavy stress on abstinence and moderation in food and sex as necessary preconditions for spiritual exercises and disciplining the lower self, which the Sufis regard as an obstacle to achieving unity with the Divine.

One of the major controversies that has persisted for centuries in the world of Islam revolves around the question of celibacy versus marriage, and the impact, or lack thereof, on one's religiosity and quest for the pious life pleasing to God whether within or outside the realm of the mystic. Sunni Islam enjoins marriage on Muslims while the Sufis were divided on the subject. The prevalent view among them was that marriage impedes-the process of

2. Claude H. Field, The Confessions o f al-Ghazali (Lahore: Asraf, n.d.), p. 10.

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concentrating on God. The debate was still raging when al-Ghazali undertook o bridge the gap in his Ihya'.

The Transformation of al-Ghazali

A brief account of the author's life will help elucidate the

transformation he underwent from a pure alim (a scholar of

formal Islam) to a mystic. His experiences in both realms

contributed materially to the task of reconciling the two

perspectives on Islam, the legalistic and the experiential.

His name might have derived from his father's profession as spinner (ghazzal) or from a grand uncle who distinguished himself as a scholar of Islamic learning and went by the name "al-Ghazali." His brother Ahmad was an established and highly regarded Sufi who no doubt had a telling impact on al-Ghazali's conversion.

Scholars refer to al-Ghazali as an outstanding reformer, a great and original thinker who excelled both as a jurist and mystic. He was born in Tus in 450/1058 and educated at Nishapur, one of the great centers of Islamic studies in Khorasan. It was at an early age in his life that he began to reject the acceptance of religious dogma on authority (taqlid), that is as handed down by former traditionists and interpreters. He was schooled by Imam alHaramayn, Abu 'l-Ma`ali al-Juwayni,³ a brilliant theologian, with whom our author remained until he died, following which he came to Baghdad and joined in 1091 the Nizamiyah, an institute of higher theological learning first established by the Selcuk Turks under the able administrator Nizam al-Mulk, after whom it was named. Ghazali soon rose to headship of the institute but a few years laters became skeptical concerning the certainty of cognitive knowledge (ilm); and when intellectual striving failed him, he sought the intuitive approach. Suffering a spiritual crisis in 1095, he left the Nizamiyah and went to

3. Died in 1085 in Nishapur. He is the author of the important work al-Irsha4 (Right Guidance). Fr. translation by J. D. Luciani, Paris, 1938.

Mecca on a pilgrimage at the end of 1097 following _abrief stay in Jerusalem then retired from public service.

It was during this period of seclusion (1097-1106) that. he wrote his well-known works: Ihya' `Ulum al-Din, Jawahir al-Quran (Jewels of the Koran), and Kmiya' al-Sa adah (The Alchemy of Happiness). The Ihya' was actually begun in Jerusalem and finished in Damascus, before he began his long retreat and mystical contemplation from which ensued his version of St. Augustine's Confessions under the title al-Munqidh min al-Dalal.⁴ After teaching for a short while at the Nizamiyah school of Nishapur in 1106, he retreated once again to the contemplative life. Returning to Tus, he lived with some of his disciples and followers in a Sufi khanqah (monastery) until'he died on December 19, 1111.

The Ihya; from which this book derives, immortalized al-Ghazali's name and earned him the reverential title of "Imam, Hujjat al-Islam (Proof of Islam)", ranking him in importance onli next to the first four rightly-guided caliphs of Islam.

Because of a career that committed him to the perceptions of Islam as held by both ulema and Sufis, alGhazali consciously undertook to present the points of view of both in his treament of all issues pertaining to religion, including sex and food or abstinence therefrom. The Sufis, however, were not afraid to confront sensitive subjects avoided by the ulema because it had a direct bearing on their concentration on God. Due to their total commitment to the process of meditation, Sufis sincerely believed that marriage and excessive food intake would prove distractive. The meditation process in Sufism re

4. Translated with ^al-Ghazali's Bidayat al -Nihiiyah (beginning of the end) under the title of Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali by W. Montgomery Watt (London: Allen & Unwin, 1953,1963). 5. Known as the Orthodox caliphs whose collective leadership lasted

from 632 (death of the Prophet) until 661. For more, see W. Montgomery Watt, Muslim Intellectual, 7-19 and Farah, Marriage, 6-7.

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quired a rigorous undertaking of the concentration that was entailed in following the path to achieve union with God through intense physical and spiritual exercises.

The Pious Stress Celibacy

Renouncing the world was considered the proper course for those who could not otherwise concentrate on strenuous and uninterrupted spiritual exercises. Marriage was avoided by the most pious. Rb^-bi`ah al-`Adawiyah (d. 185/801)⁶ turned down numerous offers of marriage, including that of the extremelywealthy Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-H^-ashimi (d.172/788-89), a scion of the house of `Abbas, owners of the caliphate at that time,⁸ with the conviction that renunciation of the temptations of the world leads to peace while indulgence in its ways brings sorrow. She preached that the pious should curb their desires and control themselves and let not distractions or others control them. Thanking al-Hashimi for his offer she stated that God could grant her all that he would and more and that she would not be distracted from concentrating on His worship for a single moment9

6. Most celebrated woman mystic of Islam. Born in Basra, she was described by her biographer as "that woman who lost herself in union with the Divine, that one accepted by men as a second spotless Mary." One of the earliest and truest mystics, she turned down many suitors claiming that she was already wedded to God, and that her hand in

marriage must be asked from Him. She died in 185/801. Margaret Smith, Readings from the Mystics o f Islam (London: Luzac & Co., 1972) p. 10-12. A. J. Arberry, Saints and Mystics (Chicago: University Press, 1966),p. 39-51.

7. A merchant of Baghdad renowned for his wealth whose name was linked with Rarbi`ah al--`Adawiyah in accounts dramatizing her rejection of the world and its offerings in favor of concentrating her powers of love on God alone.

8. Their caliphate lasted from 750 to 1258, from the time they wrested it from the Umayyads until their capital, Baghdad, was destroyed by the Mongols under Hulagu.

9. The principle is discussed in some detail in al-Gha.z li's 23rd book of the Ihya; for comments, see also Bercher, "Extrait" in Hesperis, 40 (1953),313-3l.

Eating only the minimum of what was required to keep the body from expiring was considered essential to disciplinig the lower self and preventing it from being distracted from acts of worship. This course was universally recommended by all disciplined Sufis. 10

Their enjoining against marriage was based on the con

viction that whoever marries inclines toward the temporal or phenomenal world Only by showing contempt for the world and shunning its snares and attractions can a person pursue purification of the self on the path to God. Retiring from the affairs of the world was a necessary adjunct of pursuing the mystical path and celibacy as well as reduced food intake were considered necessary by most Sufi teachers. Curbing the two appetites thus becomes a subject of special consideration for al-Ghazali. He argued that the greatest pain afflicting man is the lust of both his stomach and genitals, citing in support of his thesis the affliction of Adam and Eve when they succumbed to temptation and ate the forbidden fruit, thus opting for the abode of humiliation and impoverishment over that of felicity. Such are deemed the results of unlawful lusts triumphing over the rewards of denial. Hunger and restraint are counseled by al-Ghazali in keeping with the proclivity of the pious among Sufis. By denying the self its lusts, it is humbled and submits to God.

But complete denial is not what al-Ghazali preaches, rather it is moderation that he stresses. One's needs are divided in thirds: food, drink and the self. He enjoins against indulgence to satiation and seems to dwell on the negative impact of meats on health, which he claims leads to obesity and sluggishness and, eventually, illness. Indeed, he recommends weight reduction, which is best achieved, in his line of reasoning, by reducing food intake and exercising at the same time. One thus attains the sought-after goal gradually, in steps, achieving two desiderata: health through moderate eating and a shar

10. Sarrj, Kits^-b al-Luma,184:

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ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

INTRODUCTION

pened awareness of what concentrating on God requires. Gradualness is the key to success in his view because one's temperament will not bear an abrupt change.

Al-Ghazali undoubtedly would have frowned upon the myriad of dietary recommendations so widespread today with emphasis on instant slimming without regard for the risks to body and mind and the higher goals of moral and spiritual contentment. In his arguments supporting reduction of food intake, al-Ghazali remarkably points to the ill effects on health of salt and red meats and in stressing weight reduction, it appears that he was aware of the positive effects thereof on one's health. One thus has the impression that he was eight hundred years ahead of his time, particularly when one notes that in the ninth century, as today, food contests and over indulgence were popular in the affluent cities of the Islamic empire where catering to gluttonous appetites was a sport.

Not all Muslim writers antedating al-Ghazali endorsed the life of indulgence. Some like the noted historian cum geographer al-Mas udi (d. 957) wrote on the art of cooking as lauded by poets of his day with special reference to what was then considered a healthy satisfying dish called "harisa", which the Prophet himself spoke highly of. In description of harisa Mas udi writes:

Of all the foods of man the tastiest,

When host has been oblivious of his guest And kid or lamb is tardy on the grill, Give me harisa, made by woman's skillFor women's hands are resolute and pure, They have a lightness and vigour sure. Within one saucepan let each other greet Kidney and fat of tail, butter and meat;

Then goose well-fattened, with the whitest cheese Deposit, following with little peas, Almonds and nuts, the very choisest kind, Which first the millstone thoroughly must grind; And, lastly, sprinkle salt, galingale From knotting which the achings fingers fail.

When with so fine a dish the lads regale The diners, every other dish grows pale. Behold it on the table, served at need Surmounted by a vault of bamboo reed, While walls support the balustraded roof That from auxiliar pillars rides aloofi¹¹

The medicinal value of dieting is better sought in the writings of Avicenna (980-1037) than in the poetry of the times.

This all-purpose authority of his age stated that diet affects the body by its quality, elementary constitution, and its substance. Moreover, since many drugs originate in plants, Avicenna cautioned his audience to avoid such foods that have a high medicinal component to them. The menu which he recommended would consist of meat, preferably young sheep or goat, unadulterated wheat, a sweet dish which agrees with the person's temperament, and a pure fragrant drink. If other food types are to be preferred, the choice should be conditioned by needs of health or the curing of disease. 12

In concluding our observations concerning some Muslim theories of restraint in the Middle Ages, it is interesting to note that authors like al-Ghazali were as aware of the physiological as the spiritual benefits of what they recommended to their audiences. With this in mind let us now focus on the full text of al-Ghazah''s Curbing the Two Appetites.¹³

Madelain M. Farah

Portland, Oregon

December, 1987

Caesar E. Farah

Minneapolis, Minnesota

January, 1991

11. Cited in translation from the selection, "La Docle Vita," in Arberry, Aspects of Islamic Civilization, 161. 12. Shah, General Principles of Avicenna's Cannons, 182-84.

13. Pages 79-107 in the 'Iraqi edition of the Ihya. Cairo, n.d.

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I

ON CURBING THE TWO APPETITES PROLOGUE

n the name of God the Compassionate and Most Merciful.

Praise (be to) Him who is alone in His majesty and grandeur; who deserves adulation, sanctification, praise and loftiness; who is just in what He establishes and what He decrees; who is generous with what He bequeaths and, what he fulfills; who takes on the responsibility to safeguard His servant in all his comings and goings; who grants him more than His commitments require that his wishes might be fulfilled; for He is the one who guides him and sets him upon the straight path, and He is the one who ordains when he lives and when he dies. Should he (the servant)' become ill, it is He who cures him. Should he become weak, it is He who strengthens him. He is the one who guides him to obedience and contentment. He is the one who causes him to eat and drink; preserves him from destruction; protects him, guards him with food and drink against the agents (lit. causes) of destruction and perdition; who causes him to be satisfied with little food and to be tranquil that he might curb the ways of the devil who haunts him. In so doing he curbs the lust of the self (al-nafs), ²which opposes him, and wards off its (the selfs) evil. He worships His lord and fears Him.

l. The masculine form in Arabic is used generically to denote the human species in general.

2. Rerference here is to what Sufis term the lower self, which is considered weak and susceptible to temptation and conducive to perdition.

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ABSTINENCE IN ISLAM

PROLOGUE

It results from His (the Lord) granting him (the servant) that which he desires and delights him; kindles his initiatives and strengthens his motives. He tries him therewith and afflicts him in order to test how He can curb (lit. influence) his covetousness and whims (lit. preference); (and points to him) how he might safeguard His decrees and desist from what He enjoins against in order that he (the servant) might resume his obedience to God and cease his acts of defiance.

May prayer be upon His enlightened servant Muhammad (pbuh), His illuminating messenger, and may such prayer draw him (the Prophet) ever nearer to God and to (good) fortune, raise his station, and lift him to ever loftier heights.

Know ye that the greatest pain afflicting man is the lust of the stomach. It is on account of it that Adam (pbuh)⁵ and Eve were ejected from the abode of tranquility (the garden of Eden) to the abode of humiliation and impoverishment (this world). The fruit of the tree (apple) had been proscribed to them but they allowed their covetousness to overwhelm them, so they ate of it and the evil thereof became clear to them.

In truth, the stomach is the fount of lust and the source of ailment and evil in that its cravings are followed by the craving of the penis for coitus with women.⁶ Food and sex lead to intense desire for ostentation and wealth, to all

3. The underlying Sufi philosophical concept implied herein is that man in his pristine stage of development was obedient to God and faithful to His commands.

4. "Station" in the Sufi context connotes an elevated level of reward from God for acts of striving along the path to Him. 5. These initials wiill be employed henceforth for the formula 'peace be unto him" which is reserved in the Muslim scheme of reverence for

the prophets of God.

6. Feminists may see this as one-sided, stressing man's lusting powers but not women's. Sufis were predominantly males and the manuals prepared to help the novice train and discipline the self were targeting largely the male audience.

32

kinds of envy and greed (lit., rivalries and envies). Both give rise to the evil of deception, boastfulness, excessiveness, and ostentation (or, in modern terms, elitism). This in turn leads to hatred, envy, jealousy, enmity, and hostility, which (in turn) induces one to commit (what is) outrageous, objectionable, and adultery. Such are the fruits of yielding to the stomach and its strong demands for food and satiation.

If the servant (of God) were to humble himself through hunger and deprive the devil (power to) work (within himself), the self would meekly yield to the obedience of God, may He be praised and glorified, and would refrain from pursuing the path of arrogance and oppressiveness. It would not cause him to become preoccupied with the world and to prefer that which soon passes away (the transient world) over the (day of) Accounting (Judgment and the Hereafter and its rewards). Nor would he persist in pursuing (offerings of) the world. And should the evil of the stomach's lust intensify (much), then it becomes necessary to view its disasters and evils as (constituting) a warning (to him).

It is incumbent (upon us) to explain the way to combat it (lust) and point out the virtue thereof as an incentive in itself. The same applies to the. lust of the penis, in that it follows a similar course. We shall make this clear, with the help of the Lord, in those chapters treating this subject, showing hunger to be a virtue, also how to exercise in order to curb the appetite of the stomach by reducing and delaying food intake. We shall also point out preferences (lit., differences) decreed by hunger, and the virtue thereof, in terms of differing conditions in people, as well as those exercises that are necessary for abandoning lust. Next we shall relate sayings concerning the lust of the penis and why the one who seeks the path (the novice or murui) should set aside marriage and what is required by such an abandonment. Lastly, (we shall recount) the virtue of the one who combats the lust (induced by) stomach, penis (sic) and sight.

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CHAPTER I

I

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ON THE VIRTUE OF HUNGER AND
REJECTION OF SATIATION

he Prophet (pbuh) said: combat the self with hunger
and thirst, for the reward thereof is like the reward of
the one who strives (mujahid) for the sake of God.' There
is no commitment dearer to God than that of hunger and
thirst. Ibn al-'Abbas² quoted the Prophet saying, "no one
who has filled his stomach will enter the kingdom of
heaven."³ When he (the Prophet) was asked: "who among
mortals is the more virtuous?" he replied: "he who eats and
laughs less and is content with that which conceals his
nakedness.' He also said that the best way to achieve
hunger and subjugation of the self is to wear wool.⁵ Abu
Said al-Khudriy⁵quoted the Prophet (pbuh) as having said:

I . No known source for this hadith, Ghazali, III: 80, n. 1.

2. 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, Prophet's first cousin, a major transmitter of hadith, was thirteen when the Prophet died. Muhammad (pbuh) asked God to bless him and guide him and make of him an exemplar in teaching the basics of the Islamic faith. Died in 68/687. Abu 'Abdullah Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi, Kitab Tadhkirat al-Huff a^-z (Hyderabad: Osmania Press, 1375/1955), I: 40-41. 3. No known source for this hadith, Ghazali, III, 80, n. 2. 4. No known source for this hadith. Details, see Ghazali, III: 80, n.3. 5. Symbol of the mystic and the name "Sufi" by which he became known is the term applied to the Muslim mystic; hence "to wear wool" is a euphemism for being a mystic. 6. Abu Said al-Khurdriy is Sad ibn Sinn al Ansari al-Khazraji al-Madani, a leading slim among companions of the Prophet, a highly regarded conveyer of hadith, and a mufti for a while. His father was martyred at the battle of Uhud (626 A.C.) He has forty-three hadths in the two Sahihs, fifty-two in Muslim's compendium, sixteen in Bukhari's. He died at the age of 68. Dhahabi, Tadhkirat, I: 44. In Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani, Hilyat al-Awliya'(Cairo,1932), I , no. 75: 369-71, he is referred to as Sa'd ibn Malik Abu Sa'd.

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VIRTUE OF HUNGER

"to be fair to the stomach, (one must) dress, eat, and drink for it is a quality of prophethood."⁷ Al-Hasan⁸ also quoted the Prophet (his own grandfather) as saying: "he who has hungerd the longest and reflected upon God, may He be

glorified, enjoys the highest status with God on the Day of Resurrection. He, may He be glorified, detests most on the Day of Judgement the one who eats, drinks, and sleeps,

much "9

There is a saying that the Pro het (pbuh) used to hunger without need, that is by choice. ^p10He (pbuh) also said that God Almighty has proclaimed that "he who drinks and

eats less in this world is a rival of the angels."¹¹ God Almighty has declared: "behold my servant: I have

tempted (lit., afflicted) him with food and drink in the world. He was patient and abandoned both. Bear wit

ness, 0 my angels, for every meal he forsakes I shall compensate him many times more (for it) in paradise."¹²

He (Muhammad, pbuh) has stated: "do not deaden your hearts with abundant food and drink, for the heart is like

a plant, it will die if overwatered."¹³ He also said: "when man fills a vessel with evil from his stomach he believes

that little morsels (of food) will strengthen his body. If so,

then let a third (thereof) go to (satisfy his need for) food, a third for his drink, and a third for his self."¹⁴

A saying attributed to Usama ibn Zayd¹⁵, and a longer

7. No comment on the source for this hadith. Ghazali, III: 80, n. 5.

8. Grandson of the Prophet, eldest son of 'Ali and Fatimah, selected by his father's followers to be caliph but was killed in 680 A.C. without showing any strong interest in the office.

9. No known source for this hadith. Ghazali, III, 80: n. 2.

10. Hadith attributed to 'A'ishah (wife of the Prophet) and transmitted by

al-Bayhaqi in his Shu'ub. Ghazali, 111, 80: n. 1.

11. Attributed to Ibn Masud but with a weak chain of verification. Ibn 'Adiy in his al-Kdmil. Ghazali, 111, 231: n. 9. 12. A hadith qudsiy, attributed to God but not in the Koran. 13. No known source for this hadith. Ghazali,111, 81: n.4. 14. Cited form al-Tirmighi's Hadith al-Migdam in Ghazali, III: 81, n.5. 15. Ibn Harithah ibn Sharahil ibn 'Abd al-'Uzziy, d.,54/674, a companion

of the Prophet, adopted Islam at age 18, and is cited by both Abu Hurayah and Ibn 'Abbas. Ahmad ibn Ibn Hajar al-'Asglani, Kita^-b Tahdhib

one to Abu Hurayrah,¹⁶ both stress the virtue of hunger and state that those nearest to God, may He be glorified, on the Day of Resurrection are the ones who hunger and thirst the longest. His (God's) grief on earth is for the barefooted pious (ones), who if they should bear testimony (to God) would not be recognized and if they should disappear would not be missed. They are scattered on earth and the angels of heaven hover over them. Men enjoy the comforts of the world while they obey God. Men bed down in ease while they (lie down) on their bellies (lit. "fronts") and knees. Men caused the work and manners of the prophets to be lost, while they preserved them. The earth would weep should they disappear and the mighty would vent their anger on every place wherein one of them is not to be found. They pursued not (offerings of) the world as persistently as dogs pursue carcases. They ate fodder and wore tattered rags. Their hair was dusty and matted. People looked at them and thought that they were ill, but they were not ill. It might be said that they are confused and their minds lost, but their minds are not lost. They obeyed with their hearts the decrees of God who placed them apart (lit., separated them) from the world. To the people of this world they walk mindlessly, but they became wise when the wisdom of men disappeared. They have honor in the Hereafter. 0 Usamah,¹⁷ should you encounter them in a town, know ye that they are a trust for the inhabitants of that town. God will not cause a people among whom they dwell to suffer. The earth rejoices in them and the mighty are pleased with them. Take them

al-Tahdhib (Hyderabad: Osmania, 1325-27/1907-10),1, 208; also his a]-Isa^-bah fi Tamyiz al-Sahbah, (Cairo: Khanji,1354/1935), I, 89: 45. 16. Abu Hurayrah (lit., father of kittens) al-Dawsi al-Yamani, a

companion of the Prophet, known in Jahiliyah (pre-Islamic) days as 'Abd Shams, acquired his appelation because as a shepherd he found a litter and adopted it. He bcame known as "al-hafiz" or retainer, i.e., of traditions. He is alleged to have transmitted some 5,374 hadths. He died ca. 58/690. Dhahabi, Tadhkirat, I, no. 16: 32-37 and Muhammad Ibn Sad, al-Tabagat al-Kubra, IV, no. 2:55, also Isbahani, I, no. 850: 376-99.

17. Reference is to Usamah ibn Zayd.

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ABSTINANCE IN ISLAM

brethren unto yourself that ye may be saved through them. And should death overtake thee on an empty stomach, (or) a thirsty liver, accept it; for you will attain thereby the honor of the dweller (in Paradise) and you will be among the prophets. The angels will rejoice at the arrival of your soul and the mighty will pray for thee.

Al-Hasan quoted Abu Hurayrah saying that the Prophet (pbuh) declared: "wear wool, roll up your sleeves, and be fair to the stomach and you will enter the kingdom of heaven."¹⁸ And Jesus (pbuh) has declared: "0 disciples, starve your livers and bare your bodies so that your hearts will see God, may He be glorified."¹⁹ Our Prophet (Muhammad) has declared the same, as has Tawus.

They say it is written in the Torah that God detests a fat rabbi because fleshiness is a sign of neglect and much eating. This is objectionable, especially for a rabbi, and because of it ibn Masud, ²¹may God be pleased with him, declared: "God despises the reciter (of the Koran in public) who has grown fat from eating much." In a tradition of limited authenticity,²² it is alleged that the devil flows through man like blood; thus man must narrow the

18. Cited by Abu Mansur al-Daylami in his Musnad al-Firdaws, but with weak isnad (chain of transmission). Ghazali, III: 81, n. 7. 19. No source for this saying is listed.

20.'1 awus ibn Kisan: first amongyemenis to believe, which induced the Prophet to say: faith is from Yemen. Isbahani, W, no. 249: 4-23; Ibn Sa'd, Tabagat, V: 537-43.

21. Ibn Masud al-Imam al-Rabbani, Abu 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abdallah ibn Umm 'Abd al-Hadhali, companion of the Prophet (pbuh) and his servant, one of the earliest supporters who saw action at the battle of

Badr in 624, highly respected as a jurisconsult and transmitter of tradition by the Prophet's early successors. He is regarded as one of the fourteen companions closest to the Prophet and a highly regarded

ascetic. He died in Medina in 19/651. Dhahabi, Tadhkirat, I:13-17. Ibn Hajar, Isabah, I, no 21: 124-39. Ibn Sa'd, Tabagat, 111: 150-61. 22. When compiled, the process of authenication reduced some six

hundred thousand hadith to some six thousand; those not deemed

VIRTUE OF HUNGER

passage ways (of the devil) through hunger and thirst ²³1n another tradition (it is stated that) to eat when one is satiated leads to leprosy. 24

The Prophet (pbuh) declared: "the faithful (one) eats with one gut, the infidel with seven,"²⁵ that is, he eats seven times as much because his gluttonous appetite absorbs food as does the gut (only seven times more). This does not mean that the gut of the hypocrite is greater than that of the faithful. Quoting ''ishah,²⁶ may God be pleased with her, al-Hasan relates: "I heard the Prophet (pbuh) say, 'continue knocking on the door of Paradise, it will be opened for you;' I asked, 'how do we continue knocking on the door of Paradise?' and he replied, 'with hunger and thirst' "27

It is related that Abu Juhayfah²⁸ vomited in an assembly of the Prophet (pbuh) who told him: lessen your vomiting (by eating less) for those who hunger the longest on the Day of Judgement are the ones who are most satiated in this world." 'A'ishah, may God be pleased with her, used to say that the Prophet (pbuh) would never eat to

altogether fabricated were compiled in categories with headings such as "weak" or of "dubious authenticity" not treated as cannonical yet useful for illustrative purposes and reinforcing a moral. 23. Attributed to 'Ali ibn al-Husayan, great grandson of the Prophet and cited by Ibn abi 7-Dunya in his Makayid al-Shaytan. GhazMMi, III, 82: n. 1.

24. No known source for this hadith. Ghazali, III, 82: n. 2.

25. Both Abu Hurayrah and 'Umar (the second caliph of Islam, 634-44) concur. Ghazali, III: 82, n. 3.

26. Young wife of the Prophet who too is alleged to have transmitted hadi7h (2,210) in excess of what might be verified but challenged, when at all, with much hesitation because of her sanctified position in the eyes of the faithful. For more on her, see Ibn Hajar, 11, 133: 39-43. 27. Both Abu Hurayrah and 'Umar concur. GhazAli, 111: 82, n. 4.

28. Wrongly placed in Sarra~'s al-Luma' (pp.119,138). He is an early companion of the Prophet but not often quoted as transmitter of hadith. 29. Cited by Abu Bakr Ahmad al-Bayhaqi, Shuub al-Imam wa Hadith A'ishah (Istanbul, n.d.).1irmidhi has the original. Ibn Rajah cites the same but makes no reference to Abu Juhayfab. Ghazali, III: 82, n. 5.

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satiation and "I often wept out of pity for him because of the way he used to hunger. I would rub his stomach with my hand and say, 'I will offer myself as a sacrifice if only you would chew enough (food) to give you strength and prevent you from being hungry'. His reply to that was: 0 'A'ishah, my brethren, the strong-willed messengers (of God) endured greater hardship (than hunger); they persevered and came into the presence of their Lord, who welcomed them and rewarded their righteousness. Were I to be comfortable in my life, I would be ashamed lest tomorrow I be less than they. To be patient a few days is dearer to me than to lose my fortune tomorrow in the Hereafter. Furthermore, there is nothing more preferable to me than to follow my companions and brethren. It was less than a week later," added 'A'ishah, "that the Lord called him unto Himself."³⁰

Anas³¹ said that Fatimah³² brought a morsel of bread to the Prophet (pbuh) who asked: "what is this morsel?" to

which she replied: "a small loaf which I baked and which it would not have pleased me not to bring you a piece (of

it)." His reply (to Fatimah): "this is the first bit of food to enter your father's mouth in three days."³³ Abu Hurayrah

related that the Prophet (pbuh) took care of the food needs of his family for three days before departing this world.³⁴

30. Cited in detail by Abu Musa al-Madyani in his Istihla' al-Mawt.

Ghazali, III: 82, n. 6.

31. Ibn Malik ibn al-Nadr ibn Damdam, al-Imam abu Hamzah al-Ansari al-Najj ri of Medina, servant of the Prophet (pbuh) from the time he emigrated (to Medina) until his death. he is highly regarded companion and transmitter of some 2,286 hadths. He died in 90 or

92/708-711. Dhahabi, Tadhkirat, I: 44-45. Ibn Hajar, Isffbah, VI, no. 386: 316.

32. Daughter of the Prophet (pbuh) by Khadijah, wife of 'Ali, son of Abu Talib, and loyal supporter from the beginning of Muhammad's mission, father of his grandsons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn through whose line

the Imamate of Shi`ah Islam evolves. Isbahiini, II, no. 133: 39-43.

33. Cited by al-Harith ibn Abi Usamah (in his Musnad) but with weak

isnad. Ghazali, III: 82, N. 7.

34. Cited by Muslim. Ghazali, III: 82, n. 8.

He (Muhammad, pbuh) has declared: "Those who hunger in this world are the ones to be filled in the Hereafter. Verily, the most detested by God are the satiated gluttonous ones. The servant who avoids a meal which he craves will earn a (higher) level in paradise."³⁵

As concerns effects,'Umar,³⁶ may God be pleased with him, said: "avoid gluttony, for it is a burden in life and rot in death." Shaqiq al-Balkhi³⁷ maintained that "worship is a craft; its form is solitude and its tools are hunger." Lugman the Wise³⁸ told his son: "my son, when the stomach is filled, thinking falls asleep, wisdom is silenced, and the organs cease to perform acts of worship." AlFudayl ibn 'Iyad³⁹ used to say to himself: "what do you fear? Are you afraid of being hungry? Do not fear it! You are less of a burden to God than it (is for you)." Muhammad (pbuh), also his companions, would go hungry as if it was being whispered to his Lord: "you caused me to go hungry but not naked; in the darkness of night you sat me

35. Cited by al-Tabarani in al-Mu jam al Awsat on the authority of Ibn `Abbas but with weak Isnad. Ghazali, III: 82, n. 9. 36. Companion of the Prophet, a wealthy Qurayshite who gave up all his possessions and was seen sitting on the ground mending his own garment while his armies reduced the two mighty empires of the day, the Persian Sasanian and the Byzantine, gaining for the nascent Islamic state the Syrian and Persian regions and North Africa from Egypt to present-day lower Tunisia. He gave the Islamic Empire its first constitution and was noted for his transformation from an arrogant domineering erstwhile pagan Qurayshite into a Muslim of great humility and piety.

37. Died 194/810, a pupil of Ibrahim b. Adham, founder of the Khorasanian school of mysticism, first to set forth the principle of tawakkul or reliance on God as an integral state of Sufism. See Louis Massignon, Essai sur les origenes de lexique technique de la mystique Musulmane (Paris: J. Vrin, 1954), p. 228. For a brief biography, see Isbahani, VIII, no. 395: 58-73.

38. Hitti refers to him as the Aesop of the Arabs because of his renowned moral philosophy popularized in the fables named after him. History of the Arabs, 401.

39. A leading ascetic of the Iraqi school of mysticism; Khorasanian by birth; a strong opponent of the life of confort and ease; lived in Kufah but died in Mecca 187/803. Isbahani, VIII, no. 369:84-139.

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I

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down without a lantern; by what means did you teach what I learned from thee?"

Fath al-Musili⁴⁰ would say when overtaken by illness and hunger, "my Lord, you have afflicted me with illness and hunger, thus do you treat your saints; by what deed may I thank you for that which you have bequeathed unto me?" Malik ibn Dinar^4l related that he had said to Muhammad ibn Wasi` ⁴²"0 Abu `Abdallah, blessed is he who has an ardent desire to satisfy his need and to render him needless of people." He replied: "0 Abu Yahya, blessed is he who goes to bed and wakes up hungry and is content with God." Al-Fudayl ibn lyad used to say: "my Lord, you caused me and my family to go hungry, and you left me in the darkness of night without a lantern; but that is how you treat your saints (lit., loyal followers); by what station (level of devotion) have I earned this (favor) from you?" Yahya ibn Mu adh⁴³ declared: "the hunger of those

40. Abu Nasr Fath ibn Said, a leading shaykh of Musil, a peer of Bishr al-Hafi, died in Baghdad 220/835. `Abdullah Ansari, Tabagat al-Sufiyah, ed. 'Abdul Hai Habibi Kanadahari (Kabul: Historical Society ofAfghanistan, 1962), p.68-69.Isbahani, VIII, no. 415:292-294. Sarraj, xxv. `Abd al-Hayy ibn Ahmad al-Hanbali Ibn al-'Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab fi Akhbar man Dhahab (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Tij ri,1966), I:132. '

41. Born of a slave, converted to a life of piety by Hasan of Basra, he became renowned for stressing the need to supplement acts by sincerety of intention without which, he argued, devotion cannot be complete. `Ali ibn 'Uthman al-Hujwiri, The Kashf al-Mahjub, The OldestPersian Treatise on Sufism, transl. and ed. ReynoldA. Nicholson (London: Luzac & Co.,1967), 89.90; Isbahiini, II, no. 200: 357-89; Farid al-Diin `Attar, Tadhkirat al-Awliya, ed. R. A. Nicholson (London: 1905), p. 26-31; Ibn Hajar, X: 14-15; Sarraj, 43, 322. 42. An associate of the earliest Sufi shaykhs who is said to have originated the notion that God is reflected in all created things, in his words: "I never saw anything without seeing God therein," a forerunner, perhaps of Ibn `Arabi's (d. 1240) notion that God is mirrored in creation. Hujwiri, Kashf, 91-92.

43. Full name: Abu Zakariyah Yahya abu Mu`adh al-R zi, known as an ascetic and preacher, an eminent Sufi praised by all shaykhs, perfectly grounded in the true theory of hope in God. Fear and hope were to him the two pillars of faith. Originally from Ray, he was detained in Balkh

who seek is theft; the hunger of the repentant is tribulation; the hunger of the one who strives is a blessing; the hunger of the patient one is an art (lit., cultivation), and the hunger of the ascetic is wisdom."

It is stated in the Torah: "Fear God; and if you should be satiated (with food) then remember the hungry.^-44 Abu Sulayman ⁴⁵said: "it is dearer for me to give up a portion of my supper than to stay up a whole night." He also said: "hunger is a store with God; He grants of it only to those who love Him."

46 Sahl ibn `Abdallahal-Tustar used to spend more than twenty nights without eating. One dirham⁴⁷ satisfied his food requirements for a whole year. He would glorify hunger and exaggerate it, saying: "there is no deed worthy of the Resurrection like abandoning desire for food and

for some time by its inhabitants. He died in Nishapur in 258/871-72, a destitute. Hujwiri, Khashf,122-23; Abu 'Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Sulami, KitabTabagat al-Sufiyya, ed. Johannes Pedersen (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960), p. 98-104; Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Cara Press, 1975), p. 51-52; Isbah'ani, X, 465: 70-73. There is also Yahya ibn Mu'adh al-wa iz (the preacher) in ibid., no. 463: 51-70.

44. No specific reference is given for this citation.

45. Full name: Abu Sulayman `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Atiyah al-Darani, a leading member of the Basra school of ascetics and one of the earliest theoreticians of formal mysticism in Islam; nicknamed "sweet basil of hearts" (rayhan-i dilha), he was distinguished by his severe austerities and acts of self-mortification; he was also the first to preach the science of 'time' (waqt) as essential for preserving one's state (hal) and allow hope to predominate over fear. He died in 2151830. Schimmel, 31 and 37; Hujwiri, Kashf 112-13; `Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad J'ami, Nafahat al-Uns min Hadarat al-Quds (Teheran: Asadi, 1930), p. 39; Isbahani, IX, nos. 448: 254-80; Sulami, 68-79. 46. Full name: Abu Muhammad Sahl ibn `Abdallah al-Tustari, one of the architects of formal Sufism whose doctrine stressed endeavor, self-mortification (mujahadat), and ascetic training as the means for combatting the "lower soul" or self (na fs). He died in 896. For more on him, see Schimmel, 55-57, and Hujwiri, Kashf,139.40,195-210. 47. Unit of currency circulating in the early Islamic period in the Syrian-Iraqi region and beyond, from the Greek drachme, known to the Persians as diram, a unit of silver coinage which, as late as the 1920s was worth about twenty cents.

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emulating the eating habits of the Prophet (pbuh)." "To seek profit from anything besides hunger," he continued, "wisdom and knowledge were placed in hunger; defiance and ignorance, in satiation; there is no better way for the servant (of God) to oppose whim than to abandon that which is lawful."

It is related in the Traditions that "a third (of one's acts of devotion) is in food; he who exceeds this is surrendering (a portion of) his good deed(s)."⁴⁸ When asked: "what constitutes excess?" he replied: "to exceed the level in eating when refraining is more preferable; and when one hungers for a night, he asks God to make it two (nights); that is when one knows the excess." He maintained that such a preference can be achieved by constraining the stomach and staying up at night observing silence and seclusion." He also said that "at the head of every pious act descending from heaven to earth is hunger while heading every licentious one is a full stomach." Furthermore, "he who allows himself to go hungry will be free of anxiety." He maintained furthermore that hunger, sickness, and affliction are visited upon the servant chosen by God. "Know ye," said he, "this is a time when no one will gain salvation except by deadening the (physical) self through hunger, staying awake at night, and striving." Moreover, "no one passes through this world drinking to fill without committing an act of defiance; and offer thanks to God filled with food."

A wise man was once asked, "how do I curb my self?" to which he replied: "bind it by hunger and thirst; humble it by stifling its vanity and restrain the penis and the self s trifles by placing it under the feet of those who have earned the Hereafter (Paradise). Curb it (the self) by forsaking the apparel of the affluent. Deliver yourself of its evils by always thinking ill of it and by opposing its whims."

48. Ghazali, III: 87, n. 1.

VIRTUE OF HUNGER

`Abd al-Wahiiid ibn Zayd⁴⁹ used to take an oath in the name of God Almighty saying that He never purified anyone except by (causing him/her to) hunger. "Nor did they (the pure) walk upon water except through Him or the earth cater to them except by hunger."

Abu Talib al-Makki⁵⁰ declared: "the stomach is like a mazhar;⁵¹ its tunes (lit., voice) are sweet because it is light and delicate, and because it is hallow, not filled; and because it is empty (hallow), it is sweeter for recitation, more conducive to wakefulness, and requires less sleep."

According to Abu Bakr ibn `Abdallah al-Mazini,⁵² God loves three (types of people): he who sleeps less, eats less, and rests less. It is said that Jesus (pbuh) spent sixty days contemplating the Lord without food. It was when bread came to his mind that his contemplation ceased. A loaf was placed between his hands, but he sat up weeping over the loss of contemplation (instead of eating it). An old man suddenly cast his shadow upon him and Jesus said to him: "God bless you 0 friend of God; please entreat Him on my behalf. I was in state of contemplation when bread came to my mind and I lost it (the state)." The old man cried out: "0 Lord, if you knew that bread crossed my mind since I knew you, then forgive me not, for whenever anything came to mind, I ate without thinking or deliberating."

49. A leading example of the virtue of wara' (Abstinence) and of permanent sadness. It is he who helped spread the ideals of his master, Hasan of Basra, by establishing a colony of ascetics in Abadan, on the Persian Gilf. He died in 794. Schimmel, 31; Isbahani, VI, no. 358:

177-82.

50. Died 386/996, grounded in both theology and mysticism, endeavored to prove the legitimacy of the latter in his well-known Qut al-Qulffb (Nourishment for Hearts), considered by authorities a very successful attempt to argue for the orthodoxy of Sufism and construct an overall design for it. Arberry, Mystics, 68.

51. An instrument resembling the lute in construction: hollow bellied with strings.

52. Also Bakr ibn `Abdallah, close associate of Caliph Abu Bakr (632-34), a pious ascetic presumably of the tribe of Mazinah, whence his name, and one of the Prophet's most righteous companions. Sarraj, 123, 322; Isbahani, II, no. 181: 224-32; Ibn Sad, Tabaqat, VII: 31; and Nisaburi, Mustadrak, III, 578.

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It is said that when God Almighty decided to manifest Himself to Moses (pbuh), he (Moses) had already gone without food for forty days - thirty plus ten according to the Koran;⁵³ another ten were added when he was unable to hold back sleep one day.

53. Thus in the text but not found under such wording in the Koran

THE BENEFITS OF HUNGER AND ILLS
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he Prophet (pbuh) said: "combat the self with hunger and thirst, for there is reward in that." One might perhaps ask: "wherefrom is this great virtue of hunger? What is the reason for it when there is but pain for the stomach and harmful suffering? And if it is to be so, then man should be granted greater rewards for allowing the self to suffer such harm in denying the flesh what it craves and forcing it to accept the objectionable and the like." Know ye that this (question) resembles the saying of the one who drinks medicine and benefits therefrom thinking that this benefit is due to the repugnance of medicine and its bitterness. So he proceeds to taste all that he hates. This is wrong. Benefit derives from the peculiar quality of medecine, not from its being bitter. Doctors attest this particular quality. Likewise, nobody speaks ill of the benefits of hunger but the brokers of the ulema.¹ Whoever suffers himself to endure hunger as an act of faith in keeping with the Shar'i`ah's commendation thereof, he will benefit therefrom, even if he does not understand the effect of the benefit, in the same manner as he who drinks medecine benefits therefrom, even if he does not know the nature of the benefit. This can be explained for those who seekto rise above iman (faith) to that of `ilm (cognition,

I. The class of learned men in Islam who are experts in its basic teachings and laws and counsel the less knowledgeable and officials on how to maintain conduct. They are held to be familiar with decrees and official acts within the parameters of the Koran and the Shari ah. The mystics held them at first in lower esteem, claiming that they,

themselves, had not only assimilated what `ilm has to impart to them but had ascended to realms which only those, like themselves, who attained gnosis could experience God's knowledge and presence in their

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formal theological knowledge). God Almighty said that "I will raise those who have believed among you and acquired `ilm to higher levels."²

The Benefits of Hunger

We say, then, that hunger has ten benefits, the first being purification of the heart and awakening of intuition, as well as giving vent to perception. Satiation causes dullness and blinds the heart. It increases fuziness in the brain, in the same manner as does drunkenness, until it overpowers the elements of thought, burdens the heart, and slows down both the thinking process and quickness of perception. The lad who indulges food is unable to memorize (the Koran); his thinking is distorted, his understanding and perception slowed.

Abu Sulayman ^al-Darani3said: "indulge hunger because

it humbles the self, renders the heart tender, and allows one to inherit (lit. acquire) heavenly knowledge." The Prophet (pbuh) said: "enliven your hearts with less laughter and less satiation; (for it is by means of) hunger that they (hearts) are purified and softened." It is alleged that hunger is like unto thunder, contentment like unto the cloud, and wisdom like unto rain. He (pbuh) also said: "he who renders his stomach hungry, increases his thinking and sharpens the awareness of his heart.' Ibn `Abbas⁶ alleges that the Prophet (pbuh) declared: "he who sleeps on a full stomach, his heart hardens."⁷ He added further that "everything has its nourishment, and the nourish

2. Part of a longer verse, Koran, 58: 11.

3. Supra, p. 43, n. 45.

4. There is no known source for this hadith. 5. There is no known source for this hadith.

6. `Abdallah ibn al-, nephew of the Prophet, a highly regarded transmitter of hadith. Isbahani, I, no. 45: 314-29. Immediate ancestor of the long line of `Abbasid caliphs (750-1258) and the one whom the Prophet allegedly annointed to be educator of Muslims in Islam's true ways. Dhahabi, I, no. 18:40-41.

7. Hadith attributed by Ibn Majah to Abu Hurayrah but with weak isnaad. Ghazali, III: 84, n.3.

BENEFITS OF HUNGER

ment of the body is hunger."⁸Shibli said: "I hungered not a day (for the sake of God) without experiencing in my heart, like nothing before, a door opened by wisdom and example.'

It is no secret that what one seeks in acts of worship is the contemplation that leads to ma`rifah ¹⁰and pondering the truths of God. Satiation detracts therefrom while hunger opens its door (there to). Ma`rifah is one of the gateways of Paradise. It is on account of this that Luqman¹¹ told his son: "my son, if the stomach is filled, thinking falls asleep and wisdom is muted, and faculties cease their acts of worship."

Abu Yazid al-Bistami said: "hunger is (like) a cloud: if the servant is hungry, wisdom rains down upon (his)

8 Ibid.

9. Full name: Abu Bakr ibn Jahdar al-Shibli, d. 945; one of the great and celebrated Sufi shaykhs who led a blameless spiritual life and enjoyed perfect communion with God. He excelled at the use of symbolism in its subtlest forms. He was often mistaken for being mad, but this he explained to his detractors as a manifestation of intense love fir God saying, `May He increase my madness in order that I may draw nearer and nearer to Him, and may He increase your sense in order that you may draw farther and farther from Him." To him, it was "a mark of heedlessness to follow one's lusts and to regard unlawful things, and the greatest calamity, that befalls the heedless is that they are ignorant of their own faults." Hujwiri, Kasha; 155-56; Schimmel, 77-80.

10. Epitomizes for the Sufi rewards at the end of the mystical journey after his attaining land' (passing away from the conscious self) to savour bagel' (indwelling), however fleeting this ultimate reward from God might be. This experimental awareness of God through strict personal intuitive devices employed on the journey to God leads to loss of all awareness of the mystic's physical self, whence the term "passing away" from the self and dwelling in God, to whom Sufis also referred as al-Hagq (truth).

11. See p. 41, n. 38.

12. Tayl`ur ibn `Isa, also known as Bayezid, d. 261/874, intemporate in his open use of language whose views bordered on pantheism, this Persian of Bistam is regarded as the first of the "intoxicated" Sufis who miraculously escaped a harsh death visited on some of the less fortunate as a1-Hallaj, executed in 922 in Baghdad (for more on him, see Schimmel, 62-67) after ejaculating openly in a state of mystical transport, "Glory to Me! How great is My Majesty!" Needless to say,

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heart." The Prophet (pbuh) said: "the light of wisdom is hunger and what creates distance between one and God, may He be glorified, is satiation. Nearness to God Almighty is (in) loving the poor and drawing near to them. Do not become filled (with food) lest ye turn off the lights of wisdom in (lit., from) our hearts. He who sleeps with less food, the Houris ^asleep around him until he

awakens."¹⁴

The second benefit is tenderness and purity of heart, which prepare it to attain the delight of contemplation and the impact of dhikr. ¹⁵How often (lit. many) rememberances (dhikr) flow on the tongue with the presence of the heart but there is no delight for the heart nor any satisfaction because it is screened by coarseness. Occasionally the heart might soften under certain circumstances permit dhikr a greater impact there on; indeed, it might even delight in contemplation. A precondition for this experience (lit. inducement) however is an empty stomach.

Abu Sulayman al-Darani declared: "the best form of worship for me is an empty stomach attached to my back." Junayd¹⁶ said that "one (should) leave between the self

Abu Yazid's ecstatic utterances (shathiyi t) greatly embarrassed his "sober" brethern. He was also the first to take the Prophet's mystical ascension (Mi`raj) as a theme for expressing his own mystical experience. A. J. Arberry, Sufism, An Account of the Mystics of Islam (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), p. 54; Isbahani, IX, no. 458: 33-40; Schimmel, 47-51.

13. "Companions with beautiful, big and lustrous eyes," Koran, 44:54. 14. Mentioned by al-Daylami in his Musnad, attributing it to Abu Hurayrah and alleging that it was a verified hadith. Ghazali, III: 85, n. 1.

15. Sufi term for embarking upon the path to God by means of a defined litany peculiar to a particular order. It stems from the Koranic injunction to "mention the name of God often." 16. Abu 'l-Qasim Muhammad al- (d. 298/910), a leading theologian and mystic of Baghdad, pupil of al-Harth ibn Asad al-Muhasibi (d. 857) and developer of the doctrine on Fana; ultimate quest of the Sufi laboring on the path to experimental unification with the Godhead. He postulated the classical definition of tawhid (proclaiming the unicity of God) which became standard as "the separation of the Eternal (God) from that which was created in time (man)." Abu '1-Qasim Abd al-Karim al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah al-Qushayriyah, ed. `Abd al-Halim Mahmud

BENEFITS OF HUNGER

and the chest¹⁷ a space free of food in order to discover the delight of contemplation." Abu Sulayman argued that "if the heart is made to endure hunger and thirst, it would become pure and soft. But should it be filled, the heart becomes blind and harsh. Treating the heart with sweetness and contemplation facilitates thought and gains it ma'rifah." This is the second benefit (sic.)

The third benefit lies in submission, humiliation, the elimination of ungodliness, rejoicefulness, and what is more evil, namely oppressiveness and obliviousness of God Almighty. Nothing will curb the self and humble it more than hunger. For through hunger the self reposes in its Lord and reveres Him, becoming thereby aware of its incapacity and abject nature. If its quest should be weakened and its urges circumscribed by means of a morsel of food, the world would turn away from the lower self and cast its darkness upon it (in reward) for not having food or drink for one day. If man does not recognize the abject nature of his self and its limitations, he cannot see the glory of the Lord, nor His power. His happiness lies in always reflecting upon the self with the eye of humility and incapacity, and upon his Lord with the eye of glory and capacity. So let him go hungry at all times and depend on his Lord, a witness for Him by choice. It is for such reason that when the world and its treasures were offered to the Prophet (pbuh) he said: "No, I would rather hunger a day and be filled a day; for if I were to hunger, I would become patient and humble. Were I to be filled, I would be grateful."¹⁸ As he put it, "the stomach and the genitals are gateways to Hellfire." The cause lies in satiation. Humility and submission constitute one of the gateways of Paradise. Both originate in hunger. He who closes one of the doors of the Fire (Hell) opens one of the doors of

and Mahmiud ibn al-Sharif (Cairo: Sa adah, n.d.), pp. 3 and 136; Hujwiri, Kash f, 281: Schimmel, 57-59 17. For technical definitions of what the Sufis understand by self, heart,

soul, see Nicolas Heer, "A Sufi Psychological Treatise," Moslem World, 51 (1961).

18. Hadith cited by'9irmidhi. Ghazali, III: 85, n.2.

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Paradise by necessity, because they are as opposite as east and west; for nearness to one (is) distance from the other.

The fourth benefit lies in not forgetting the affliction of God and His torment, nor for those afflicted to forget; for, he who is satiated is oblivious of the one who hungers, and of hunger itself. The mindful servant does not see the affliction in others without remembering the affliction of the Hereafter. He becomes mindful through his own thirsting - the thirsting of created beings in the halls of Resurrection - and own hungering - the hungering of those destined to the fire (Hell). Indeed they will hunger, and (they) will be fed humiliation (lit., the big udders) and deadly food. They will be given purulent substances to drink and the puss of corpses.¹⁹

It is fitting for the servant to be mindful of the torments of the Hereafter and its pains, for it is indeed what excites fear. He who has not suffered depravity, or affliction, or wantonness, or ailment, forgets the torment of the Hereafter and sets no example through himself, nor exercises control over his (own) heart.

It also behooves the servant to endure pain and to experience affliction. The foremost affliction he can endure is hunger. In it are many benefits besides his being aware of the torments of the Hereafter. This is one reason why affliction became the mark of prophets and saints (which is) the greatest example they could set. Joseph (pbuh) was told: "You shall not hunger while in your hands are the treasures of the earth," to which he replied: "I fear in being filled that I would forget the hungry."²⁰ Remembering the hungry and needy is one of the benefits of hunger, for it invokes mercy and (is conducive to) feeding (those in need) and showing pity for God's created beings, because he who is filled is oblivious to the pain of the hungry.

19. Such a vivid description of the wages of sin reflect Koranic dicta for the damned.

20. The story of Joseph, Koran 12, reveals no such immediate utterances on his part. One can assume it is by interpolation the author reached this conclusion.

The fifth benefit, and one of the greatest of all, is in curbing the lusts of all defiances. To take charge of the self is to overcome evil. The source of all defiances is lust and power, and the ingredients thereof. Without doubt, lust is (a form of) nourishment; curbing it weakens every desire and urge (lit., potency). Happiness lies in taking charge of one's self, and misery is in it (the self) taking possession of it. The self is like unto a runaway beast of burden, it can be controlled only when weakened by hunger. Should it be fed to fill, it gains strength, becomes uncontrollable and runs away.

Such is also the self. When someone was told, "why is it with age you have shown no concern for your body, which has deteriorated?" to which he replied: "because it is quick to enjoy merriment in excess of most evil. So I fear that it might overwhelm and hurl me into the abyss. It is better that I make it (the self) endure hardship than to let it propel me towards (committing) excesses."

Dhu '1-Nun²¹ said, "I never was satiated without becoming defiant or being preoccupied by it." `A'ishah, may God be pleased with her, said, "the first innovation (bid'ah) after (the passing away of) the messenger (Muhammad, pbuh), was satiation. When the stomach of man is filled, the self propels him into the world" (i.e. twowards worldliness.)

In this there is not just a single, but rather a store of benefits, on account of which hunger was deemed one of the treasures of God. A leading benefit is (to be able) to contain through hunger the lust of both genitals and speech. He who hungers is not affected by the lust of inquisitive talk. He is delivered thereby from the evils of

21. Thawban ibn Ibrahim, known as the Egyptian (d. 246/859-60), credited with having first defined ma' ifah in its current Sufi context, albeit mystics before him had a similar conception. He is also noted for being an itinerant expounder of the principles of formal mysticism in Islam with stress on love, first to use the term, as Rarbi'ah before him, to convey his devotion to God. Arberry, Sufism, 52-54; Schimmel, 42-47; Isbahani, IX, no 456: 331-95.

22. In the sense of turning him away from preoccupation with ways leading to heaven.

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the tongue, such as backbiting, garrulousness, mendacity,

deceiving, and the like. Hunger prevents all this. If, on the other hand, one becomes filled, he would seek desert (lit. fruit), and his desert inevitably leads to his amusing himself with the honor of people. Nothing would hurl such folk into the Fire like the harvest of their tongues. 23

As concerns the lust of the genitals, its evils are not concealed. Hunger is sufficient to avert such evils. A man who is filled cannot control his genitals, even when restrained by piety, because he cannot avert what the eye sees, and the eye sins as much as the genitals do. Should one control the eye by not looking, he might not control his thoughts; bad thoughts would come to him like the murmurings of the self because of the enticements of lust, thus defiling his contemplations, which might occur in the course of (his) praying.

We have cited the evil of the tongue and of the genitals as examples. However, all defiances of the seven members (of the body) are caused by compulsiveness wrought by satiation. A wise man once said: "every murid (novice) who is patient in his conduct abstains from (eating) pure bread for a year and mixes no lust with it. He eats only on half a stomach. God (already) has relieved him of the need for (lit., provision of) women."

The sixth benefit lies in warding off sleep and (in maintaining) continuous wakefulness. He who satisfies his appetite drinks a lot, and he who drinks a lot sleeps a lot. For this reason a certain (Sufi) shaykh said when food was being prepared: "0 disciples, do not eat a lot because you will drink a lot and become content a lot, so you lose a lot." Seventy believers were of the same opinion, namely that excessive sleep is wasteful to life, causes one to miss his night prayers (awrad), leads to a lazy disposition, and hardens the heart.

Life is a most precious tool and the servant's capital, with which he trades. Sleep is (like) death, by increasing it one, decreases life. The virtue of night prayers are not

23. In the sense of speaking ill of and maligning others.

hidden, but in sleep they elapse; and when sleep overtakes night prayers, there can be no rewards. Moreover, he who sleeps on a full stomach is susceptible to night emission, and that also prevents him from performing his night prayers and obliges him to perform full ablution (ghusl) either with cold water, which could harm him, or require a full bath, which mi ht not be possible to have at night, so he misses the witr because he was delayed in performing his night prayers. Moreover, he would need provisions for the bath and perhaps his eye would be attracted to a naked body while entering the (public) bath. So there are many dangers, such as we discussed in Kitab al

Taharah.²⁵

All this is the result of satiation. Abu Sulayman alDarani maintained that being forced to dream (have night emission) is a punishment. He said this because it detracts from many acts of worship on account of one not being able to perform full ablution in every situation.²6 Sleep is thus a fountain of sin and satiation is a magnet for it, while hunger is a cessation thereof.

The seventh benefit lies in facilitating continuous worship. Food prevents many acts of worship because it requires time, thus preoccupying one with eating. Perhaps it would also require time to buy food and to cook it. Then one has to wash his hands and to excrete; this might entail frequenting the bathroom on account of drinking (which accompanies eating). The time spent on all this if spent on dhikr and contemplation would redound with greater benefit to him (the worshipper). Sari (al-Sagati)²⁷ said: "I

24. The witr is a Sufi prayer formula, part of the exercises conducted after the night prayer (fifth and last in a day) and consisting of an odd number of prostrations, and for which the devotee is rewarded

spiritually at the end of the cycle.

25. Known also as Asrar Kitab al-Tahara (Secrets of the Book of Purification), third book of the section dealing with 'Ib&1 t (acts of worship) in Ghazali's I4ya' `Ulum al-Din, I:125.44:

26. Full ablution orghusl is necessitated by sexual intercourse, nightly emissions and, for the woman, the monthly discharge. 27. Eighth century Sufi (d. ca. 867), companion of Ibrahim ibn Adham,

well versed in all sciences, first to articulate those steps that became

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saw a gruel of~arched barley (sawq) in the possession of

`Ali al-Jurjan ⁸who was picking at it. I said to him: what

has made you do this? His reply: Between each picking and

chewing I recited seventy praises (of God), and have not chewed bread for forty years." Behold how he carefully apportioned his time (lit. taken pity upon it) and did not waste it in chewing.

Every soul is a precious jewel of life that has no value (in itself), so one must distill from it a lasting unending store for the Hereafter by devoting himself to the dhikr of God and obedience to Him.

Among endeavors prevented by much eating is (a state of) continuous purity, (obliging one to) frequent the mosque (for prayer) because it (eating) requires exiting (the place of prayer) for drinking much water and quenching (of thirst). Fasting is another (store). Someone accustomed to enduring hunger finds it easy to fast, pray, practice seclusion (lit. resort to i`tikaf), maintain purity, and spend time away from food. Such inducements to worship yield much benefit. But those who are oblivious, that is the ones who do not appreciate the value of faith, and who are content with life in this world and are satisfied with it, would detest these (benefits). "They know only the outer (things) bu't of the end of things, they are heed

less."²⁹

Abu Sulayman al-Darani mentions six sins resulting from satiation: the first, one loses the sweetness of contemplation; the second, one is prevented from retaining wisdom; the third, he is deprived of pity for created beings because when he is full he believes that they too are full; the fourth, worshipping becomes a burden (for him); the fifth, lusts increase; and the sixth, others tarry in

known as stations (magamat) and to explain spiritual states (ahwal) achieved along the path. He stated that the custom of God "is to let the hearts of those who love Him have vision of Him always, in order that the delight thereof may enable them to endure every tribulation." Hujwiri, Kashf, Schimmel, 53-54; Isbahani, X, no. 469:116-27. 28. Presumably `Ali ibn `Abd al-`Aziz (d. 393/1002). 29. Koran, 30: 7.

mosques³⁰ while he moves around garbage piles (looking for more food).

The eighth benefit is in the soundness of body. It is achieved by eating less and warding off sickness caused by excessive food intake and by much mixing in stomach and veins.³¹ Sickness detracts from acts of worship, impairs the (functioning of) t