Interviewer

Welcoming Dr. Nabulsi:

 Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmtoo Allah Wa Barakatoh (Allah’s peace and mercy upon all of you, and shall you be blessed), we congratulate all of you again upon welcoming the Holly month of Ramadan, May Allah make it a month of benediction, bounties, and prosperity.
 I am happy to welcome Dr. Mohammad Rateb Al Nabulsi in our meeting today, who happens to be a lecturer in the faculty of education, Damascus University and a lecturer in the field of Scientific Miracles of the Holy Koran and Prophetic Sunna in the faculties of Islamic Law and Fundamentals of Islamic Religion, not to mention that he is one of the most famous scholars in Damascus and a beacon in Dawah (proselytizing).
 Welcome to all of you, and congratulations again upon receiving the month of Ramadan.
 Dr. Nabulsi, in order to sublime in his/her fasting, a Muslim should embrace certain manners, through which he/she stays away from offending this act of worship. And as we all know, Sawm (fasting) is a connection between the Muslim and Allah, exactly like Salah (prayers), Zakat (Alms) or Hajj(Pilgrimage) And according to your terms, these ritual acts of worship need to be performed while realizing the wisdom behind them. Therefore, How can we come to grips with this wisdom, upon knowing that this act of worship, first and for most, is nothing but a submission to Allah the Almighty?

Dr. Nabulsi:

 In The Name Of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful, praise be to Allah Lord of worlds. Blessings and peace be upon our master, Prophet Muhammad, the Truthful and the Faithful.

Preface on the concept of worship:

 May Allah reward you, Mr. Ziyad. First, Sawm is an act of worship, yet, we should have a break to shed a light on the concept of worship:

1- Apprehension and weakness are Human characteristics:

  Allah the Almighty installed weakness points within mankind for the best of his faith and happiness in the hereafter, one of which is:

((Verily, man (disbeliever) was created very impatient))

[Al-Ma’arij, 19]

 The meaning of Apprehension (impatient) is that man is fearful, weak and niggard. These weaknesses motivate him/her to look for a great God to resort to, to connect with, to rely on, and to put his/her trust in.
 They are the natural motivation for faith. Mankind, through history and eras, created their own gods, elevated them to the divine status, and worshipped them. These heathen mundane creeds are performed through movements, stills and mumbles, and that is called, according to social scientists “rituals”, and they are absolutely meaningless. On the other hand, when man finds the real God, the creator of heavens and earth, the perfect divine entity, the existed out of mandatory, the One with the glorified names and with best attributes, he/she will be connected to Him, will build relationship with Him, will rely on Him, will approach Him, and will put an end for his/her weakness.

((Verily, man (disbeliever) was created very impatient))

[Al-Ma’arij, 19]

(( Verily, man (disbeliever) was created very impatient; Irritable (discontented) when evil touches him; And niggardly when good touches him;))

[Al-Ma’arij, 19-21]

 Hence, these weakness points (fear, weakness, hastiness) are installed in mankind as a motivation to become religious.

2- The necessity of worship:

 When man meditates on the universe and its unlimited greatness, the latter indicates the Greatness of its creator, and it shows how Mighty He is, Ever-Affluent, Merciful, and Wise.
The perfection of creation reflects the perfection of the creator’s actions.
 This Great God (Allah) has sent His messengers and books to His creatures. Therefore, the book which is descended upon the prophet PBUH is Allah’s words, and it informs us of the reality of this universe, this life, and the reality of mankind, not to mention that it orders us to perform acts of worships, with which we are charged, and through which we keep connecting with Allah the Almighty.
 Sawm is one of those acts of worship. We need to know that the acts of worship are of two types, one of which is trasactional acts, such like being honest, trustful, chaste, sincere, and faithful to our promises, whereas the second type is the ritual one, such as Salah, Sawm, Hajj, and Zakat.
 From one Salah to the other, we are charged with energy (daily charging), from Friday to Friday, we are charged with energy (weekly charging), and Sawm in that respect, is our annual charging.
 Man abandons permissible things in Sawm (while fasting), such as food and drink. These things, he is leaving, are permissible originally in Islamic law, therefore it is more reason to leave what is impermissible.
 Worship by definition is a voluntary obedience, mixed with heartly love, based on certainty, leading to eternal happiness.
 Basically, man seeks his safety and happiness, however misery is granted when he goes astray. We should all know that the crisis of the people of hellfire is a crisis of knowledge only.

(( And they will say: "Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!"))

[Al-Mulk, 10]

 This Great Creator sent us instructions, and you can consider the example of having a very complicated, expensive and useful machine, certainly you will need a manual in order to use it and maintain it., and along the same line, man is considered the most complicated machine on earth.
 When man makes an acquaintance with Allah the Almighty, when he/she goes after the reason behind Allah’s existence through all the scriptures that were descended, when he/she realizes the mission he/she was assigned to in this worldly life, when he/she is certain that this mission should be carried out in order to acquire happiness in a paradise as wide as heavens and earth, and when he/she knows for sure that he/she was created to enter paradise, only then he/she will be keen on obeying Allah and fearful of disobeying Him, better yet, his/her life will be centered on giving, Allah says:

((By the night as it envelops; And by the day as it appears in brightness; And by Him Who created male and female; Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse (different in aims and purposes); As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him,))

[Al-Lail, 1-5]

 Pay attention to these accurate words, people of all backgrounds, races, origins, sects, schools of thoughts, and religions are one of two types in the sight of Allah the Almighty:

((As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him,))

[Al-Lail, 1-5]

 The first party believed that they were created for paradise, and accordingly, they feared to disobey Allah, and built their lives on giving (charity), whereas the other party disbelieved in good deeds and in paradise, and they believed in the worldly life instead.

(( They know only the outside appearance of the life of the world (i.e. the matters of their livelihood, like irrigating or sowing or reaping, etc.), and they are heedless of the Hereafter.))

[Ar-Rum, 7]

 When he disbelieved in paradise and believed in worldly life instead, he dispensed with obeying Allah, and he built his life on taking only.

Interviewer

 How can this act of worship (Sawm) be in its ultimate transcendent status and protected from any behavior that might scrape it, though the latter might be permissible Islamicly, yet it might offend this act of worship?

The Sawm (Fasting):

Dr.Nabulsi:

1- Sawm enhances human’s volition:

 When man’s volition is not strong enough to overcome his weakness and obey Allah, Ramadan will be the cure, as it strengthens this volition.
 Food and drink are permissible all year long, yet, Allah prevents them in Ramadan, same goes for having intercourse with one’s wife, and this indicates that Allah prevents him from permissible things, then what about impermissible things in Ramadan? Man should be, in Ramadan, keen on avoiding them, as upon committing those impermissible things, his balance will be disturbed. It is irrational that man stops eating and drinking (which is permissible), yet he lies, he feasts his eyes on women’s beauty, or he behaves in an indecent way. Hence, Allah, through fasting, wants us to have stronger volition, because when man obeys Allah, he will be granted happiness in this worldly life and in the hereafter.
 All people are of two kinds of men, the first one is he, who knew Allah, so he abided by His method, and he was charitable to his fellow man, thereby, he deserves happiness in this worldly life and in the hereafter, whereas the other one disregarded Allah, broke away from his method, thereby, he deserves misery in this worldly life and in the hereafter.
Sawm, Mr. Ziyad, May Allah reward you, strengthens man’s volition towards obeying The All-Merciful (Allah), and this is very crucial matter.

2- Sawm is a quality leap for the Muslim:

 As if Allah meant for us to have a quality leap through praying in the best way, bringing our acts of worship to perfection, waking up for Fajr Salah, remembering Allah little or much, reciting Quran, lowering our gaze for what is forbidden, watching our tongues, watching our ears, watching our earning, being careful in our spending, and disciplining our houses.
 Believe me Mr. Ziyad, whenever someone intends to have a fresh start with Allah and conciliate with Him, this great month grants him a lot as the prophet PBUH said in the following Hadith:

((Whoever fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven.))

[Agreed upon]

 As if this Muslim fellow is invited for a clean start with Allah while welcoming Ramadan.

Interviewer

 We have this same meeting every year around this time, and being able to witness Ramadan is a new opportunity for us always, in order to rejuvenate our vows to Allah the Almighty, and He is in no need for our obedience and worship, but they are for our best interest.

3- Sawm meant to grant happiness to mankind:

Dr. Nabulsi:

(( If you disbelieve, then verily, Allah is not in need of you, He likes not disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased therewith for you.))

[Az-Zumar, 7]

 That is because Allah created us to grant us happiness, and he created us for a paradise as wide as heavens and earth.

 Allah [swt] in hadith Qudsi says:

((Myself, Mankind and Jinn are in a great serious state. I create them, then they worship other gods that they make for themselves; I bless them with my bounties, then they thank someone else for what I sent them; My Mercy descends to them while their evil deeds ascend to Me; I endear them with my gifts even though I have no need for any of them, while they alienate themselves from Me with their sins even though they are desperate for My help. Whoever returns to Me, I accept him no matter how far he is; and whoever turns away from Me, I approach him and call on him. My dear people are those who are with Me (i.e. whoever would like to be with Me, let him supplicate to Me and remember Me). Whoever thanks Me, I grant him more blessings; whoever obeys Me, I raise him and endear him more. Whoever disobeys Me, I keep the doors of My Mercy open for him; if he returns to Me, I bestow him with My Love since I love those who repent and purify themselves for My Sake. If he does not repent, I will be his doctor, as I will treat him by putting him in hardship to cleanse him from his own mischief.))

[Al Hakim Al Baihaki, by Abu Al Darda’a]

 Allah the Almighty invites us in Ramadan to make peace with Him, to repent, to approach Him, and to experience the taste of being close to Him, as this what we should look for in Ramadan instead of eating drinking and enjoying worldly pleasures.

If your eyes saw the beauty of ours they have seen, you would never turn your back on us for other’s sake
If your ears heard our nice speech, you would throw away the arrogance garb and come to us
If you taste an atom like of love, you would excuse him who loved us to death.
If you felt the breeze of our closeness to you, you would die in exauthorment and eagerness for us.
Our love is not easy to get, and whoever claims so
we tell him: you are unfamiliar with us
***

 It is a call from Allah the Almighty.

Conclusion:

Interviewer

 May Allah grant you the best reward, I want to thank you Dr.Nabulsi, and we hope to meet often during this holy month of Ramadan and in this show. I thank you dear audience for your kind attendance, tomorrow we’ll have a new meeting, and I ask Allah to accept your fasting and supplication.