Fasting is an important time for all Muslims. When we look at not only Islam but all other religions, we encounter fasting in some way. Surely there is an important reason for this. For the main purpose of worship, we can say that it has the function of preserving the human nature and reminding the nature that has been removed. We can say that fasting is a value for all humanity, both with this feature and because it takes place in all religions in some way.
When describing fasting, we always associate it with eating or drinking. This does not lead us to the true equivalent of fasting. We can call this fasting that only certain parts of a person hold. Fasting, which consists of not eating or drinking, is the fasting of our stomach and intestines. But if we want to ensure the integrity of the fast, a person must join the fast with all his limbs. It is important that not only the physical organs of the person, but also the spiritual side of the person contact with fasting.
The word that describes fasting in the shortest way is purification. If taking a break from eating and drinking for a certain period of time helps our body to be purified, being patient with them also helps us to purify ourselves spiritually. Here, the worship of fasting stands exactly in the place that corresponds to the life of both human and humanity as an individual of this purification. Today, we see that the mechanization of worship causes them to lose their meaning and spirit on people. On the other hand, catching the spiritual depth of worship will make them valuable. Therefore, if we want fasting to take place as a value in our lives, we need to evaluate it from this broad perspective.
As we tried to express above, a person's fasting is not just the fasting of his stomach or intestines. It is necessary for the other parts of the person to join them in order to experience the fast as a whole. Particularly, the participation of the heart and tongue in this struggle for purification will make our worship meaningful. While the human heart carries good feelings such as love, compassion, humility and mercy, it also has a feature that includes evil feelings such as grudge, hatred, envy and arrogance. The fasting of the heart is to purify these bad traits. Thus, the voice of the heart free from bad feelings will lead us to goodness and beauty.
When we say fasting of the tongue, we must understand the purification of the word. This is not a case of saying little. It refers to the correct use of the word. We cannot expect a good word to come out of a language that is contaminated with hatred, arrogance, enmity and prejudice. What needs to be done for him is to purify the language from these bad words. In this way, the fasting of the tongue will ensure that the language of love and compassion prevails instead of the language of hatred, the language of mercy instead of the language of hatred, the language of humility instead of the language of arrogance, the language of kindness instead of the language of resentment. This will enable people to understand and treat each other with kindness.
In a world where evil and ugliness grow in circles, we need a good and beautiful heart and a true and gentle word so much. Here, fasting offers us the opportunity to build the good, the beautiful and the truth in the society.