MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, YOGYAKARTA – The gravest challenge for those who fast is not hunger or thirst. Instead, it is the struggle to restrain desire, especially the urge to utter improper words.
That warning came from Fathurrahman Kamal, Chairperson of Muhammadiyah Central Board’s Tabligh Council, during a sermon on February 18 at Masjid Gedhe Kauman. He argued that many people undermine their fast long before dawn arrives.
“Some of our brothers and sisters invalidate the spirit of fasting even before it begins,” he said. “How? By belittling one another, by hurling insults, by trading mockery and contempt.”
A Culture that Absolutizes Reason
Speaking to worshipers in Yogyakarta, Kamal said modern society has fallen into what he described as the deification of reason. In some circles, he added, people treat human intellect as the ultimate source of truth.
As a result, many neglect divine revelation. They measure happiness through material success alone. Consequently, their lives grow unmoored from spiritual purpose.
This reverence for reason, he continued, pushes society toward anthropocentirsm. Humans become the center of everything. Life revolves around physical pleasure and worldly gain.
Therefore, he said, Ramadan fasting calls believers back to their true nature as servants of God. It directs them toward the one true Lord, not toward what he called “imitation gods” shaped by ego and status.
He offered a familiar example from bureaucratic culture. The phrase “as long as the boss is pleased,” he noted, reflects a subtle tradition of idolizing superiors and positions of power.
The True Aim of Fasting
Referring to Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 183, Kamal stressed that fasting does not simbly require abstaining from food and drink. If that were the sole objective, he argued, animals would surpass humans in endurance.
Rather, the key word in the verse is taqwa. According to him, fasting aims to weaken the grip of base desires within the human soul.
He also cited a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH. The Prophet taught that whoever safeguards what lies between his lips will be guaranteed Paradise. Scholars such as Al-Ghazali interpreted this phrase to include both speech and what one consumse.
Thus, the fast demands more than physical restraint. It requires discipline of the tongue as well as the appetite. Only then, Kamal suggested, does fasting fulfill its highest purpose.
Translator: Bintang Adrian
