The Changing Conceptions of Rituals in Islamic Thought : Exploring Islamic Constructions of Fasting

The current study aims to examine the nature of ritual fasting (ṣawm) as a religious concept, drawing on Islamic medieval texts in different textual genres and exploring the various registers that Muslim scholars have used to write about fasting. This study attempts to demonstrate various Islamic constructions of ritual fasting within the Islamic tradition. The present study relies primarily, though not exclusively, on the works of the Shāfiʿī jurists al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277), al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), and al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058).

The study offers a brief analysis of the discussion of ritual fasting in foundational texts such as the Quran and Hadith literature, making some useful generalizations. Then, the study moves to discuss the legislative articulation of ritual fasting, demonstrating its orthopractic nature. Finally, the study provides a concise discussion of the inner meanings of ritual fasting in a Sufi text, illustrating that the articulation of ritual fasting in the spiritual/mystical genre moves beyond the notion of orthopraxy. In doing so, the current study points to various conceptualizations of Muslim ritual fasting, arguing for its multifaceted nature. The study offers that the conventional categories in the study of religion, and underlying assumptions of the study of rituals must be reconsidered regarding a nomo-centric religion such as Islam. Moreover, the study suggests that all Muslim devotional acts, whether normative or non-normative, should be studied within the matrix of law-ethics-eschatology. In a broader context, the present study aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of Muslim devotional acts, and to show that there is a greater depth of discourse yet to be explored regarding Islamic rituals.