Author: Dr. Noor Mohammad Mohibi
The Quran: A Miracle Beyond Time—A Study of Its Miraculous Nature (part 108)
The Miraculous Nature of the Noble Qur’an in the Legislation of Fasting (Siyam)
Fasting and the Physiology of Digestion
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The Three Stages of the Body’s Interaction with Food
The human body undergoes three essential stages in its interaction with food:
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Digestion, absorption, and energy utilization.
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Storage of excess energy in the liver, muscles, and fatty tissues.
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Release of stored energy during abstention from food.
The remarkable point is that the third stage becomes active only when one refrains from eating. If a person is continuously eating, this stage is never activated.
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The Role of Hormones During Fasting
After several hours of fasting:
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Blood sugar levels decrease.
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The brain sends signals to the endocrine glands.
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Hormones trigger the release of stored sugar and fat reserves.
As a result, accumulated fats are burned and excess weight is reduced. This process spares the heart from having to support hundreds of kilometers of additional capillaries.
Fasting: Worship, Nearness to Allah, and Health
All of these scientific findings do not overshadow the primary purpose of fasting. Fasting is, before anything else,
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An act of worship.
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A means of drawing near to Allah.
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An expression of human poverty and need before Allah.
Yet, by divine grace, this very act of worship also brings physical and psychological health.
Prophetic Health Guidance Regarding Suhur and Iftar
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Suhur: Blessing in This World and the Hereafter
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “تسحروا، فإن فی السحور بركة” [1]. Translation: “Eat the pre-dawn meal (suhur), for indeed in suhur there is blessing.”
This blessing is both spiritual (Fajr prayer, remembrance of Allah, recitation of the Qur’an) and physical (providing strength to continue the fast).
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Hastening the Iftar and Delaying the Suhur
From the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the following:
Hastening the breaking of the fast (Iftar);
Delaying the pre-dawn meal (Suhur).
Avoiding sleep immediately after suhur, a practice that physicians also recommend.
Fasting the “White Days” and Its Connection to Mental Health
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recommended fasting on the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of each lunar month (known as Ayyam al-Bid, the “White Days”).
Modern studies have indicated that during these days, coinciding with the full moon, levels of tension and incidents tend to increase.
Fasting on these days helps promote psychological calmness and reduces irritability and anxiety, and this represents yet another manifestation of the harmony between Islamic law and human nature and structure.
In conclusion, fasting is not merely abstaining from food and drink; rather, it is a divine system for the reconstruction of the human being. This obligation brings the soul closer to Allah, calms the mind, and protects the body from deterioration and illness.
Such remarkable harmony between worship and health is one of the clearest manifestations of the “miraculous nature of the Noble Qur’an.” A miracle that, with the passage of time, does not diminish but rather reveals new dimensions each day. [2]
To be continued…
References:
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book: “The Blessing of Suhur without It Being Obligatory,” hadith no. 1823, Vol. 2, p. 679.
- Encyclopedia of Scientific Miracles in the Qur’an and Sunnah, Vol. 1, pp. 74–84.
