Eating and Fasting for God in Sufi Tradition

Valerie J. Hoffman

Journal of the American Academy of Religion LXIII/3 (1995) 

 Below passages are selected and paraphrased from Hoffman’s article based on my focus of interest.

The Qur'an says all the food of the Jews and Christians is lawful to the Muslims, as is the food of the Muslims lawful to them (5:5). Gratitude (shukr) to God for His provision is one of the main characteristics of the faithful, while unbelievers are characterized, in the typical Qur'anic literary style of assonance and antithetic parallelism, by ingratitude (kufr).

Feeding a poor person is so meritorious that it can be an expiation for failure to observe the fast of Ramadan or for breaking the taboo on hunting during the pilgrimage (2:184, 5:95).

The Qur'anic preoccupation with food and feeding goes beyond discussions of human sustenance and charity. Images of food and drink appear prominently in descriptions of the Garden of Paradise and of Hellfire. The believers who are rewarded in the Garden eat abundant fruit and are served non-intoxicating drinks (43:73). They drink from rivers of water, rivers of milk that does not go sour, non-intoxicating delicious wine, and clarified honey (47:15). On the other hand, those who conceal God's revealed truth or treat it lightly, trying to derive some financial gain from it, "eat nothing but fire into their bellies" (2:174). The wrongdoers in Hellfire have only filth (69:36) and thorns (88:6) and food that chokes (73:13). They fill their bellies from the tree of Zaqqum, which grows in the bottom of hell and produces fruit like the heads of demons (37:6266). They drink boiling water, which tears apart their bowels.

The overall attitude of Hadïth is that the Muslims should be neither too worldly nor too other-worldly: they should take from both this world and the next. For instance, Ibn al-'Arabi cautions disciples against both satiation and excessive hunger. "Keep your constitution in balance, for if dryness is excessive, it leads to corrupt imaginings and long, delirious ravings" (31). Balance and moderation are key words in this attitude.

Attitudes Toward Food in Sufi Tradition

Sufism began as a pious reaction against the growing worldliness of Muslims in the second half of the seventh century C.E., accompanied by an avoidance of government officials and rich people. It developed into a full-fledged mysticism in the late eighth and early ninth centuries, but the asceticism of the early Sufis remained an integral part of Sufi life.

Fasting: The spiritual benefits of fasting are abundant. One is the humbling effect of hunger. Another benefit is that it produces patience. The other aspect among early Sufis was the cultivation of an attitude of absolute dependence on God to provide for all one's needs, avoiding asking for provision from others or working for a living or worrying about where one's food would come from. Fasting is "a fortress and a paradise" for the "friends of God," who has granted them the method to repel the guile and trickery of Satan as in the lost Paradise (1:303-4).

There are some extreme examples of fasting as demonstrated in al-Maghribï’s words among Sufis: The one devoted to the Lord eats only every forty days, and the one devoted to the Eternal eats only every eighty days." Another Sufi commented, "If the Sufi says after five days (of fasting), Ί am hungry,' then send him to the marketplace to earn something" (Qushayrï 1990: 81-2)— implying that he is unworthy to live the Sufi life.

It is not just the quantity of food, but the type of food that affects spiritual well-being. One of the expected charismata of the saint, or friend of God, was the ability to tame wild animals and be on friendly terms with them. Valerie J. Hoffman cites two anecdotes/advice on avoiding animal-fat which were attributed to Rabia and Ibni Arabi.

Sufism and Food in Modern Egypt

Sufis who dress in colorful rags and live off the charity of others without regular employment may still be seen at the celebrations of saints' days (mevlids), but their lifestyle is not highly regarded even in most Sufi circles. They epitomize the "dervishism" that many Sufis feel has given Sufism a bad name with today's educated middle class. Many Sufi shaykhs, however, neither live off the charity of others nor work for a living.

Hospitality’s Link to Food: Sufis today in Egypt appear to delight in the assurance of their relationship with God, and enjoy this relationship while functioning normally in the world. Hoffman argues that rather than embracing hunger, Egyptian Sufis make the serving of food central to their devotional life. Hospitality has long been a prominent aspect of Sufism since the founding of Sufi retreat centers—as early as the eleventh century—that regularly welcomed traveling Sufis. Today, this custom continues in Egypt where Sufi shaykhs or other individuals establish centers for Sufi devotion, spiritual retreats, and hospitality, called sähas.

In contemporary Egypt, Sufi hospitality and devotion often revolve around the attendance of moulids—saint's day celebrations. Moulids/mevlits celebrate the anniversary of the death of a saint (can be any man, woman or child) who is believed to be close to God. Their tombs become shrines where pilgrims implore the intercession of the saint or, more Islamically proper, implore God by virtue of the baraka of the saint, for a variety of reasons such as healing, help with exams, the redress of wrongs, or simply for favor with God.

Some of the moulids/mevlids, like that of Ahmad al-Badawi in the town of Tanta in the Delta, have become such economic affairs that their religious significance becomes obscured by the secular pursuits.

Although food may be offered by a spiritual superior or by a person of lower spiritual rank to a spiritual superior, the meaning of the offering of food is interpreted according to the larger context. Any food offered at a moulid carries the baraka of the saint in whose name it is offered. When a shaykh offers food, he is offering his own baraka, and blessing is conveyed to the person who eats. When a shaykh/shaykha accepts an invitation to eat at somebody's home, he brings baraka to the house, and honors the host by tasting their food. Hierarchy and submission are expressed not by the mere act of offering food, but by the dispensation and receiving of blessing.

Among the drinks, milk seems to enjoy a special significance Sufism, signifying spiritual adoption if visions or dreams are related to it. 

Hoffman concludes with a balanced statement that in Sufism, eating to satisfy one's appetites leaves one open to Satanic insinuation, but eating for the sake of God can strengthen one for worship.