Fast of silence
Fast of silence (Arabic: صَوم الصَّمْت or صَوم السُّكوت) is a practice in which a person, with the intention of seeking closeness to God and with the intention of fasting, does not speak for part or all of the day. According to both Shi'a and Sunni jurists, the fast of silence is forbidden. However, if a person remains silent without the intention of fasting, even for the entire day, it is not forbidden. It is said that the fast of silence was common among Bani Isra'il, but it was abrogated in Islam.
Concept and Background of the Fast of Silence
The fast of silence refers to a practice in which a person, with the intention of seeking closeness to God and with the intention of fasting, does not speak from the beginning of the morning until night or for part of the day.[1]
Shi'a jurists have discussed the ruling on the fast of silence and remaining silent throughout the day without the intention of fasting.[2] Mulla Mahdi Naraqi, in his book Tadhkirat al-Ahbab, listed the fast of silence as the fourth type of forbidden fasts and described it as a fast in which the fasting person, in addition to intending to fast, intends not to speak until evening. He stated that the majority viewpoint among scholars is that this practice is forbidden and also invalidates the fast.[3] 'Allamah Majlisi, a Shi'a hadith scholar (d. 1110 AH/1699), believed that the fast of silence was permissible among Bani Israel and was considered one of the conditions of asceticism among the worshippers of Bani Israel; however, it was abrogated in Islam.[4] Some have also inferred from Qur'an 19:26 that the fast of silence was legitimate among Bani Israel, but Islam prohibited it.[5]
In some narrations, the fast of silence has been referred to as "Zamm".[6] "Zamm" was a bridle used to guide camels, and the worshippers of Bani Israel would place something similar to it in their mouths to refrain from speaking throughout the day.[7]
The prohibition of the fast of silence
The fast of silence is considered forbidden both in Shi'a[8] and Sunni[9] jurisprudence.
Shi'a perspective
Shia jurists have categorized the fast of silence among forbidden fasts.[10] They have considered numerous narrations from the Prophet (s) and the Infallible Imams (a) condemning this practice as the reason for its prohibition.[11] Fadil Lankarani (d. 2007), a Shi'a jurist, believed that the obligatory or prohibited actions for a fasting person have been specified in Islamic law, and silence is not among those actions. Therefore, practicing it is an unlawful innovation ("bid'a") and forbidden.[12]
Jurists consider silence without the intention of fasting to be permissible, even if it lasts the entire day.[13]
Sunni perspective
Sunni jurists, citing narrations from the Prophet (s) on this subject, have considered the fast of silence forbidden.[14] For example, Abu Hanifa (d. 150 AH/767- 8), the founder of Hanafi Sunnis,[15] Zamakhshari (d. 538 AH/1144), a Sunni exegete,[16] and Ibn Qudama (d. 620 AH/1223),[17] are among the scholars who have referred to the prohibition of the fast of silence.
See also
Notes
- ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 555.
- ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 555.
- ↑ Narāqī, Tadhkirat al-Aḥbāb, p. 103.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 68, p. 404.
- ↑ Shāhrūdī, Farhang-i fiqh, Under the word "Sukūt" (سکوت).
- ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 10, p. 524.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Khiṣāl, vol. 1, p. 138.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 2, p. 79.
- ↑ Iṣfahānī, Musnad Abū Ḥanīfa, vol. 1, p. 192.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 17, p. 125.
- ↑ Dhihnī Tihrānī, al-Mabāḥith al-fiqhīyya, vol. 5, p. 260.
- ↑ Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, vol. 8, p. 336.
- ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 555.
- ↑ Ibn Qudāma, al-Mughnī, vol. 3, p. 76.
- ↑ Iṣfahānī, Musnad Abū Ḥanīfa, vol. 1, p. 192.
- ↑ Zamakhsharī, Tafsīr al-kashshāf, vol. 3, p. 16.
- ↑ Ibn Qudāma, al-Mughnī, vol. 3, p. 76.
References
- Dhihnī Tihrānī, Muḥammad Jawād. Al-Mabāḥith al-fiqhīyya fī sharḥ al-rawḍat al-bahīyya. Qom: Wujdānī, 1366 Sh.
- Fāḍil Lankarānī, Muḥammad. Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa fī sharḥ Taḥrīr al-waṣīla. Qom: Markaz Fiqh al-Aʾimmat al-Aṭhār (a), 1426 AH.
- Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Edited by Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt (a). Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt (a), 1409 AH.
- Ibn Qudāma, ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad. Al-Mughnī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1405 AH.
- Iṣfahānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Musnad Abū Ḥanīfa. Edited by Naẓar Muḥammad Fāryābī. Riyadh: Maktaba Kawthar, 1415 AH.
- Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Tehran: Muʾassisa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeini, 1392 Sh.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
- Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Edited by Jaʿfar Ḥillī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
- Narāqī, Mahdī b. Abī Dhar. Tadhkirat al-Aḥbāb. [n.p]: [n.n], 1383 Sh.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Khiṣāl. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom: Jāmiʿat al-Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmiyya, 1362 Sh.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. 2nd edition. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1413 AH.
- Shāhrūdī, Sayyid Maḥmūd. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt. Qom: Muʾassisat Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, 1382 Sh.
- Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar al-. Tafsīr al-kashshāf. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.
