REMARKS ABOUT A RABBANI FAST
by Sheikh Amanullah
We have already developed in our Newsletters on our site, the Rabbani orientation, this way of being led back to the inner guide the RABB, by freeing oneself from external dependencies. "Rabbani fasting" in this sense corresponds to the true way of fasting which many have unfortunately lost the meaning of, although it is the oldest and most universal form of worship. Great Sheikh Abdullah al-Fâïz Ad-daghestani, was very famous for performing Rabbani fasts, lasting several months, in the company of Mawlana Sheikh Nazim, either with water or lentil soup only at the break.
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What would be the characteristic of this Rabbani fast and what is its "protocol" according to the teachings of the Tasawwuf ? They will be surprisingly confirmed by some scientific research developed over 40 years on more than 15,000 cases in Russia.We will see how fasting leads to this maqam (station) of samadaniyya, the ability to be "sustained" from within by a trigger that operates from the depths of us even when we abandon the external help of food and even when we accept what could be called "the test of emptiness". According to the testimony of Mawlana Sheikh Nazim, Sheikh Abdullah's practice was to fast from several months to a year, without even a soup but just drinking water. Is this possible for others or is it a case of a miracle that can only be achieved by an exceptional man ?
The answer can be enlightened by the 40-year experience of the Russian people invited by the state and then supported in this experiment (reimbursed by the social security) which constitutes a very thorough study in Russia first, then later in the USA and then in Germany with Dr. Oto Buchinger who made the method of this fasting famous... with water!
Indeed, this fasting, sometimes called "therapeutic fasting", follows a very precise protocol according to scientifically monitored data which are precisely similar to the fasting observed in the very precise and "technical" rules of the Khalwa, well known in the tasawwuf for those who have been taught it.
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Before talking about this Rabbani method curiously rediscovered and then practiced in Russia and in republics like Dagestan, let us look at the extraordinary results of this practice. Tens of thousands of medical records testify to the healing of such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, psychological diseases including depression and many others, only through this fasting therapy.
It should also be noted that Dr. Stephan Drinda, rheumatologist and chief physician at the Buchinger Clinic, for example, has reported the effectiveness of fasting in "autoimmune" diseases, chronic diseases that are very difficult to treat: ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, i.e. chronic intestinal inflammation, dermatitis, inflammatory rheumatism such as polyarthritis.
On the healing of rheumatoid arthritis, see the thesis of Dr. Christian Bouchot defended at the University of Bobigny in France. He shows us that fasting, in addition to its healing effects on polyarthritis, produces omega 3 and other vitamins, far from causing deficiencies. Dr. Drinda says: "It is important to know that the largest surface with which we communicate with the environment is not the skin (2m2) nor the lung (80m2), it is the intestine with about 400m2! Now the immunological memory is in the intestine".
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The immune system being 80% linked to our digestive system, stopping food allows the immune system to take the time to rebalance itself and to deal with sites such as tumors, cellular stases, degenerated or pathological proteins. During fasting all blood parameters return to normal and for hypertensive patients the effects are spectacular. However, what we want to emphasize by looking at these very serious studies is a precise fact that the masters of taçawwuf had already taught, this "holistic" reaction of the body, this "self-healing" power, this capacity that we like to call Rabbani to find within oneself another power, independent of the powers and supports of the outside, a Rabbani power given to man at his origin but that he has let sleep and that fasting can awaken according to a "particular trigger". But let's be clear: it is a real fast according to a particular protocol, taught for a long time by the masters of taçawwuf, and which is rediscovered by the experiences of science when this "protocol" is respected.
When the earthly nourishment diminishes, the support by the energy of the Spirit expands so that finally the Sun of the Spirit takes charge of us with the Name al-Samad
It is not about this distorted fast that some people practice by eating heavily in the evening after having fasted during the day, especially during the month of Ramadan, where unfortunately some people eat even more than usual, unaware of the sumptuous gift that the practice of a true fast could give them. In true fasting and in order to benefit from the sumptuous gift that is the month of Ramadan, it is a question of reaching this "triggering" of the inner power, this Rabbani state which is obtained precisely by the abandonment of an external support and that must be understood on the spiritual level as well as on the physical level. The protocol verified by experience, 10 days, 14 or 40, consists of a fasting only with water. However, there is a progression that can be done in the following way if we take a ten-day model (thus possible 3x10 days in Ramadan): starting for example with :
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Cleaning of the intestine by a salt water type enema or an intestinal enema like for the colonoscopy (technique known by yogis in India with salt water). This step, if not followed, forces the liver to work harder to clean the toxins that will be burned first in this process ;
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A vegetable or lentil soup (only) in progressive reduction of food for example 3 days;
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Then water as much as possible, 3 days ;
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Then back to soup for 4 days, this is just a guideline, including a minimum of 2 hours of exercise per day to support the elimination.
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Everyone should ask a doctor who knows this science to develop his or her own protocol with follow-up, depending on his or her physical conditions. Remember that this is a science that unfortunately most modern doctors do not know. On the physical level, by abandoning the very limited carbohydrate fuel, the liver organ converts the fatty parts of the body, proteins and lipids as fuel for energy.
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This "triggering", technically, usually takes place around the third or fourth day, after the so-called "uric" phase. In fact, everything starts with the uric acid phase from the third to the fifth day, which signals the elimination of toxins, causing some possible migraines, feeling of fatigue or feeling of our weaknesses. Personally, in my experience, I made the mistake of starting the fast without the intestinal enema and the uric acid phase began on the fourth day, causing a rise in gastric acidity, provoking a very painful night, but the next day, everything had disappeared, a new energy manifested itself with a profound joy. Indeed, after the uric phase, a new energy suddenly appeared (from the fourth to the sixth day, depending on the person), stronger than the one given by the food, with a great clarity of mind and a euphoric effect, well known by fasters. The interest of this new implementation of the liver and the intestine which is then "triggered", is that the fuel used corresponds to a selection of dead cells or useless fats, exactly as in a forest where the forester eliminates the dead or sick wood to give strength to the forest. This "self-healing" power is in us but it is sleeping, fasting allows a very old survival memory to manifest itself.
When I am empty I can be filled by the divine Word: "Al Qor'ân, Mâida" (The Qur'ân is a heavenly banquet).
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Fasting, far from being undergone or worse, deviated by an excess of food in the evening, must find its function to lead us back to this capacity to abandon the support of an energy given by food, replacing it by this other divine support "samadaniyya". On the spiritual level, it is a matter of daring to "test the emptiness" which seems to frighten many people, so much so that the ego demands a sensation of fullness. The ego is indeed characterized by the need for control and survival and therefore does not like the feeling of emptiness that fasting provokes (at least in the beginning).
The inner attitude is therefore to recognize our emptiness and to accept it through fasting. The consciousness then tells us : "I do not rely on external food, I abstain from manifesting my ego with futile words, I abstain from external pleasures which would only be the shadows of another reality. I finally predispose myself to recognize that it is when I am empty that I can be filled by the Divine Word "Al Qor'ân, Mâida" (The Qur'ân is a heavenly banquet) according to the hadith of our Beloved Sayyidina Mohammad (saw) who enlightened us on the practice of fasting given by God. Fasting is therefore an expression of tawhîd, that is when I am nothing, that HE IS.
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Servant of the Way, S. Amanoullah