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Maulana Ali (SA) said, "Allah has created animals such that they possess only desires and not intellect. He has created angels such that they possess only intellect and not desires. And, He has created humans such that they possess both: desires and intellect.
Humans are a fusion of both the physical and the spiritual.
Maulana Ali (SA) further enlightens, "if one's intellect reins in his desires, then he is nobler than the angels and if one's desires subjugate his intellect then he is worse than the beasts."
Man walks a thin line between the physical and the spiritual. It is said that man is not a physical being having a spiritual experience, but a spiritual being having a physical experience. Every human being is endowed with immense spiritual power. This power is subdued due to the overpowering influence of the physical. The spiritual radiance emerges only when the physical is subdued. These guide a man and carry him upon the right path of salvation.
However, the subjugation of the physical is by no means an easy task. It requires enormous strength of will and character.
The holy month of Shehre-Ramadan makes this task attainable. It is said that on the eve of Shehre Ramadan, the gates of heaven are opened and a breeze blows from beneath the 'arsh'. The gates of hell are shut and the devils are manacled.
Thus, a favourable atmosphere is created, making it easier for a mumin to attain angelic characteristics in the absence of physical desires like eating, drinking etc. Hence, when a mumin fasts he crosses the threshold of the physical and enters into the realm of the spiritual. Every deed performed by him in this state becomes an act of ibadat such that his sleep becomes 'ibadat and his breaths are counted as 'tasbeeh'.
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