Fasting is Prescribed for You
O ye
who believe! fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before
you that ye obtain taqwa. Al-Baqara 2: 125
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained." (Imam Bukhari) ...
Narrated Abu Huraira(r.a): The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:"... whoever fasts during Ramadan out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven." (Imam Bukhari).
[Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah]
The Messenger of Allah (saw)
addressed his companions on the last day of Sha`ban, saying, "Oh people! A
great month has come over you; a blessed month; a month in which is a night
better than a thousand months; month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon
you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to
Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall
receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time, and
whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward
of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of
patience, and the reward of patience is Heaven. It is the month of charity, and
a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a
fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be
saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting
person, without his reward being diminished at all."
Ramadan
Mubarak!!!! We have entered the most
blessed month, the month in which the Qur’an was revealed, the month with a
night worth a thousand months.
"Indeed We have revealed
it (Qur'an) in the night of Power. And what will explain to you what the night
of Power is? The night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein
descends the Angels and the Spirit (Jibreel) by Allah's permission, on every
errand: (they say) "Peace" (continuously) till the rise of
Morning!" (Q 97:1-5)
The third
pillar of this deen of Islam is fasting.
Why has Allah prescribed fasting for us?
He has done so consistantly. All
major religions prescribe fasting.
Oh you who believe! Fasting
is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you many
obtain taqwa" (Q 2:183)
Allah Himself tells us that
He has prescribed fasting so that we may be of those with taqwa, so that we may
acquire piety and an unshakable faith in Him.
Taqwa is an illusive word,
difficult to translate.
49:13 O mankind! Lo! We
have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye
may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the
best in taqwa. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware. Q 49:13)
Most scholars say taqwa comes
from T-Q-W indicating to protect oneself.
Certain acquiring this trait will protect us from the Hell Fire. Some have translated it as fear, but it is
not fear of Allah as in Khashiyah Allah, nor is it the fear or apprehension we
may have in hayyat al duniyah. It is not
like apprehension and nervousness we feel if we think the boss will fire us,
for example. And it is not the awe and
quaking we might feel before a great personage or magnificent scene in nature. That is more khashiyah.
Taqwa is more powerful. It is that feeling in the pit of stomach,
that catching in the throat, that utter sense of inevitability when we are
faced with our death. And at that
moment, we cling, we grasp, as if we are grasping our mothers. We hang on for dear life.
Contained within this word is
Q-W-Y – the root of strength, Al-Qawi is one of the Names of Allah. We grasp al-Qawi with all of our might and
main.
2:256 There
is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from
error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a
firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower.
How does fasting, sawm,
increase our taqwa?
First, there are three levels
of fasting; physical fasting, mental
fasting and spiritual fasting.
Sawm al-Jismiyyah
Physical fasting – abstaining
from food, drink and sex during the day light hours, increases taqwa by
reminding us who is our Rabb – our Lord, our Benefactor, our Provider of all
Provision and Sustainence – Allah SWT.
We become more grateful for
all we have – our food, our drink, our families, our jobs. Through understanding from whom our life
stems, we can but cling closer to Him, fearing He will no longer support us,
and hoping that He will. Through our
fear and hope, we cling ever tighter to our Allah.
Sawm al-Nafsiyyah
Yes, Islam obligates us to
strive against oppression and to be just.
However, Islam also prohibits us from fitnah in the community and among
ourselves. The Prophet SAW never would
complain if others abused him. In fact,
Allah SWT had to step in in the Qur’an and prevent people from abusing
him.
al-Hujuraat 49:2 O
ye who believe! Lift not up your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor
shout when speaking to him as ye shout one to another, lest your works be
rendered vain while ye perceive not.
Elsewhere, Allah instructs people how to act when eating at the Prophet’s house, and also how his wives should act. But, the Prophet SAW never complained about how others treated him. Too many of us scream for what we think are our rights, but we do not always treat others fairly ourselves.
The problem is our ego, our nafs. We cry "Nafsi, Nafsi," and we do not think about others. While it is important to validate our own
feelings, we also need to validate and not minimize those of others. We need to inculcate respect for one
another. During Ramadan let us fast from our own nafs, our own egos, and think only of Allah SWT and His Creation, our fellow human beings.
Imam Malik narrates: One day when Umar went in to visit AbuBakr
as-Siddiq and found him pulling his tongue, he said, "Stop! Allah forgive
you!" AbuBakr replied to him, "This has brought me down to dangerous
places."
Imam al-Bukhaari
narrates: Some people asked Allah's
Apostle (Sal-allahu-aleihi-wassallam), "Whose Islam is the best? i.e. (Who
is a very good Muslim)?" He replied, "One who avoids harming the
Muslims with his tongue and hands."
Sawm Al-Ruhiyyah
Spiritual Fasting –
abstaining from anything other than the dhikr of Allah SWT and seeking only His
Pleasure increased our taqwa by pointing out to us how often we focus on things
other than Allah, and reminding us that the only thing worthy of worship, of
ulluhiyyah, is Allah.
Tawhid is of three
branches: Tawhid al-Ulluhiyyah, Tawhid
al-Ruboobiyyah, wa Tawhid al-Asma’ wa Sifaat.
Ulluhiyyah refers to the fact that Allah SWT alone is worthy of worship. Ruboobiyyah refers to the fact that Allah SWT
is the sole source of our support, He is our Creator and Preserver. Asma’ wa Sifaat refers to His names and
characteristics that He himself has mentioned to us. When we fast from all but remembrance of
Allah, we focus on Tawhid, and realize all that we do over the course of the
year that violates this tawhid. In doing
so, we grasp tighter to that secure handhold to Allah, the only handhold that
will not break.
May Allah SWT give us the
tawfiq to have a successful fast this year.
And may Allah SWT forgive all our sins.
The Fiqh of Ramadan
Fasting has several physical benefits including:
· Purification
of body from toxins
· Reducing of weight
· Purity of brain
· Rejuvenation of body
·
Feeling
of contentment
Just a few considerations to
remember:
·
We
should not injest anything by mouth or engage in any sexual activity during
daylight hours
·
We
should make sure to have some suhur before fasting in the morning and we should
make sure to break the fast with something simple such as the Sunnah practice
of eating an odd number of dates and drinking some water.
·
After
Maghrib, we can then eat a bigger meal, or we can wait until after
Tarawih. However, we should remember not
to overeat during Ramadan. Some people
gain weight during this month. Does this
gluttony during a time when we should be grateful to Allah and also remember
those less fortunate really show that we are benefiting from Ramadan?
·
Those
with medical conditions requiring taking something during the day have two
options: If the condition is acute and
likely will be present for a short time, then it is best to make up missed days
before the next Ramadan. If the
condition is likely to last the entire month, but should clear up by next year,
then it is best to feed a person each night and then make up the fast later,
when you are able. If the condition is
chronic and not likely to be cured, then feed a person each night in kafara.
·
The
same applies for women who are pregnant or who are in post-partum bleeding or
who are breast feeding. Women should not
risk the health of the child.
Any of the following
invalidates the fast: eating or drinking, smoking, sexual intercourse, masturbating,
taking injections whereby nourishing liquids reach the stomach, deliberate
vomiting, intentionally passing an object through the throat or any other
natural opening...
Deliberately breaking the fast requires a
kaffara (atonement) which is either the fasting for sixty consecutive days for
each day missed or feeding of sixty poor persons.
Scholars differ over whether
remaining in the state of janabah (uncleanliness due to seminal discharge) till
dawn invalidates the fast, but most feel it does not.
Some scholars are also of the
opinion that lying about Allah or the Prophet, or cursing any Sahaba, or
anything which would break the mental fast, breaks the fast in general, and the
day must be made up. Allah ta’ala alim.
Imam Abu Ja'fer Muhammad
al-Baqir (as) saying, "Telling lies breaks the fast, and so does a second
look at another woman (other than your wife), in addition to oppression, be it
little or much."
Most importantly, the fast is
not accepted without the other pillars of Islam. We must strive to live the Shahada, not just
say it on our tongues, but we must strive to act upon it. We must pray our fard salaat. We should pay zakat, and many do during this
month. We must also at least intend to
make Hajj when we are physically and financially able.
The Prophet is reported to
have said that there will some whose only reward for fasting will be hunger and
thirst, because they will not have sincerely fasted. Why deprive ourselves of food and drink, if
not to seek the Pleasure of Allah and increase our taqwa?
In a hadith, the Messenger of
Allah (saw) says, "Ramadan has come to you. (It is) a month of blessing,
in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He sends down Mercy, decreases
sins and answers prayers. In it, Allah looks at your competition (in good
deeds), and boasts about you to His angels. So show Allah goodness from
yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in (this month) of
the mercy of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted." [ImamTabarani]
May Allah SWT grant us all a blessed month of Ramadan! Ramadan Kareem!
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