FASTING IS PRESCRIBED ON YOU
Allah SWT says in the Qur’an
a;-Hakim
2:183 O ye
who believe! fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before
you that ye obtain taqwa.
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. The Jews fast for Yom Kippur and the High Holy Days, Christians fast for Lent, and Hindus and Buddhists also fast.
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 sawm increase our taqwa?
First, there are three levels
of fasting; physical fasting, mental
fasting and spiritual fasting.
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.
Mental fasting – abstaining
from negative thoughts and especially, their expression in speech, refraining
from backbiting, slander, complaining, and negativity increases our taqwa by
reminding us Allah is Al-Rahman Al-Rahim.
Allah is so merciful to us, so not only should we be grateful to Him and
not complain about the state He has put us in, but we should be merciful to
others. Backbiting, slander and complaining
and blaming others reveal our own lack of mercy.
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. 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 nafs. We cry
"Nafsi, Nafsi," and thereby we act selfishly and 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 empathy and respect for one another.
During Ramadan let us fast from our own nafs, 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."
The month of Ramadan affords us a time to train our nafs. The Qur'an describes three stages of the nafs. The first is nafsul ammarah bi suu', or the nafs that commands to evil. This is the nafs, untrained and unrestrained. It is selfish, and concerned only with satisfying its every whim. And not just physical pleasures, but also mental ones as well. Many people controlled by their desires for things of this world, food, money, luxury goods, status, control, power, - all of these become obsessions. In our increasingly atheistic world, people have lost their ability to control themselves. They have become slaves to every passion.
During Ramadan we can begin to train our nafs to exercise self-control and self-discipline. We begin with control over the physical desires such as the desire for food, drink and sex. After the first week, we find that we no longer feel so thirsty or hungry. Once the physical appetites are under control, we move on the mental ones.
During the second week we can focus on our thoughts and speech. We can concentrate on negative thoughts and signs of fitnah in our communities. We must be vigilant against backbiting. This is especially important since during Ramadan, many people return to the mosque or come for the first time in their lives. Many love to backbite such people, thinking themselves to be superior. But we must remember, that this sin of kibriyya is the sin of Shaytan - "I'm better than him." So, now during Ramadan, we remind ourselves of our brotherhood, and learn to control our mental and verbal expressions.
During this second week, we develop nafsu lawwamah, the soul that reproaches or rebukes itself. This is the soul that is self-critical. It begins to act as a "conscience" and learns what is truly beneficial and what is truly harmful to mankind.
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.
During the third week of Ramadan, after we have gained control over our physical and mental desires, we focus our attention on developing nafs al-mutmayyinah, the soul that is at peace, contented. During the third week of Ramadan, we have become used to fasting, and we have spent our nights in prayer in Tarawih. We have enjoyed hearing the Qur'an, and we may now even hear this blessed message from Allah in our dreams. Now we become more peaceful and cleansed in the body, mind and soul. We end our beloved month in the best state from which to re-enter the hayyat al duniyya, the life of this world with the strength to strive on this path for a whole other year.
And our souls can only gain this contentment if they are focused on their true objective, Allah SWT, in tawhid.
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.
