10 Points for Fasting

there are important points to understand while fasting the month of ramadan in order to take the maximum benefit from the wisdom and teachings we gain in this blessed month, in which allah sent down his last revelation, the quran.

consider first an important statement of our prophet muhammad, (peace be upon him), when he said, "don't let the day of fasting be the same as the day you don't fast." he was talking about our behavior and attitude being the same whether we are fasting or not fasting and not having an effect on us. let us keep this in mind while we consider the following ten points of fasting ramadan, insha'allah.

one of our beloved teachers of islam, dr. tamimi, a student of knowledge of madinah and dr. jafar idris, produced interesting and beneficial lectures about the importance and rewards of fasting ramadan. the following is based on some of this excellent knowledge:

point 1: gaining taqwa

allah legislated fasting for gaining taqwa,

"o you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it has been prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain taqwa." [noble quran 2:183]

taqwa in this case means to make a shield between oneself and allah's anger and hellfire. so we should ask ourselves, when we break our fasts, ‘has this fasting day made us fear allah more? has it resulted that we want to protect ourselves from the hellfire or not?

point 2: drawing closer to allah

this is achieved by reciting and reflecting on al-quran during night and day, attending the taraweeh prayers, remembering allah, sitting in circles of knowledge and, for those who can, making ‘umrah. also for those who can, making i'tikaf (seclusion) in the last ten nights of ramadan, so as to leave all worldly pursuits and seclude oneself in a masjid just thinking of allah, so as to bring oneself closer to allah. when one sins, one feels distant from allah. that is why one might find it heard to read the quran and come to the masjid. however, the obedient worshipper feels closer to allah and wants to worship allah more, because he is not shy from his sins.

point 3: acquiring patience and strong will

allah has mentioned patience more than seventy times in the quran and has commanded patience in more than sixteen ways in his book. so when one fasts, and gives up one's food and drink, and one's marital sexual relations for those hours, one learns restraint and patience. this ummah needs men and women that are strong willed, who can stand upon the sunnah and the book of allah and not waver in front of the enemies of allah. we do not need emotional people, who just raise slogans and shout, but when the time comes to stand upon something firm, they cannot do so, they waver.

point 4: striving for ihsan (righteousness and sincerity) and staying away from riya (showing off)

ihsan means to worship allah as if one seeks him, and even though one does not see him, he sees all. hasan al-basri said, "by allah, in the last twenty years, i have not said a word or taken something with my hand or refrained to take something with my hand or stepped forth or stepped back, except that i have thought before i have done any action, ‘does allah love this action? is allah pleased with this action?' so when one is fasting, one should gain this quality of watching oneself and also staying away from riya (showing off). that is why allah said in a hadith qudsi, "fasting is for me and i reward it." (al-bukhari) allah singles out fasting from all other types of worship saying, "fasting is for me", because no one knows whether you are fasting or not, except allah. for example, when one is praying or giving charity or making tawaf, one can be seen by the people, so one might do the action seeking the praise of the people. sufyan ath-thawri used to spend the nights and the days crying and the people used to ask him, "why do you cry, is it due to the fear of allah? he said, ‘no.' they said, "is it due to the fear of the hellfire?" he said, ‘no. it is not the fear of hellfire that makes me cry, what makes me cry is that i have been worshipping allah all these years and doing scholarly teaching, and i am not certain that my intentions are purely for allah.'"

point 5: refinement of manners, especially those related to truthfulness and discharging trusts.

the prophet (peace be upon him) said, "whoever does not abandon falsehood in word and action, then allah has no need that he should heave his food and drink." (al-bukhari) what we learn from this, is that we must pay attention to the purification of our manners. the prophet (peace be upon him) said, "was sent to perfect good manners." (malik) so we must check ourselves, are we following the behaviour of the prophet (peace be upon him)? for example: do we give salam to those we don't know and those we do know? do we follow the manners of islam, by telling the truth and only telling the truth? are we sincere? are we merciful to the creation?

point 6: recognizing that one can change for the better

the prophet (peace be upon him) said, "every son of adam sins and the best of the sinners are those who repent." (ibn majah) allah provides many opportunities to repent to him and seek his forgiveness. if one was disobedient they can become obedient.

point 7: being more charitable

ibn ‘abbas said, "the prophet (peace be upon him) was the most charitable amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of ramadan when jibril (angel gabriel) used to meet him on every night of ramadan till the end of the month…" (al-bukhari) the prophet (peace be upon him) said, "he who gives food for a fasting person to break his fast, he will receive the same reward as him, without nothing being reduced from the fasting person's reward."

point 8: sensing the unity of the muslims

the prophet (peace be upon him) said, "…those of you who will live after me will see many differences. then you must cling to my sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly guided khalifahs (leaders). hold fast to it and stick to it." [abu dawud]

in this month we sense that there is a possibility for unity, because we all fast together, we break fast together, we all worship allah together, and we pray salatul-`eid together. therefore we sense that the unity of muslims is possible. it is possible for muslims to be a single body, but this will only be achieved when obedience is only to allah and his messenger.

point 9: learning discipline

the prophet (ma allah send his blessing and peace upon him) made us adhere to discipline and strictness, strictness that does not lead to fanaticism or going outside the bounds that allah has laid down. one cannot knowingly break the fast before the sunset, as this will not be accepted by allah. muslims should learn to be very strict in their lives, because they are people of an important message, which they mold their lives around.

point 10: teaching the young to worship allah

it was the practice of the people of madinah, that during the fast of ‘ashura (which is now a recommended fast of one day) to get their children to fast with them. when the children would cry of hunger and thirst, their parents would distract their attention by giving them some sort of toy to play with. the children would break their fast with their parents. (as mentioned in al-bukhari).

so the young should be brought to the masjid and they should pray with their parents, so that they are able to get into the habit of becoming worshippers of allah. if one does not encourage children to fast when they are young, they will find it very difficult to fast for thirty days at the age of puberty. this is why the prophet (peace be upon him) said, "command your children to pray at the age of seven and beat them at the age of ten (if they do not pray." (hakim)

there is yet another consideration for the fasters of ramadan, although this is not something we usually consider as the motivation for following allah's command, and that is the physical and medical advantages usually associated with fasting.

we are ordered to take care of our health and provide our body with its rights over us. our prophet, (peace be upon him), told us our body has rights on us and in one hadith he said, "the strong believer is better and more beloved to allah than the weak believer, and there is good in everyone."

make du'a for us while you are fasting –please, insha'allah. may allah accept your fasting and put you in his jannah, ameen.