The Goals of Fasting

The acts of worship that the Muslims practice seek to achieve certain goals and benefits that Allah wants His slaves to acquire knowledge in them and to comprehend and achieve them. Among these acts of worship is fasting during the lunar month of Ramadhan, which has several goals that the Muslims must strive to achieve with his heart and by his actions. These goals are as follows:

1. Achieving taqwa, that is, to become God-fearing. Allah said:
   

   “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those who came before you; that you will perhaps be God-fearing.” [Al-Qur'an 2:183]

Hence, fasting is a means to achieve taqwa. In fact, all acts of worship and tawhid are methods and means to achieve taqwa, as Allah has said:

“O mankind, worship your Lord, Who created you and those before you, so that you may become God-fearing.” [Al-Qur'an 2:21]

1. Acquiring the rewards of Allah. Al-Bukhari and Muslim recorded that the Prophet, upon whom be peace, said:
   

   “Allah the Exalted said, ‘All the deeds of the son of Adam are his, except for fasting, for it is Mine and I will reward for it.’ “

2. The Prophet also said:
   

   “The one fasting has two happy moments: when he breaks his fast, and when he meets his Lord he is happy because of his fast.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

   About his saying, “When he breaks his fast he is happy,” and Imam Muslim’s addition, “Because of his breaking his fast,” Imam al-Qurtubi commented, “It means he is happy because his hunger and thirst have ended, since he is allowed to break his fast. This happiness is natural and this is apparently the desired meaning. It was also said that his being happy is because of his breaking the fast, means that he has fulfilled his fast, and as a culmination for his practicing the acts of worship. His saying, ‘And when he meets his Lord he is happy because of his fast,’ means he is happy because of the rewards for fasting and its complete awards.’ “

1. Fasting purifies the soul and helps it acquire the habit of obeying Allah and His Messenger by defeating the desires of the heart. Fasting teaches refraining from following the desires because the soul of the one fasting becomes obedient to Allah’s commands. Also, Satan has a stronger hold over the souls that often obey their desires. When the soul abandons its desires, it will become more difficult for Satan to have a hold on the heart.

1. Being saved from the Fire, for the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
   

   “And Allah has those whom he frees from the Fire, and this occurs every night (meaning in Ramadhan).” [At-Tirmidhi and ibn Majah]

2. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
   

   “Fasting and the Qur’an will intercede on behalf of the slave. Fasting will say, ‘O Lord! I prevented him from food and obeying his desires in the morning. Therefore, accept my intercession on his behalf.’ And the Qur’an will say, ‘I prevented him from sleeping at night. Therefore, accept my intercession on his behalf,’ and they will be accepted as intercessors.’ “ [Ahmad, al-Hakim and al-Bayhaqi]

3. There is no doubt that fasting directs to having one’s sins forgiven and erased. The Prophet, upon whom be peace, said:
   

   “The five prayers, and from Friday to the next Friday, and Ramadhan to the next Ramadhan, are erasers for what occurs between them, as long as major sins are avoided.” [Muslim]

   Also the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:

   “Whoever fasts Ramadhan with iman and ih’tisab, will have his previous sins forgiven.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

   Imam Ahmad and an-Nasa’i added the following to the above narration:

   “And also what will occur later on (meaning future sins, as well).”

   Fasting with iman entails fasting while believing with the heart in the obligation of fasting during Ramadhan. As for ih’tisab, it means that one anticipates the reward and his fasting is therefore only for the sake of Allah and not to imitate his people and community or for any other worldly gain.

From the rights (huqooq) of brotherhood

many Muslims think that it suffices to consider each other as brothers without taking necessary steps to put that principle of brotherhood into practice. That is why we see nowadays Muslims showing indifference to calamities befalling their brethren across the globe, thinking that so far they are far away from the hot spots, from the scene of calamities, they have nothing to worry about. Thus, you see many of them, at the times that their brothers are being slaughtered at some other parts of the globe, they pass time at cafes, hotels, giving out celebrations, as if nothing happened. This is a great betrayel towards those whom we call brothers.

Elaborating more on this, we’d like to cite for you the following:

“Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘You will not enter Paradise until you have faith, and you will not have faith until you love each other. Shall I direct you to something which if you fulfill you will love one another? Spread peace among yourselves.’ (It was reported by Muslim)

1) In this hadith, our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recommended that we should spread peace. This is fulfilled through many things: by saluting each other with the words ‘As-Salam `alaykum‘ (peace be with you); by spreading a state of peace and not conflict, and by trying to spread peace in the society through reconciling our differences.

2) It’s also part of rights of brotherhood for a Muslim to put on smiling face when he meets his brothers in faith. Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Don’t belittle any good deed even to meet your brothers with a smiling face.’ He also said: ‘Your smile in the face of your brothers is an act of charity.’

A man came to Abu ad-Darda’ and said: ‘Guide me to do a good deed that would benefit other Muslims?’ Abu Ad-Darda’ replied: ‘Command them to do good and forbid them from evil.’ The man said: ‘I cannot.’ Then Abu Ad-Darda’ said: ‘Repel evil from them.’ The man said: ‘I cannot.’ Then Abu Ad-Darda’ said: ‘Spend charity on them.’ He again said: ‘I cannot.’ Then Abu Ad-Darda’ said: ‘Meet them with a smiling bright face.’ The man however said: ‘I still cannot.’ Fed up with what he heard, Abu Ad-Darda’ finally said: ‘Then may Allah smite you with a thunder bolt from Heaven by which He would make the land and the people get rid of you.’

3) Brotherhood in Islam also means that one should love for one’s brothers what one loves for himself. Confirming this the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Each of you cannot be a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.’

Not only this but the early Muslims used to prefer their brothers over their own selves. That is why the Qur’an praised them in the following verse: ‘And they prefer (their brothers) over themselves even if they are hungry.’ (Al-Hashr: 9)

4) Avoid harming other Muslims by words or actions:

As a matter of fact Islam forbids vain or evil talk, as clarified by the following Qur’anic verse:

‘And when they hear vain talk, they turn away therefrom and say: To us our deeds, and to you yours; peace be to you: we seek not the ignorant.’ (Al-Qasas: 55) Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘The Muslim is he from whom people are safe from his tongue and hand (actions).’

One day, `A’ishah, the Prophet’s wife, heard some Jews in Madinah offending the Prophet by greeting him with the wish that poison would strike him. Getting angry at their offence she retorted: ‘And upon you be poison and curse O you children of apes and swine.’ Hearing this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pacified her saying:

‘You should have said only, same be upon you also, for the Muslim is not an offender, nor a curser nor a mischief monger nor one who uses dirty language.’

5) Humbleness and modesty: A Muslim should exercise humbleness and modesty in his dealing with other Muslims, nay even with all other people. That is why one precious piece of advice a pious father called [Luqman] gave to his son as the Qur’an reports is that: ‘Never turn your cheek to other people in arrogance.’ (Luqman: 18)

In practice, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to be humble with all other people. It is reported that once a Bedouin met him; when he saw him he trembled in fear. Seeing this the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Calm down. I am only the son of a woman who used to eat dry meat in Makkah (meaning a poor woman).’

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to tell his Companions: ‘Don’t exaggerate in praising me, as Christians exceeded the limits in praising the Messiah, son of Mary, for I am the slave and Messenger of Allah.’ He also used to declare: ‘Whoever humbles himself to Allah, Allah will raise him (in respect) and He will not enter Paradise who has in his heart an atom’s weight of arrogance.’

6)Turning deaf ears to other people’s slandering of your brothers or sisters: This means the elimination of backbiting and slandering in the Muslim society. That is why the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) once passed by two graves. He stood in front of them and said: ‘They (the dead ones) are punished due to minor sins.’ One of them used to spread calumny and slander among people. Thus Muslims are reminded that: ‘He who slanders others in front of you will eventually slander you.’

7) Doing good to people all as best as you can. In this context Allah says in the Qur’an: ‘And cooperate with one another in all that is good and pious and don’t cooperate in sin and aggression.’ (Al-Ma’idah: 2) Allah’s Messenger was asked: ‘Who is the dearest person to Allah?’ He said: ‘Those who are most useful to (other) people.’ That is why in another hadith the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘And Allah will surely help the person as long as he helps his brother.’

8) Treating them nicely and with best manners: In this connection Allah says about Prophet Muhammad: ‘And you are indeed of supreme conduct.’ (Al-Qalam: 4) The Messenger of Allah, therefore says: ‘The most perfect believers are those who are best in conduct and who are nicest to their household.’

9) Rights of brotherhood also implies that one should not forsake his brothers over three days: Allah says in the Qur’an:‘Believers are indeed brothers so reconcile your brothers.’(Al-Hujurat: 10) The Messenger of Allah also said: ‘Let not any one of you desert his brother more than three days. They meet and each of them turns away from the other; but the best of the two is the one who starts with the salutation of peace.’ In another hadith, the Prophet said: ‘Don’t exchange hatred, envy or forsaking, for every Muslim is a brother to other Muslims. Thus he should not wrong him, nor surrender him, whoever walks to fulfill the needs of other Muslims, Allah will attend to his needs.’

10) Not to enter upon a Muslim’s house without his permission: Allah says in the Qur’an: ‘O ye who believe! Enter not houses other than your own without first announcing your presence and invoking peace upon the folk thereof. That is better for you, that you may be heedful.’ (An-Nur: 27)

11) Acknowledging the rights of scholars by showing due respect to them.

12) Fulfilling one’s promise to his Muslim brothers.

13) Settling the rights of other Muslims and returning to them whatever has been taken from them without right.

14) Granting to other Muslims the status they deserve, and acknowledging their prestige.

15) Reconciling the differences among Muslims and restoring harmony.

16) Hiding their shame and concealing their weaknesses.

17) Preserving their wealth and honor.

18) Saying ‘may Allah bless you!’ to any one who sneezes.

19) Avoiding mingling with the evil mongers.

20) Visiting the sick Muslims: This is based on a Qudsi hadith indicating that Allah would say to His slaves on the Day of Judgment: ‘My slave I was sick and yet you did not visit me?’ The slave would exclaim: ‘How can I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?’ Allah would answer: ‘Did you not know that My slave so-and-so fell ill; don’t You know that had you visited him you would find Me with him?’

21) Attending the funeral prayer and to follow a funeral to the grave.

22) Visiting graves of Muslims and invoking Allah’s mercy upon them.

These are the main rights of brotherhood in Islam.

The fornicating woman…

al-Hasan al-Basri narrated:

“There was a fornicating woman who had exceeded the people of her era in beauty, and would not let any man sleep with her unless he paid her one hundred dinars. One day, a man saw her and was attracted to her, so he went and worked until he earned the one hundred dinars and came to her. She told him: “Pay it to the man at the door so that he may count it and weigh it.” When he did this, she told him to enter. She had a luxurious home and a bed made of gold. She told him: “Come to me.” When he was about to have intercourse with her, he suddenly remembered his standing before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, so it was as if he was struck with lightning and his desire was put out.

He said to her: “Allow me to leave you, and you can keep the money.”

She replied: “How can you do this now, when you saw me and was attracted to me, and went and worked hard to collect the one hundred dinars, and when you are finally with me, you do what you did?”

He said: “By Allah, I did not do this out of anything except for the fear of Allah, and the thought of my standing between His Hands.”

She said: “If you are truthful in what you say, then I want to marry nobody except you!”

He told her: “Let me leave.”

She said: “No, not unless you promise me that you will marry me!”

He said: “I cannot do anything until I leave first.”

She then said to him: “You must promise Allah that if I come to you where you live, then you will marry me!”

He said: “It might be so. We will see.”

So, he put on his clothes, left her, and travelled back to his land. She later travelled to his land with all that she owned – regretting the circumstances under which they had met each other – until she arrived and asked about him. When she arrived at his home, it was said to him: “The queen herself has arrived and asked about you!” When he saw her, he was in such a state of shock that he collapsed and died.

His body fell into her arms, so she said: “As for him, then I have missed out on the chance to be with him. Does he have any close relatives?” It was said to her: “Yes, his brother, but he is a poor man.” So, she said to him: “I will marry you out of my love for your dead brother.”

She married him and bore for him seven righteous sons.” (Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi, ‘at-Tawwabin’, 41-42)

narration by Ibn Qudamah

Ibn Qudamah narrated that Ash-Shibli said:

كنت في قافلة بالشام فخرج الأعراب فأخذوها وجعلوا يعرضونها على أميرهم
فخرج جراب فيه سكر ولوز فأكلوا منه والأمير لا يأكل فقلت له لم لا تأكل فقال أنا صائم فقلت تقطع الطريق وتأخذ الأموال وتقتل النفس وأنت صائم فقال يا شيخ أجعل للصلح موضعا فلما كان بعد حين رأيته يطوف حول البيت فقلت أنت ذاك الرجل فقال ذاك الصوم بلغ بي هذا المقام

“I was in a caravan in Ash-Shaam (Syria) and it was hijacked by bedouins, so they took it and handed it over to their Amir (leader). They opened a bag and found sugar and almonds. They all started eating, except their Amir. I asked: “Why aren’t you eating?” He said: “I’m fasting”. I said: “You block roads, you steal from people, you kill people and you say you’re fasting????!” He said: “Ya shaykh! We should keep the ways of reconciliation (with Allah) allways open”. So after a while, I saw this person doing tawaaf around the Ka’bah! I said: “You are that same person!” He said: “Because of that fasting (Allah guided me and) brought me here today”.

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