moments to understand some of the wisdoms and lessons thatwe can learn
from this month of fasting.
Unfortunately, many Muslims come in to this month and they are as a
companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Let it not be that
the day that you fast and the day that you break fast be equal."
Meaning, one's behaviour, attitude and outlook are the same whether
one fasts or not,i.e. fasting has no effect upon that person. This is
why we need to reflect on some of these lessons.
LESSON 1: Gaining Taqwaa
Allah legislated fasting for gaining taqwaa,
"O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as ithas been
prescribed upon those before you, so that you may attain
taqwaa."(meaning of Soraat ul Baqarah (2):183)
Taqwaa 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?
LESSON 2: Drawing closer to Allah
This is achieved by reciting and reflecting onAl-Qur'aan during night
and day, attending the taraaweeh prayers, remembering Allah, sitting
in circles of knowledge and, for those who can, making `umrah. Also
for those who can, making I`tikaaf (seclusion) in the last ten nights
of Ramadaan, 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 (SWT). When one sins, one feels distant from Allah. That is why
one might find it heard to read the Qur'aan 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.
LESSON 3: Acquiring patience and strong will
Allah has mentioned patience more than seventy times in the Qur'aan
and has commanded patience in more than sixteen ways in His Book. So
when onefasts, 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 man 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 timecomes to stand upon something
firm, they cannot do so, they waver.
LESSON 4: Striving for Ihsaan (righteousness and sincerity) and
staying away from riyaa' (showing off)
Ihsaan means to worship Allah as if one seeks Him, and even though one
does not see Him, He seesall. Hasan al-Basree 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 thatI 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 riyaa' (showing off). Thatis why Allah said
in a hadeeth qudsee,"Fasting is for Me and I reward it."(al-Bukhaaree)
Allah singles out fasting from all other types of worshipsaying,
"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 tawaaaf, one can be seenby the people, so one might do the
action seeking the praise of the people. Sufyaan ath-Thawree 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.'"
LESSON 5: Refinement of manners, especially thoserelated to
truthfulness and discharging trusts.
The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace upon him)
said,"Whoever does not abandon falsehood in word and action, then
Allah (SWT) has no need that he should heave his food and
drink."(al-Bukhaaree) What we learn from this, is that wemust pay
attention to thepurification of our manners. The Prophet (may Allah
send His blessing and peace upon him) said, "was sent to perfect good
manners." (Maalik) So we must check ourselves, are we following the
behaviour of the Prophet (may Allahsend His blessing and peace upon
him)? For example: Do we give salaam to those we don't know and those
we do know? Do we follow the manners of Islaam, by telling the truth
and only telling the truth? Are we sincere? Are we merciful to the
creation?
LESSON 6: Recognizing that one can change for the better
The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace upon him)
said,"Every son of Adam sins and the best of the sinners are those who
repent."(Ibn Maajah) Allah provides many opportunities to repent to
Him and seek His forgiveness. If one was disobedient they can become
obedient.
LESSON 7: Being more charitable
Ibn `Abbaas said, "The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace
upon him) was the most charitable amongst the people, and he used to
be more so in the month of Ramadaan when Jibreel used to meet him on
every night of Ramadaan till the end of the month…" (al-Bukhaaree) The
Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace 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." (at-Tirmidhee)
LESSON 8: Sensing the unity of the Muslims
The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace 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
khaleefahs. Hold fast to itand stick to it."(Aboo Daawood) 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 Salaatul-`Eid together. Therefore we sense that the unity
of Muslims is possible. It is possible for Muslims to bea single body,
but this will only be achieved when obedience is only to Allah and His
Messenger.
LESSON 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.
LESSON 10: Teaching the young to worship Allah
It was the practice of the people of Madeenah, thatduring the fast of
`Aashooraa (which is now a recommended fastof 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-Bukhaaree).
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 ofAllah. 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 (may Allah send
His blessing and peace upon him) said,"Command your children to pray
at the age of seven and spank them at the age of ten (if they do not
pray."(Haakim)
LESSON 11: Caring for one's health
Fasting has many medicalbenefits and it teaches Muslims to take care
of their health and too build strong bodies. The Prophet (may Allah
send His blessing and peace upon him) said,"A strong believer is
better and is more beloved to Allah than a weak believer, and there is
good in everyone."(Muslim)
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