The reason why fasting is prescribed

What is the reason why fasting is prescribed?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly we must note that one of the names of Allaah is al-Hakeem (the
Most Wise). The word Hakeem is derived from the same root as hukm
(ruling) and hikmah (wisdom). Allaah alone is the One Who issues
rulings, and His rulings arethe most wise and perfect.
Secondly:
Allaah does not prescribe any ruling but there is great wisdom behind
it, which we may understand, or our minds may not be guided to
understand it. We may know some of it but a great deal is hidden from
us.
Thirdly:
Allaah has mentioned the reason and wisdom behind His enjoining of
fasting upon us, as He says (interpretation of themeaning):
"O you who believe! Observing As-Sawm (the fasting) is prescribed for
you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become
Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)"
[al-Baqarah 2:183]
Fasting is a means of attaining taqwa (piety, being conscious of
Allaah),and taqwa means doing that which Allaah has enjoined and
avoiding that which He has forbidden.
Fasting is one of the greatest means of helpinga person to fulfil the
commands of Islam.
The scholars (may Allaah have mercy on them) have mentioned some of
the reasons why fasting isprescribed, all of which are characteristics
of taqwa, but there is nothing wrong with quoting them here, to draw
the attention of fasting people to them and make them keen to attain
them.
Among the reasons behind fasting are:
1 – Fasting is a means that makes us appreciate and give thanks for
pleasures. For fasting means giving up eating, drinking and
intercourse, which are among the greatest pleasures. By giving them up
for a shorttime, we begin to appreciate their value. Because the
blessings of Allaah are not recognized,but when you abstain from them,
you begin to recognize them, so this motivates you to be grateful for
them.
2 – Fasting is a means of giving up haraam things, because if a
person can give up halaal things in order to please Allaah andfor fear
of His painful torment, then he will be more likely to refrain from
haraam things. So fasting is a means of avoiding the things that
Allaah has forbidden.
3 – Fasting enables us to control our desires, because when a person
is full his desires grow, but ifhe is hungry then his desire becomes
weak. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "O young men! Whoever among you can afford to get married, let
him do so, forit is more effective in lowering the gaze and protecting
one's chastity. Whoever cannot do that, let him fast, for it will be
ashield for him."
4 – Fasting makes us feel compassion and empathy towards the poor,
because when the fasting person tastes the pain of hunger for a while,
he remembers those who arein this situation all the time, so he will
hasten to do acts of kindness to them and show compassion towards
them. So fasting is a means of feeling empathywith the poor.
5 – Fasting humiliates and weakens the Shaytaan; it weakens the
effects of his whispers (waswaas) on a person and reduces his sins.
That is because the Shaytaan "flows through the son of Adam like
blood" as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said, but fasting narrows the passages through which the Shaytaan
flows, so his influence grows less.
Shaykh al-Islam said in Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 25/246
Undoubtedly blood is created from food and drink, so when a person
eats and drinks, the passages through which the devils flow – which is
the blood – become wide.But if a person fasts, the passages through
which the devils flow become narrow, so hearts are motivated to do
good deeds, and to give up evil deeds.
6 – The fasting person is training himself to remember that Allaah is
always watching, so he gives up the things that he desires even though
heis able to take them, because he knows that Allaah can see him.
7 – Fasting means developing an attitude of asceticism towards this
world and its desires, and seeking that which is withAllaah.
8 – It makes the Muslim get used to doing a great deal of acts of
worship, because the fasting person usually does more acts of worship
and gets used to that.
These are some of the reasons why fasting is enjoined. We ask Allaah
tohelp us to achieve them and to worship Him properly.
And Allaah knows best.

Categories of rulings onfasting

What are the categories of rulings on fasting?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The categories of rulings are five: obligatory (waajib), forbidden
(muharram), encouraged (mustahabb), disliked (makrooh) and permissible
(mubaah). These five rulings have been narrated with regard to
fasting. We cannot list everything that comes under each of these
rulings, but we will mention what we can.
1 – Obligatory fasts
(i) The Ramadaanfast
(ii) Making up missed Ramadaan fasts
(iii) Expiatory fasts (expiation for accidental killing,
expiation for zihaar (a form of jaahili divorce), expiation for having
intercourse during the day in Ramadaan, andexpiation for breaking an
oath)
(iv) Fasting for the pilgrim who does tamattu' in Hajj if
he does not have a sacrificial animal. "and whosoever performs the
'Umrah in the months of Hajj, before(performing) the Hajj, (i.e.
Hajj-at-Tamattu' and Al-Qiraan), he must slaughter a Hady such as he
can afford, but if he cannot afford it, he shouldobserve Sawm (fasts)
three days during the Hajjand seven days after his return (to his
home)" [al-Baqarah 2:196 – interpretation of the meaning].
(v) Fasting in fulfilment of a vow
2 – Mustahabb (encouraged) fasts
(i) Fasting the day of 'Ashoora'
(ii) Fasting the dayof 'Arafah
(iii) Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays each week
(iv) Fasting three days of each month
(v) Fasting six days of Shawwaal
(vi) Fasting most of the month of Sha'baan
(vii) Fasting the month of Muharram
(viii) Fasting alternatedays – which is the best offasting
All of these are proven in hasan and saheeh ahaadeeth, and may be
found on this site.
3 – Makrooh (disliked) fasts
(i) Singling out Friday for fasting – because the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do not fast
on a Friday unless you fast a day before or a day afterwards." Agreed
upon
(ii) Singling out Saturday for fasting – because the
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do not
fast on Saturdays apart from days when you are obliged to fast, even
if one of you cannot find anything other than grape stalks or the bark
ofa tree (to suck on, to make sure that he is not fasting)." Narrated
by al-Tirmidhi, 744, who classed it as hasan. Also narrated by Abu
Dawood, 2421; Ibn Maajah, 1726; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Irwa' al-Ghaleel, 960.
Al-Tirmidhi said: What is meant by its being makrooh is that a man
should not single out Saturday for fasting because the Jews venerate
Saturday. End quote.
4 – Forbidden fasts
(i) Fasting on Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and thedays of
Tashreeq, which are the three days after Eid al-Adha.
(ii) Fasting on the "day of doubt" – which is the
thirtieth of Sha'baan, if the sky was cloudy and the new moon could
not be sighted. But if the sky was clear there can be no doubt.
(iii) Fasts observed by women who are menstruating and
bleeding following childbirth.
5 – Permissible fasts – these are fasts that do notcome under any of
the four headings mentioned above.
What is meant by permissible here is that there is no report enjoining
or forbidding fasting on this day in particular, such as Tuesdays and
Wednesdays, even thoughin principle, observing a voluntary fast is an
act of worship that is encouraged.

1c] Ramadan 2012, The 22th Day

1c]
:-> refers to Hejaz and Basra:
Hejaz and Basra
"A fire will emerge from there (Hejaz); it will illuminate the necks
of the camels in Basra..." (Portents of Doomsday, Muhammad b. Rasul
al-Husaynî al-Barjanjî, p. 85)
The Middle East is one of the world's oil-richest regions. The Gulf of
Basra alone contains 2/3 of the world's oil reserves so far
discovered. Research shows that Saudi Arabia alone has proven
reservesof 262 billion barrels, representing 25.4% of all the world's
oil. Iraq has 11% of the world's oil reserves, the United Arab
Emirates 9.6%, Kuwait 9.2%, Iran 8.6%, and other OPEC countries
have13% while the remaining 22.6% belongs to the other countries of
the world.
The way that our Prophet (saas) foretold, 1,400 years ago, how the
MiddleEast would have rich oil reserves and that this oil would be
extracted by machines resembling the necks of camels is both a most
exciting miracle and a great blessing for believers./

1b] Ramadan 2012, The 22th Day

1b]
:-> Philosophical Library, 1987],
1:62-63)
In his book " Evolution: A Theory in Crisis," the molecular biologist
Michael Denton wrote that evolutionists described fish with lungs as a
transitional form between fish and amphibians, but said that the
individual characteristics of fish withlungs "in no way represent a
realistic passage between the two." ("Evolution: A Theory in Crisis",
Michael Denton, Adler and Adler: Bethesda,Maryland, 3rd ed. 1986, p.
109)
The fossil record also deals a heavy blow to evolutionist scenarios
regarding fish with lungs. These have remained unchanged for hundreds
of millions of years and fossils belonging to these creatures are
identical to specimens living today. Not a single fossil exists to
justify the claim that the lungs in this fish developed gradually.
This shows that fish with lungsare rather evidence against evolution,
not for it . It is clear in the light ofthe above facts that the idea
that fish with lungs represent an evolutionaryphase is simply a
fantasy.
What evolutionists are doing is to try to spread a scenario about fish
with lungs as if they were the scientific truth and to ignore the
objections to that scenario that can easily be found in the scientific
literature. This is a blind endeavor to spread Darwinist propaganda
with unscientific myths.
Like all living things, fish with lungs exhibited sublime complexities
far beyond the reach of even the most advanced technologies. And like
all living things they are proof of a flawless Creation. The idea that
fish one day moved from the water to dry land and developed lungs and
feet with the help of blind chance is a myth. The truth is that
Almighty Allah has perfectly createdthese animals.
The Slow Moving Fire That Will İlluminate the Necksof the Camels
Described in the Hadiths Refers to the Oil Wells in the Middle East
Excerpt from Mr. Adnan Oktar's live talk on March 1st, 2012
Our Prophet (saas) says: "A fire will emerge, soon" "that will
illuminate the necks of the camels in Basra". Abu Ya'lâ and Imam Ahmed
relate the following hadith:" A fire will emerge from Habs al-Sayl."
Always the Middle East region, the oil-rich regions, "and will move
slowly, like the gait of a camel" very slowly, fairly slowly, because
a camel walks slowly but it is said, "fairly slowly", "it will move
fairly slowly." "a fire that illuminate the necks of the camels in
Basra from one of the valleys of Hejaz." This time there is mention
to Hejaz, Saudi Arabia, the oil-richest regions: Basra, Saudi Arabia.
The hadith already specifies the locations of the oil regions prior to
1400 years. The reported regions are all oil-rich regions. "The Day of
Reckoning will not come until a fire that will illuminate the necks
of the camels in Basra flows." "Fire flows." What is a flowing fire?
Oil, insha'Allah. Notice now what is related: "It has a neck like a
camel'sneck and it moves very slowly."Let us show that image.
Something related with oil; now this is an apparatus to drill oil
which is employed in every corner of the world.
It moves very slowly. Note that with its apparance, head and bodyit
resembles a camel. It steadily drills oil with dead slow, weighty
movements.
Our Prophet (saas) has provided a detailed description of the End
Times, certainly one of themost important periods inworld history. He
described the social, political and economic developments that will
take place, the natural events, people's appearances, their moral
values and the technological advances of the age. One of the reports
by Rasulullah (saas) regarding the End Times concerns the oil wells in
the Middle East:
Abu Ya'lâ and Imam Ahmed relate the following hadith: "A fire will
emerge from Habs-u Sayl (al-Huseyni) and will move slowly, like the
gait of a camel..."
The Musnad al-Firdawsrelates from Umar (r.a.): "The Day of Reckoning
will not come until a fire that will illuminate the necks of the
camels in Basra emerges from one of the valleys of Hejaz!" (Portents
of Doomsday, Muhammed b. Rasul al-Husaynî al-Barzanjî, p. 85)
The hadith refers to Hejaz and Basra, and speaks of afire that will
illuminate camels' necks and move very slowly
The mechanical arms of the drills used in oil wells look exactly like
the necksof camels, and one featureof these machines is that they move
very slowly and constantly produce oil.
We are all familiar with the flames that emerge from oil wells.
Those flames illuminate the machines in question, just as described in
the hadith.
In another hadith on the same subject our Prophet (saas) refers to
Hejaz and Basra: :->