And whoso performs a good work with willing obedience, it is better for him. And fasting is good for you, if you only knew. Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2, verse 185
Allah has informed us that the main purpose of fasting is to attain righteousness. It is not just giving up food and drink but striving to purify ourselves.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said:
Allah, the Lord of honour and glory says:
‘All other deeds of man are for himself, but his fasting is purely for Me and I shall reward him for it. The fast is a shield. When any of you is fasting, he should abstain from bad language nor should he abuse anyone. And if someone abuses him or quarrels with him, he should only say. ‘I am fasting.’
It is a very beautiful hadith (saying) which informs us that fasting actually becomes a shield for the believer. Just as a shield protects us from danger, likewise, so does the fasting. It means that as we are doing the fast purely for the sake of Allah, seeking His reward, then that will in turn help us to keep away any bad actions and thoughts. Not only that, but if someone wants to do something bad to us or abuse us, then again, we are told to keep control and avoid such things and inform them that ‘I am fasting’.
In this way, whatever we are doing, we still should be constantly thinking about Allah, striving to please Him, hoping for that reward from Him.
This is the shield that we are holding up to protect us against evil.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has also informed us:
When a servant of Allah observes the fast for a day for the sake of Allah, He thereby repels the Fire from him a distance of seventy years of journeying.
Again, we should ponder over this. Even in the Holy Prophet’s time, on his donkey, you can imagine how far he would have been able to travel if he was constantly travelling for 70 years? These days, with the modern transport then that will become a ridiculous huge distance. But we are told in this hadith that through fasting that is the sort of distance away from the Hellfire and so it is a great shield to protect yourself from the hellfire.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has also informed us:
When Ramadhan arrives the gates of Paradise are opened, and the gates of hell are locked up and satans are put in chains
This hadith again explains how the fast becomes a shield for us against evil conduct. So much so that the gates of Paradise are opened for us, due to our fasting. It means that as we are striving to please Allah, Allah loves this and through our fasting and good conduct, we can get closer to Allah.
On the other hand, the gates of hell are locked up and the satans are chained. This means that through fasting, as we are trying to purify ourselves, then the influence of satan, of bad thoughts, of bad actions, will be shielded from us and it is as if the gates of hell are locked up and the satans, the bad influences and chained and cannot have any effect on us. What a wonderful condition, fasting puts us in.
In another hadith the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said:
There is a gate of Paradise called Rayyan though which only those will enter on the Day of Judgement who are regular in observing the fast and no one else.
A call will go forth: ‘Where are those who observe the fast regularly, and they will step forth and no one beside him will enter through the gate. After they have entered the gate will be closed and no one else will enter thereby.
What wonderful news has been conveyed here. That there is a special gate only for those who have fasted. That shows the important of striving to attain this great blessing. As it is through fasting and purifying ourselves, that we can enter this gate. So, we should understand, it is not just because we did not eat or drink,
that is only part of it, it is more to the fact that you have given up the food and drink for Allah’s sake, seeking His reward.
Sometimes we do not have a choice and we have no food or drink to have, due to our condition, so it isn’t just not eating or drinking, but that a person who fasts, for Allah’s sake, will also strive to purify himself and Allah will shield him from all evil conduct. As he is not doing evil conduct, that is what is bringing him to paradise.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said that:
If a person does not abstain from lying and bad conduct, Allah has no need that he should abstain from food and drink.
Again, it is very clear from this hadith that it is not about giving up food and drink, this is not the real purpose of fasting. It is about purifying yourself, making sure you are not doing or saying anything bad. If you do, then Allah will not accept the fast and so we are not achieving anything, likewise, if a Muslim fasts for the whole month and then reverts back to doing bad things then what has he achieved?
Finally, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, may peace be upon him, has said:
The purpose of fasting is not merely to go without food. He who observes fast should also keep himself busy in the remembrance of Allah so that he may detach himself from the world and come closer to Allah.
Fasting means giving up the food which nourishes the body and to acquire the one that brings peace and contentment to the soul. Those who observe fast for the sake of Allah should always busy themselves with His remembrance so that they may partake of this spiritual nourishment as well. This is the objective of fasting which brings a person nearer to Allah and grants him Taqwa.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth successor of the Promised Messiah, has said:
The most honourable in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous. God Almighty draws near to His sincere servants during the month of Ramadhan, therefore one should strive to obtain as much of Divine mercy as possible during this blessed month. Righteous acts performed for the sake of God during the month of Ramadhan bear greater reward as compared to the pious acts performed in other months. Therefore, rise up and adorn your worship and good deeds by making further sacrifices for the sake of Allah.
During the fast we try to ensure that we are doing nothing to cause Allah’s displeasure. One of the greatest dangers of this present time is backbiting, slander, telling lies and vain talk. Sadly, due to the influence of TV, these habits are becoming more and more common. This is a very good time to cleanse you of these weaknesses. It is so common now to watch on TV of people gossiping, putting down others, telling lies, which we get used to it and the danger is that we start accepting it as the norm and then start doing the same thing ourselves.
Backbiting and putting down people in authority can have a terrible effect, so during this blessed month, we should constantly watch what we are saying and make sure that we are not doing any of these things.