5 minutes

I'm fasting

Dr..

Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Haddad

08 April 2022

Our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, guided us to protect our fasting by saying: “Fasting is a shield, so it is not indecent or ignorant, and if a person kills him or insults him, let him say: I fast twice.”

The phrase “I am fasting” has great meanings, as it is like an identification card that a person carries in his chest to know who he is, so he is treated as a devotee to his Lord, so he is helped, not insulted by word or deed.

“I am fasting” means: I am observing my Lord, Glory be to Him, in this worship, and He did not incapacitate me from it by illness, old age or travel, and it is the most beloved worship to Him, Glory be to Him, so He singled it out for itself. Of fidelity and observation.

“I am fasting” means: I treat others who are ignorant of me with patience, forbearance and forgiveness, so I do not match him in what he says or does. Rather, I have mercy on him and bemoan him: How is he wasting his fast loudly, let alone insults and bad words?!

Our Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, guided us that one of the requirements of fasting is to protect it from idle talk and obscenity, and not only from eating and drinking, for fasting from eating and drinking may be a diet or starvation, and that true fasting is one in which the tongue is protected from backbiting, gossip, lies and false speech.

“I am fasting” means: I do not conceal the matter of my fasting as I conceal the matter of my charity. Rather, I speak it out loud so that others may know that not keeping up with him in what he says and does is not good is not due to impotence, but rather because I am watching over my Lord who has guided me to this honor, so I do not waste it for a satanic impulse, and I hold myself accountable so I will not be victorious. For her to fulfill her desire for healing, which may be followed by persistence, and the result of which will be negation, and to inform him that his behavior is devoid of divine control and psychological accountability that led him to follow whims and Satan who are keen to mislead a person and deprive him of the virtue of this great worship.

“I am fasting” means: I perceive the best functions of fasting in safeguarding my limbs from what does not satisfy the Lord of the wilderness. Just as I protect my tongue from quarrels, lies, backbiting and gossip, so do I protect my eyes from taboos, and I protect my heart from envy, cheating and betrayal.

Because I know that I am responsible for that, and that nothing is hidden from God.

“I am fasting” means: I am striving for the purpose for which fasting has been legislated, which is to reach the level of piety, which is the best provision for the Day of Resurrection, and whose fruits will be gardens and rivers prepared for the righteous. Those who are (in a contented life, in a lofty garden whose plucking is low), and it is said to them: {Eat and drink blissfully with the above.}

“I am fasting” means: I anticipate good deeds, and compete in obedience, because I know that this month has an advantage over others in every good I do. Our lives, and a guide for us to that which is more upright than beliefs, laws and acts of worship, and getting closer to God Almighty in it by giving alms equals the obligatory prayers at all times, and breaking the fast of fasting people earns like their reward, and being generous in it is following the example of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who was the most generous in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him and taught him the Qur’an It is better than the wind sent.

O God, make us fasting for you, for you standing, for you hidden, and accept that from us, O Most Merciful of the merciful.

* "The Chief Mufti, Director of the Ifta Department in Dubai"

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