عربي
Home


Articles

Articles

Fasting and Curbing of Desires
Author : Dr. Hassan Abu_Arqoub
Date Added : 20-12-2022

Fasting and Curbing of Desires

 

The blessed month of Ramadan is an annual school that opens for thirty days to teach the believers how to curb desires and graduate holding the certificate of piety and righteousness.

The term "Curbing Desires" refers to the steering of instincts and desires according to the teachings of Sharia and controlling them by the Muslim.

One who is able to control his/her desires during daytime hours is able to control them for the rest of the day. Fasting is a training course that aims to achieve the meaning of humanity where the wisdom of mind and Sharia prevail over desires and instincts.

Fasting isn`t a form of torture; rather, it is intended to curb human instincts because when a human controls his/her instincts, he/she becomes human, but when they control him/her, he/she descends to the level of animals.

This is to weaken man`s power in order not to go too wild with his/her desires and instincts. Narrated 'Alqama: While I was walking with `Abdullah he said, "We were in the company of the Prophet (PBUH) and he said, 'He who can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him refrain from looking at other women, and save his private parts from committing illegal sexual relation; and he who cannot afford to marry is advised to fast, as fasting will diminish his sexual power." {Transmitted by Bukhari}. In other words, fasting diminishes sexual power.

In addition, the Messenger of Allah said: "Fasting is a shield." {Transmitted by Nasa`i}. In other words, fasting screens a Muslim from Hell.

Amongst the objectives of fasting are reducing the desire for food, drink, and women. This is in order not to get attached to the blessings and go astray as a result, but to get attached to the One bestowing them. The only method to curb desire is patience. “The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) counted them out in my hand” - or - “in his hand: ‘At-Tasbīḥ is half of the Scale, and “All praise is due to Allah (Al-Ḥamdulillāh)” fills it, and At-Takbīr (Allāhu Akbar) fills what is between the sky and the earth, and fasting is half of patience, and purification is half of faith.” {Transmitted by Tirmithi}. Fasting is half of patience because it entails endurance to perform this act of obedience (Fasting) and not committing sin (Breaking obligatory fasting). What is left is patience at times of calamity. Taking the narration where it was stated that patience is half of the faith, then fasting is quarter of the faith.

Allah wanted to curb our desires because indulgence in desires-even the lawful ones-could cause a person to fall into forbidden desires. Anas b. Malik reported: "The Paradise is surrounded by hardships and the Hell-Fire is surrounded by temptations." {Transmitted by Muslim}. The desire for food, drink, and enjoying women exists in every man and is allowed throughout the year except during the holy month of Ramadan. This is meant to achieve the following:

First: Teaching a Muslim that desires are a means not an end since food and drink are a means to preserve life and enjoying women is a means to preserve offspring. Accordingly, a Muslim shouldn`t dwell on the means leaving the ends. 

Second: Reminding a Muslim to abstain from lawful things and blessings during the daytime of Ramadan, following the command of Allah in this regard. 

Third: Strengthening the role of self-monitoring because abstaining from food and drink during the daytime of Ramadan, although able to eat and drink in private, makes a Muslim fear none but Allah, and he/she should remain conscious of this for the rest of the year.

Fourth: Hunger and thirst make a Muslim appreciate Allah`s blessings, so he/she shows gratitude when he/she needs them and doesn`t employ them in disobeying Allah. This is because gratitude is not to disobey Allah using His blessings.

Fifth: Fasting makes a Muslim remember his fellow Muslims who are deprived from food and drink or those who can`t afford marriage expenses, so he/she comforts them with supplication, at minimum. And all perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.

 

 

 

Article Number [ Previous | Next ]

Read for Author




Comments


Captcha


Warning: this window is not dedicated to receive religious questions, but to comment on topics published for the benefit of the site administrators—and not for publication. We are pleased to receive religious questions in the section "Send Your Question". So we apologize to readers for not answering any questions through this window of "Comments" for the sake of work organization. Thank you.




Summarized Fatawaa

 
What is the ruling on someone who eats or drinks while uncertain about the arrival of dawn, then later finds out that dawn had not yet broken?

If a person does this, their fast remains valid, as it is confirmed that they ate during the night. Similarly, if someone eats while uncertain and remains unsure whether they ate before or after dawn, their fast is still valid. This is based on the maxim of Sharia Law, which states: "Certainty is not removed by doubt." Certainty, here, is the presence of night, and the doubt concerns the arrival of dawn. Therefore, one relies on certainty and disregards doubt.

What is the ruling on eating from one`s Udhiyah?

In the Name of Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
The Udhiyah (sacrificial offering) is divided into two categories: the vowed sacrifice (Al-Mandhurah) and the voluntary sacrifice (Al-Tatawwu').
 
First: The Vowed Sacrifice (Al-Mandhurah)
This refers to a sacrifice that has become strictly obligatory due to a formal vow (Nadr). It is completely impermissible for the person offering it, or any members of their family whom they are financially obligated to maintain, to eat any of its meat or fat. Furthermore, it is unlawful for them to personally benefit from its hide, wool, or any other part of it. If they happen to eat any portion of it, the offerer is legally obligated to give an equivalent amount of meat or its monetary value to charity. (As noted in Tuhfat al-Muhtaj by Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami,Vol. 9/P.364).
 
Second: The Voluntary Sacrifice (Al-Tatawwu’)
This is a recommended, non-obligatory sacrifice. The person offering it is fully permitted to eat from its meat, distribute portions as charity to the poor, and give pieces as gifts to those who are well-off. However, it remains a mandatory requirement to donate at least a minor portion of it to charity; this should not be less than approximately half a kilogram of raw, uncooked meat. And Allah the Almighty Knows Best.

What is the ruling on forgetting an integral of the prayer?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Whoever forgets an integral (Rukn) of the prayer and remembers it before reaching the equivalent point in the subsequent unit (Rak'ah), must return to it (i.e., perform it) and complete his prayer, then perform the prostration of forgetfulness (Sujud al-Sahw) at the end of his prayer. However, if he remembers it after reaching the equivalent point in the subsequent unit, the Rak'ah in which the integral was forgotten is invalidated, and the current unit takes its place; he then completes a full Rak'ah to compensate and performs the prostration of forgetfulness.
 
It is stated in Nihayat al-Muhtaj ila Sharh al-Minhaj (Vol.1/P.543): 'If he becomes certain at the end of his prayer, or after the Salam—provided the interval is not long according to custom and he has not stepped on an impurity—that he omitted a prostration from the final Rak'ah, he must perform it and repeat the Tashahhud, as his previous Tashahhud occurred before its proper place. If the omission was from a Rak'ah other than the final one, he must perform a full Rak'ah, because the deficient unit was completed by a prostration from the subsequent one, rendering the rest of that subsequent unit void.' And Allah the Exalted knows best.

What is the ruling on the prayer of one who said "Subḥāna Rabbiya al-ʿAẓīm" in prostration (*sujūd*) and forgot to correct it?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
Saying “Subḥāna Rabbiya al-ʿAẓīm” in bowing (rukūʿ) and “Subḥāna Rabbiya al-Aʿlā” in prostration (sujūd) is one of the hayʾāt (non-essential sunnahs) of the prayer. Whoever omits it, whether deliberately or by forgetfulness, or replaces it with another remembrance (dhikr), his prayer is valid and he does not perform sujūd al-sahw. Shaykh al-Islām Imam al-Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Our school holds that one does not prostrate for omitting the audible or silent recitation, the tasbīḥ, and the rest of the hayʾāt.” [al-Majmūʿ, Vol.4/p.127]
If he performs sujūd al-sahw for something that does not call for it, his prayer is invalidated, because he introduced a prostration of forgetfulness without a cause, and he must repeat the prayer. The exception is one who did so out of forgetfulness or ignorance, whether because he recently entered Islam or because he lives far from scholars; he is excused and his prayer is not invalidated.
It is stated in Mughni al-Muḥtāj (Vol.1/p.417): “It is stated in al-Anwār: If he does something that does not call for sujūd al-sahw, thinking that it does, and then prostrates, his prayer is not invalidated if he is ignorant because he recently entered Islam or because he is far from scholars.”
Since this issue is hidden from the laity, as it is among the subtleties of knowledge, and the laity are excused for ignorance of whatever is of such a nature, and their act of obedience is not invalidated because of it, it may be said that the prayer of one who has not acquired knowledge of the issue is not invalidated. As for after knowing it, the prayer is invalidated.
Whoever realizes while still in the prayer that his prostration was out of place, it is sunnah for him to perform sujūd al-sahw. And Allah Almighty knows best.

See More