عربي
Home


Articles

Articles

The Fasting Person and the Love of Allah
Author : Dr. Mufti Sa`eid Farhan
Date Added : 31-01-2024

The Fasting Person and the Love of Allah

 

Ramadan, the month of fasting, is considered the master of months, and its nights are among the best nights of the year. Allah, in His wisdom, has distinguished Ramadan with divine virtues and blessings that are evident to everyone. In Ramadan, there is the Night of Qadr (Laylat al-Qadr), known as the Night of Power, which is the night the Quran was revealed. Additionally, Ramadan is the month of fasting, one of the pillars of Islam. It is a month of piety, blessing, and mercy, among other virtues highlighted by the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): "The master of the months is Ramadan." (Narrated by Al-Bayhaqi).

 

Just as Allah, the Most High, has distinguished Ramadan with divine blessings, the fasting person also receives additional heavenly gifts. The fasting individual is granted the honor of entering through the gate of Ar-Rayyan on the Day of Judgment, a privilege exclusive to them. Furthermore, their breath is described as more pleasant to Allah than the fragrance of musk. The fasting person is rewarded by Allah, the Almighty, for their fasting with abundant grace and blessings as He wills.

 

The greatest divine gift to the fasting person remains the love of Allah Almighty. The fasting person engages in an act of worship that is not observed by others as he refrains from consuming food and drink. This abstention makes him a vigilant guardian over himself, holding himself accountable. He worships Allah as if He sees him, embodying the concept of excellence (ihsan). The Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him, defined ihsan in a well-known hadith: "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you." (Reported by Al-Bukhari). As a result, the fasting person enters into a state of goodness, in line with the Quranic statement: "Indeed, Allah loves the doers of good" (Al-Baqarah: 195).

 

The fasting person is patient in enduring the hardship of fasting, leaving food and drink for the sake of Allah and exercising patience in doing so. It was narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih that Sa'id bin al-Musayyib reported from Salman that the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) addressed the people on the last day of Sha'ban and said: "O people, a great month has approached you, a blessed month. In it, there is a night that is better than a thousand months. Allah has made fasting in it obligatory, and standing (in prayer) at night voluntary. Whoever draws near to Allah with a good deed in it will be like one who performs an obligatory act in any other time. Whoever performs an obligatory act in it will be like one who performs seventy obligatory acts in any other time. It is the month of patience, and the reward for patience is Paradise" (Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah).

Abu Hatim said, "The gratitude of the one who provides for the fasting person is to feed the Muslim and then not to disobey his Creator, strengthen him, and complete his gratitude by performing acts of obedience with his limbs. This is because the fasting person associates patience with his act of avoiding prohibitions. Similarly, the one providing for him should show gratitude that approximates or matches this patience. It is the act of refraining from prohibitions" [Sahih Ibn Hibban (Vol. 2/P. 18)].

 

The fasting person thus embodies the saying of Allah, the Most High: "And Allah loves the patient" [Al-Emran, 146].

 

The ultimate goal of fasting is to attain Taqwa (piety), as mentioned by Allah in the Quran: "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous (achieve Taqwa)" [Al-Baqarah, 183].

 

As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stated: "(Fasting is a shield)" [Reported by An-Nasai and others]. The meaning of fasting being a shield is that it protects the worshiper from indecency, sins, and wrongdoing. All of these aspects are encompassed in the concept of Taqwa (piety), which requires the worshiper to establish a shield between themselves and the disobedience of Allah. The result is the entry of the fasting person into the category of those whom Allah loves, as mentioned in the verse: "Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves" [At-Tawbah, 222].

 

Indeed, fasting serves not only to purify the body for worship but also purifies the heart from grudges, envy, and all forms of sins. Through fasting, a person elevates themselves above responding to insults and wrongs with anything other than, "I am a person who is fasting." This spiritual purification of the soul undoubtedly leads to the fulfillment of Allah's love, as mentioned in the verse: "And Allah loves those who purify themselves" [At-Tawbah, 108].

 

The ultimate outcome for the fasting person is to attain the love of Allah, the Most Mighty and Majestic. This is the pinnacle of success, as there is no greater achievement for a Muslim. By fasting during these designated days, one fulfills their utmost hopes and aspirations. When Allah, in His sublime love, is on your side, is there anything that can harm you thereafter?

 

In conclusion, this is just a brief overview of the virtues of the month of the Quran, Ramadan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

A group of about thirty young men will go to a farm on Friday. Is it permissible for one of us to deliver the sermon (*khuṭbah*) and lead us in the Friday prayer, or is it necessary to go to the nearest mosque?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The Friday prayer (Jumuʿah) is not obligatory upon a traveler, whether his journey is long or short, if he leaves his place of residence before the time of Fajr begins, according to the Shāfiʿī school. If, however, he sets out on his journey after the Fajr adhān, then he is obliged to perform the Friday prayer, whether in his own town or in any town where the Friday prayer is held.
It is stated in Bushrā al-Karīm (Vol.1/p.383), one of the books of the Shāfiʿī school: “[The Friday prayer] is not obligatory upon a traveler on a permissible journey, whether long or short, if he departs from his place of residence before dawn.” End quote.
Accordingly, if you set out on your journey after Fajr, you are obliged to perform the Friday prayer in the mosque. The same applies if you set out after that, since you would not have fulfilled the conditions for the validity of the Friday prayer, among them: that it be attended by forty men who are free, adult (bāligh), sane, and settled residents of the place where Friday is held. It must be held within a cluster of connected buildings, whether a city, a village, or a district (liwāʾ), for what counts is the gathering of the buildings. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the expiation for perjury?

One who commits perjury should repent, seek Allah`s forgiveness and offer an expiation which is: feeding ten indigent persons, or clothing them, or giving a slave his freedom, but if that is beyond his means then, he should fast for three days. Allah, The Almighty, Says in this regard (What means): "Allah will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but He will call you to account for your deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed ten indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. If that is beyond your means, fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths ye have sworn. But keep to your oaths. Thus doth Allah make clear to you His signs, that ye may be grateful." [Al-Ma`idah/89].

What is the ruling on waiving a debt owed by a debtor and counting it toward zakāh?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Waiving a debt owed by a debtor, with the intention of counting it toward zakāh, does not fulfill the zakāh obligation. Rather, it constitutes an ordinary act of charity, for which Allah rewards the giver generously — since one of the conditions for the validity of zakāh is that the person paying it must form the intention of zakāh at the actual moment the wealth is paid out. In this case, the debt has already been established as a standing obligation upon the borrower, so it is not valid to simply redirect the intention toward zakāh after the fact.
It is preferable, instead, for the creditor to first collect the debt from the debtor, and then return to him the amount of money he is required to pay as zakāh — or a portion of it — if the debtor happens to fall under one of the eight categories that Allah, the Exalted, has commanded be given from zakāh.
It is stated in ‘Umdat as-Sālik, from the books of the Shāfi‘ī school: "If someone gives [money] to a poor person, stipulating that the recipient return it to him in payment of a debt owed to him, or says, 'I am making what you owe me into zakāh, so take it [as such]' — this is not valid. But if he gives it to him with the [unstated] intention that the recipient will use it to repay him, or says, 'Repay what you owe me, so that I may [then separately] give it to you as zakāh,' or the debtor himself says, 'Give it to me, so that I may [then] repay you with it' — this is valid, and there is no binding obligation for the recipient to actually fulfill this [informal understanding]." 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