Faith, Fasting, And The Wisdom Of Divine Commandments

The Articles of Faith and the Call to Fast

And to say:

That I believe in the Articles of Faith — I believe in Allah and the Malā'ikah (Angels) and His Books and His Prophets, in the Last Day and Resurrection after Death, and that all good and bad is destined by Allah in Taqdeer.

The reason I just mentioned this point is because we were just emphasizing a moment ago that Allah is saying:

O those who believe! Fasting is prescribed upon you — He wasn't addressing all of mankind. So what happens to those who are not Mu'minoon? Fasting is not prescribed upon them — not yet, until they accept Islam.

And this is how Rasulullah ﷺ, when he sent the Sahaba رِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ أَجْمَعِينَ to different areas as ambassadors to give Da'wah, he gave them this instruction — this is the order and how you need to proceed. First invite people towards Allah. First invite people to believe in me as a Prophet of Allah. After they have accepted Islam, then one by one start giving them the commandments, تَدْرِيجًا تَدْرِيجًا — in stages, by stages.

You Are Not Alone — Nations Before You Fasted Too

In any case, Allah says كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ — fasting has been prescribed upon you. So this is an obligation. It is a Fard. The scholars of Tafsir say that sometimes if we feel it may be difficult — how are we going to be able to do this? — Allah breaks it down and says: No, you can. He says, look:

Just like it was prescribed upon people prior to you — meaning, if they were able to do it, you should be able to do it as well. You're not the first one who has been asked to do this. This is one interpretation of why Allah says كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ.

Someone may ask: What's the point of knowing what they were doing? Is it just a historical lesson — oh, they used to fast as well? No. The point could be multiple things. First, it is there to make it easier for you, to encourage you, that you are not being singled out. You're not the only ones who have to fast. People before you fasted as well.

And another very beautiful point — Ibn Kathir رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ mentions this — is that he brings another ayah, where Allah says:

For each nation, Allah has prescribed a different Shari'ah and different rules and ways of worshipping Him. If Allah had wanted, He could have made the entire human race one Ummah from the beginning — such that all of the injunctions and rulings would be exactly the same from the time of Adam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام to the last human being. But that is not what Allah did. He sent multiple prophets; they had a common core — believing in the oneness of Allah, Tawhid, Risalah, and Akhirah. But then the rulings, the fiqh, the injunctions, the commandments and prohibitions were changing over time and were appropriate to each Ummah.

Allah says He could have made one Ummah, وَلَٰكِن لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَا آتَاكُمْ — but Allah is testing every nation based on their own conditions, what He has given them. And then He says at the end: فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ — so compete with one another in doing good.

The Spirit of Competition in Good Deeds

So Ibn Kathir رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ takes this ayah and applies it here. He says SubhanAllah — when Allah brings the commandment of fasting, He says: Look, this is not something just for you. كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ — previous nations also had to fast. So their fast and your fast — now it's up to you if you want to compete and see, to present to Allah, whose fast is going to be the better one, the best one, the most worthy of acceptance. Is it going to be your fast or their fast? They're also fasting. They're in the same category as you, the same bracket. Now you have to try to make your fast the better one, the one most acceptable to Allah.

So we have this spirit of competition within us — Allah has put it within us. The question is, where are we utilizing this spirit of competition? Are we utilizing it in worldly pursuits — that I want to earn more than someone else, I want to spend more, I want to have a more luxurious life than the next person? Or are we utilizing this spirit of competition in good deeds?

Allah describes Jannah and its blessings, and then He says:

In these blessings of Jannah, in the blessings of acquiring the pleasure of Allah — those who want to compete, who have the desire to compete, then let them compete in this.

Allah also says:

سَابِقُوا means compete with one another. Compete with one another to see who can acquire the Maghfirah and forgiveness from your Lord — and the Jannah, the width of which, not the length but the width, the shorter dimension is that between the heavens and the earth.

The Adhan as a Complete Form of Da'wah

Allah always mentions with the commandments what the virtues are — what are you going to get. Just like in the Adhan, which is a Da'wah al-Tammah — a complete form of Da'wah. Allah taught Nabi ﷺ this du'a that we recite after the Adhan:

O Allah, You are the Lord of this complete form of Da'wah. And You are also the Lord of the Salah that will be established shortly afterwards. Grant Nabi ﷺ the high level of Waseelah and the great virtue on the Day of Judgment. And grant him the Maqam al-Mahmood — where he will be worthy of praise on the Day of Judgment — the one that You have promised him. O Allah, You never fail to fulfill Your promises; You shall fulfill Your promise.

The Adhan is known as Da'wat al-Tammah — it is a complete form of Ibadah. And it begins with declaring the greatness of Allah: اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ. Once the greatness of Allah enters the heart, then the greatness of His commands will enter the heart. The value of a command is proportionate to the greatness of the one who is issuing forth the command. So depending on the position of who is asking — that is how important the command is.

اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ — He is the greatest. If He is the greatest, then His command is the greatest. And then we testify to His oneness: لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ, أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ.

When the call to action is حَيَّ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ — come to Salah — and along with it is a virtue: حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ — come to Salah, why? Because it is a means of success. Success in this Dunya, success in the Qabr, success in the Hashr, success in the Akhirah — not just until the end of the Day of Judgment, but beyond it, أَبَدًا أَبَدًا — forever and ever. It is Falah Abadi — eternal success. So there is a command and then there is a virtue to motivate us.

Taqwa — The Goal of Fasting

Likewise, Allah says: fasting has been prescribed upon you, it was the same upon the nations prior to you — and then, what's in it for me? Allah says:

So that you can attain Taqwa. And why do I need to attain Taqwa? How does that help me? Because:

The best ending and the best outcome is for those who have Taqwa. And Taqwa means to develop God-consciousness, awareness of Allah. Many times it is translated as fear of Allah, but that sometimes gives a negative connotation — that you want us to be afraid, to shiver. The Deen is not there to threaten us. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ — fear of Allah does not mean the way you fear a tyrant or oppressor, or someone who will hurt or harm you. Rather, it means fear of displeasing Allah. Fear of losing the grace of Allah. And fear of accountability — that Allah is bestowing so many blessings upon us day and night, head to toe, birth to death. We are immersed in the blessings of Allah, and yet we are using these blessings in disobeying Him. How are we going to face Allah? How are we going to face Rasulullah ﷺ? That is the fear. And that fear is cultivated through fasting.

Allah Is Ever-Watchful — The Foundation of Taqwa

One very simple way to understand this: there is the concept that Allah is watching us at all times. And that concept is now further reinforced through fasting. Just like you learn a lesson in class — this is chemistry, this is biology — and then you implement it and practice it in the lab. When you do the experiment, what you learned becomes more ingrained. Likewise, there is a concept: Allah is watching us at all times.

Verily, your Lord is ever watchful over you. Mirsad is like the hunter who is very closely watching his prey and finding the right opportunity to strike. So this is how Allah is watching us. And SubhanAllah, wherever we are, He is with us:

Whenever there are three, He is the fourth. Whenever there are five, He is the sixth. Neither less nor more — He is always there. Whenever there's a meeting — whether you include it on the record or not — Allah is always present. And not only is He present, beyond that, Allah says: wherever they are, He is with them. Then He is also recording the minutes of who said what, and He will replay that on the Day of Judgment. He will inform everyone of exactly what they did.

So He is سَمِيعٌ لِأَقْوَالِكُمْ and He is عَلِيمٌ بِأَعْمَالِكُمْ — He is hearing what you're saying, He is watching what you're doing.

If you have a secret, He knows it. And beyond the secret — what you haven't told anyone, what is concealed in your heart — He knows it. عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ — He knows what the hearts conceal.

Having this reality and being aware of it — this حَقِيقَة — is called Taqwa. One is the concept of it, and one is the practice. How it becomes a practice is that we have these physical needs of eating and drinking throughout the day. Many times we may reach for water or have a desire, and there is no one around — but any Muslim who is fasting, even a weak Muslim, will stop. His body is urging him to do something, but he is stopping. And who is there to see? None other than Allah. So he is actively reminding himself: I want to eat or drink, but I'm not going to, because I made a commitment — to Allah. Is He watching? Yes, He is actually watching.

So you go through that mental exercise, consciously or subconsciously, at all times, until it becomes ingrained — that SubhanAllah, He is not only watching me during Ramadan and then, na'udhu billah, sleeps afterward:

Neither sleep nor slumber overtakes Allah. He is ever watchful. And once we develop that ability within Ramadan, we take this quality outside of Ramadan. To avoid the disobedience of Allah in Ramadan is a practice that will, insha'Allah, extend to outside Ramadan. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ.

Ayyamun Ma'doodat — A Countable Few Days

And if you are still wondering how in the world you are going to do it, then Allah continues by saying: أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ. He does not say 30 days or 29 days — He could have, it's not hard to say that — but rather He says مَّعْدُودَاتٍ. It's a few days, you can just count them. So this is to show us it's not too much. You can do it — it's only a few days that can be counted.

Allowances for the Sick and the Traveler

Allah then says: if somebody has excuses — the ayah further goes on:

If somebody is actually sick and is not able to fast, or they are traveling, then relax — Allah does not want to put difficulty upon you. As He mentions afterward in the same context:

Allah intends ease for you; He does not intend difficulty for you. So whoever is sick, or is traveling, can make it up later. If someone says: how am I going to make it up later? Because I have a terminal illness — juvenile diabetes, I'm on an insulin pump, there is no cure for it right now — then Allah says: وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ. If you don't have the ability now, nor is there a chance for you to make it up later — terminally sick — then you can give monetary compensation as well.

The Action Item: Muhasabah — Self-Accountability

So may Allah allow us to gain the benefit of the fast of Ramadan. The action item for all of us is that we need to introspect and see: how many days have we been fasting, and has there been an increase in our Taqwa or not? Everyone must make their own Muhasabah. Do we find that our God-consciousness, our awareness of Allah, has increased? Or has it not increased? If it has increased, say Alhamdulillah and thank Allah for His Tawfiq, and ask to increase it further. If it has not increased, we need to figure out what is going wrong.

Astaghfirullah. Because the Qur'an cannot be incorrect. The Qur'an said fasting will increase Taqwa. So there is a problem in how we are fasting — in the external or internal dimension, in the zahir or the batin, there is some problem. Because the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1690; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

Many people are fasting, and the only thing they get is hunger and thirst — no benefit. So are we in that category? Because there is لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ from the Qur'an, but there is also إِلَّا الْجُوعُ وَالْعَطَشُ — only hunger and thirst — from the hadith. So where are we on the spectrum? It goes all the way from: fasting will get you Taqwa — to: fasting will only get you hunger and thirst. We have to check ourselves. Are we just getting hunger and thirst, or are we actually developing Taqwa?

We can judge ourselves today, because tomorrow Allah will also ask us the same thing:

Read your own book. You yourself can judge where you deserve to go. So before Allah judges us on that Day, let us begin to judge ourselves today. As the saying goes:

(Attributed to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, reported in Musnad Ahmad and other collections)

Judge yourself, take account of yourself today, before Allah takes you to account on the Day of Judgment. May Allah make us among the Muttaqeen.

Just as Ramadan is a great opportunity to gain, it is also a great chance of extreme loss. Because there are rewards on one side, and also — whoever is deprived is truly deprived, truly a mahroom. So we have to ensure we are not among the mahroomeen — the deprived — but among the marhoumeen — those who receive the Rahma. Marhoom, not mahroom. May Allah grant us His Rahma in this month.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ