Fasting's True Purpose: Achieving Taqwa Through Obedience to Allah

The Purpose of Fasting: Taqwa and Servitude to Allah

Allah is reminding us that the ultimate objective and our purpose is taqwa. And Allah mentions previously that He has sent insan to this earth so that we may recognize who He is — that we may worship Him to our best capacity, to our best capability.

And so, when we look at the definition of sawm, which in Arabic means to abstain from certain acts such as eating, drinking, and other different acts for a limited amount of time, we realize within this definition that there is some type of power above us that is obligating this upon us. For example, food — rizq — is rizq from Allah. It's something that is beneficial, and not only beneficial, it's a necessity for life. For insan, in order for him to be strong in ibadah, to be strong in work, he must have this sustenance, he must have this food.

The same thing applies to water. Allah mentions that He has created everything — made everything with life — from water. So these are all beneficial, necessary components for us as insan to live our day-to-day life.

But yet, we are abstaining from these for a short amount of time — reminding us that at the end of the day, Allah is the one that decides what is halal for us. Allah is the supreme legislator. Allah is in control. If He deems something to be permissible, then it is permissible. Even if it makes sense to us, even if it doesn't make sense to us, even if it's something beneficial for us or something harmful for us — if Allah says it's lawful for us, then it's lawful for us. If Allah says it's impermissible for us, then it is impermissible for us.

So this is the key takeaway from fasting: that we are abstaining from certain permissible and necessary beneficial components for us, for the pleasure and obedience of Allah. In fasting, when we refrain and abstain from these, we are showing our servitude — the pinnacle of our servitude — to Allah.

The Sanctity of Time and the Blessing of Ramadan

Mufti Taqi Usmani mentions in his book, where he talks about the different months, that every single day, Allah has created time. He takes oath upon time. This is the greatest asset, the greatest tool that we can have as human beings to get closer to Allah.

Every single day is an opportunity for us to worship Allah. Yet, certain months and certain days are more virtuous than other days. For example, we have the holy month of Ramadan, where every single action is multiplied.

He mentions that the fact that Allah makes certain months and certain days more holy than others is an indication to us — to people who reflect, people who have intellect — that Allah is the one in control of all these affairs. That Allah is the one in control of time. He can decree that this day will be more virtuous than another day.

Because if you look at it, every single day is meant to be a day of worship, of getting closer to Allah. Technically, it shouldn't be that one day is more virtuous than another — every single day is 24 hours. In those 24 hours, our objective is to reach Allah, to get closer to Allah, to have the ma'rifah of Allah. But the fact that Allah chooses certain days and certain months over others — this is a sign, this is showing us, insan, that we are completely in need of Him, that we are in complete servitude to Allah, and that Allah is the one in charge of all these different affairs.

And as we mentioned, Allah says that the objective of Ramadan is to seek taqwa — to reach this state of taqwa.

How to Make Our Fast Count

So how can we improve our fast so that we may gain this objective? The ulema mention that just as fasting purifies the physical body from different toxins, if fasting is done correctly, it will purify the heart. Because when a person fasts, there are certain actions that he abstains away from — it's not just food.

If a person really wants to make his fast count, because the Prophet ﷺ has said in a hadith: how many people are there who fast, but they gain nothing out of that fasting except for hunger? And how many people are there who stand up for qiyam and tahajjud, but they get nothing out of that qiyam except for slumber and tiredness?

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1690)

So if we want to make our fast count, then we want to work on purifying and rectifying our hearts.

The Three Stages of the Nafs

The nafs goes through three different stages. And the stage that we want is nafs al-mutma'innah — that this heart and soul is content with whatever Allah decrees for it, that this heart and soul is content, tranquil, and at peace with pleasing Allah. That's why, even though we're deprived of food, even though we're deprived of sleep, during this month of Ramadan we feel that spiritual lift. We feel that closeness to Allah. That is the objective and goal of Ramadan — that from those three different stages that our nafs constantly goes through, and the different battles that our nafs goes through, we elevate our nafs to that peaceful, tranquil soul: al-nafs al-mutma'innah.

There are two ways of reaching that stage. Number one is purifying the heart from all evils and all the sicknesses of the heart. And number two is by doing actions of the heart that strengthen it.

Diseases of the Heart and Their Cures

Focusing on number one: there are different evils and diseases of the heart that will make the heart heavy and hard, and turn it away from the dhikr of Allah — that will turn a person's heart away from a sound, saleem heart.

First Disease: Pride

Number one is having kibr — pride, boasting. And this is one of the most dangerous diseases of the heart. The cure for this is recognizing that everything is from Allah. So when we fast and abstain, and we talked about how Allah is the one making food halal and making drink halal and making certain things haram — when we recognize that, we see that everything is from Allah. So when we fast, we should not only be fasting of the body, but we should also enter this mindset — not just physical, but a mindset where we're recognizing that Allah is the one in complete control and we are in complete need of Him. Look at how weak we get without food, how tired, how hungry we get. It becomes a distraction — the only thing we're looking at is counting down the seconds on the clock, waiting for iftar. So in order to purify a person's heart from this pride, we must remember that we are completely in need of Allah.

Second Disease: Envy

The second disease of the heart is having hasad — envy — being jealous of our Muslim brothers: "Oh, they have this, they have that." When we're fasting, we're too hungry to focus on anyone else. We're too dedicated to our ibadah, to reciting Quran, to worry about what this person has of the dunya. That stuff shouldn't cross our minds.

And secondly, there is the trap of social media — we get to see everyone posting this and that. So while we're fasting, we should stay away from social media as much as possible. Insha'Allah, this will help cure that disease from us.

Third Disease: Hatred Towards Others

The last one is having a hatred towards others. This is another disease of the heart. There are so many different diseases of the heart that we can focus on, but the time is very short. During the month of Ramadan, we're encouraged to do good deeds — and that is the cure for this disease. Go ahead and invite someone that you might not have gotten along with, someone who has broken off ties with you — invite them over for iftar and see the bonds being rebuilt.

May Allah make this Ramadan a very beneficial one for us, and allow us to take benefit and really embody this fasting within us — not just physically, but in this entire mindset.

Announcements

Just a quick announcement before we stand up to perform our sunnah. Whoever has the intention to perform the janazah salah, they are kindly requested to go to the gymnasium — this will facilitate things. We're expecting a big crowd, so this will help with congestion. So if now, before stepping up to perform our sunnah, you can head over to the gymnasium — that is where the janazah salah will take place. Insha'Allah. Jazakum Allah khair.

Just a quick announcement before the adhan is called. Please stand up and move forward, do not leave gaps, and make space for others. There is a lot of room inside the musallah and we're expecting more people to come in, so please make as much space as you can.

Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. Please do not park on the curbs behind the seminary building or on the Swift Highway. We have additional parking spaces in the newly purchased car lot, so do not park on the curbs.

Please take note of the Jumu'ah salah timing that will change starting next Friday, March 17th. The Jumu'ah salah will be as follows: 1:00 p.m. will be the English bayan, 1:30 p.m. the iqamah will start. The second Jumu'ah English talk starts at 2:10 p.m., and then 2:40 p.m. will be the iqamah.

Please note that people can go ahead and buy dates out in the lobby — there will be people there selling dates.

We have a special event on Monday, March 13th after Maghrib — a meet and greet with former Pakistani cricketer Saeed Anwar. He will be giving a bayan in Urdu. The community is welcome to come and meet and greet him insha'Allah. This will be March 13th after Maghrib.

Monthly seminar: The Fiqh of Fasting — the rulings, advice, and Q&A in order to make the most of Ramadan. This will be conducted by Mufti Pasha from the Darul Islam Seminary, Friday, March 17th after Maghrib salah.

Then we have our weekly programs. Team Fajr will be held tomorrow — Fajr iqamah is 5:45 a.m. Join us for breakfast and a spiritual talk. On Tuesdays, the tafsir program continues with Surah al-Mu'minun after Isha salah. And then our weekly salawat on Thursdays insha'Allah.

We also have the grand opening of the Islamic Center of Aurora, Masjid Hidayat. This is opening on Friday, March 10th at 8:00 p.m. after Isha. They are reminding the community.

We have the janazah salah for brother Zahir Siddiqui, which will be performed after this Jumu'ah salah. The brothers will pray in the gymnasium and all the sisters will pray in the banquet hall.

And we have one du'a request for sister Atifa Maimon, who is in critical condition from a stroke. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. Jazakum Allah khair.