The Two Joys of Fasting: Meeting Allah, The Beloved

The Two Great Moments of Happiness for the Fasting Person

In a hadith reported by Imam al-Bukhari, Imam Bukhari narrates from his teacher Abu Nu'aym Fadl ibn al-Duqayn, who narrates from his teacher Aamash, from Abu Saleh, from Abu Hurairah, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

That a person who is fasting will have two great moments of happiness. One of those great moments of happiness will be when that person is breaking his fast. Alhamdulillah, we are extremely grateful to Allah Ta'ala that Allah enabled us to observe the month of Ramadan fast as well.

And we all can relate to this — that when the time of iftar is nearing, we're looking at the clock: only half an hour left, 10 minutes left, 5 minutes left. We're thinking about the food; everyone gets a sense of joy when we break our fast. So the Prophet ﷺ is saying in this hadith reported by Bukhari that one great moment of happiness for a fasting person will be that time that the fasting person breaks his fast.

But the hadith goes on to say that the fasting person actually has two great moments of happiness. The second great moment of happiness is وَفَرْحَةٌ حِينَ يَلْقَى رَبَّهُ — when that fasting person meets his or her Lord.

Fasting: Beyond Compensation

Now from this, normally we frame this hadith from a compensatory lens — that a person is rewarded by fasting, and then a person is going to be happy when they get their paycheck. So similarly, when a person receives their reward for fasting from Allah Ta'ala, then the person will be happy. That makes sense, that's fine.

But now if we look at it from another perspective. There's another hadith that says:

That every deed of the son of Adam will be multiplied — one good deed will be multiplied by 10, up until 700. And then the hadith goes on to say: except fasting. Because fasting is for Me specifically — Allah is saying this — and I specifically will reward it.

So what we understand from this is, number one, that fasting — the reward we hope is, inshallah, off the charts, beyond 700. But maybe there's another meaning to this too. Maybe the other meaning is that Allah Ta'ala is telling us that if we think about everything from this compensatory lens — that if I do this, I'm going to get this — then fasting is besides that. Because the point of fasting is not that.

The point of fasting, of observing Ramadan, is to cultivate this relationship, this love for Allah Ta'ala. Allah Ta'ala says:

That fasting has been prescribed on you as it was prescribed on those before, so that you can emerge from Ramadan with this profoundly transformed consciousness of Allah Ta'ala and in relationship with Allah. That's the purpose of Ramadan — to walk out of Ramadan with this relationship with Allah Ta'ala. In simple terms, to cultivate love for Allah.

Meeting the One You Love

So now, one way that we can look at this is that a fasting person has another great moment of happiness — that's when they meet their Lord. We can say, well, that's because they're getting paid, so everybody is happy when they get paid. Maybe that could be part of it.

But perhaps the deeper meaning is this: whenever a person meets their loved one, they're obviously going to be happy. Many of us have been away from home, traveling for some time, and then finally we're going back home. We're looking forward to the trip. We're looking forward to the moment that we see our family members, that our kids come running and greeting us, the moment that we see whatever other family members are there. So that's always a moment of happiness. Why? Because that love is there. And when you're able to meet your loved ones after being away for a long time, that's the greatest happiness that a person can experience.

So we multiply this on a maximum scale. Every Muslim has love for Allah Ta'ala, and the purpose of Ramadan is to try and further cultivate this love for Allah Ta'ala and solidify it. So perhaps the deeper meaning is this: one great moment of happiness for a fasting person is when they break their fast — and that's something that we all experience. But the other great moment of happiness, and perhaps an even greater moment, is when they meet their Lord. And that's because through Ramadan we cultivate this love for Allah Ta'ala, and finally we are able to bear the fruits of that when we are able to meet Allah Ta'ala.

The Real Challenge After Ramadan

This past month was primarily for the first happiness. We cultivate this, we try to do whatever we can in the month of Ramadan, we enjoy breaking the fast as well. But now as we step outside of the month of Ramadan, the real challenge lies ahead. Are we going to maintain the momentum that we created in the month of Ramadan and that love for Allah Ta'ala that Allah Ta'ala granted to each and every single one of us?

Because Allah Ta'ala would not have put us — enabled us to fast, enabled us to pray — even if you feel that your Ramadan was not as ideal as it should have been, if you look at yourself 30 days prior, I am guaranteed that every single one of us can say that I did something more than I normally do. Maybe we don't normally fast and maybe you fasted. Maybe you don't normally spend time in the masjid and you spent some time in the masjid. Maybe you don't normally give much in charity but then Allah gave us the ability to give at least some in charity — zakat, sadaqa, whatever it is.

So all of this — Allah enabling us to do these things — that is a sign of Allah Ta'ala's love for all of us. That's something that we should be very happy about. But now our task is that we take this love, we try to preserve it, and then we try to let that motivate us for the rest of our lives.

The Last Words of the Prophet ﷺ

The very last words of the Prophet ﷺ, amongst his last words, he said:

He said: I rather choose — I want to be with the highest companion. I'm choosing to be with Allah Ta'ala. A person will only do that when they love Allah.

The hadith says:

Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah Ta'ala loves to meet them. All it takes now is a mindset change. Through this month of Ramadan, we're able to cultivate somewhat of a connection with Allah. Now if we take that and try to foster it and grow it, then eventually we'll be looking forward to that day — inshallah, even right now we'll be looking forward to that day — that we meet Allah. And if we love to meet Allah, then undoubtedly Allah Ta'ala will love to meet us.

The very last words of the Prophet ﷺ encapsulate this — بَلِ الرَّفِيقُ الْأَعْلَى — he was given a choice, and he said: rather, I'd want to be with the highest companion. I want to be with Allah. Why? Because the Prophet ﷺ was the beloved of Allah. Allah Ta'ala loved the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ had immense love for Allah. So it was a no-brainer — he just wanted to be together. He just wanted to be with Allah Ta'ala.

Now this is something that is not specific to the Prophet ﷺ exclusively. Rather, this is a quality that every single believer is meant to embody.

The Believer's Beautiful Departure

Allah Ta'ala says in Surah An-Nahl:

A believer has this love for Allah. They carry that to the very last day — to the day that they pass away, the day that they meet Allah. And then Allah Ta'ala says that those people whom the angels take their souls when those people are in a very good state — the angels will say سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمُ — congratulations! Enter Jannah.

Another ayah — this is in Surah Fussilat. Allah Ta'ala says:

Indeed those who proclaim that our Lord is Allah, and then they remain firm and steadfast upon that — at the time of death, the angels will descend upon them and say: Grieve not. Don't worry. وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ — Rejoice! For the Jannah that you've been promised. The angels go on to say: We are your protectors, we are your friends — in this world that you're just leaving from and in the next world. نُزُلًا مِّنْ غَفُورٍ رَّحِيمٍ — This will be a welcoming from the most forgiving, the most merciful.

So we can see what Allah Ta'ala is describing here is that a believer's journey is a believer striving to cultivate this love for Allah. And death is just:

It's just a bridge that bridges one lover with another lover. So a believer is looking forward to that meeting with Allah Ta'ala throughout the entire life. That love is motivating them. Just like if we haven't seen our family in a very long time, we're coming back and we're so excited to see them — that's how a believer is looking forward to death.

Examples of a Beautiful Death (Husnul Khatimah)

Now what we'll do is talk about a few examples of people who embody this — and at the time of their passing, Allah Ta'ala made apparent their status with Him. Keep in mind we'll try to put this into perspective a little bit more and understand what our course of action should be compared to this.

1. Adam ibn Abi Iyas — Teacher of Imam al-Bukhari

One of the teachers of Imam al-Bukhari, Adam ibn Abi Iyas — when he was on his deathbed, he himself finished the entire Quran while on his deathbed. خَتَمَ الْقُرْآنَ وَهُوَ مُحْتَضَرٌ. After he finished the last surah and got through the last ayah, he said:

That it is due to my love of you that you were with me at this time, that I was on my deathbed. He was speaking to the Quran — speaking from his heart: I was longing for you to be with me on this day. I was hoping for you. And then he simply said لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — and he breathed his last and passed away.

2. Maulana Yunus Patel — Scholar of South Africa

One of the great scholars of the recent past from South Africa, Maulana Yunus Patel — everyone recognized that there was something very special about him. He passed away at the relatively young age of early 60s — perhaps 62 or 63 years old. He had gone for Umrah. This was in the year 2012, if I'm not mistaken. He had gone for Umrah with his students, with his murīdīn. Right before the Umrah, he sat in front of the Ka'bah, started making du'a, and in the course of that du'a, he passed away right in the Mataf.

3. Shaykh Ahmed Ridha Bijunuri — Student of Shaykh Anwar Shah Kashmiri

One of the greatest scholars of Hadith of the past century, Shaykh Anwar Shah Kashmiri — one of his greatest students, Shaykh Ahmed Ridha Bijunuri, passed away in the last 10 nights of Ramadan while he was praying Tahajjud, in the state of Sajdah. In the last 10 nights of Ramadan, Allah Ta'ala took his soul.

4. Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash (Shu'ba) — Student of Imam Asim

One of the qira'at that most of us read is Hafs 'an Asim — so the teacher is Imam Asim. Another student of Asim, his name was Shu'ba, also known as Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash. When he was on his deathbed, his daughter was very worried at his state. He told his daughter: Don't worry — why are you worried? He said: I have in my life finished 24,000 khatms of the Qur'an. So given that I finished 24,000 khatms, I don't think I have anything to be worried about — inshallah you shouldn't be worried either, we'll be okay.

Then one of the classes did the math: that works out to — for 40 years he was finishing the Qur'an every single day. He lived for 100 years; for 40 years he was finishing the entire Qur'an daily, and the other 50 years he was reading at about 15 juz a day — about half the Qur'an. And then at the time of his death he said: I already did 24,000 khatms of the Qur'an — no need to worry.

5. Mawlana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi

One of the greatest scholars of the recent past, Mawlana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi — he visited Chicago a number of times in the 1970s as well. Mawlana Nadwi passed away in the year 1999. It was the 22nd of Ramadan, if I'm not mistaken, and it was a Friday. He got ready for Jumu'ah, he took a shower, and then he said: Let me recite Surah Al-Kahf. But then he said: You know, I'll just read Surah Yasin right now.

He got to the ayah where Allah Ta'ala is talking about Habib al-Najjar — a person who supported the messenger and was then killed. He was giving a discourse to his people before he passed away, and they say: نَصَحَ قَوْمَهُ حَيًّا وَمَيِّتًا — he continued the discourse even after he was killed. Allah says about this person:

Give him the glad tidings of forgiveness and enormous reward. Mawlana Nadwi was reciting Surah Yasin and got to the part فَبَشِّرْهُ بِمَغْفِرَةٍ وَأَجْرٍ كَرِيمٍ — give him the glad tidings of forgiveness and enormous reward — and with those words, after saying that, he breathed his last and passed away.

6. A Community Member — North Side of Chicago

More recently, there was a community member on the north side of Chicago — just a few days ago, in the last 10 nights of Ramadan. He was in his upper 90s — 98 years old. He prayed the entire Taraweeh standing up the night before — Friday night this past Friday. Then he came for Qiyamul Layl and stood for 4 juz of Tahajjud, standing up, praying at the age of 98. He fasted, went to Maghrib, broke his fast, came back to eat dinner — and then with that, suddenly he had a massive heart attack and passed away on the spot. In the last 10 days of Ramadan, after performing Taraweeh, after performing Tahajjud, at the age of 98, while fasting.

The Janazah Today

More recently, as many of us may be aware, there is a Janazah inshallah after the second Jumu'ah today. Now all of us are gathering together celebrating Eid, celebrating Jumu'ah as well. What we have to understand is that this is the day that we meet our beloveds — this is the day that we meet our family members.

Now for some people, Allah has reserved a very special place — that they pass through the month of Ramadan, everyone is making du'a for them, their sins are being forgiven inshallah, their status is being elevated. On this day that everyone is meeting their beloveds, there are some people whom Allah has reserved a very special place — that they will meet their Beloved, Allah Ta'ala, on this very day that everyone is meeting their beloveds.

So everyone is encouraged to stay for the second Jumu'ah if you can, and attend the Janazah — that's great. If not, then if you can come back for the Janazah after this Jumu'ah, that will be very much appreciated.

What Does This Mean for Us?

We went through seven different incidents of people having a beautiful death — in Arabic this is called Husnul Khatimah, a beautiful death. So what does this mean for us? Obviously we aspire for that.

What we aspire for is that we live our lives in the obedience of Allah — every single year, every single day, we try to get closer and closer to Allah. We talked about in one of the Jumu'ahs a few weeks ago that if we were to chart our spirituality, normally we have a peak in Ramadan and then it falls thereafter, and the general trendline would be flat. But that's not the purpose of Ramadan — to just increase our deeds temporarily and then fall back thereafter. The purpose of Ramadan is that we build on that momentum.

We talked about لِلصَّائِمِ فَرْحَتَانِ — that a fasting person has two great moments of happiness. One is when they break their fast. The other one is when they meet their Lord. And we can only do that if we are desiring to meet our Lord, if we have that love for meeting Allah — and then Allah Ta'ala will in turn love to meet us — and then when we meet our Beloved, of course it's happiness.

So the purpose of Ramadan is to cultivate that love, and then for the rest of our lives strive to preserve that, and then build on that, and finally reap the second happiness inshallah when our ultimate time to go arrives.

Yazid ibn Zuray — Growing Better Every Year

Just one or two quick points to finish up. There was a narrator of Hadith, a great scholar of the past, his name was Yazid ibn Zuray'. Someone saw him after he passed away and said: مَا فَعَلَ اللَّهُ بِكَ — what did Allah Ta'ala do with you? He said: Allah entered me into Jannah بِكَثْرَةِ صَلَاتِي — due to my excessive prayer, Allah Ta'ala entered me into Jannah.

And they say about him: someone said that I knew him for 40 years — فِي كُلِّ سَنَةٍ كَانَ يَزْدَادُ خَيْرًا — every single year he would become better and better. He would seem more pious each subsequent year that I met him.

Now for many of us, that's not the case. As I said, our trendline is flat — we're maybe a little bit more pious in Ramadan, then we come back to our regular ways thereafter, and the 10-year trend is flat for most of us — myself included, may Allah forgive us all and give us tawfiq. It's not positive; it's not an upward sloping line. But this scholar, Yazid ibn Zuray' — the person says every single year I met him, he was even better than before: فِي كُلِّ سَنَةٍ كَانَ يَزْدَادُ خَيْرًا — over this 40-year period.

So our purpose this Ramadan is to take this love for Allah Ta'ala — that Allah Ta'ala gave us some ability to taste — and try to preserve that, and then try to build on that, such that inshallah Allah Ta'ala can take us in a state when He is pleased with us and we are pleased with Him.

What about these incidents that we talked about — do we strive for trying to pass away in such a beautiful state? Of course we do. But now if a person doesn't pass away in Sajdah or pass away in Salah, that's okay. Because the point is that our impetus is to try and live the end of our lives — our whole lives, and especially the end of our lives — in the utmost state of obedience to Allah Ta'ala. Now if we pass away in that general state of obedience to Allah, then that's great, that's what we're striving for. And for certain slaves of Allah Ta'ala, Allah Ta'ala makes it apparent by taking them when they're in Salah, taking them when they're in Sajdah, when they're reciting Quran.

A Beautiful Du'a to Close

May Allah Ta'ala give all of us tawfiq. Just to end with this — there's a beautiful du'a. The Prophet ﷺ heard it and he liked it so much he gave the person some gold coins. There was an Arabi, a Bedouin, who was making du'a:

O One whom no eye can conceive, whose imaginations cannot even understand or conceptualize Him, whom people can never describe — then he goes on: Make the best of my life the end of my life. And my best deed — my final deed. And the best day of my existence — the day that I actually meet You.

So now this is our impetus. The challenge of Ramadan — we said لِلصَّائِمِ فَرْحَتَانِ، فَرْحَةٌ حِينَ يُفْطِرُ — the first happiness is when we break our fast; all of us experience that inshallah. The second challenge though is that we experience that second happiness — وَفَرْحَةٌ حِينَ يَلْقَى رَبَّهُ — when we meet our Lord. We can only do that if we try to build on this momentum of Ramadan, convert this to love of Allah, and look forward to that.

We ask Allah Ta'ala to allow us to live the rest of our lives motivated by His love. وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Announcements

A quick announcement — sadaqa: inshallah we all know we were trying to be as generous as we could in the month of Ramadan, and we want to try to continue it thereafter. So please do pass the donation boxes and try to give whatever you can inshallah.

Our annual retreat will be from April 24th to April 26th — just about a month from now. Please do save the date. The topic is: Signs of the Hour — What the End Times Demand of the Believer Today.

The weekly programs will be resuming inshallah on the week of April 6th. There will be a little bit of a pause for now.

There will be a Janazah Salah after the second Jumu'ah inshallah — for brother Muhammad Fariduddin Masrood, after a long illness. May Allah Ta'ala forgive him, exalt his ranks, and make this time easy for his family. The Janazah will be taking place after the second Jumu'ah. If you're able to just stay inshallah, please make space in the hall for those coming for the second Jumu'ah. If you're not able to stay, please do make an effort to come back inshallah after the second Jumu'ah. May Allah Ta'ala inshallah accept his passing at this beautiful time and make it a means inshallah for his forgiveness.