A Path to Limitless Rewards | Hidden Treasures Episode 05 | Shaykh Waleed Baysouni

A Path to Limitless Rewards

The Prophet ﷺ said:

Care for the thing that will benefit you the most.

Some of the scholars said it is very unique how this statement was made. Care for what will benefit you — not care for the thing that will benefit. Which means that there are certain things whose impact on you can be more than others.

That's why you see the Sahaba رضي الله عنهم excel in different areas of worship. Some of them were known for fasting. Some of them were known for jihad for the sake of Allah. Some of them were very known for sadaqah. Some of them would pray in the night and read the Qur'an and so forth. So it is so important for you to always think about the act of worship that will benefit you the most.

The Story of Abu Umamah al-Bahili

Today I want to share with you something that Abu Umamah al-Bahili رضي الله عنه experienced. He came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him for something that would benefit him the most — something that he could do and that would take him to Jannah. Then the Prophet ﷺ told him:

"Fast, for there is nothing similar to fasting." (Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 2220; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

Limitless Reward for the Fasting Believer

Yes indeed. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the Qur'an:

"Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account."

الصَّابِرُونَ — the reward for the patient ones; there is no limit to it. You will find many of the companions, the successors, and the mufassirin of the Qur'an said: إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّائِمُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ — the sa'imun (those who fast) are the patient ones referred to in this ayah, and their reward has no limit.

In the hadith, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"Fasting is for Me, and I will reward it." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1904; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1151)

The reward of fasting belongs to Allah. Every other act of worship will be multiplied — ten to seven hundred times. But nothing is similar to fasting. It is way, way more than that. Nobody knows how much it will be except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

How Abu Umamah Responded

When Abu Umamah al-Bahili heard this hadith, he was not like many of us — who hear so many ahadith and just pass by. No. Abu Umamah al-Bahili said: since I heard this from the Prophet ﷺ, I always fast.

"Abu Umamah was never seen except that he was fasting."

They said: we never saw any fire in his house in the daytime. They would not cook. They would not eat. They were fasting throughout the day. Only at night would they eat. And whenever they did see a fire — someone cooking something in the house — they knew that he had guests, and that's why he was not fasting that day.

Him, his wife, his family members, his servants — all of them used to fast. رضي الله عنهم وأرضاهم. Consistent with that. And that's something he cared for and it meant so much to him.

The True Meaning of Fasting

My brothers and sisters, Sufyan said:

"Do not make the day you fast and the day you do not fast equal."

The day of fasting and the day of not fasting should not be the same. Fasting is not just — as Maymun ibn Mihran said — the easiest form of fasting is:

"To fast from food and drink."

The easiest form of fasting is to avoid food and drink — to not eat or drink anything during the day. But that is not the whole point.

When the Prophet ﷺ said there is nothing similar to fasting in reward, nothing similar to it in purifying the soul, nothing similar to it in helping you to improve yourself and to develop your character — because when you fast, it produces a very different character, very different akhlaq, a very different manner in that person. He is in control of his desires. He is in control of himself, and that will help him to control his tongue, to control his emotions, to control what he or she is doing.

So maybe you will find your treasure in fasting.