Expalained by Shaykh Tauqeer Shah | Published on April 1st, 2024
The month of Ramdan is the time when one should be occupied in the remembrance of Allah and fully indulge in the beauty and magnificence of Ramadan. It is a month which is filled with Rahmah (mercy of Allah) starting from the first day of fasting and gradually building up to the last of Ramadan. To understand the magnitude of this month, one should look into the verses of the Quran where it talks about the reason why this month was chosen to be a special month. It is due to the revelation of the Qur’an during the nights of Qadar. Allah SWT Says in the Qur’an;
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ هُدًۭى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَـٰتٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْقَانِ ۚ
Ramaḍân is the month in which the Quran was revealed as a guide for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and the decisive authority.(Qur’an: al Baqarah, 2:185)
إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ فِى لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ ١ وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ ٢ لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌۭ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍۢ ٣
Indeed, ˹it is˺ We ˹Who˺ sent this ˹Quran˺ down on the Night of Glory. And what will make you realize what the Night of Glory is? The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months. (Qur’an: al Qadar, 97:1-3)
Understanding from the verses above, we come to conclude that not only the night in which the Qur’an was revealed became virtuous but rather the entire Asha’ra – the last ten nights as well as the whole month became special. This means that the entire Ramdan along with all its ritual attached to it i.e.
Imam Ghazali in his book, “Ihya Uloom ad Din” talks about the inward and outward dimensions of fasting. In particular, the second section under the chapter “Asrar al Sawm – The Secrets of Fasting”, which delves into the inward conditions of the mysteries of fasting is something that is very beneficial to aspire for as we fast in the month of Ramadan. The three Grades of Fasting are :
- Ordinary fast (Saum al Umoom): Fast of the general Muslims. This is the lowest kind of fasting.
Ordinary fasting means abstaining from food, drink and carnal desires/satisfaction.
- Special fast (Saum al Khusus): Fast of the Few select Muslims.
Special Fasting means keeping one’s ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet – and all other organs – free from sin.
- Extra-special (Saum Khusus al-Khusus): Fast of the Highest Class of people.
Extra-special means the Fast of the Mind and Heart. This condition requires one to not think of anything else except Allah and the Aakhirah. They think only of this world with the intention of the next world as it is the seed ground for the future. This kind of fast is kept after sacrificing oneself and his thoughts in complete submission to Allah SWT.
Furthermore, he mentions that those versed in the spiritual life of the heart have even said that a sin is recorded against one who concerns himself all day with arrangements for breaking his Fast or preparing for Iftar. Imam Ghazali furthermore mentions six points that are required to accomplish the special or highest level of fasting;
- See Not What Displeases Allah.
Restrain the eye from what is evil and from things which divert the attention from remembrance of Allah. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: ‘The glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan, on him be Allah’s curse. Whoever forsakes it for fear of Allah ﷻ the person will receive from Allah ﷻ, a faith the sweetness of which he will find within his mind (or heart).’
Jabir relates Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, on him be peace, said: ‘Five things destroy a man’s fasting: lying, backbiting, gossiping/slander, perjury and a lustful gaze.’ Rewards of fasting are lost.
- Speak Not What Displeases Allah
Guarding one’s tongue from idle chatter, lying, gossiping, obscenity, rudeness, arguing, hypocrisy, and enmity; to adopt silence and keep tongue busy with remembrance of Allah, and with recitation of Quran. This is the fasting of the tongue. Said Sufyan Thawri: ‘Backbiting spoils the Fast.’ Layth quotes Mujahid as saying: ‘Two habits spoil the Fasting: backbiting and telling lies.’
Prophet Muhammadﷺ said: ‘Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is Fasting he should not use foul or foolish talk. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: “I am Fasting, I am Fasting!“
- Hear Not What Displeases Allah
Restrain one’s ears to everything evil and reprehensible/shameful/bad; for everything unlawful to utter is likewise unlawful to listen to. That is why Allah placed on the same level, the hearer of unlawful with the eater of unlawful (profiteer/swindler), in His words: ‘Listeners to falsehood, consumers of illicit gain.’ [al-Ma’idah 5:42]
Allah also said: ‘Why do their rabbis and priests not forbid them to utter sin and consume unlawful profit?’ [al-Ma’idah 5:63]
Silence in the face of backbiting is therefore unlawful (i.e. stop others from backbiting and lies). Allah, Exalted is He, said: ‘You are then just like them.’ [al-Nisa 4:140] That is why the Prophet, on him be peace, said: ‘The backbiter and his listener are co-partners in sin.’
- Do Not do Unlawful acts or Sins
Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin: the hands and feet from evil deeds, and the stomach from doubtful food at the time for breaking Fast.
It is meaningless to Fast – to abstain from lawful food – only to break one’s Fast on what is Unlawful. A man who Fast like this may be compared to one who builds a castle but demolishes the city. Similarly, lawful food is also injurious when consumed in high quantity and not in quality. A person might well give up excessive use of medicine, from fear of ill effects, but he would be a fool to switch to taking poison.The unlawful thing is like a poison as it destroys religion. While a lawful thing is like a medicine, beneficial in small doses but harmful in excess.
The object of Fasting is to induce moderation. Prophet Muhammad PBUH said, “How many of those who Fast get nothing from it but hunger and thirst!” This has been taken to mean those who break their Fast on unlawful food. Some say it refers to those who abstain from lawful food, but break their Fast on human flesh through backbiting, which is unlawful. Others consider it an allusion to those who do not guard their organs from sin.
- Avoid Overeating
Not to overindulge in lawful food at the time of breaking Fast, to the point of stuffing one’s belly. There is no reservoir more detestable to Allah than a belly stuffed full with lawful food. Of what use is the Fast as a means of conquering Allah’s enemy and abating appetite, if at the time of breaking the fast, one not only makes up for all one has missed during the daytime, but perhaps also indulges in a variety of extra foods?
It has even become the custom to stock up for Ramadan with all kinds of foodstuffs, so that more is consumed during that time than in the course of several other months put together. It is well known that the object of Fasting is to experience hunger and to check desire, in order to reinforce the soul in piety. If the stomach is starved from early morning till evening, so that its appetite is aroused and its craving intensified, and it is then offered delicacies and allowed to eat its fill, its taste for pleasure is increased and its force exaggerated; passions are activated which would have lain dormant under normal conditions.
The spirit and secret nature of Fasting is to weaken the forces which are Satan’s means of leading us back to evil. It is therefore essential to cut down one’s intake to what one would consume on a normal night, when not Fasting. No benefit is derived from the Fast if one consumes as much as one would usually take during the day and night combined. Moreover, one of the properties consists in taking little sleep during the daytime, so that one feels the hunger and thirst and becomes conscious of the weakening of one’s powers, with the consequent purification of the heart.One should let a certain degree of weakness carry over into the night, making it easier to perform the Tahajjud and to engage in Ibadah.
6. Look to Allah with Fear and Hope
- After the Fast has been broken, the heart should swing like a pendulum between fear and hope. For one does not know if one’s Fast will be accepted, so that one will find favor with Allah, or whether it will be rejected or accepted.
- It is related of Hasan al-Basri that he once passed by a group of people who were laughing merrily. He said: ‘Allah has made the month of Ramadan a race course, in which people compete in His worship and good deeds. Some have come in first and won, while others have lagged behind and lost.” It is absolutely amazing to find anybody laughing and playing about on the day when success awaits the victors, and failure the wasters.
- Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays was once told: ‘You are an aged elder; Fasting would enfeeble you.’ But he replied: ‘By this I am making ready for a long journey, Obedience to Allah the All-Mighty, is easier to endure than His punishment.’
- Prophet Muhammad PBUH said: Fast is a trust, let everyone of you keep that trust. Then he read the verse: “Allah orders you to give trust to its rightful owners”, and he placed his hands on his ears and eyes and said “Ear is a trust and Eye is a trust.”
We ask Allah, the All-Mighty to accept our fasting and allow us to truly benefit from this blessed ritual in Ramadan. Ameen!
