The wisdom & Benefits behind fasting
by
Shaykh Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah
The objective behind fasting is to restrain one's desires and prevent them from those things which are beloved to it. It;s purpose is to control the soul's strength, so that it can be prepared to attain what is found in the fast of success & joy for the soul.
Through the fast, one curbs his hunger and thirst and is reminded of the condition of the hungry stomachs of needy people.
Through fasting, one narrows the passages that Shaytan has inside him by narrowing the passages of food and drink. It prevents the forces of the limbs from getting too accustomed to things that are harmful to it in this world and the hereafter. Each of the souls body limbs and energies can cease their rebelliousness (to Allah) and be harnessed by its bridle.
Therefore, the fast is a bridle for those who fear and obey Allah and a shield for those waging war against their desires. It is a garden for the righteous and devoted servants of Allah. Over all other actions (done to please Allah) It is most for the Lord alone, for the person who fasts, in fact, does nothing. He only abandons his desire and his food for the sake of the One whom he worships.
Fasting is therefore an abandonment for those things that the soul loves and desires, preferring in its place Allah's love and contentment. It is a secret kept between the servant and his Lord- no one else is aware of it. Fasting has an amazing effect in preserving one's outer limbs and inner capacities as well as protecting the soul from being overtaken by destructive components, which can ruin and destroy it. It has a remarkable effect in causing all the harmful things that prevent the soul from being healthy to be emptied out.
Fasting guards and protects the health of the person's heart and body limbs and returns to the soul all that the hands of the desires has taken from it. Thus it is from the greatest ways of improving one's Taqwa, as Allah says:
' O you who believe! Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you in order that you attain Taqwa. '
(2:183)
The Prophet peace be upon him said that fasting is a shield. And he commanded those who had intense desires for marriage but were not able to marry, to observe fasting, making it a shield against the desires.
When the benefits of fasting are witnessed by sensible minds and upright intuitions, one will come to realize that Allah prescribed it as a mercy for mankind, goodness to them and a protection and shield for them.
The Prophet's guidance concerning it was the most perfect of guidance, and the best for reaching the desired objective and the easiest upon the soul.
Since restraining the soul from what it loves and desires is from the most difficult and hardest of things, its obligation was delayed until the middle of Islam, after the Hijrah. This was at the point when the Tawhid and the Prayer had become firmly established in the souls of the Muslims and when they loved the commands of Allah. So their souls were lead to its obligation in gradual steps. It became obligatory in the 2nd year of Hijrah.
When the Messenger of Allah left this world, he had fasted nine Ramadhans in total. Originally, it was obligated as an option left to the people to choose whether they wanted to fast or to feed needy people for each day. Then that option was transferred into the final obligatory fasting. And the matter of feeding people was left only for the old men and women who did not have the ability to fast.
Fasting had three stages. The first stage was its being obligated with the option of fasting or feeding a needy person. The second stage, only the fasting was allowed, but if a person slept before breaking his fast, he was from eating and drinking until the following night. This was abrogated in the third stage. And this is the stage at which the Religion has settled with until the day of judgement.
(Riyadhul Jannah)
by
Shaykh Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah
The objective behind fasting is to restrain one's desires and prevent them from those things which are beloved to it. It;s purpose is to control the soul's strength, so that it can be prepared to attain what is found in the fast of success & joy for the soul.
Through the fast, one curbs his hunger and thirst and is reminded of the condition of the hungry stomachs of needy people.
Through fasting, one narrows the passages that Shaytan has inside him by narrowing the passages of food and drink. It prevents the forces of the limbs from getting too accustomed to things that are harmful to it in this world and the hereafter. Each of the souls body limbs and energies can cease their rebelliousness (to Allah) and be harnessed by its bridle.
Therefore, the fast is a bridle for those who fear and obey Allah and a shield for those waging war against their desires. It is a garden for the righteous and devoted servants of Allah. Over all other actions (done to please Allah) It is most for the Lord alone, for the person who fasts, in fact, does nothing. He only abandons his desire and his food for the sake of the One whom he worships.
Fasting is therefore an abandonment for those things that the soul loves and desires, preferring in its place Allah's love and contentment. It is a secret kept between the servant and his Lord- no one else is aware of it. Fasting has an amazing effect in preserving one's outer limbs and inner capacities as well as protecting the soul from being overtaken by destructive components, which can ruin and destroy it. It has a remarkable effect in causing all the harmful things that prevent the soul from being healthy to be emptied out.
Fasting guards and protects the health of the person's heart and body limbs and returns to the soul all that the hands of the desires has taken from it. Thus it is from the greatest ways of improving one's Taqwa, as Allah says:
' O you who believe! Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you in order that you attain Taqwa. '
(2:183)
The Prophet peace be upon him said that fasting is a shield. And he commanded those who had intense desires for marriage but were not able to marry, to observe fasting, making it a shield against the desires.
When the benefits of fasting are witnessed by sensible minds and upright intuitions, one will come to realize that Allah prescribed it as a mercy for mankind, goodness to them and a protection and shield for them.
The Prophet's guidance concerning it was the most perfect of guidance, and the best for reaching the desired objective and the easiest upon the soul.
Since restraining the soul from what it loves and desires is from the most difficult and hardest of things, its obligation was delayed until the middle of Islam, after the Hijrah. This was at the point when the Tawhid and the Prayer had become firmly established in the souls of the Muslims and when they loved the commands of Allah. So their souls were lead to its obligation in gradual steps. It became obligatory in the 2nd year of Hijrah.
When the Messenger of Allah left this world, he had fasted nine Ramadhans in total. Originally, it was obligated as an option left to the people to choose whether they wanted to fast or to feed needy people for each day. Then that option was transferred into the final obligatory fasting. And the matter of feeding people was left only for the old men and women who did not have the ability to fast.
Fasting had three stages. The first stage was its being obligated with the option of fasting or feeding a needy person. The second stage, only the fasting was allowed, but if a person slept before breaking his fast, he was from eating and drinking until the following night. This was abrogated in the third stage. And this is the stage at which the Religion has settled with until the day of judgement.
(Riyadhul Jannah)
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