The wisdom behind fasting

What is Allah’s wisdom behind fasting?

• The first wisdom:

To feel that we are in need of Allah. We are prevented from eating and drinking, there is no prohibition on days other than in the month of Ramadan, so when you feel hungry and thirsty you realize that you are a servant of Allah, and you are in need of a sip of water. Actually, the more you feel that you need Allah, the more will Allah raise your station. As the poet said:

I have no way (to be close to You) except my dire need of You; By my need for You I push away my poverty (my need for other things).
There is no door to knock except Yours (I ask no one but You). But if you drive me away, on which door shall I knock! (there is no other one to help me)

So first, it accustoms us to feel the dire need of Allah.

• The second wisdom:

Fast convinces us that we are loyal to Allah (we are doing righteous deeds only for His sake ) because no law of the world will call you to account if you eat during the day in Ramadan. It is specifically related to the deen. You may come home ( while you are fasting) feeling extremely thirsty, while there is cold water in the refrigerator, and there is no one else in the house, i.e. no one is watching you, nevertheless you never put a drop of water in your mouth (because you believe that Allah watches you).  So:

“Every deed of the son of Adam is for him except fasting; it is for Me and I shall reward him for it.”

Verily, fasting is worshiping with devotion.

• The third wisdom:

There is another thing: fasting strengthens the will, i.e. if you avoid permissible things during the days of Ramadan, that is all the more reason to abandon the illicit  ones. you go against the very bases of the spirit of Ramadan when you refrain from eating and drinking, nevertheless you lie; you go against the very bases of the spirit of Ramadan when you refrain from eating and drinking, nevertheless you fill your eyes with the beauty of a woman who is not permitted to you; you go against the very bases of the spirit of Ramadan when you refrain from eating and drinking, nevertheless you swear a false oath while buying or selling! Actually, when Allah deprives you of the licit during your fast, that is all the more reason to abandon the illicit. It seems as if Allah wanted to strengthen your will and your determination in this noble month.

• The fourth wisdom:

There is something else; Allah wants us to experience the situation of the poor. In fact, you either face the reality or perceive it by your mind, and there is a big difference between the two cases. Just for clarification, if a friend of yours had a quarrel with his wife and consequently she has left home and went to her parent’s  house, you’ve got a notion that your friend’s wife has abandoned him. Your own wife is at home (you have a successful marriage), your food is ready, your children are well looked after, their food is good, their clothes are clean, all your needs are taken care of, and your house is clean. So you do not live the reality of being without a wife, but you realize that your friend’s wife has left him. Thus, perceiving reality is totally different from experiencing it. As the saying goes:

No one knows the feeling of yearning except who has experienced it; and no one knows the burning love except who has experienced it.

 

Thus, in Ramadan, Allah the Almighty wants us to experience the suffering of the poor.  On ordinary days (other than the days of Ramadan), we eat and drink, and we do not appreciate the value of cold water, and hot (good) food. We always eat and drink, while the poor have nothing to eat.

By Allah, one of my friends told me that he went to the house of one of his relatives,  and he swore that he opened the fridge and found it completely empty, there wasn’t a piece of bread to eat in that house. Hence, when you become hungry (due to fasting) you should remember that there are those who have nothing to eat.Once a woman went to a shop and bought chicken legs, which are only given to dogs. So due to her severe poverty, she bought those chicken legs, and cooked them in order to give just the taste of meat to their food.

One of Ramadan advantages is that it is the month of generosity Brothers, Ramadan is the month of spending on the poor, of righteousness, of  benevolence, of sadaqah, and of zakat. Moreover, the Self-Sufficient and the Judge (Allah the Almighty) never accepts fasting unless zakat al-fitr is paid. Actually, Imam Shafi’i has established that it is preferable to pay zakat al-fitr starting from the first day of Ramadan, because it is food for the poor and an expiation of sins. So Allah wants everyone to give sadaqah in Ramadan, even the poor, i.e. it is imposed upon whoever has his daily food, the food that is sufficient just for one day, so that the poor man may enjoy the taste of spending even if only once a year.

Dear brothers, fasting in Ramadan remains suspended between the heaven and earth (is not accepted) unless zakat al-fitr is paid.