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Protect yourself in
Ramadhan
Fasting requires restraint of all the limbs
"O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed
to those before so that you may attain taqwa." (Surat-ul Baqarah,
2:183)
In order to increase the level of taqwa attained, Muslims should
refrain from any behavior that may jeopardize the rewards from
fasting. Abu Hurairah (RA) reported that the Prophet (SAW) said:
"Fasting is not only abstaining from eating and drinking, but also
from vain speech and foul language. If one of you is being cursed or
annoyed, he should say: "I am fasting, I am fasting."
Abu Hurairah (RA) also reported that the Prophet (SAW) said:
"Whoever does not abandon obscene speech and evil action, Allah does
not need his refraining from eating and drinking." [Bukhari]
Frankly, Muslims who engage in lying (even to joke with false
statements), backbiting, gossip, spreading rumors, and causing
Fitnah (confusion, dissent) cannot expect their fasts to be
acceptable to Allah (SWT). Therefore when you fast, let your
hearing, sight, tongue and all your limbs fast, so that your fasting
and non-fasting days are not the same.
The one who does not gain anything from fasting
Abu Hurairah (RA) has reported the Prophet (SAW) as saying: "Perhaps
a fasting person will get nothing for his fast save hunger, and
perhaps the one who stands to pray at night will get nothing from
his standing except sleeplessness."
The hunger Muslims feel when they fast should prompt them to be
especially generous to the poor. We learn from the Sunnah, that
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) viewed Ramadan as a special time for
generosity. Imam Bukhari records that Ibn Abbaas (RA) said, "The
Prophet (SAW) was the most generous of people, but he would be his
most generous during Ramadan when he would meet the angel Jibreel.
He would meet him every night and recite the Qur'ân. When Jibreel
met him, he used to be more generous than a fast wind." Thus,
offering food to needy families in our neighborhoods or feeding the
poor in remote locations is in line with the spirit of Ramadan.
Rather than spending each day of Ramadan sleeping to suppress
cravings for favorite foods, shopping for Eid gifts, and cooking
huge feasts for iftaar meals, we should devote as much time as
possible to doing things which please Allah (SWT) such as Dhikr,
Sunnah, Nawafil Salaah, Du'aa, reading and Understanding Qur'ân, as
well as performing the neighborly deeds of visiting the sick and
tending to the less fortunate.
Read more about
Ramadhan
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