9. FASTING IN RAMADAN
(2)
Allah says in the Qur’ān:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى
الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (183)
O you who believe!
Fasting is prescribed for you
as it was prescribed
for those before you, that
you may achieve
taqwa (Q. 2:183)
The term لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ means “that ye may ward off (evil)” (M.M. Pickthall), “that you
may (learn) self-restraint” (A.Y. Ali), “so that you may remain conscious of
God.” (M. Asad). The term la‘alla(لَعَلَّ)
means “perhaps, may be.” It is طَمْعٌ “ambitious desire, object of desire” and اِشْفَاقٌ “care, concern, anxiety.”
According some Qur’ān commentators, the
term la‘alla if it is from Allah it means kay (كَيْ) meaning “so that, in order that, in order to”, as Allah is not
subject to “ambitious desire” and “concern” which are among the natures of
human beings. What He desires to happen He makes it happen. Therefore, the term
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ in the above verse means “in
order that you achieve taqwā.”
When the term la‘alla is applied to human, then it means “perhaps” or “may
be” where there is wish and expectation, such as the following verse:
لَعَلَّنَا نَتَّبِعُ السَّحَرَةَ
إِنْ كَانُوا هُمُ الْغَالِبِينَ (الشعراء:40)
“That we may follow the sorcerers [who
were in Pharaoh’s religion or disbelief]
if they are the winners”(Q. 26:40)
It was the wish of
people to follow the sorcerers if they win against Prophet Moses in their
contest.
Another example is as follows:
فَقُولَا لَهُ قَوْلًا
لَيِّنًا لَعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَى (طه:44)
[Allah said to Prophet Moses and Prophet
Aaron]
“And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may
accept
admonition of fear
(Allah).” (Q. 20:44)
Here Allah talked
to them to talk nicely to Pharaoh both of you hoping that he might accept
admonition or fear Allah.
The term fala‘allaka فَلَعَلَّكَ)) in the
following verses means “people might think”
فَلَعَلَّكَ تَارِكٌ بَعْضَ
مَا يُوحَى إِلَيْكَ (هود:12)
So perchance you (O Muhammad) may give up
a part of what I s revealed to you… (Q. 11:12)
فَلَعَلَّكَ بَاخِعٌ نَفْسَكَ
عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ ... (الكهف:6)
Perhaps you would kill yourself (O Muhammad)
in grief, over their footsteps
(for their turning away
from you), … (Q. 18:6)
The term تَقوَى (taqwā) which is sometimes translated as “piety”,
“consciousness (of Allah),” and “fear (of Allah)” is derived from the verb waqā,
yaqī, wiqāyah (وَقَى
يَقِي وِقَايَة) meaning “to protect, to shield,” so that wiqāyah means
“shield, protection.” There is a wise saying in Arabic indicating the
importance of self-protection, namely, prevention against sickness, as follows:
الْوِقَايَةُ خَيْرٌ
مِنَ الْعِلاج
Prevention is better than
treatment.
So,
it is self-protection against what? It is against falling into committing sin.
It happened that the caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb r.a. asked Ubayy ibn Ka‘b r.a. the meaning of taqwā.
Ubayy asked him:
“Have you taken a path where there were many thorns on
it?”
“Yes,” answered ‘Umar.
“Then what did you do?” asked
Ubayy again.
“I protected myself and be
careful [not to step on them], said ‘Umar.
“That is taqwā,” said
Ubayy.
For this meaning of taqwā which is
elf-protection” the the ‘Abbasi poet who was well-known from his
embellishment, style and theory in poetry, Ibn al-Mu‘tazz (247-294/861-908) explained
it in his poem (بحر
الرجز: مستفعلن) as follows:
خَلِّ الذُّنُوبَ
صَغِيْرَهَا * وَ كَبِيْرَهَا ذَاكَ التُّقَى
وَاصْنَعْ كَمَاشٍ
فَوْقَ أَرْ * ضِ الشَّوْقِ يَحْذَرُ مَا
يَرَى
لاَ تَحْقِرَنَّ
صَغِيْرَةً * إِنَّ الْجِبَالَ مِنَ الْحَصَى
Abstain from sins, either
small or big, that is piety
And do like a person walking
on a horny piece of land,
Being careful of what he is
seeing.
Do not look down on a minor
sin,
Mountains are made of pebbles.
Therefore, the
accepted fasting will become self-protection from committing sin. The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
عَن أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ،
أَنّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ، قَالَ :
الصِّيَامُ جُنَّةٌ ، فَإِذَا كَانَ أَحَدُكُمْ صَائِمًا فَلا يَرْفُثْ، وَلا
يَجْهَلْ
فَإِنِ امْرُؤٌ قَاتَلَهُ ، أَوْ شَاتَمَهُ فَلْيَقُلْ : إِنِّي صَائِمٌ ، مَرَّتَيْنِ
وَالَّذِى نَفْسِى بِيَدِهِ ، لَخُلُوفُ فَمِ الصَّائِمِ أَطْيَبُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ
مِنْ رِيحِ الْمِسْكِ ، يَتْرُكُ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ وَشَهْوَتَهُ
مِنْ أَجْلِى ، الصِّيَامُ لِى وَأَنَا أَجْزِى بِهِ،
وَالْحَسَنَةُ بِعَشْرِأَمْثَالِهَا (رواه البخاري)
Narrated Abū Hurayrah r.a.: Allah’s Messenger s.a.w.
said, “Fasting
is a shield (or a screen or a shelter from
the
Hell-fire). So, the person observing fast should avoid
sexual relation with his wife and should not
behave foolishly and impudently, and if somebody fights with him, he should
say to him twice, ‘I am observing fast.’” [The
Prophet (ﷺ) added] “By
Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell
coming out from the mouth of a person observing
fast is
better with Allah the Almighty than the smell
of musk.
(Allah says about the fasting person), ‘He has
left his
food,
drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me.
So I
will reward (the fasting person) for it and the
reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times.
(Reported by al-Bukhārī)
Suppose our fast failed to protect us
from committing sin, then what really had happened to us? The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ
عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ
وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ فَلَيْسَ لِلَّهِ حَاجَةٌ
فِي أَنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ (رواه
البخاري)
Narrated Abū Hurayrah r.a.: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Whoever does not give up lying speech (false
statements)
and acting on those lies and
evil actions etc., Allah is not
in need of his leaving his food and drink
[.e., Allah will
not accept his fasting] (Reported by
al-Bukhārī)
In other words, if
our fasting fails to protect us from committing sin, then our fasting becomes
useless, unacceptable. It means that fasting has to improve our character, our
behavior, to make us a better person.
Besides being protection from
Hell-fire, fasting also will make the previous sins of the fasting person will
be forgiven. The Prophet said:
عنْ أبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قال:
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "مَن صامَ
رمضانَ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا، غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا
تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ" (متفق عليه)
On the authority of Abū
Hurayrah, the Prophet (ﷺ)
said: “Whoever observed fasting in Ramadan with
perfect faith and seeking
reward, he will have his
previous sins forgiven” (Agreed upon)
The sins intended
in this ḥadīth are minor sins, as major sins, such as drinking alcohol,
practicing black magic, adultery, etc., are only forgiven through repentance or
legal punishment. With regard to our mistakes to our fellow human beings we ask
forgiveness from them, and this is the importance of forgiving each other, and
we usually do it at the end of Ramadan, when we celebrate the ‘Id al-Fiṭri.
The reward of fasting in Ramadan is multiplied, even more than seven
hundred times. The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
كُلُّ عَمَلِ ابْنِ آدَمَ يُضَاعَفُ الْحَسَنَةُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا
إِلَى سَبْعِمِائَةِ ضِعْفٍ
قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ
إِلاَّ الصَّوْمَ فَإِنَّهُ لِى وَأَنَا أَجْزِى بِهِ يَدَعُ شَهْوَتَهُ
وَطَعَامَهُ مِنْ أَجْلِى
لِلصَّائِمِ فَرْحَتَانِ فَرْحَةٌ عِنْدَ فِطْرِهِ وَفَرْحَةٌ عِنْدَ لِقَاءِ
رَبِّهِ. وَلَخُلُوفُ فِيهِ
أَطْيَبُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مِنْ رِيحِ الْمِسْكِ(متفق عليه)
Every good deed of the son of Adam is multiplied
in
reward 10 to 700 times except for fasting, for
it is for it
is for Me and I will grant the reward for it,
he leaves his
passion and his food for My sake. The fasting
person has
two moments of happiness: One moment when he
ends
his fasting for the day (Iftar) and the other
when he
meets his Lord. And the smell which issues
from the
mouth of the fasting person is more pleasant
to
Allah than the smell of musk (fragrance).
(Agreed upon)
In Islam doing good deed will have ten times of
reward, whereas doing bad deed will have only one recompense of it. Allah said:
مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ
فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا وَمَنْ جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَلَا
يُجْزَى إِلَّا مِثْلَهَا وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
(الأنعام:160)
Whoever
brings a good deed Islamic Monotheism
and deeds of obedience to Allah and His Messenger)
shall have ten
times the like thereof to his credit, and whoever brings an evil deed
(polytheism, disbelieve,
hypocrisy, and
deeds of disobedience to Allah and
His Messenger) shall have only the recompense of
the like thereof, and they will not be
wronged. (Q. 6:160)
The
intention of doing good deed even without doing it, will get one reward for the intention. But
the intention of doing bad deed will only be counted as one bad deed if it is
committed. The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
مَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كُتِبَتْ
لَهُ حَسَنَةً وَمَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَعَمِلَهَا
كُتِبَتْ لَهُ عَشْرًا إِلَى سَبْعِمِائَةِ
ضِعْفٍ وَمَنْ هَمَّ بِسَيِّئَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا
لَمْ
تُكْتَبْ وَإِنْ عَمِلَهَا كُتِبَتْ (رواه مسلم)
Whoever
intended to do good deed but he did not
do it,
a good deed would be recorded for him, and
whoever intended to do good deed and he did
it, ten
folds to seven hundred good deeds. And whoever
intended
to do bad deed, and he did not do it, no
bad deed would be recorded for him; but if he
did it, then it will be recorded one bad deed.
(Reported by Muslim)
Spending in the way of Allah would be
rewarded seven hundred folds, as in the following verse:
مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ
اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ
حَبَّةٍ أَنْبَتَتْ
سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنْبُلَةٍ مِائَةُ حَبَّةٍ
وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ
لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ
وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ (البقرة:261)
The likeness of those who spend their wealth in
the
way of Allah, is as the likeness of a grain
(of corn); it
grows
seven ears, and each ear has a hundred grains.
Allah
gives manifold increase to whom He wills. And
Allah is all-Sufficient for His creatures’
needs,
All-Knower. (Q. 2:261)
The reward of fasting depending on the quality
of it could be over 700 folds. As we know, there are three levels of fasting:
of the ‘awām (common people), of the khawāṣṣ (the elite) and of
the khawāṣṣu ‘l- khawāṣṣ (the elite of the elite).
(CIVIC, 16
May, 2017)
المراجع:
المكتبة الشاملة
تفسير الطبري (ت.
310/922 (
تفسير القرطبى (611 -
671 هـ / 1214 - 1273 م(
تفسير ابن كثير (ت.
774/ 1373(
الراغب الإصفهاني (ت. 502/1109). مفردات ألفاض القران.
http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~muslims/fasting.htm
