3.35. FASTING: SELF-DENIAL & SELF-DISCIPLINE

God says

O you who believe! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you that you might remain conscious of God: *-- Q.2:183
*As the Qur'an points out fasting has been widely practiced at all times of man’s religious history. The extreme rigor and the long duration of Islamic fast – which is incumbent on every healthy adult, man or woman -- fulfills, in addition to the general aim of spiritual purification, a threefold purpose: (1) to commemorate the beginning of the Qur’anic revelation which took place in the month of Ramazan about 13 years before Prophet migrated to Medina; (2) to provide an exacting exercise of self-discipline; and (3) to make everyone realize, through his or her own experience, how it feels to be hungry and thirsty, and thus to gain a true appreciation of the needs of the poor.


Prophet said

“Observing fast is like holding a shield. The day any of you observe fast, he should neither speak evil nor revile. If, then, anyone rebukes him or quarrels he should say: I am fasting.” -- H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.

“He who does not give up telling a lie and acting according to it, God does not require him to give up his eating and drinking”-- H: Bukhari. N: Abu hurairah.

“…it is a month of endurance (i.e.,‘Sabr’) and reward of endurance is Paradise’”

“It is a month of mutual sympathy, and a month in which the livelihood of a believer is increased…”-- H: Shu’ab Al-Iman. N: Salman Al-Farisi.

“Observe fast and break (after sun-set); stand up (for prayer at night) and also sleep; because there is surely your duty towards your body, duty towards your eyes, duty towards your wife, and duty towards your neighbour.” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abdullah-b-Amr-b-Aas