Fasting

Let’s not fast passively and unconsciously, merely being hungry and thirsty, but actively remaining conscious of the sacred state we’re in.

Fasting creates taqwa, which is a higher awareness and consciousness of Allah, similar to ihsan, of which the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Ihsan is that you worship Allah as though you see him, and if you do not see him then …

As we approach Ramaḍān, we should think about the purpose of fasting. The goal of the fast is to work on the rūḥ. In the entire Quran, Allāh only mentions one specific and direct objective of fasting: to create taqwá. …

Similar to salāh and Hajj, fasting is a sacred state.

During daily fasting in Ramaḍān, it is easy to lose sight of the purpose of fasting.

The original meaning of i’tikāf was to devote oneself and focus oneself on something to the exclusion of everything else. Ramadan is a form of iʿtikāf for the entire month. We should treat the whole of Ramaḍān as a spiritual …

Fasting involves passively avoiding food and drink but actively avoiding bad speech.

Sins of the mind, heart and tongue are harder to refrain from than sins of the limbs.

Ramaḍān is a month of sacrifice, discipline and taqwá.

One of the spiritual benefits of a proper fast is that it creates a higher level of consciousness and awareness of Allāh.

Fasting makes a person conscious of Allāh. When a person is conscious of Allāh, he will be cautious of Allāh. This is Taqwá.

A true fast is also of the heart and mind: to observed a true fast you do not entertain any thoughts or feelings which are harām.

It is easy to abstain from food but avoiding a slip of the tongue is difficult. Ramaḍān is a good time to practice silence.

Ramadan Day 21: An alim (scholar) was asked ‘How do you learn to control your tongue?’. His reply was amazing. He said ‘My way of controllingmy tongue is as follows; whenever my nafs tells me to speak, I remain silent. …

Ramadan Day 19: When fasting we should not even shout or raise our voices let alone argue. This is the month in which we should all remain silent as much as possible and not say or do anything which inconveniences …

Ramadan Day 18: In order for the fast to create taqwa in a person, one must strive and act opposite to the nafs.

Ramadan Day 15: Fasting is abstention, and in a true fast, along with the body’s abstention, the mind and heart abstain from sinful thoughts and sentiments.

Ramadan Day 13: Fasting curbs our animalistic indulgence and carnality, and enables us to break free of the shackles of bestiality and soar to spirituality.

Ramadan Day 12: The Islamic purpose of fasting is to create taqwa: the soul’s own immune system, which develops resistance to spiritual diseases and sin.

Ramadan Day 11: Ramadan is a quarantine: a sanitised and blessed atmosphere in which we spiritually recuperate, and immunise and heal our afflicted souls.