Be self discipliner through fasting

The essence of the Holy Hadith

Abu Hurairah (R.A.A.) reported that the Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever does not give up lying speech – false statements (i.e. telling lies) and acting on those (lies), and evil actions etc, then Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i. e. Allah will not accept his fastingt)” (Bukhari)

The motivation of fasting
Dear readers, if the spirit of fasting is not observed then such fasting are only an exercise in starvation but not really a fasting at all. Allah does not intend to keep our stomachs empty for a certain number of hours, as the Prophet (SAW) said: “How many people observe fasting but gain nothing thereby except undergo hunger and thirst, and how many people spend nights standing in prayers, and yet all they is just the deprivation from rest.” Fasting teaches us self-control and motivates us to control our tongue and not speak lie as well as not do any evil action.

Fasting is a pure performance
In another Hadith our dearest Prophet (SAW) added, “By Him in whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better with Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person). ‘He has left his food, drink and desires for My sake. The Saum is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times.” (Bukhari)

It is clear that all the practices of worshipping are for Allah, here Allah singles out Saum (fasting), because fasting cannot be practiced for the sake of showing off, as nobody except Allah can know whether one is fasting or not. Therefore, fasting is a pure performance that cannot be blemished and marked with hypocrisy.

The reason behind the fasting
Fasting creates the habit of restraining the ‘self’ from its liking. When the habit of self denial develops, it will be easy to restrain the ‘self’ from those likings, which are unlawful in Islamic Shariah. The main reason behind the prescription of fasting is that the “haughty self” should be reformed and the performance of those injunctions that are heavy on the ‘self’ may become easy and the person may become pious.

Md. Moshiur Rahman