Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah send blessings upon him and upon his family and companions, and may He send much peace upon them.
O Slaves of Allah! Have taqwā of Allah, for taqwā is the means by which one attains the good of this life and the Hereafter. Taqwā is having fear of the Majestic One, acting upon the Revelation (i.e. the Qur’ān), being content with little and preparing for the day of departure [from this world], as was stated by Sayyidunā ‘Alī (Allah be pleased with him and ennoble his face). And taqwā was defined by Imam al-Ghazālī as guarding oneself from the ghadab of Allah and His punishment by fulfilling His commandments and abstaining from what He has prohibited. Indeed, your life is a journey and the best provision for that journey is taqwā.
Among the ways Allah facilitated for His slaves to achieve this lofty goal is by fasting. He says:
“O you who have believed, prescribed upon you is fasting as it was prescribed upon those before you, so that you may attain taqwā.” (Qur’ān 2:183)
And indeed, the month of fasting has dawned upon us, for come next weekend we shall, in shā’ Allāh, be commencing the blessed month of Ramaḍān.
Respected believers! Know that fasting the month of Ramaḍān is an exercise in attaining taqwā. There's only one way to attain taqwā: mujāhadah (struggle). Taqwā needs to be struggled for and striven for. And fasting is supposed to help you strive to attain it. Know that fasting is a means by which you overcome, subdue and cause grief to your greatest enemy: Shayṭān. Shayṭān attacks you via your desires – the desires of your stomach, tongue, eyes, etc. – and by fasting you suppress your desires, thereby fighting your enemy.
Honourable believers! Know that taqwā resides in the heart. The heart is like a city which has several entry points, these being the tongue, the eyes, the ears, the stomach, the genitals, the hands and the feet. To guard the city, its entry points must also be guarded. Likewise with the heart – we need to guard the heart by guarding its entry points. And this is where fasting comes in. Fasting is not just about suppressing the desires of our stomachs. Fasting is about suppressing all our desires. Fasting is about guarding all of the entry points of the heart, the seat of taqwā. When fasting we must guard our tongues, our eyes, our ears, our hormones, our hands and our feet, not just our stomachs. As for the one who does not guard all these and only chooses to abstain from food and drink, know that this person is not on his way to attaining the objective of fasting, i.e. taqwā.
Fasting the month of Ramaḍān is an exercise in attaining taqwā and becoming from amongst the righteous. To fast like the righteous, we need to prevent our other organs from sin in addition to preventing ourselves from eating and drinking. And this is accomplished with six things, as mentioned by Imam al-Ghazālī:
1. Lowering the gaze and preventing the eyesight from viewing anything blameworthy and sinful, as well as everything that distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He.
2. Preventing the tongue from useless speech, lying, backbiting, talebearing, indecent speech, rudeness, arguing and useless disputation, and instead making it observe silence and occupying it in the remembrance of Allah.
3. Refraining from listening to everything that is sinful; everything prohibited to say is likewise prohibited to listen to.
4. Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin and blameworthy acts, particularly the stomach from consuming questionable food when breaking the fast. After all, why refrain from halal food during the day when fasting and then break the fast with ḥarām food?
5. Avoid overeating halal food (yes, halal) at the time of breaking the fast to the point of stuffing one's belly. Fasting is supposed to make you suppress your desires and thereby conquer your enemy – i.e. Shayṭān – and increase your heart in taqwā. Why then give your stomach what it craves for and fulfil its desires – nay, fill it with more than it can hold – when breaking the fast? Doesn't this defeat the purpose of fasting?
6. After breaking the fast, having the heart constantly swing like a pendulum between fear and hope as to the acceptance of one's fast by Allah. And this should be the case with all of our acts of worship.
So I remind myself and you: fasting Ramaḍān is essentially an exercise in attaining taqwā. Attaining taqwā does not just involve keeping away from food and drink. It further involves keeping away all our organs and limbs from sin. And this is the essence of taqwā: avoiding the prohibitions of Allah and fulfilling His commandments. I end with the following ayah:
“And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and fears Allah and has taqwā of Him – it is those who are the attainers of success.” (Qur’ān 24:52)
O Slaves of Allah! Have taqwā of Allah, for taqwā is the means by which one attains the good of this life and the Hereafter. Taqwā is having fear of the Majestic One, acting upon the Revelation (i.e. the Qur’ān), being content with little and preparing for the day of departure [from this world], as was stated by Sayyidunā ‘Alī (Allah be pleased with him and ennoble his face). And taqwā was defined by Imam al-Ghazālī as guarding oneself from the ghadab of Allah and His punishment by fulfilling His commandments and abstaining from what He has prohibited. Indeed, your life is a journey and the best provision for that journey is taqwā.
Among the ways Allah facilitated for His slaves to achieve this lofty goal is by fasting. He says:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
And indeed, the month of fasting has dawned upon us, for come next weekend we shall, in shā’ Allāh, be commencing the blessed month of Ramaḍān.
Respected believers! Know that fasting the month of Ramaḍān is an exercise in attaining taqwā. There's only one way to attain taqwā: mujāhadah (struggle). Taqwā needs to be struggled for and striven for. And fasting is supposed to help you strive to attain it. Know that fasting is a means by which you overcome, subdue and cause grief to your greatest enemy: Shayṭān. Shayṭān attacks you via your desires – the desires of your stomach, tongue, eyes, etc. – and by fasting you suppress your desires, thereby fighting your enemy.
Honourable believers! Know that taqwā resides in the heart. The heart is like a city which has several entry points, these being the tongue, the eyes, the ears, the stomach, the genitals, the hands and the feet. To guard the city, its entry points must also be guarded. Likewise with the heart – we need to guard the heart by guarding its entry points. And this is where fasting comes in. Fasting is not just about suppressing the desires of our stomachs. Fasting is about suppressing all our desires. Fasting is about guarding all of the entry points of the heart, the seat of taqwā. When fasting we must guard our tongues, our eyes, our ears, our hormones, our hands and our feet, not just our stomachs. As for the one who does not guard all these and only chooses to abstain from food and drink, know that this person is not on his way to attaining the objective of fasting, i.e. taqwā.
Fasting the month of Ramaḍān is an exercise in attaining taqwā and becoming from amongst the righteous. To fast like the righteous, we need to prevent our other organs from sin in addition to preventing ourselves from eating and drinking. And this is accomplished with six things, as mentioned by Imam al-Ghazālī:
1. Lowering the gaze and preventing the eyesight from viewing anything blameworthy and sinful, as well as everything that distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He.
2. Preventing the tongue from useless speech, lying, backbiting, talebearing, indecent speech, rudeness, arguing and useless disputation, and instead making it observe silence and occupying it in the remembrance of Allah.
3. Refraining from listening to everything that is sinful; everything prohibited to say is likewise prohibited to listen to.
4. Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin and blameworthy acts, particularly the stomach from consuming questionable food when breaking the fast. After all, why refrain from halal food during the day when fasting and then break the fast with ḥarām food?
5. Avoid overeating halal food (yes, halal) at the time of breaking the fast to the point of stuffing one's belly. Fasting is supposed to make you suppress your desires and thereby conquer your enemy – i.e. Shayṭān – and increase your heart in taqwā. Why then give your stomach what it craves for and fulfil its desires – nay, fill it with more than it can hold – when breaking the fast? Doesn't this defeat the purpose of fasting?
6. After breaking the fast, having the heart constantly swing like a pendulum between fear and hope as to the acceptance of one's fast by Allah. And this should be the case with all of our acts of worship.
So I remind myself and you: fasting Ramaḍān is essentially an exercise in attaining taqwā. Attaining taqwā does not just involve keeping away from food and drink. It further involves keeping away all our organs and limbs from sin. And this is the essence of taqwā: avoiding the prohibitions of Allah and fulfilling His commandments. I end with the following ayah:
وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَيَخْشَ ٱللَّهَ وَيَتَّقْهِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَآئِزُونَ
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