Ramadān Advice 1441 by Ustad Abu Anas – Day 3
To be vigilant with fasting
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Beloved brothers! This is a great worship that many people among those who fast are ignorant of and thoughtless about.
And in addition, being vigilant in fasting is among honouring the worship, submitting to Allāh, and fearing Allāh.
Dear brothers! This is something even some among the people of the Sunnah are negligent. Do you know that the fasting that you do for Allāh’s sake can be weakened by what you do, where you are, and whom you are with?
An example to clarify. Someone carrying a lot of money will be exposed to much danger if he goes to places where there are many people, like the marketplace. Even if the money weren’t lost, if the owner of the money comes to know of this he would get reprimanded.
What a good and a beautiful action it is to be truthful and sincere to the employer.
Know this! The Owner of all the worlds is the One Who sees your every action. How saddening it is to put the fasting in your hand to danger while that Lord is watching you. Where is honouring the worship?
To make this clear further, here’s a situation. Among the places fasting people go most is the marketplace. Especially when it is nearing the time of sunset – the most blessed time when fasting.
If a brother says he’s fasting for the sake of Allāh, being vigilant with fasting, safeguarding it, showing the courage and strength he has for it in the time of fasting is essential. Sincerity is what distinguishes the people of worship and the reason that takes the rewards to higher levels.
Al-Imām ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said: “The believer (steadfast upon Tawheed) and the sincere slave to Allāh, is the one who lives the finest life among the people. And the one who remains the most blessed. The one whose heart is most expansive, and the most content. This is paradise he gets in this world before he enters the Paradise in the hereafter.” 459 لداء والدواء
Beloved brothers! See and reflect upon the fine examples set by the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, of being vigilant while fasting and honouring the fasting.
Abee al-Mutawakkil al-Naji -رحمه الله- reported an authentic narration: “Indeed when Abu Hurairah and his companions -رضي الله عنهم- fasted, they remained in the mosque. And says: ‘To purify our fasting’.”
For, the fasting gets corrupted, deformed, ugly and loses its perfectness. Beauty of it gets tainted. Things that should not get on it gets on it and takes it to undesired situations.
To work for all this, we have 11 or 12 hours of fasting.
While there are many permissible actions that can be left off while fasting, instead of leaving them off to attain such a high position, we still do them!
May Allāh make our good actions among actions that He loves and accepts.
-Beloved Ustad, Ramadān 3
