Abu Huraira related that the Prophet said: Allah the Majestic and Exalted said: "Every deed of man will receive ten to seven hundred  times reward, except Siyam (fasting), for it is for Me and I shall reward it (as I like). There are two occasions of joy for one who fasts: one when he breaks the fast and the other when he will meet his Lord" (Muslim).

In the above quote from our beloved Prophet (pbuh) the entire greatness of the month of Ramadan is captured. The uniqueness of the act of worship which fills Ramadan is analysed, and its true value is brought forth.

If we were to analyse the first statement in that hadeeth, we would gain a far better understanding of the nature of fasting. In every other deed that man performs, there may be the semblance of riya’a (showing off to people), however with fasting the true sincerity of a believer is tested. If you wanted people to think that you prayed regularly, then you would have to actually pray regularly, if you wanted people to think you paid your zakat, then you would have to actually pay it too, but if you wanted people to think that you were fasting, you don’t actually have to fast at all. You have ample opportunity to eat, drink, or do whatever your heart desires when people are not watching, while the entire time you are pretending to fast. What is it then that stops the fasting person from eating or drinking when no other human being is watching?

Thus, you can see that the very nature of fasting causes one to be far more aware of the presence of Allah (swt) in one’s life.

In the last part of the fourth verse of Surah Al-Hadid Allah (swt) says:

“…and He is with you wheresoever you may be, and He sees whatsoever you do” 57:4

It is, in fact, due to our constant occupation in worldly affairs that we forget the very basic principle that is stated in the above verse. We all know that there is someone watching, always and everywhere and that He even knows what is within our hearts and minds. (‘And He knows whatsoever is in their breasts” 57:6) Human being are, by nature, very forgetful, and need a constant reminder, which is why Allah (swt) often says that the Qur’an itself was sent as nothing but a reminder. We all know Allah (swt) is there and we know what he expects of us, but we become desensitized to this, and often we need to be made more conscious of it.

This is the major purpose of our fast during the month of Ramadan. It brings back that sense that Allah (swt) is always watching, it wakes us up again to this fact, and makes more vivid in our imagination. Stopping oneself from the everyday pleasures, or from the general sins which are also forbidden during one’s fast, requires a great amount of will power. Will power, as you have all undoubtedly experienced is driven by an internal battle, a battle fought within one’s mind. Will power is the manifestation of internal jihad, a struggle between one’s desires and one’s intelligence. So, every time you feel like a kebab, but stop yourself because it is one of the days of Ramadan, you have won a small but significant battle over your desires, and increased your will power.

At this point, it would be useful to cast our minds back to the Qur’anic verse which introduced to the concept of fasting and its purpose. Allah (swt) says:

“O you who believe, Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before, so that you may attain taqwa” (2:183)

You will find that the last word of that verse often remains untranslated and left in its Arabic form. That is because there is no real equivalent for that word in the English language. However, most scholars of religion and linguistics agree that is something near to God-consciousness, or awareness of divine laws. Thus the purpose of fasting is to gain this consciousness of Allah (swt), via the constant internal jihad that we mentioned earlier. This is why the Prophet (pbuh) said that Allah (swt) made fasting a worship for him, because it brings us closer to him.

It would also be useful to note the second statement of the Prophetic tradition quoted above. The greater reward of the fasting person is that he will meet his Lord. Note that Allah (swt) did not mention paradise or any of its myriad of pleasures; he simply said that the fasting person will “meet his Lord”. This form of expression shows that the reward for fasting is on a higher level, because meeting one’s Lord, whether it be physically or metaphorically, affords a much greater pleasure than all the pleasures of paradise. Again, this brings us to the point that the purpose of fasting is to bring one closer to his or her Lord, as a consequence of the constant awareness of the presence of Allah (swt).

There are two other facets to fasting which are also important to note. One is that, while we are fasting, our entire daily routine changes. We wake up at a different time to eat, we gather to eat again at a different time of the day, our visits to the mosque may increase, our sleep at night may decrease and we longer make as many visits to the fridge. In fact, when you, by habit walk to the fridge and take something to eat and then stop yourself from putting that piece of food in your mouth, you are teaching yourself a great lesson in how to jolt your mind back into gear after its having become oblivious of the presence of Allah. Your mind strayed and forgot, and you had to pull it back into line. This, and the entire change in daily routine, again work to make you think always about what you are doing. Our daily routines are part of what desensitizes us to our actions and whether they are being performed correctly. When this routine is broken, we can step back and evaluate our lives and make any necessary changes.

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