1. Rasulullah (Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
said: “The sleep of a fasting person is
regarded as an act of ibaadah, his
remaining silent is regarded as a tasbeeh,
the reward for his good deeds is
multiplied, his duas are accepted, and his
sins are forgiven.”
2. It is mentioned in a Hadith that fasting
is a shield and a strong fortress in order to
save oneself from hell. In other words, just
as a person seeks refuge in a strong
fortress or by means of a shield from an
enemy, in the same way, one gets
salvation from hell by fasting. By fasting, a
person’s power of committing sins gets
weak, and his power to do good gets
stronger. When a person fasts in the
proper manner and implements all the
etiquette of fasting, he will free himself of
sins and gain salvation from hell.
3. It is mentioned in a Hadith that fasting
is a shield as long as it is not destroyed by
lies and backbiting. In other words, fasting
works as a shield as explained above. But
this is on the condition that the person
abstains from sinning. If a person fasts and
still speaks lies, backbites, and commits
other sins, then although he will be
absolved of the fard of fasting, he will be
committing a major sin. Furthermore, he
will be deprived of the barakah of fasting.
4. It is mentioned in a Hadith that fasting
is a shield. The person who awakens in the
morning in a state of fasting should not
commit any act of ignorance. If a person
approaches him in an ignorant way, he
should not reply him in the same ignorant
manner nor should he address him
disrespectfully. Instead, he should inform
him that he is fasting. By him in whose
control is the life of Muhammad (Sall-
Allahu alayhi wa sallam), the smell that
emanates from the mouth of a fasting
person is more beloved in the sight of
Allah Ta’ala than the fragrance of musk. In
other words, on the day of judgement, the
smell that emanates from the mouth of a
fasting person will be replaced with a
fragrance even better than musk. This
fragrance will emanate from the mouth of
the fasting person and it will be most
beloved in the sight of Allah Ta’ala. This
foul smell that emanates from a fasting
person in this world will actually be a
source of attaining that fragrance in the
hereafter.
5. It is mentioned in a Hadith that at the
time of opening the fast, the person is
permitted to make a dua whose
acceptance is promised.
6. It is mentioned in a Hadith that
Rasulullah (Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
addressed two persons saying: “You
should fast because fasting is a shield in
order to save oneself from hell and in
order to save oneself from the difficulties
of time.” In other words, one will be saved
from hell and also from the difficulties and
calamities of this world.
7. It is mentioned in a Hadith that on the
day of judgement, three persons will not
have to give an account of the food that
they ate, immaterial of what they ate as
long as it is halal. They are: the fasting
person, the person who makes sehri, and
the person who is stationed on the borders
of the Islamic state safeguarding it from
being invaded by the kuffaar. This is a
great concession for these three persons
that they have been absolved from giving
an account of their eating. It should be
borne in mind that despite this concession,
one should not spend a lot of money and
time in preparing very exquisite meals.
Spending a lot of time in preparing
delicacies turns one away from the
remembrance of Allah Ta’ala and gives
impetus to one’s power of committing sins.
This should always be borne in mind. One
should value the bounties that Allah Ta’ala
has blessed one with. The best way of
showing gratitude to Allah Ta’ala is that
one should obey all His commands and
orders.
8. It is mentioned in a Hadith that the
person who feeds a fasting person at the
time of opening fast will receive the same
reward as that of the fasting person
without there being any decrease in the
reward of the fasting person. In other
words, through the mercy and generosity
of Allah Ta’ala, both of them will receive
the same reward. This will apply even if
the person feeds him with a very simple or
insignificant meal. Even if he merely gives
him some water to drink.
9. It is mentioned in a Hadith that Allah
Ta’ala multiplies the rewards of His pious
servants by ten times up to 700 times
except for the reward of fasting. In other
words, there is no limit for the reward of
fasting. As regards fasting, Allah Ta’ala
says: “It is for Me alone and I will give the
reward for it.” From this we can gauge
how great the reward of fasting is that
there is no limit to the rewards. In addition
to this, Allah Ta’ala will give the reward for
fasting Himself and will not delegate this
task to the angels. Glory be to Allah Ta’ala
for attaching such importance to this little
effort on our part. However, it should be
borne in mind that all these virtues and
benefits of fasting will only come into
effect when we fulfil this duty as it ought
to be fulfilled, and only when we abstain
from speaking lies, backbiting, and all
other sins. In the month of Ramadaan,
some people leave out their Salats
completely while others miss out the fajr
Salat. In doing so, they are depriving
themselves of the numerous blessings and
rewards of fasting. Furthermore, by
reading this Hadith, one should not have
this misconception that fasting is more
virtuous than Salat because Salat is the
most virtuous of all the different acts of
ibaadah. The meaning of this Hadith is that
there is a very great reward for fasting
and it does not mean that fasting is the
most virtuous act of ibaadah. The above-
mentioned Hadith continues that there are
two times of extreme happiness for the
fasting person. The first time of happiness
is when he opens his fast and the second
time is on the day of judgement. That is,
when he meets Allah Ta’ala, as mentioned
in other Ahaadith.
10. It is mentioned in a Hadith that on the
first night of Ramadaan the doors of
heaven are opened. These doors remain
open right till the end of Ramadaan. There
is no Muslim who offers Salat in any of the
nights of this month except that he
receives 2500 rewards for every rakaat
that he offers. In addition to this, Allah
Ta’ala will construct a palace of rubies.
This palace will have sixty doors. Each of
these doors will have a golden chamber
which will be decorated with rubies.
When the person keeps the first fast of
Ramadaan, all the minor sins that he had
committed during the past year since the
first fast of the last Ramadaan will be
forgiven. In addition to this, 70 000 angels
will make dua for his forgiveness daily
from morning till sunset. For every rakaat
of Salat that he offers in Ramadaan,
whether it be during the day or at night,
he will be rewarded with a tree in
paradise. The shade of this tree will be
such that a traveller will be able to travel
beneath it for a journey of 500 years.
How great is the virtue of fasting! O
Muslims! Never allow yourself to miss any
fast. In fact, if you have the strength, then
keep nafl fasts as well. Show total love for
Allah Ta’ala who is so merciful that He is
rewarding us so abundantly in exchange
for a little effort on our part. At least make
Allah Ta’ala your beloved for your own
benefit in that you will receive the
abundant benefits of jannah.
11. It is mentioned in a Hadith that jannah
is decorated from the beginning of the
year till the end of the year especially for
Ramadaan. In addition to this, the large-
eyed Hoors of jannah decorate and
beautify themselves from the beginning of
the year till the end of the year especially
for the fasting persons. When Ramadaan
commences, jannah says to Allah Ta’ala:
“O Allah! Enter your pious servants into
me in this month.” As for the large-eyed
Hoors, they say: “O Allah! Appoint
husbands for us from among your pious
servants.”
The person who did not slander anyone in
this month and did not consume any
intoxicants shall have all his sins wiped
out. As for the one who slanders someone
or consumes any intoxicant, all his good
deeds for the past year will be wiped out.
In other words, he will be committing a
major sin. It should be borne in mind that
just as rewards are multiplied in a holy
month, punishment is also increased if a
sin is committed in a holy month. One
should ponder over the warning in this
Hadith.
Fear the month of Ramadaan because it is
the month of Allah Ta’ala. In this month,
Allah Ta’ala has ordered His servants to
emulate His practice by abstaining from
food and drink. Since Allah Ta’ala is pure
from food and drink all the time, this
month of Ramadaan has been specially
attached to Him. As for the other months,
they all belong to Him as well. Allah Ta’ala
has given you eleven months in which you
can eat, drink, and indulge in other halal
pleasures. He has set aside just one
month for Himself in which He has ordered
you to abstain from food, drink, and other
halal pleasures. Therefore, fear the month
of Ramadaan, for most certainly, it
belongs to Allah Ta’ala.
Obey Allah Ta’ala in this month and
abstain from sins. Although obedience to
Allah Ta’ala is necessary all the time, it’s
importance is stressed in particular places
such as Makkah al-Mukarramah and
Madinah al-Munawwarah; and at particular
times such as in the month of Ramadaan.
Special attention should be paid to
abstaining from sins at such places and at
such times because just as rewards are
multiplied at these times and places, so
too is punishment.
12. It is mentioned in a Hadith that when
food is presented to you at the time of
iftaar, then prior to opening your fast you
should recite the following dua:
Translation: “In the name of Allah. All
praise is due to Allah. O Allah! I have
fasted for Your pleasure, it is with Your
sustenance that I am opening my fast, and
I have placed complete trust in You. Glory
be to You and praise be to You. Accept this
fast from me for most surely You are All-
Hearing, All-Knowing.”
13. It is mentioned in a Hadith that when
you open your fast, it is preferable to open
it with dry dates because there is a lot of
blessing in this. If you do not have dates,
open your fast with water because water is
a great purifier. In certain Ahadith it is also
mentioned that the fast should be opened
with milk.
14. It is mentioned in a Hadith that the
person who keeps fast for 40 days solely
for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala shall have
whatever dua he makes to Allah Ta’ala
accepted. In other words, this person will
become so beloved in the sight of Allah
Ta’ala that whatever dua he makes will be
accepted by Allah Ta’ala if He feels that it
will be to the benefit of that person. The
respected sufis, may Allah Ta’ala be
pleased with them, have laid down a
system of cutting off all relations with this
world for forty days and engaging in the
ibaadah of Allah Ta’ala in a musjid. In
addition to this, the person must fast for
these forty days while he is in the musjid.
By doing this, the person will benefit
tremendously and will also develop the
strength to do good deeds. Through the
barakah of this, he will receive special
knowledge from Allah Ta’ala and he will
also be blessed with a deep understanding
of things.
15. It is mentioned in a Hadith that the
person who fasts on Thursdays, Fridays
and Saturdays of every sacred month, he
will receive the reward of making ibaadah
for 700 years. There are four months
which are sacred. They are: Rajab, Zul
Qa’dah, the first ten days of Zul Hijjah,
and Muharram. However, it should be
borne in mind that it is haram to fast on
the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th of Zul Hijjah.
16. It is mentioned in a Hadith that the
person who keeps three fasts in the sacred
months, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
he will receive the reward of making
ibaadah for two years. That is, on the Day
of Judgement it will be written in his book
of deeds that he had made ibaadah for two
years in return for these three days of
fasting.