Why did Allah single out fasting from among all other acts of worship (fasting is for Me, and I will reward it)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, why did He single out fasting from among all other acts of worship in the statement "fasting is for Me, and I will reward it"?
Answer:
It is due to the distinction of fasting over other deeds, because fasting is an intention between the servant and his Lord, and no one knows it except Allah, unlike other deeds which are seen and heard, and showing off (riya') may enter them. As for fasting, showing off does not enter it because it is between the servant and his Lord, and no one knows if a person is fasting. Even if you saw two people, one fasting and one breaking his fast, you would not be able to distinguish between them; it is only by intention, and this is between him and Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, why did He single out fasting from among all other acts of worship in the statement "fasting is for Me, and I will reward it"?
Answer:
It is due to the distinction of fasting over other deeds, because fasting is an intention between the servant and his Lord, and no one knows it except Allah, unlike other deeds which are seen and heard, and showing off (riya') may enter them. As for fasting, showing off does not enter it because it is between the servant and his Lord, and no one knows if a person is fasting. Even if you saw two people, one fasting and one breaking his fast, you would not be able to distinguish between them; it is only by intention, and this is between him and Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، "2717- لماذا اختص الله الصيام من بين سائر العبادات (الصوم لي)؟ | الشيخ صالح الفوزان" — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.