Types of Fasting.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : We return to the topic of fasting. We say: Fasting is of two types—pay attention, my brother!—Fasting is of two types: fasting from tangible things, and fasting from intangible things. Fasting from tangible things is something everyone can do; every person is capable of it. But fasting from intangible things is not something everyone can do. Fasting from tangible things is fasting from eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, and whatever breaks the fast of the one who is fasting. This is fasting from what? From what? From a tangible thing that is merely nourishment for the body. Every person is capable of this. The second type is: fasting from intangible things. This is the difficult one, meaning fasting from sins, fasting from sins. So, whoever fasts from the tangible things that break the fast but falls into sins and transgressions, he has not brought the spirit of fasting nor the wisdom of fasting. The evidence is the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: [Al-Baqarah 2:183] Why? . He did not say: "Perhaps you will become hungry," "Perhaps you will become thirsty," "Perhaps you will leave off enjoying women." No. He said: . This is the wisdom. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Bulugh al-Maram 5:14. Indeed, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does not want us, when we fast, to torment ourselves by leaving off eating, drinking, and intercourse. Rather, He wants us to leave off speaking falsehood, acting upon it, and ignorance. Ignorance is not the opposite of knowledge. Ignorance: it is aggression. And on this basis, the poet said:
"Let no one be ignorant toward us, *** For we will be ignorant beyond the ignorance of the ignorant ones."
So, the true fasting is fasting from intangible matters, meaning from sins. For this reason, the poet said:
"If there is no restraint in my hearing, *** And no lowering of my gaze, and no silence in my speech,
Then my share from my fasting is hunger and thirst, *** If I say I fasted a day, I have not fasted."
Look, the poet took this meaning from the verse and the hadith.
Is the one who fasts but does not pray truly fasting? No, by Allah. There are people, may Allah protect us from that, who stay up all night in Ramadan. And when they have their pre-dawn meal and fill their bellies with Allah’s provision, they sleep through the Fajr, Zuhr, and Asr prayers. And when the sun remains or approaches setting, they get up and pray Fajr, Zuhr, and Asr. They do not remember Allah in them except a little. If the sunset were delayed, if the sunset were delayed, for what? To delay them. But because of the nearness of their eating, they woke up. These people have not fasted; their fasting is extremely deficient.
People fasted and made it a habit to eat the flesh of people through backbiting. Did these people fast? No. They did not truly fast.
People fasted, but they deal in buying and selling with deception, lying, and false oaths. Did these people fast? No. These people have not fasted. So: it is obligatory upon us to observe the intangible fasting, which is fasting from sins. This is the most important thing. As for fasting from the tangible things that break the fast, this is an easy matter that everyone can do.
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْPerhaps you will become mindful of Allah
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَPerhaps you will become mindful of Allah
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَWhoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions and does not abandon foolishness, Allah is not in need of his leaving food and drink
من لم يدع قول الزور والعمل به والجهل فليس لله حاجة في أن يدع طعامه وشرابه"Let no one be ignorant toward us, *** For we will be ignorant beyond the ignorance of the ignorant ones."
So, the true fasting is fasting from intangible matters, meaning from sins. For this reason, the poet said:
"If there is no restraint in my hearing, *** And no lowering of my gaze, and no silence in my speech,
Then my share from my fasting is hunger and thirst, *** If I say I fasted a day, I have not fasted."
Look, the poet took this meaning from the verse and the hadith.
Is the one who fasts but does not pray truly fasting? No, by Allah. There are people, may Allah protect us from that, who stay up all night in Ramadan. And when they have their pre-dawn meal and fill their bellies with Allah’s provision, they sleep through the Fajr, Zuhr, and Asr prayers. And when the sun remains or approaches setting, they get up and pray Fajr, Zuhr, and Asr. They do not remember Allah in them except a little. If the sunset were delayed, if the sunset were delayed, for what? To delay them. But because of the nearness of their eating, they woke up. These people have not fasted; their fasting is extremely deficient.
People fasted and made it a habit to eat the flesh of people through backbiting. Did these people fast? No. They did not truly fast.
People fasted, but they deal in buying and selling with deception, lying, and false oaths. Did these people fast? No. These people have not fasted. So: it is obligatory upon us to observe the intangible fasting, which is fasting from sins. This is the most important thing. As for fasting from the tangible things that break the fast, this is an easy matter that everyone can do.