Exegesis of the verses on fasting in Surat al-Baqarah.

The Shaykh : All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He leaves to mislead, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. May Allah send blessings and peace upon him, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: It is a great and noble occasion that we hold this gathering, which our brother, Shaykh Mahmud ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Sa'igh, has called a lecture. The intention is benefit, and you may call it whatever you wish—a lecture, an open meeting, or whatever you like. The important thing is the benefit. This gathering is at the appropriate time and in the appropriate place. As for its time, it is upon the approach of the blessed month of Ramadan, and I ask Allah the Exalted to make me and you among those who fast and stand in prayer in it with faith and seeking of reward, and to forgive them what has passed of their sins. As for its place, it is in the Great Mosque in the city of 'Unayzah, which is, to our knowledge, the oldest mosque in this land. This gathering takes place on the night of Sunday, the twenty-third of the month of Sha'ban in the year 1413. The topic of this gathering is to speak about fasting and standing in night prayer. In the gathering that will be, if Allah wills, periodic in Ramadan, the speech will also be about zakah. My brother, Shaykh Mahmud ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Sa'igh, asked me to present, before the main speech, a brief explanation of the verses of fasting. This had already occurred to me, for I had intended to speak about the verses of fasting in the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, because the best thing by which believers are connected is the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Therefore, it is obligatory for every jurist, every guardian, and every caller to connect people to the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for multiple benefits. Among them is connecting people to the sources, because the sources of our Shari'ah are confined to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and analogical reasoning and scholarly consensus are branches of them. Also, when people are connected to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), they feel that they are performing acts of worship and conducting transactions in obedience to the guidance of Allah the Mighty and Majestic and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It is better for a person to believe, while performing an act, that he is following the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger, than to perform it while believing that he is taking from such-and-such a book or such-and-such a book. The people who follow scholars purely without knowing their evidence, relying on the books of jurists without referring to the sources of the Book and the Sunnah, you find that one of them, when he performs an act, feels that he is bound by the words of the scholar he follows. But if we try to connect people to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that is better and more excellent. As the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to declare in the Friday sermon, saying: "As for what follows: ." And what I hope from my brothers, the students of knowledge, the callers to good, and the guides, is that they note this issue and connect people to the words of Allah and the words of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so that people worship their Lord while feeling that they are doing so in obedience to the command of Allah and following the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). For this reason, we find that the Companions and the Tabi'un, when one of them wanted to speak, would say, "Because Allah said," or "Because the Messenger of Allah said." This is a very important matter. Based on this, I say that Allah the Exalted said in His Book: . Consider the address: . Allah the Mighty and Majestic addresses us and calls us by the name of faith or the description of faith: . If we are believers, what do You want from us, O our Lord? . He wrote: "Obligatory." And this obligation is not imposed on you, O Ummah, alone, but it was imposed on those before you: . In His saying: , there are two benefits. The first is the consolation of this Ummah when it is afflicted with hunger and thirst due to fasting, because a person is consoled by what befalls others. The second is the clarification that Allah has completed for this Ummah the virtues that the previous nations received: . For this reason, our Shari'ah, and praise be to Allah, and we ask Allah to keep us firm upon it, was a completion of the previous Shari'ahs. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described his message as a fully built palace except for the place of a brick. The people would circle this palace, go around it, and marvel at it, but they would say, "This place, the place of the brick, is a defect in the palace and a deficiency in it." The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I am the brick that completed this palace." For this reason, he was sent (peace and blessings be upon him) to perfect the noble character: . Why? Is it so that we may hunger and thirst? No: . That is so that you may fear Allah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . From here, we must feel, while we fast and abstain from what Allah has made lawful of food, drink, and intercourse, that we are doing this as worship of Allah, in obedience to His command, and in glorification of His obligation. And that we seek nearness to Allah through it and reach taqwa, which is avoiding the forbidden and performing the obligatory. Most people think that fasting is merely restraining the self from food, drink, and intercourse. You find them spending the daytime hours in sleep, idleness, play, or the like. This is an error. If you fast, let your hearing, sight, tongue, and limbs fast. Fear Allah, avoid the prohibitions of Allah, and perform what Allah has made obligatory upon you. Pray in congregation, increase in reading the Qur'an, increase in charity, and increase in doing good, so that you may attain the wisdom for which fasting was made obligatory. What is this fasting? Is it months? Is it years? Is it weeks? Listen: . Why did He say: ? To reduce it and make it easy for the human being. It is not months or years: . This is another facilitation. Nevertheless, it is not obligatory for everyone to fast. The sick person for whom fasting is difficult breaks his fast. When does he fast? . The traveler, even if he is in an airplane or in an air-conditioned car, and even in the days of winter, breaks his fast as a facilitation: . Then He said, a third facilitation: . This is a third facilitation, that the person is given a choice: if he wishes, he fasts, and if he wishes, he breaks his fast and pays a ransom: . That is, they are able to fast: . And paying the ransom: . Fasting is better than the ransom, but all of it is permissible. If you wish, fast, and if you wish, break your fast and pay the ransom. This is a facilitation. So there are three facilitations. The first is: . The second is the dropping of fasting for the traveler and the sick person to other days. The third is the choice: if you wish, fast, and if you wish, break your fast. But if you break your fast, you must pay the ransom: . And perform the ransom: . But: . But did these three choices remain? And did the days remain unspecified? That is, . We do not know; they could be in Sha'ban, in Ramadan, in Rajab, in Shawwal, or in Rabi'. . Did the days remain unspecified, and did the choice between fasting and the ransom remain as it was, and did the choice for the sick person and the traveler to break their fast remain? Let us look. Read the verse that follows: . These are the days. So, were the days unspecified at first? They were specified in the second verse as: . And why was the month of Ramadan singled out? Why was not fasting in Rajab? Why was it not in Dhul-Qa'dah? Why was it not in Dhul-Hijjah? Why was it not in Muharram? These four months are the sacred months. So why was not fasting in the sacred months? Because the sacred months are: . The year. Allah the Exalted said: . Why is not fasting in one of the sacred months? Listen: . And why was Ramadan singled out? . So the month in which this great blessing occurred is worthy of being the place of fasting. For this reason, there was a connection between the Qur'an and fasting. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have Jibril come to him every Ramadan to review the Qur'an with him, and he would not come to him in any other month for this review. He would come to him with the revelation, which was not a problem, but for the review, he would not come except in the month of Ramadan. He would review the Qur'an with him once every year, except in the year in which he died, when he reviewed it with him twice. So there is a connection between fasting and Ramadan, which is that the Qur'an was revealed in it. The most noble book revealed is the Qur'an, a governing book, sovereign over all books: . It is dominant over them. The dominance belongs to the Qur'an; it is the sovereign of the books, the judge over the books. Just as Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the sovereign of the prophets and the leader of the prophets, and the abrogator of all the religions of the prophets. Now: . Why was it revealed? , . All of them. Everyone who reads the Qur'an finds in it much knowledge. Even the Jews and the Christians, if they read the Qur'an, would find in it much knowledge: . Clear signs and indications: . So in the Qur'an is a distinction between truth and falsehood, a distinction between harm and benefit, a distinction between the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the awliya of Satan, a distinction in everything that requires clear clarification: . Which month? Ramadan, because the "al" here is for the known, previously mentioned: . In the current verse, something ambiguous in the previous verse is clarified. What is the ambiguous thing in the previous verse? . It was clarified that it is the month of Ramadan. In the second verse, there is a confirmation of a previous ruling in the first verse. What is it? . This is a confirmation of the previous ruling. And what remains for us from the previous ruling? The choice between fasting and the ransom. Did it remain? No. And therefore it did not come in the second verse. He said: . So the choice that was in the first verse was abrogated and did not remain. It is as if I saw in some of you, when I was speaking about the first verse, I saw in the faces of some of you disapproval. How can a person be given a choice between fasting and breaking the fast? But now it has become clear that there is no choice, and that what is specified is: Fasting is specified. And therefore he said: . Fasting is necessary. Fasting is necessary, and there is no choice. So what is the wisdom that Allah gives us a choice first, then obligates us with fasting second? What is the wisdom? The wisdom is that fasting involves a type of hardship, especially in the Hijaz, especially in the Hijaz. And although fasting was only made obligatory in Madinah, which is less hot than Makkah, there is a type of heat, especially if it was first made obligatory in the summer. So in fasting there is a type of hardship. And it is not wise to confront souls with obligation from the very beginning. Yes, it is not wise. It clarifies that fasting is good, and that the person is given a choice. The person of high ambition, when told that the ransom is permissible and fasting is better, what does he choose? He chooses fasting. So the souls submit and progress little by little until they reach the obligation. And this is from the wisdom of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: the gradualness in legislation. Regarding alcohol, Allah revealed four verses, stages. He permitted it in one verse, hinted at its prohibition in one verse, prohibited it at a time other than a time, and prohibited it absolutely. Why? Because the souls are attached to it. If they were confronted from the first time and told, "Do not drink alcohol," perhaps they would drink or there would be disobedience. And the human being is a human being. The Companions and those after them, all of them are human beings: . What is in this? Permission or prohibition? Permission, because Allah mentioned it in the context of bestowing favors: . That is, to get drunk and rejoice, and to sell and earn a living from it. This is one verse. . What is in it? A hint that it is harm, and its harm is greater. Does the rational person take what has greater harm and greater sin, or does he avoid it? He avoids it willingly and by choice: . The third verse. What is in it? Its prohibition at a time other than a time. When? The time of prayer: . So do not get drunk at prayer. At the time of prayer, avoid intoxication: . The fourth verse: Avoid it. There is no detail. So we find that Allah, with His wisdom, does not come to the souls with what may be difficult for them directly, but gradually. Now, Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: . What do you understand from this phrase after He said: ? What do you understand? I understand from it that it is not befitting for the sick person to make it difficult for himself by fasting, and it is not befitting for the traveler to make it difficult for himself by fasting. Rather, he should do what is easier, even if his illness is light. As long as fasting is difficult for him because of the illness, it is better that he breaks his fast. It is better that he breaks his fast, even if it is a cold, because a cold usually requires water, because the body excretes a lot of water with a cold, so it needs water. So if it is difficult for him, we say, "Break your fast." Praise be to Allah: . O Allah, to You is praise, O our Lord: . Ease is beloved to Allah, and hardship is disliked by Allah. Do not make things difficult. For this reason, when 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As said: . The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prevented him. He said: . And in some wordings of the hadith: . The visitor to you: . And he progressed with him until he gave him a dispensation in one thing in fasting. What is it? He fasts, he fasts one day and breaks his fast one day. And in standing in night prayer, he sleeps half the night and stands one-third of the night and sleeps one-third of the night: . O Allah, to You is praise: . When is the takbir? Upon the completion of the waiting period, the night of the festival. According to what He guided you to. Is it guidance of success or guidance of indication? Which one? Both. According to what He guided you and indicated to you, and according to what He made you successful in. Because when a person completes the waiting period, it is a success from Allah and a guidance: , . Some scholars said: This verse was mentioned after the verse of fasting as a hint that fasting is among the causes of the acceptance of supplication. For this reason, it came in the hadith: . This is what Allah made easy of speech about the verse of fasting. I loved to bring this because of what I indicated first, that I love for Muslims to be connected to what? To the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). All of us perform wudu' when we want to pray, but is there any of us who feels that when he stands to perform wudu' for prayer, that Allah is commanding him, saying: . And he washes his face while feeling that Allah is commanding him to wash it. Do we feel this? Or does he stand to perform wudu' to pray? The second is more common. The second is more common. For this reason, I say, taste the flavor of this feeling that when you stand to perform wudu', it is as if you are reading the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Taste its flavor. You will find that this wudu', which is a cleaning of the body externally, you will find that it cleans the heart internally. Now, when we perform wudu', do we feel as if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is in front of us performing wudu', so that by this wudu' we are following him? Yes, few. But if you feel this, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is as if he is performing wudu' in front of you and you are following him, what will be the flavor of the wudu'? Sincerity. If you recall the verse and following, if you recall that this is the description of the wudu' of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), for this reason I say that it is obligatory upon the students of knowledge, from jurists, callers, and preachers, to connect people to the Book and the Sunnah, because there is a great benefit in it.