A special comment by the Shaykh on the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become righteous.”

The Shaykh : As we all know the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): . You have often heard commentary and beneficial speech regarding this verse, but I believe you have rarely heard a specific commentary on the end of this verse: , . Why this fasting? . This verse is among the few verses, indeed among the few legal texts, in which the legal ruling is coupled with an explanation of its purpose and cause. Here, there is an explicit statement of the obligation of fasting the month of Ramadan, and Muslims must proceed to adopt and implement this ruling without asking why, how, or similar questions. Nowadays, there is much questioning about what is called the wisdom of legislation. You often hear some people asking, “Why is it so and so, and why is it so and so?” For this reason, we do not approve of expanding into seeking the wisdom of legislation except for what is explicitly stated in the Shari'ah, such as what we are discussing now. to the end of the verse. Why? Allah the Exalted said: , meaning that the objective of fasting is for this fasting to be a means for the fasting person to increase in mindfulness of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and closeness to Him. If the fasting person fasts and his condition does not improve from what it was before, that is, before Ramadan, then it means that this fasting person has not achieved the expected objective of this fasting. Some authentic hadiths, of course, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarify and confirm this objective stated in the verse. For example, the Qudsi hadith narrated by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from his Lord (Mighty and Majestic), where He said: . This is a very great hadith, and it coincides entirely with the conclusion of that verse: . So, if we combine the verse and the hadith, the entire purpose—I say the entire purpose, so that some do not misunderstand my words—is not that the fasting person merely refrains from food, drink, and intercourse, which are explicitly mentioned as things that break the fast in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, let alone the other things that break the fast regarding which there is great disagreement among jurists. The purpose is not merely to refrain from these things that break the fast; rather, there are other obligations that the Muslim must refrain from as well, just as he refrained from these things that break the fast, in light of the reasoning mentioned in the verse and the explicit, authentic hadith mentioned earlier. I can tell you something that may be new in expression but not new in rulings, because it is stated in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The new expression is that all books of jurisprudence have proceeded to mention the things that break the fast, and this is necessary. But I say, as an explanation and clarification of what preceded from the verse and hadith: The things that break the fast are of two types, and this division must be firmly established in the minds of everyone due to their importance. The first type is the material things that break the fast, which are explained in the books of jurisprudence as I mentioned earlier. The other type of things that break the fast, let us call them the spiritual things that break the fast. These spiritual things that break the fast are what the noble verse pointed to: . And that is clarified by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He): . So, it is necessary that along with his refraining from his food, drink, and sexual desire, he must include ceasing from what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has forbidden him and made obligatory for every Muslim to stay away from. It was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , or as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And whoever wants to look into these hadiths and what is similar to them in the warning of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against committing sins regarding the fasting person, and that this prohibition is part of the generality of the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): . Whoever wants to look into this type of hadiths should refer to the book al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib by al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri (may Allah have mercy on him). And in conclusion, I say that fasting, in terms of its being legislated so that the Muslim increases in closeness to Allah and mindfulness of Him through it,