Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ((And the fasting men and the fasting women...))
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He said: In charity there is giving, and in fasting there is abstention. They are those who engaged in worshipping Allah the Exalted through fasting. Fasting is worshipping Allah by abstaining from the things that break the fast, from the rising of the dawn until the setting of the sun. It has types: some of it is a pillar of Islam, some is obligatory but not a pillar, some is a specific recommended practice, and some is a general recommended practice. There are four types. The obligatory one that is a duty of Islam, Ya Salem? Which is a duty of Islam?
The student: Ramadan
The Shaykh : And nothing else. There is nothing else. And the obligatory one that is not a pillar of Islam, 'Abd al-Rahman?
The student: The vow
The Shaykh : And the vow that you have made obligatory upon yourself.
The student: to make up the fast.
The Shaykh : Making up missed fasts is not a pillar of Islam.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Correct, like the fasts of expiation. Not always; when a person breaks an oath in which he had made it obligatory upon himself to fast, but he did the cause.
The Shaykh : And some of it is a recommended practice restricted to a specific time?
The student: ...Monday and Thursday
The Shaykh : Yes, and 'Ashura, the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah, and the Day of 'Arafah. And some, yes, I do not think it falls under the specific ones, or it falls under the specific ones. The six days of Shawwal, do they fall under the specific ones? If it is every month. And some is general, such as a person fasting for Allah the Exalted one day among the days, except that it is disliked for a person to fast on a Friday alone; rather, he should fast a day before it or a day after it.
The fasting men and the fasting women are abstaining from their pleasures and desires, from eating, drinking, and intercourse, and what follows that. But these are the basics of pleasures. Therefore, Allah Mighty and Majestic said in the Qudsi Hadith regarding the fasting person:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 3:27. Does fasting not fall under patience? Yes, but it is an independent worship that includes patience.
And the fasting men and the fasting women
وَالصَّائِمِينَ وَالصَّائِمَاتِAnd the fasting men
وَالصَّائِمِينَThe student: Ramadan
The Shaykh : And nothing else. There is nothing else. And the obligatory one that is not a pillar of Islam, 'Abd al-Rahman?
The student: The vow
The Shaykh : And the vow that you have made obligatory upon yourself.
The student: to make up the fast.
The Shaykh : Making up missed fasts is not a pillar of Islam.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Correct, like the fasts of expiation. Not always; when a person breaks an oath in which he had made it obligatory upon himself to fast, but he did the cause.
The Shaykh : And some of it is a recommended practice restricted to a specific time?
The student: ...Monday and Thursday
The Shaykh : Yes, and 'Ashura, the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah, and the Day of 'Arafah. And some, yes, I do not think it falls under the specific ones, or it falls under the specific ones. The six days of Shawwal, do they fall under the specific ones? If it is every month. And some is general, such as a person fasting for Allah the Exalted one day among the days, except that it is disliked for a person to fast on a Friday alone; rather, he should fast a day before it or a day after it.
The fasting men and the fasting women are abstaining from their pleasures and desires, from eating, drinking, and intercourse, and what follows that. But these are the basics of pleasures. Therefore, Allah Mighty and Majestic said in the Qudsi Hadith regarding the fasting person: