The wisdom of fasting
By Shaykh Salih Ibn Uthaymeen

From the wisdom of fasting is that it is a means of attaining piety. As Allah, the Most High, said:
‎اﻟﱠﺬِﻳﻦَ ﻣِﻦ ﻗَﺒْﻠِﻜُﻢ ْ ﻳﺄَﻳﱡﻬَﺎ اﻟﱠﺬِﻳﻦَءَاﻣَﻨُﻮاْ ﻛُﺘِﺐ َ ﻋَﻠَﻴْﻜُﻢ ُ اﻟﺼ ﱢ ﻴَﺎمُ ﻛَ� َ ﻛُﺘِﺐ َ ﻋَﲆ َ
‎ﻟَﻌَﻠﱠﻜُﻢ ْ ﺗَﺘﱠﻘُﻮنَ
O you who believe, fasting is prescribed on you as it was prescribed on those before you so that you may attain piety. (al-Baqarah: 183) The fasting person is commanded to do acts of obedience and abstain from sins. As the Prophet ﷺ said:

‎ﻣﻦْ ﻟَﻢ ﻳَﺪعْ ﻗﻮل اﻟﺰورِ واﻟﻌﻤﻞَ ﺑﻪ واﻟﺠَﻬﻞَ ﻓﻠﻴﺲ ﻟﻠﻪ ﺣﺎﺟﺔٌ ﰲ أنﱠ ﻳَﺪعَ
‎ﻃﻌﺎﻣَﻪ وﴍاﺑَﻪ
Whoever does not give up false speech and acting in accordance to that, and does not abandon foolishness, Allah does not need his leaving of food and drink. [al-Bukhari] The fasting person, whenever he intends to sin and then remembers that he is fasting, he stops himself from sinning. This is the reason why the Prophet ﷺ commanded the one who is fasting to say to the one who insults him or quarrels with him: “I am fasting” to remind him that the fasting person is prohibited from cursing and insulting and to remind himself that he is fasting to abstain from taking revenge by cursing and insulting.

From the wisdom of fasting is that the heart becomes occupied with contemplation and the remembrance of Allah. This is because fulfilling one’s desires necessitates negligence of the heart and causes the heart to become hardened and blinded from the truth. This is the reason why the Prophet ﷺ directed us to lessen our eating and drinking as he ﷺ said:
‎ﻟﻨﻔﺴ ِ ﻪِ ﺻ ُ ﻠْﺒَﻪ، ﻓﺈِن ﻛﺎن ﻻ ﻣَﺤﺎﻟَﺔَ ﻓَﺜُﻠﺚ ٌ ﻟﻄﻌﺎﻣِﻪ وﺛﻠﺚ ٌ ﻟﴩاﺑﻪ وﺛﻠﺚ ٌ ﻣَﺎ ﻣَﻸ اﺑﻦُ آدمَ وِﻋَﺎءً ﴍّاً ﻣﻦ ﺑﻄﻦ ٍ ، ﺑﺤَﺴ ْ ﺐ ِ اﺑﻦ آدمَ ﻟُﻘﻴْ�تٌ ﻳُﻘﻤﻦ
The son of Adam fills no vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for him to eat a few mouthfuls to keep his spine straight. But if he must fill it, then one-third for food, one-third for drink, and one-third for air. [Ahmad, an-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah] It is narrated in Sahih Muslim that Handhalah Al-Usayidi, one of the scribes of the Prophet ﷺ, said to the Prophet: “Verily Handhalah has become a hypocrite.” So the Prophet ﷺ said to him: “What is this that you are saying?” He said: “O Messenger of Allah, we would be with you, and you would remind us of the Hellfire and Paradise to the point that we would feel like we can see them with our eyes. But once we leave you and begin to mix with our wives, children, and families, we forget much.” The Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the same hadith: “However, O Handhalah, there is a time [for worldly affairs] and a time [for worship]” (three times). Abu Sulayman al-Darani said: When the soul starves and feels thirsty, the heart becomes pure, clean, and soft, but when it is full, the heart becomes blind.

From the wisdom of fasting is that the wealthy will recognize Allah’s bounties upon them as Allah blessed them with food, drink, and marriage, bounties that many from amongst the creation have been deprived of. As a result, the rich person will be grateful to Allah for these bounties and thank Him for their ease while remembering his poor brother who possibly spends the whole night starving and hungry, so he will be generous towards him and give him charity by which he can clothe his nakedness and nourish his hunger. The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous person, but he used to be more generous in the month of Ramadan when Jibril would come and review the Qur’an with him.

From the wisdom of fasting is training oneself to be disciplined, exhibiting self-control, and having the strength to hold the reins of one’s soul to control and guide it to that which will bring good and happiness. Indeed, the soul, by its nature, inclines to evil except for those whom our Lord protects through His mercy. So if an individual unleashes his soul without controlling it, it will cause him to perish. But if he controls and governs his soul, he can direct it to the highest ranks and utmost goals.

From the wisdom of fasting is that it breaks down the soul and limits its pride until it submits to the truth and is humble to the creation. For verily, satisfaction from food, drink, and intimacy with women all lead to self-deceit, pride, and arrogance, which causes one to belittle the creation and reject the truth. That is because when an individual needs these things, he becomes busy trying to obtain them. Then once he obtains them, he feels like he has succeeded in his mission which causes the emergence of
blameworthy pride, which ultimately becomes a cause of his destruction. Indeed, the safe one is the one whom Allah saves.

From the wisdom of fasting is the healthiness that results from fasting due to minimizing your food intake which allows your digestive system to relax for a certain period of time, and diminishes the moistness and the harmful waste materials in our body and other than that. How tremendous and perfect is our Lord’s wisdom! And how beneficial and befitting are His legislations for the creation!

By Shaykh Salih Ibn Uthaymeen

From the wisdom of fasting is that it is a means of attaining piety. As Allah, the Most High, said:
‎اﻟﱠﺬِﻳﻦَ ﻣِﻦ ﻗَﺒْﻠِﻜُﻢ ْ ﻳﺄَﻳﱡﻬَﺎ اﻟﱠﺬِﻳﻦَءَاﻣَﻨُﻮاْ ﻛُﺘِﺐ َ ﻋَﻠَﻴْﻜُﻢ ُ اﻟﺼ ﱢ ﻴَﺎمُ ﻛَ� َ ﻛُﺘِﺐ َ ﻋَﲆ َ
‎ﻟَﻌَﻠﱠﻜُﻢ ْ ﺗَﺘﱠﻘُﻮنَ
O you who believe, fasting is prescribed on you as it was prescribed on those before you so that you may attain piety. (al-Baqarah: 183) The fasting person is commanded to do acts of obedience and abstain from sins. As the Prophet ﷺ said:

‎ﻣﻦْ ﻟَﻢ ﻳَﺪعْ ﻗﻮل اﻟﺰورِ واﻟﻌﻤﻞَ ﺑﻪ واﻟﺠَﻬﻞَ ﻓﻠﻴﺲ ﻟﻠﻪ ﺣﺎﺟﺔٌ ﰲ أنﱠ ﻳَﺪعَ
‎ﻃﻌﺎﻣَﻪ وﴍاﺑَﻪ
Whoever does not give up false speech and acting in accordance to that, and does not abandon foolishness, Allah does not need his leaving of food and drink. [al-Bukhari] The fasting person, whenever he intends to sin and then remembers that he is fasting, he stops himself from sinning. This is the reason why the Prophet ﷺ commanded the one who is fasting to say to the one who insults him or quarrels with him: “I am fasting” to remind him that the fasting person is prohibited from cursing and insulting and to remind himself that he is fasting to abstain from taking revenge by cursing and insulting.

From the wisdom of fasting is that the heart becomes occupied with contemplation and the remembrance of Allah. This is because fulfilling one’s desires necessitates negligence of the heart and causes the heart to become hardened and blinded from the truth. This is the reason why the Prophet ﷺ directed us to lessen our eating and drinking as he ﷺ said:
‎ﻟﻨﻔﺴ ِ ﻪِ ﺻ ُ ﻠْﺒَﻪ، ﻓﺈِن ﻛﺎن ﻻ ﻣَﺤﺎﻟَﺔَ ﻓَﺜُﻠﺚ ٌ ﻟﻄﻌﺎﻣِﻪ وﺛﻠﺚ ٌ ﻟﴩاﺑﻪ وﺛﻠﺚ ٌ ﻣَﺎ ﻣَﻸ اﺑﻦُ آدمَ وِﻋَﺎءً ﴍّاً ﻣﻦ ﺑﻄﻦ ٍ ، ﺑﺤَﺴ ْ ﺐ ِ اﺑﻦ آدمَ ﻟُﻘﻴْ�تٌ ﻳُﻘﻤﻦ
The son of Adam fills no vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for him to eat a few mouthfuls to keep his spine straight. But if he must fill it, then one-third for food, one-third for drink, and one-third for air. [Ahmad, an-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah] It is narrated in Sahih Muslim that Handhalah Al-Usayidi, one of the scribes of the Prophet ﷺ, said to the Prophet: “Verily Handhalah has become a hypocrite.” So the Prophet ﷺ said to him: “What is this that you are saying?” He said: “O Messenger of Allah, we would be with you, and you would remind us of the Hellfire and Paradise to the point that we would feel like we can see them with our eyes. But once we leave you and begin to mix with our wives, children, and families, we forget much.” The Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the same hadith: “However, O Handhalah, there is a time [for worldly affairs] and a time [for worship]” (three times). Abu Sulayman al-Darani said: When the soul starves and feels thirsty, the heart becomes pure, clean, and soft, but when it is full, the heart becomes blind.

From the wisdom of fasting is that the wealthy will recognize Allah’s bounties upon them as Allah blessed them with food, drink, and marriage, bounties that many from amongst the creation have been deprived of. As a result, the rich person will be grateful to Allah for these bounties and thank Him for their ease while remembering his poor brother who possibly spends the whole night starving and hungry, so he will be generous towards him and give him charity by which he can clothe his nakedness and nourish his hunger. The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous person, but he used to be more generous in the month of Ramadan when Jibril would come and review the Qur’an with him.

From the wisdom of fasting is training oneself to be disciplined, exhibiting self-control, and having the strength to hold the reins of one’s soul to control and guide it to that which will bring good and happiness. Indeed, the soul, by its nature, inclines to evil except for those whom our Lord protects through His mercy. So if an individual unleashes his soul without controlling it, it will cause him to perish. But if he controls and governs his soul, he can direct it to the highest ranks and utmost goals.

From the wisdom of fasting is that it breaks down the soul and limits its pride until it submits to the truth and is humble to the creation. For verily, satisfaction from food, drink, and intimacy with women all lead to self-deceit, pride, and arrogance, which causes one to belittle the creation and reject the truth. That is because when an individual needs these things, he becomes busy trying to obtain them. Then once he obtains them, he feels like he has succeeded in his mission which causes the emergence of
blameworthy pride, which ultimately becomes a cause of his destruction. Indeed, the safe one is the one whom Allah saves.

From the wisdom of fasting is the healthiness that results from fasting due to minimizing your food intake which allows your digestive system to relax for a certain period of time, and diminishes the moistness and the harmful waste materials in our body and other than that. How tremendous and perfect is our Lord’s wisdom! And how beneficial and befitting are His legislations for the creation!
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