Every act of worship is visible in the believer's body and conduct — salah is seen when prayed, zakat is known when given, hajj is announced when performed. But fasting is different: it remains only between Allah and the servant. Because no one can see it, there is no door for showing off — and that is why its reward is incomparable. This sermon explores the meaning of fasting, its place in the Quran, the staggering promise of the sacred hadith, and its transformative effect on daily life.
Fasting's Place in the Quran
When Allah prescribed fasting for the Muslims, He stated both its historical context and its wisdom in Surah al-Baqarah:
— Al-Baqarah 2:183O you who believe! Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain taqwa (God-consciousness).
Two keys are here: "as it was prescribed for those before you" — fasting is not unique to Islam, it was prescribed for past communities as well; and "that you may attain taqwa" — the final aim of fasting is taqwa, Allah-consciousness.
Two verses later Allah specifically names Ramadan: "The month of Ramadan, in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion" (Al-Baqarah 2:185). This verse explains why fasting and the Quran share the same month: the month of the Quran's revelation must be the month in which it disciplines our souls.
The Sacred Hadith — Allah's Promise
The reward of every deed will be weighed on the Day of Judgment — except for fasting. Allah has set its reward aside to give Himself. In a sacred hadith He declares:
— Sahih al-Bukhari, Sawm, no. 1894Every action of the son of Adam is for himself, except fasting. It is for Me, and I shall reward it. Fasting is a shield. So on the day of his fast let none of you speak obscenely or shout. If anyone reviles or fights him, let him say: "I am fasting."
The hadith names two things that distinguish fasting from every other deed: its hiddenness (between Allah and the servant alone) and its boundless reward. Beyond that, it portrays fasting as a shield — not only against hunger but against sin, against bad character, against the disasters of the tongue.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) declares an even stronger promise in another hadith: "The smell of the fasting person's breath is more pleasing to Allah than the scent of musk." Hunger and thirst may be hard in this world, but their compensation with Allah is something else entirely.
Categories of Fasting
Classical fiqh examines fasting in six categories:
1. Obligatory (fard) fast: The fast every sane, healthy, mature Muslim must keep in Ramadan. Performed on time (adā') or made up later (qaḍā').
2. Required (wājib) fast: Vow (nadhr) fasts, expiation (kaffārah) fasts.
3. Sunnah fast: The fasts the Prophet (peace be upon him) kept on blessed days — especially the Day of 'Ashura, the Day of 'Arafah, and the six days of Shawwal.
4. Recommended (mandūb) fast: Mondays and Thursdays, the white days (13th-14th-15th of each lunar month).
5. Disliked (makrūh) fast: Fasting only on the Day of 'Ashura alone (the Prophet ordered a day before or after to be added).
6. Forbidden (ḥarām) fast: Fasting on the two Eid days and the days of Tashriq.
This classification shows that fasting is not confined to Ramadan; it is a year-round discipline that nourishes the believer's nearness to Allah.
The Spiritual Dimension — "Not Merely Going Hungry"
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) explicitly warned that fasting must not stop at the body:
— Sahih al-Bukhari, Sawm, no. 1903Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah is not in need of his giving up his food and drink.
The hadith clarifies the two layers of fasting: the outer (abstaining from food and drink) and the inner (abstaining from evil, lies, and backbiting). Without the first, the fast is not valid; without the second, the fast is barren.
The Companions and the early generations practiced their fast in five layers:
- Stomach's fast: abstaining from food and drink.
- Eye's fast: restraining from forbidden gazes and from idle viewing.
- Ear's fast: refusing to listen to backbiting, gossip, slander.
- Tongue's fast: abstaining from lying, gossiping, and harsh speech.
- Heart's fast: guarding the heart from grudges, envy, and arrogance.
The servant who keeps all five layers comes out of the fast at iftar lighter and cleaner.
The Modern Benefits of Fasting
Medical research increasingly demonstrates the physical benefits of Ramadan fasting each year: cellular cleanup (autophagy), reduced insulin resistance, brain health, weight balance. When intermittent fasting became popular in mainstream medicine, Muslims had already been living this rhythm for 1400 years.
But fasting's true benefit lies not in the body but the soul: getting used to the reins on the self, reaching the strength of being able to give up even when one could have, deeply feeling another's hunger, transforming generosity and sharing into a year-round habit. A believer who fasts lives the rest of the year — materially and spiritually — differently. Ramadan is the believer's "annual renewal course."
A Sawm Practice With VAAZ
The VAAZ app's prayer times feature announces imsak and iftar to the minute for 81 Turkish cities; the countdown indicator gives reminders a few minutes before the call to prayer. The du'a archive categorizes the supplications for sahur, iftar, and during the fast itself.
To read the detailed etiquette of iftar and sahur, see Iftar and Sahur: Timing, Nutrition, and Supplications; to see Ramadan whole, see The Virtues of Ramadan.
Fasting is not a single month's practice but a lifetime's renewal. In a sacred hadith Allah set the reward of fasting aside to give Himself — this is the greatest investment the servant can make. The only guaranteed weapon for year-long victory over the self passes through this month, renewed from Ramadan to Ramadan.
References
- The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:183, Diyanet translation.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab as-Sawm, Hadith No. 1894.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab as-Sawm, Hadith No. 1903.