The Sunni Association in Iraq / The Virtue of Fasting

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

From the Virtues of Fasting in Ramadan

All praise is due to Allah, who revealed the criterion (the Quran), and prescribed fasting in Ramadan, and prepared for those who fast the gardens of Paradise to enter through the Rayyan gate. Prayers and peace be upon our Prophet and his family; his followers altogether. As for what follows:

Reaching Ramadan is a new life, overwhelming happiness, an opportune chance, and it is the straight path to piety and its strong rope. Whoever holds onto it is saved, and whoever adheres to it is among the secure winners of the high gardens. Allah Almighty says: "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous - The month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you, and perhaps you will be grateful."

In the two Sahihs, from Abu Hurayrah, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "By Him in Whose Hand is my life, the smell of the mouth of a fasting person is better to Allah on the Day of Resurrection than the fragrance of musk. And the fasting person has two joys: he is joyful when he breaks his fast, and he is joyful when he meets his Lord with his fasting." And in Muslim: "Every act of the son of Adam is multiplied, a good deed receiving a tenfold to seven hundredfold reward. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, said: Except for fasting, for it is for Me and I will give the reward for it, for one abandons his passion and food for My sake." The statement of Allah Almighty: "Except for fasting, for it is for Me and I will give the reward for it," includes meanings such as; fasting is predominantly an act of devotion to Allah Almighty, unlike other acts like prostration, bowing, visiting, spending money, slaughtering, etc., and it also indicates special attention to the worship of fasting, without specifying the amount of reward due to its greatness.

In the two Sahihs, from Abu Hurayrah, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and in the hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." And in the Nasa'i with a sound chain from Abu Umamah Al-Bahili, he said: "O Messenger of Allah, command me with something that will benefit me with Allah." He said: "Adhere to fasting, for there is nothing like it."

And in Musnad and Tirmidhi, from Ali, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "In Paradise, there are rooms whose insides can be seen from the outside, and the outside from the inside." An Arab stood up and said: "For whom are these, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "For those who speak kindly, feed [the poor], continuously fast, and pray to Allah at night while people are asleep."

Paradise has eight gates, including the Rayyan gate for the fasting people only. In the two Sahihs, from Sahl bin Sa'd, from the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "In Paradise, there is a gate called Rayyan, through which the fasting people will enter on the Day of Resurrection, and no one else will enter through it. It will be said, 'Where are the fasting people?' So they will stand up, and no one else will enter through it. Once they have entered, it will be closed, and no one else will enter through it."

Servants of Allah... Weigh your deeds this month on a scale, and buy yourselves from Allah with the highest price, and seek help with the strong supporter, and He has already helped. If there was negligence and shortcomings before, let us strive now in the month of Ramadan, in which the Quran was revealed. This month is a witness over us, with kindness or deprivation, and the Quran is a proof for us or against us, and both are intercessors for their companion. So let us embrace the month of Ramadan, in which the Quran was revealed. Allah Almighty described it as "a few numbered days."

May Allah grant us the fasting of Ramadan and its qiyam (night prayer) out of faith and seeking reward, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family; his followers altogether.