Prescription Of The Fast

 

   Incumbency of the Fast (L-218)

فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهرَ فَليَصُمهُ ۖ 185c.

185c.  Faman-  shahida  min-kumush-Shahra  fal-yasumh.

185c.  Whoever of you witnesses the month, shall fast it.

It has been described in this part of the verse that the individual who remains living till the month of Ramadan, must fast. Concession is only for the sick and the wayfarer. This commandment is due to owing the excellence of the month of Ramadan, which is being discussed once again, as an abstract.

Having a fast is a tradition in every nation of the world, for example; on the day of Ashurah (10^th of the first lunar month - Muharram), Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him) and his nation got freedom from the cruelty of Pharaoh. So the fast of that day was begun in the Children of Israel. The Law of Fasting exists also in the Christians.  Concept and custom of fasting does exist in the Indians and other nations too. Details are different but the reality is present.

Fasting has countless virtues. It puts good effects on the health and spirit. The rich are well-informed about the poor practically. Equation grows among the people who eat bellyful and the people who suffer starving. Spiritual powers develop by it. Sensual wishes are controlled. God fearing becomes strong in the mankind, for example; if there is season of summer, every living thing feels severe thirst. The cold water exists in the house, nobody is there to see the Faster, but he doesn’t drink the water.

This all is because the respect of the Commandment of God has settled down in his heart. Now no other power can defeat the individual and while according to the Command of God, he has made own habit to give up the legal, lawful and pure desires during the month of Ramadan through fasting, then he won’t feel any difficulty in leaving the illegal, unlawful and bad habits. This is the moral cleanliness, of which, the purpose of fasting is to grow.

It has come in the Sayings of God’s Messenger (ﷺ) that if a faster does not give up telling a lie, absurd talks and useless deeds, God does not care for his leaving to eat and drink. Though, the real purpose of fasting is to correct the morality. If the manners are not corrected, then there is no advantage of the fasting. It is the obligation upon the Muslims that due to so many virtues and importance of the fasting, we should keep a fast every year in this entire month, respect the month of Ramadan and create physical, spiritual and moral characteristics into us, so that the purpose of the Revelation of Holy Qur’an is fulfilled, and the month of Ramadan is proved as the real festival and token of the Revelation of Holy Qur’an. https://youtu.be/oIohBlnki3k