First:
Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan as Allah ordered them to do so, but is there wisdom in this deed?
Above all, we should know that one of Allah’s most beautiful names is ‘ the wise ‘ .
Allah – glory be to him – is the only one who has the right to judge, and his judgments are the most thorough, wise, and precise.
Second:
Allah has not decreed a ruling without wisdom about which we may know all aspects or some or even we may not know more about it .
Third:
Allah stated the wisdom in fasting, and made it obligatory for Muslims in the verse:“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous “( 2-183 )
Hence, fasting is a means to achieve piety, which is doing what Allah ordered to do and abandoning all what Allah prohibited. So, fasting is one of the most important ways that help a Muslim to adhere to Allah’s teachings.
Scholars mentioned some aspects of the wisdom in fasting which are considered characteristics of piety and which we are going to shed light on them for a Muslim to be aware of them and to do his best to achieve them.
Some of those aspects are:
1- Fasting is a way to show thanksgiving to Allah for His blessings; actually fasting is abstaining from food , drink, and sex, and these are great blessings, when a Muslim abstain from them for a period of time , he knows the real value of these blessings, one does not know the value of a blessing unless he loses it , so fasting make him give thanksgiving to Allah .
2-fasting is a method that helps a Muslim to abstain from all what Allah forbade , when a person avoids doing what is lawful to gain Allah’s pleasure, and avoids his punishment, that encourage him to avoid unlawful acts, so fasting is a way to avoid unlawful acts.
3- Fasting helps resist desires; if one satisfies his self with food, drink, he will wish for more desires and lusts, and if he deprive himself from more food, drink, he won’t look for lust and desires , so, the prophet ( PBUH ) said” young men, those among you who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains eyes from casting evil glances) and preserves one from immorality; but he who cannot afford it should observe fast for it is a means of controlling the sexual desire “.
4- Fasting helps the rich to have sympathy and mercy for the poor, when a Muslim feels hunger during fasting, and suffer temporarily from the same feeling of those who permanently suffer from that, so he shows mercy , sympathy , and charity for them .
5- fasting a Muslim to weaken and overcome Satan ( the devil ) , Satan’s whispering [evil] into Muslims lessens during fasting , so types of disobedience lessens during fasting because” Satan circulates in a person like blood in the blood streams “as the prophet said , so , fasting weakens the power and influence of Satan .
6- Fasting strengthen the feeling of a Muslim with Allah’s observation on all people including himself. Knowing that Allah observes him, he stops doing all what he desires
7- Asceticism, being away from desires, urging Muslims to gain reward from Allah showed clearly in fasting.
8 – During fasting, one increases sorts of worship just as prayer, charity, so he gets accustomed to doing that , and after the month of Ramadan, one finds it easy to continue doing such acts of worship .
Those were some aspects of the wisdom in fasting, we ask our lord to help us achieve them, and worship Him correctly .
