روزے کی قدر و قیمت اور اس کا صلہ

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Every deed of the son of Adam is multiplied in reward from ten times up to seven hundred times (that is, the general divine law concerning the good deeds of this ummah of Muhammad ﷺ is that, compared with earlier communities, a good deed is granted at least tenfold; and sometimes, on account of special circumstances of performance and states of sincerity and awe, it is granted far more than that — so much so that some accepted servants will be given for their good deeds a reward even greater than seven hundred times). But fasting is an exception, for fasting is for Me and I alone shall reward it (as much as I wish). A person forsakes his carnal desire and his food and drink for My sake alone. The fasting person has two joys: one at the time of breaking the fast, and the other at the time of meeting his Lord. And the odour of the fasting person’s mouth is, in Allah’s sight, better than the fragrance of musk (that is, as good and as dear as the fragrance of musk is to human beings, in Allah’s sight the odour of the fasting person’s mouth is even better than that). And fasting is a shield (to protect one, in this world, from the assaults of Satan and the self, and, in the Hereafter, from the Fire of Hell). When any of you is fasting, let him not utter obscene speech, nor make clamour, disorder and mischief; and if someone abuses him or quarrels with him, let him say: ‘I am fasting’ (meaning, I cannot take part in this business of yours).” (Bukhari and Muslim)

In this noble hadith the Messenger of Allah ﷺ first stated that Allah grants the reward of people’s good deeds — according to their intentions and sincerity — from tenfold up to seven hundredfold; but the matter of fasting is different from this general rule. There are two reasons for this excellence of fasting and its reward: first, that fasting is hidden from the eyes of all other people, whereas other acts of worship and good deeds become apparent in one way or another and come before the eyes of others; but fasting is such a silent, invisible act that no one but the fasting person and Allah can know of it — in it there is no admixture of showing off or display. For this reason Allah will grant its reward too without measure and without reckoning. Secondly, that fasting involves subduing the self and the wearying and depletion of the body; in the state of fasting a person must endure hunger and thirst and at the same time master his carnal desires.

Fasting is that act for the purification of the self whose effects on cleansing the self and refining the character run deep, and through it a believer also gains the capacity to control the commanding self (nafs al-ammarah). This self is exceedingly rebellious; only he can be saved from its rebellion upon whom Allah has mercy. Allah, exalted is He, says:

“Indeed the (commanding) self is a persistent enjoiner of evil, except for the one on whom my Lord has mercy.” (Yusuf 12:53)

Besides this, in Ramadan a general atmosphere of righteousness and God-consciousness becomes available, in which there is ample opportunity for goodness and reform to grow and flourish. The more a person acts in this month with good intention and sincerity, and the more he strives to benefit from the blessings of Ramadan and keeps the effects of Ramadan alive in the remaining eleven months of the year, the more his good deeds will keep growing and flourishing without end — a distinction not attained by other deeds in ordinary circumstances.

The fasting person’s joy at the time of breaking the fast is for one of two reasons: either because it is the very moment when the fasting person feels that he has discharged the command of Allah and his own responsibilities; or because, through the enabling grace of worship and its luminosity, he feels content and glad — which is obviously a cause of joy. Besides this, in a worldly and physical sense too there is a felt joy, in that after a whole day’s hunger and thirst he gets to eat and drink. The second joy will be at the time when he meets his Lord and, in return for his fasting, is honoured by Allah with rewards and gifts and marks of favour without measure and without reckoning.

In the guidance the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave at the end of the hadith there is an indication that the special excellences and blessings of fasting mentioned in this hadith belong to those very fasts in which, besides carnal desire and eating and drinking, one has also abstained from sins — indeed from evil and undesirable speech as well.