EsinIslam
Ramadan By
Imam Ibn ul
Qayyim al Jawziyyah …Let us
return to the commentary on the hadith of
Harith, where he Prophet speaks of what will
rescue a servant from the Foe: "And [God] enjoins upon
you the fast. Verily, the similitude of that is a man
carrying a sack-full of musk in a crowd of people, all
of them marvelling at its fragrance—for the breath of
someone lasting is more fragrant to God, Most High,
than the scent of musk." [Tirmidhi, Amthal,
2790; Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 16542.] The Prophet
uses the image of someone carrying a sack-full of musk
concealed from view, hidden under his garments, after
the habit of those who carry musk. Fasting is,
likewise, hidden from the eyes of men and unperceived
by their senses. The fasting
person's limbs fast from sins; his tongue fasts from
lies, base language and false witness; his stomach
fasts from food and drink; and his pudenda fast from
union. If he speaks, he says nothing to violate his
fast; and if he acts, he does nothing to spoil his
fast. All his speech is salutary and wholesome, as are
his deeds—like the fragrance one smells while sitting
next to the bearer of musk. Anyone who sits with a
fasting person benefits from his presence and is safe
from false witness, lies, base language and
wrongdoing. This is the fast prescribed by the Sacred
Law, not simply abstinence from eating and drinking.
Hence, a
sound hadith states: "When someone does not
refrain from speaking falsely and the action that
springs from it and from ignorance, God does not need
him to refrain from food and drink." [Bukhari, Adab,
5597; Ibn Maja, Siyam, 1679; also in Bukhari, Sawm,
1770, without the word ‘ignorance'] And in [another]
hadith: "Some who fast obtain nothing from it
but hunger and thirst." [Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 8501,
with the ending ‘And some may tand for prayer at night
and receive nothing from it but sleeplessness.' Also
in Bahyaqi, Shu`ab al-Iman, 3542, with ‘standing at
night' mentioned first.] True fasting
is when the limbs fast from sin and the stomach fasts
from food and drink. As food and drink can break the
fast or spoil it, so sins can cut off its reward and
spoil its fruits, as if one had not fasted at all.
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