It should be known that there are three grades of fasting: ordinary, special and extra-special. Ordinary fasting means abstaining from food, drink and sexual satisfaction.
Special Fasting means keeping one's ears, eyes, tongue, hands and feet -- and all other organs -- free from sin.
Extra-special Fasting means fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts, in total disregard of everything but Allah Ta'�la. To this third degree belong the Prophets, the true awliya. It does not lend itself to detailed examination in words, as its true nature is better revealed in action.
As for Special Fasting, this is the kind practiced by the righteous. It means keeping all one's organs free from sin and six things are required for its accomplishment.
See Not What Displeases Allah Ta'�la A chaste regard, restrained from viewing anything that is blameworthy or reprehensible, or that distracts the heart and diverts it from the remembrance of Allah Ta'�la. Said the Prophet (Sallallahu
Alayhi Wasallam); 'The furtive glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Satan, on him be God's curse. Whoever forsakes it for fear of Allah Ta'�la will receive from Him, a faith the sweetness of which he
will find within his heart.'
Speak Not... Guarding one's tongue from idle chatter, lying, gossiping, obscenity, rudeness, arguing and controversy; making it observe silence and occupying it with remembrance of Allah Ta'�la , and with recitation
of the Qur'�n. This is the fasting of the tongue. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: 'Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is Fasting he should not use foul or foolish talk. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: "I am Fasting, I am Fasting!"' According to Tradition: 'Two women were Fasting during the time of Allah's Messenger (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam). They were so fatigued towards the end of the day, from hunger and thirst, that they were on the verge of collapsing. They therefore sent a message to Allah's Messenger (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), requesting permission to break their Fast. In response, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), sent them a bowl and said: "Tell them to vomit
into it what they have eaten." One of them vomited and half filled the bowl with fresh blood and tender meat, while the other brought up the same so that they filled it between them. The onlookers were
astonished. Then the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), said: "These two women have been Fasting from what Allah made lawful to them, and have broken their Fast on what Allah, made unlawful
to them. They sat together and indulged in backbiting, and here is the flesh of the people they maligned!"'
Hear Not... Closing one's ears to everything reprehensible; for everything unlawful to utter is likewise unlawful to listen to. That is why Allah Ta'�la, equated the eavesdropper with the profiteer, in His words:
'Listeners to falsehood, consumers of illicit gain.' [al- Ma'idah, 5:42] Allah Ta'�la, also said: 'Why do their rabbis and priests not forbid them to utter sin and consume unlawful profit?' [al- Ma'idah, 5:63] That is why the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), said: 'The backbiter and his listener are co-partners in sin.'
Do Not... Keeping all other limbs and organs away from sin: the hands and feet from reprehensible deeds, and the stomach from questionable food at the time for
breaking Fast. It is meaningless to Fast -- to abstain from lawful food - only to break one's Fast on what is unlawful. A man who Fasts like this may be compared to one who builds a castle but demolishes a city. Lawful food injurious in quantity not in quality, so Fasting is to reduce the former. A person might well give up excessive use of medicine, from fear of ill effects, but he would be a fool to switch to taking poison. The unlawful
is a poison deadly to religion, while the lawful is a medicine, beneficial in small doses but
harmful in excess. The object of Fasting is to induce moderation. Said the Prophet
(Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), : 'How many of those who Fast get nothing from it but hunger and thirst!' This has been taken to mean those who break their Fast on unlawful food. Some say it refers to those who abstain from lawful food, but break their Fast on human flesh through backbiting, which is unlawful. Others consider it an allusion to
those who do not guard their organs from sin.
Avoid Overeating Not to over-indulge in lawful food at the time of breaking Fast, to the point of stuffing one's belly. There is no receptacle more odious to Allah, than a belly stuffed full with lawful food. Of what use is the Fast as a means of conquering God's enemy and abating appetite, if at the time of breaking it one not only makes up for all one has missed during the daytime, but perhaps also indulges in a variety of extra foods? It has even become the custom to stock up for Ramadh�n with all kinds of foodstuffs, so that more is consumed during that time than in the course of several other months put together. It is well known that the object of Fasting is to experience hunger and to check desire, in order to reinforce the soul in piety. If the stomach is starved from early morning till evening, so that its appetite is aroused and its craving intensified, and it is then offered delicacies and allowed to eat its fill, its taste for pleasure is increased and its force exaggerated; passions are activated which would have lain dormant under normal
conditions. The spirit and secret nature of Fasting is to weaken the forces which are Satan's means of leading us back to evil. It is therefore essential to cut down one's intake to what one would consume on a normal night, when not Fasting. No benefit is
derived from the Fast if one consumes as much as one would usually take during the day and night combined. One should let a certain degree of weakness carry over into the
night, making it easier to perform the (tahajjud) and to recite the praises (awrad). It may
then be that Satan will not hover around one's heart, and that one will behold the Kingdom of Heaven.
Look To Allah With Fear And Hope After the Fast has been broken, the heart should swing like a pendulum between fear and hope. For one does not know if one's Fast will be accepted, so that one will find favour with Allah, or whether it will be rejected, leaving one among those He abhors. This is how one should be at the end of any act of worship one performs. It is related of al-Hasan ibn Abil Hasan al-Basri that he once passed by a group of people who were laughing merrily. He said: 'God, Great and Glorious is He, has made the month of
Ramadh�n a racecourse, on which His creatures compete in His worship. Some have come in first and won, while others have lagged behind and lost. It is absolutely amazing to find anybody laughing and playing about on the day when success attends the victors, and failure the wasters. By Allah, if the veil were lifted off, the doer of good would surely be preoccupied with his good works and the evildoer with his evil deeds.' It is reported about al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, that he was once told: 'You are an aged elder; Fasting would enfeeble you.' But he replied: 'By this I am making ready for a long journey, Obedience to Allah, Glorified is He, is easier to endure than His punishment.'
Such are the inwardly significant meanings of Fasting.
(Taken from at-Tarbiyah - ITA
originally titled, "The Inner Dimensions of Fasting")
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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