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Fasting Should Teach a Person Steadfastness

Friday Sermon delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra) Khalifatul Masih II May 18, 1923

Topics: Fasting, Steadfastness, Consistency, Ramadan Lessons, Spiritual Discipline, Perseverance, Worship, Gaps in Practice

After reciting Tashahhud, Ta'awwuz, and Surah Al-Fatihah, Huzoor (ra) said:

The Lesson Ramadan Leaves Behind

Ramadan has ended, and after it the period has begun in which people have no restrictions on eating and drinking. I had mentioned in one of the sermons during this very Ramadan that Ramadan teaches us a lesson — that a person cannot maintain his strength without nourishment. Since the further discussion does not pertain to today's subject, there is no need to elaborate on it. I shall take only this much from it: that from Ramadan we learn the lesson that by giving up food, a person becomes weak.

The Futile Effort to Avoid the Effects of Fasting

We observe that people wish that fasting should have no effect on their bodies. They eat in the early morning and consume heavy food — the kind that is not easily digested. So that instead of weakness, nourishment continues to be metabolised. Yet despite eating such food, and despite the fact that they do not completely give up eating, they still become weak during the days of Ramadan. The weakness increases from the very first day, and as Ramadan progresses, physical weakness continues to grow — to the extent that if fasting were not discontinued, harm would result.

The Shariah Sets Wise Limits

For this reason, the Shariah has set limits — so that there is no harm, and benefit is achieved. The Companions asked the Holy Prophet (saw) for permission to fast perpetually, but he said that there is a place in Hell reserved for those who fast perpetually. Thus, he expressed strong disapproval of fasting every day, as instead of bringing closeness to God, it leads to ruin.

The Shariah wishes to bring one to the point of benefit through fasting, and it stops one before the point of harm begins.

The Dual Outcome of Fasting: Weakness and Endurance

This contains a lesson: in it we are told that in any endeavor, the result of abstinence is weakness. Just as fasting brings weakness to the body, it also produces another result — that the capacity to endure hardship increases, and one's temperament becomes accustomed to difficulty. To restrain hunger and thirst means to develop the habit of bearing hunger and thirst. When nourishment is not received, there is weakness, but the strength to endure hardship increases.

The Principle Applied to All Affairs

The same applies to other matters: whatever interruption occurs in a task, weakness will follow. A farmer who plows — if he stops plowing, after some time his strength will diminish. Or if a physician whose practice is ongoing — his patients will recover more quickly compared to one who has abandoned the profession, because the latter will find difficulty and delay in prescribing remedies. Thus, success belongs to the one who remains steadfast.

The Core Lesson: Fasting Teaches Steadfastness

So fasting is a lesson that a person should learn steadfastness. Many people, while learning something, make gaps in their practice. Through gaps, practice diminishes. Those students who are irregular fall behind, and those who come to school regularly advance. The same applies to acts of worship.

The person who makes gaps in his prayer wastes what he had previously accomplished. The person who makes gaps in charity and giving wastes his work. A gap means rendering previous work useless.

The Farmer's Analogy: A Gap Means Ruin

If a farmer makes a gap in his work and does not plow for a year, there will be no grain. This means that he has consumed his previous grain and has made arrangements for going hungry in the future. Therefore, a believer must not allow gaps in his work, because making gaps is to ruin the work.

The Experience of Ramadan Proves It

The experience of Ramadan demonstrates how much difference is caused by merely changing the timing of meals. If changing the time of bread makes such a difference, imagine how much harm can result from abandoning bread altogether!

This is a lesson that must be acted upon. May Allah the Almighty grant the Jama'at steadfastness, and may we work under His guidance.

(Al-Fazl, May 31, 1923)

Reference: Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 4, p. 414