Bilal Philips – The Best In Islam #20 – Fasting

			Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
		

			I'd like to welcome you, their viewers, to another in our series, the best in Islam, where we are
looking at what Islam considers to be the best in our lives, whether it is in the mundane aspects of
our lives, which may not seem to be connected to religion, or whether it is from the religious acts
themselves, are those related to the religion?
		

			There is in Islam, general guidance for what is in fact best. So that is what we're looking at what
Allah said in the Quran. What Prophet Muhammad may God's peace and blessings be upon him said, from
his sunnah This provides for us a platform from which we would understand what's best in our lives.
		

			The texts of the Quran and the Sunnah,
		

			which speak about what is best were compiled into a single compilation, which I published
		

			back in the 90s. Currently it is being published in India and in Malaysia, and you can follow all of
the Hadees that we speak about here and the verses of the Quran in that text. Anyway, we are moving
on now to another theme and the theme here is that of fasting, what's best with regards to it?
		

			First and foremost, it was referred to as the best of deeds. We have a narration from Abu mama, in
which he reported that he asked the Messenger of Allah I EULA Amelie oven, which deed is best for
call, he replied, I like his soul. For inner who lied Lella he replied, fasting, for there is
nothing equal to it. Fasting, because there is nothing equal to it. The Prophet may God's peace and
blessings be upon him here describe the best deed as fasting. We've had other narrations in which we
describe the best deed as being, saying that there is no God worthy of worship Allah.
		

			The best deed in some narrations, for those who asked, was not to get angry, the best deed
		

			and other circumstances, he gave all the answers. So, from it, we understood that the best deed may
vary from person to person, there is an ultimate best which is the declaration of faith. But that is
under the general umbrella
		

			of the best of deeds
		

			are things which are relevant to different individuals.
		

			So one person who had a difficulty in managing his anger,
		

			he told him the best deed for you is control your anger.
		

			This other person, abou mama, one of his companions, asked him what he does best. And he told him
fasting, there's nothing equal to it. other occasions he told other people so
		

			his wisdom led him to give what was best
		

			suited to the person who was asking, but on other occasions, he would speak of the best in general.
		

			So in this case, Prabhu mama, he prescribed fasting. He also prescribed fasting for young people who
couldn't get married, who had the desire to get married, but they didn't have the means to get
married. He said,
		

			fast after that fast because for them, you went on to explain, it reduces the desires, the physical
desires, which may cause people to develop bad habits, and Islam were advised to fast fasting is
this
		

			solution for cooling out desires for those who desire to be married to sexual desires, and are
unable to fulfill those desires. So
		

			in the case of Abu mama, Allah knows best, whether that was what was behind his circumstance that
the Prophet gave him that advice, or whether it was just general advice anyway, we can take that
hadith on its general implication, that fasting, there is no equivalent to it. The goals of fasting
are fundamentally to achieve God consciousness, because that's what the law described, the fastest
producing Lala content to own in order that you may become God conscious. That's the actual phrase
that God uses in the grind, to describe purpose of fasting, to develop that God consciousness, of
course, we all need it. That's not something special to some people and not to others, we all need
		

			God consciousness. So fasting is one of the best ways of developing that God consciousness. Because
who knows that you fast, who knows that you're fasting, you may appear like everybody else to be
fasting. During the month of Ramadan, you're not eating and drinking publicly. But when nobody's
around, you could be eating and drinking. Even in the workplace, you could step into the bathroom,
you have your Snickers bar in your pocket and take a bite, then come back out. You look like
everybody else. Fasting, but you're not. So this is something between you and God.
		

			What stops you from doing that? Biting your Snickers bar, what stops you is that this was a command
from God. God knows what you're doing. You can hide from the people going in the bathroom, but you
can't hide from God. So that awareness of God which causes you to fulfill the requirements of the
fast, that is what we want to heighten and to develop during fasting. Because the more that we can
be conscious of God, the better people we become. Ultimately, this is where the best lies, taqwa
		

			in our Chroma Komenda lahi. at Costco, indeed, the most noble of all human beings in the sight of
Allah
		

			is the one most conscious of God, not the one with the most money,
		

			from the highest caste, from the most powerful family
		

			are the other areas that people tend to think that power lies,
		

			fame, what is most important to God, what God judges or uses as the basis of judging who is in fact,
the best of people, is consciousness of God. So fasting heightens that consciousness.
		

			And that's why there's nothing equivalent to it, nothing else equal to it. In other narrations, the
prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him and said, that Allah said, all other deeds are
done for ourselves. Human beings do them for themselves, they take direct benefit from it. Whereas
in the case of fasting, it is done purely for Allah. Allah said, and I would personally reward for
it especial, he gives the special reward, that trust your reward is expressed in the gate in
paradise, Orion gate in paradise, especially for those who fast
		

			Allah has set it aside, specifically for those who fast. So fasting has a very important role to
play in human life. So much so that all of the prophets fasting, Allah prescribed fasting for all of
the nations before. That's why in the Quran, when Allah talks about the fast of Ramadan, he speaks
about the people who came before doing similar thing.
		

			Different time in the year. The month is named by a different name. But basically it's the same
principle that this was prescribed for human beings because they need human beings need to develop a
consciousness of Allah
		

			have a heightened consciousness of Allah.
		

			So, the prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him, told abou mama, to stick to fasting. I
like a bit so fast.
		

			Make it a part of your life. Make it a regular part of your life, because there's nothing equal to
it. And that's why the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him also recommended fasting on
Mondays and Thursdays of every week, so that we don't think of fasting as only being confined to one
month in the year, the month of Ramadan. This is a month of fasting truly, we fast the whole month,
no other month in the year, are we allowed to fast the complete month Ramadan. However, we are
encouraged in every month, every week, to five months, Mondays and Thursdays is a recommended days
of fasting. They're good for us. We should try to keep them introduce them into our lives. Our whole
		

			family fast together, breaks our fast together.
		

			It's a great unifier.
		

			And it's a great purifier. In coming episodes, we will look in more depth in fasting. But for now.
We're going to take a break and come back to look further into the greatness the best qualities of
fasting. I'll see you after the break.
		

			Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
		

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			Welcome back from the break. In the early part of our episode, we were looking at fasting as a
general principle and its great benefits.
		

			The Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him it said
		

			for in the hula Ebla indeed,
		

			there is nothing equal to it. Now the best fast according to Jindo
		

			who narrated from the Prophet follow our asylum that he said of the Lucia AMI, bada Ramadan as sha
Allah the that your owner who al Muharram the best fast after Ramadan because we know in terms of
fasting in the month, the best month for fasting is Ramadan. But the best fast after that
		

			is the month you call al Mahara this month, which is considered to be the first month of the lunar
calendar.
		

			It has a day the 10th
		

			known as Ashura.
		

			Ashura, a day which we are strongly recommended
		

			to fast on
		

			the day of Ashura. The reward for fasting on the day of Ashura is that it
		

			removes the sins that is the minor Sins of the previous year. This is in other words, it's a
purifier, a great reward from Allah subhana wa
		

			Allah for fasting on one day,
		

			that is in the month of Muharram. Fasting in that month in general is also recommended as the best
month to fast in after Ramadan. So
		

			fasting in Muharram
		

			should be a regular practice within our homes, we should
		

			encourage the rest of the family members to fast along with us not just know this, and then we only
fast by ourselves. No, we shouldn't try to engage all the family members too fast in the month of
Muharram, but especially the 10 and the Prophet SAW Selim also recommended either fasting along with
it the ninth or the 11th.
		

			Now, in terms of the month for fasting, the prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him on
another occasion used to fast himself
		

			more in other months, then, in the general months of the year, Aisha said, can I have Bashir Huri
Illa Rasulullah sallallahu wasallam, as uma who? Shaban so Maya Angelou, who the Ramadan, the fast
which the messenger, most like to fast voluntarily was Shaban fasting of the month of Shaban the
month before Ramadan, then he would join it to Ramadan. So this was his own practice.
		

			However, his recommendation was Al Mahara. His own practice, which was observed was Chai ban. So we
can look at CHA ban is also being amongst the best months too fast. In fact, in some narrations, it
was mentioned that he used to fast in that month in the month of Shaban more than in any other
month, more than in any other month.
		

			And that doesn't contradict the fact that he said the best month to fasting for everybody. In
general, the best month to fasting was
		

			a Mahara after Ramadan. And we should note here that you use to connect it up Shaban you connect it
up with Ramadan, and we're not allowed to do that. We're supposed to stop fasting a few days before
Ramadan starts. We're not allowed to connect it to Ramadan. This was something special for the
Prophet, Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam himself in terms of continual fasting.
		

			For those who want to fast more that we mentioned, the two days, Mondays and Thursdays, also, the
Prophet mentioned, the days of the full moon. Fast on those days, that's the 13th 14th and 15th of
every lunar month. So these are further recommended days for fasting. But for those who wanted to
fast even more, when they came, and they mentioned to the prophets, I saw them they want to fast
like all the time, he forbade it, it didn't allow them to fast continually, though he himself did so
uncertain occasion, certain time, but he didn't allow it for anybody else. And what he said for
those who wanted to fast continually, he said the best fast is that of my brother die wood of the
		

			soul. So more aqidah wood, can I assume a Yeoman while you'll still Yeoman will lie of federal
either lack of the best fast is that of my brother dilute, who used to fast every other day, and he
would never flee when he met the enemy. In battle. The fast of dilute
		

			this is the preferable fast for those who would like to fast, continually. Every other day. You fast
the day, you break fast the next you fast the next day, you break the fast after that. So why is
that better than fasting continually because if you fast every day, what tends to happen is that
your body adjusts itself to a new cycle. Right now. It is our norm that we fasted night. We don't
really call it fasting. But when you eat in the morning, what do we call that morning meal, break
fast. Breakfast. We're breaking the fast of the night. We haven't eaten all night we slept. So if we
fast every day and that's just a continual thing. Then the day will become like the night you will
		

			become so used to it that
		

			It
		

			becomes the norm, you don't feel and experience all of the things that you should feel and
experience in the fast anymore. It's lost. So that's why it's better to fast the day and break the
fast the next. So your body never gets used to it, there's always a challenging aspect to the fast,
you're always conscious of the fast, you have to make conscious decisions concerning the fast, this
is what is best. So the fast for those who want to fast, continually throughout the year should be
the fast of download the fast every other day. And in that way, we can also renew our intention,
make sure we don't end up in an automatic mode, where you're just fasting out of ritual, it's just
		

			the norm. We eat breakfast, we fast at night, we don't even think about it. Oh, I fasted last night.
No, it's just the norm does not have any meaning.
		

			So similarly, we don't want to get into fasting in that way. That's why we only do it in the month
of Ramadan. That set once in a year, we fast every single day. Outside of Ramadan, we don't do it.
		

			Instead, we choose the fast of download. And in that way, that's why the Prophet SAW Selim had said
that if you don't set your intention before the fast, you really don't have a fast before the
beginning of the fast if you have not made the intention, or you just slide into the fast in
Ramadan, much of the value of the fast is lost, because it has now just become an automatic ritual
for you. You're on automatic pilot, it's a norm. You don't feel it ready. You're not really
conscious of it. So, so as not to take it in that way. As just a common habit and custom. We are
required even in the month of Ramadan, to make an intention every day for the fast. We don't start
		

			in the beginning of the month of Ramadan. So I'm going to fast all the days. And then that's it. We
don't need to make any more intentions know, each day that we go too fast. We should renew our
intention to fast in order to keep the fast on a conscious level and not allow it to be reduced to
an unconscious level where we're automatically doing things without even thinking about it. So the
fast recommended for us outside of Ramadan is the first in the month of Shawwal that is the best
fast to do
		

			in terms of the month of Shaban Prophet Muhammad, Salah means to fast, more in that month, than any
other month. But in terms of continual fasting, the best continuous type fast is the fast of the
would Alayhi. Salam, the fast of every other day, we knew our intention for fasting every other day.
And that way, the fast stays alive. We stay conscious. We're active spiritually, emotionally,
intellectually, we will remain active in our fast and not fall into a sleep mode, where we're just
doing things as everybody else does it. It's all prepared around us. It's just the custom. If our
fast is reduced to that, then we have lost its meaning. We need to revive the fast in our lives.
		

			Fasting in Islam is a way of life. With that their viewers would like to thank you for being with us
on this episode of the Best Islam and we hope that you will continue to follow this series
throughout the air. I bid you now farewell and pray for your success. So that's why they come with
Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh