Fatima Barkatulla – The 3 Levels Of Fasting – End Ramadan Strong

			Assalamu Aleikum dear brothers and sisters Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala
rasulillah
		

			I just thought I'd share a little gem with you that I've been reading. Since Subhana Allah as we're
coming towards
		

			the end of Ramadan, now, I mean, you know, so much of it has passed now.
		

			And I wanted to share this with you so that hopefully we could try and make the end of Ramadan
		

			better than the beginning. So you know, the way you end something is usually is the way that in sha
Allah, that gives a sign as to whether you succeeded in it or not, right? So the great scholar, even
Kodama makdessi, Allah, he talked about fasting, and he talked about the levels of fasting. So I
want you when I'm describing the three levels of fasting that he mentioned, to just try and think,
you know,
		

			which level Am I at? Right? Because when you think about what level you're at, now, you can then
think about, you know, how you could possibly improve, right? So this is the first and most basic
level of fasting level one, right? level one is the most basic level of fasting, refraining from
food drink, and intimate relations during the daytime. And this is, of course, what the minimum
requirement for our fast is. So that's like a level one fast, that's what's required of every
believer, right? Unless they have an excuse
		

			in Ramadan.
		

			So what's the second level of fasting? The second level of fasting is it's a higher level of
fasting. Okay. It's to fulfill everything that I just mentioned in the first level. Okay, so
refraining from food, drink and intimacy.
		

			But it's also on top of that, you actually start refraining from
		

			looking at things that are wrong, right? So lowering your gaze, and preventing your tongue from
doing things that are harmful speech. That is how long right? Things like backbiting things like
lying, or swearing, or profanity and that kind of thing, right. And you prevent your hands from
doing harm, you prevent your feet from going too hard on places, you prevent your ears from hearing
her arm, you prevent your eyes from seeing her arm, and the rest of your body parts from committing
sinful acts. So that's the second the level of fasting, right, it's like a higher level, you're
starting to be more vigilant with all of your senses with all of your body parts.
		

			It's not easy, right? But I think that's the one that we really want to start, we really want to aim
for once we've fulfilled the basics, right?
		

			But then there's actually another level of fasting, and this is the ultimate, the highest level of
fasting. And this one is quite difficult.
		

			He said that the highest level of fasting is when one fulfills the requirements of the first and
second level. Okay, so you're refraining from food and drink, and intimacy during the daytime.
That's level one, you're also lowering your gaze and preventing your limbs and your body and your
hearing and your eyes and tongues from doing her arm, right.
		

			But now also,
		

			he says, We strive to pull our hearts away from yearning after the things of this world, and the
affairs of this world and all the forts that distance us away from Allah Subhana Allah. So not only
Now are we engaging
		

			in, you know the basics,
		

			protecting our limbs and our bodies and our tongues from doing harm. But now we also involve in our
heart, the spiritual heart. Right as Muslims, we believe that there is not just the physical heart,
physical heart, of course, we know about that. Physical heart can get diseased if it's not looked
after. But similarly, the spiritual heart can also get diseased if it's not looked after. Right. So
the third level of fasting is that we pull our hearts away from yearning after this world from being
too immersed in the things of this dunya this world and that we distance ourselves away from those
things and towards Allah.
		

			This also means not overfilling ourselves with food during the night and
		

			Eating moderately.
		

			Because you know, food is a type of materialism. Right? indulging in food is donia. It's a
worldliness, right?
		

			It's one of the pleasures of the world, right? indulging in luxurious food.
		

			And he said we, and then, sorry, this, um,
		

			this article says, We all know
		

			that overeating leads to lethargy, yes, it does in our worships, and it defeats one of the aims of
fasting, right, which is to detach ourselves away from dystonia and the indulgences of the dinette.
So
		

			you know, hello, you know, the scholars of Islam. They say the reason why Allah subhanaw taala put
food on this earth. And I read this in
		

			I believe I read it in a here routine of mammals early, that the reason why Allah Subhana Allah
placed food on this earth is so that human beings would have enough energy to worship Him.
		

			So what does that mean? That means that
		

			if you've got good food, if you're eating your field, should also be worshiping a lot more. Right.
		

			So anyway, I'm going to leave you with those thoughts. Just a short little video for you. So that
hopefully we can start striving even more for these last days. Could we reach a level three Ramadan
this year by detaching ourselves away from the dunya
		

			by you know, not indulging and constantly checking social media, the news? The Panama has made it
easy for us this year, to detach. We are literally in lockdown, right? We're literally forced to be
detached
		

			in a type of forced ear to calf, as my dad would say. So, dear brothers and sisters, let us strive
not only to do the minimum, but also to protect our gaze, our hands, our tones and all of our limbs
from heroin. And also our hearts.
		

			Detach our hearts from being too immersed in the things of this material world.
		

			Just like my parents are Salaam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh