Fasting and Insensitivity - A Sign of Allah's Love or Hypocrisy?"
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Article (88)
Ramadan is not just about hunger and thirst; it is a month to test the fervor of faith. It is the month in which a servant practically declares before his Lord that he is greater than desires, stronger than the ego, and submissive to Allah's command. This month has not come to punish, it has come to refine, to awaken the heart, to revive the soul. But today, a bitter truth is that despite fasting being obligatory, Muslims are openly seen eating and drinking in markets, streets, and hotels without any Sharia excuse. No shame, no fear, no feeling. This is a sign of a hypocrite. My brother, don't do this... There is no guarantee that this Ramadan will come back again and again. Who is sure that we will be blessed with the next Ramadan? Who knows if we will be able to open our eyes to the next dawn? Who knows if health will always be with us? And who knows if this is not the last fast of our life? If you are saying today: I will keep it tomorrow, then remember, no one has a guarantee of tomorrow. No one will be able to say in the grave: O Allah! Give me one more Ramadan... That opportunity is today, that breath is today, that door is open today. Tomorrow is unknown, but today it is known that Allah is calling you. And the biggest loss is not that the fast is missed, the biggest loss is that Allah's call is rejected. This is not just missing a fast, it is insensitivity of faith. Fasting is obligatory. Allah Almighty clearly declares:
"يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ..."
(O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting...)
(Al-Baqarah: 183)
This verse is telling us that fasting is not a Nafl or an additional act of worship, but an absolute obligation. Just as prayer is a sign of faith, so is fasting a test of faith. Then He said: "وَأَنْ تَصُومُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ"
And to fast is better for you, if only you knew. (Al-Baqarah: 184)
That is, there is no benefit in leaving the fast, only loss - of this world and the hereafter.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Allah Almighty says that fasting is purely for Me, and I will reward it. The servant leaves his desires, eating and drinking for My pleasure, and fasting is a shield against sins, and there are two joys for the fasting person. One joy is when he breaks his fast, and one joy is when he meets his Lord, and the smell of the fasting person's mouth is more pure in the sight of Allah than the fragrance of musk.” (Sahih al-Bukhari/Kitab al-Tawhid/Hadith: 7492)
Think!... Angels write the reward for prayer,
The account of Zakat will be in the balance, but fasting is such an act that Allah Himself will give its reward with His own hand. This worship is a secret between the servant and Allah, no show, no fame, no applause - only you and your Lord. Fasting - is the healing of the heart and the shield of the soul. We are all wounded from within: some are wounded by sins, some by desires, some by despair. Fasting is the cure for all of these.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Fasting is a shield" (Sahih Bukhari: 1894 (Kitab al-Saum) A shield protects from arrows, fasting protects from Hell.
The fasting person - is a special guest of Paradise
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"There is a gate in Paradise called Rayyan, only those who fast will enter through it" (Sahih al-Bukhari/Kitab al-Saum/Hadith: 1896)
There is no separate gate for those who pray, no separate gate for those who remember Allah,
But there is a special gate for those who fast. When the hunger of fasting tires you, when the thirst burns your throat, when the ego makes excuses, and the body says enough... then remember: at that very moment your name is being written in golden letters on a special gate of Paradise, Rayyan. The prayer of the fasting person is the voice of a broken heart. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The prayer of the fasting person is not rejected at the time of breaking the fast" (Sunan Tirmidhi, 2526) The moment before Iftar enters directly into the court of Allah. That moment is for asking, for crying, for pleading.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Whoever leaves one fast of Ramadan without an excuse, even if he fasts for the rest of his life, it cannot be a substitute for it"
(Sahih Bukhari, 1935)
This is not just a sin,
This is spiritual bankruptcy. And there is another horrific scene.
The Prophet ﷺ saw in a dream that some people were hanging upside down, their mouths were torn and blood was flowing. It was said:
"These are the people who used to break their fast in Ramadan" (Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith: 7491)
Think!... Angels write the reward for prayer,
The account of Zakat will be in the balance, but fasting is such an act that Allah Himself will give its reward with His own hand. This worship is a secret between the servant and Allah, no show, no fame, no applause - only you and your Lord.
Fasting - is the healing of the heart and the shield of the soul. We are all wounded from within: some are wounded by sins, some by desires, some by despair. Fasting is the cure for all of these.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Fasting is a shield" (Sahih Bukhari: 1894 (Kitab al-Saum)
A shield protects from arrows, fasting protects from Hell. The fasting person - is a special guest of Paradise
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"There is a gate in Paradise called Rayyan, only those who fast will enter through it"
(Sahih al-Bukhari/Kitab al-Saum/Hadith: 1896)
There is no separate gate for those who pray, no separate gate for those who remember Allah, but there is a special gate for those who fast. When the hunger of fasting tires you, when the thirst burns your throat, when the ego makes excuses, and the body says enough... then remember: at that very moment your name is being written in golden letters on a special gate of Paradise, Rayyan. The prayer of the fasting person is the voice of a broken heart. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The prayer of the fasting person is not rejected at the time of breaking the fast" (Sunan Tirmidhi, 2526) The moment before Iftar enters directly into the court of Allah. That moment is for asking, for crying, for pleading.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Whoever leaves one fast of Ramadan without an excuse, even if he fasts for the rest of his life, it cannot be a substitute for it"
(Sahih Bukhari, 1935)
This is not just a sin,
This is spiritual bankruptcy. And there is another horrific scene.
The Prophet ﷺ saw in a dream that some people were hanging upside down, their mouths were torn and blood was flowing. It was said:
"These are the people who used to break their fast in Ramadan" (Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith: 7491)
Think! This Iftar is not this is a picture of punishment. The insensitivity of a Muslim. He is not a Muslim who: leaves fasting without an excuse, eats openly and says: "The heart should be pure." This is not faith, this is the psychology of hypocrisy. The Quran says: "إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِي الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِ"
Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of Hell. (Al-Nisa: 145)
Whoever considers Allah's obligation to be trivial is making his own faith doubtful. Fasting is not just hunger - it is training. Fasting:
is the killing of desires, the accountability of the ego, a strike against Satan, a practical test of faith. The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Allah has no need for the hunger of one who does not give up lying" (Sahih al-Bukhari/Kitab al-Saum/1903]
That is, fasting is not just for the stomach, it is also for morality.
Therefore: O tired heart!
O soul ashamed of sins! - O servant moving away from Allah! Come back... Allah does not want to see you hungry,
He wants to see you free - from the prison of sins, from the slavery of desires, and from the fire of Hell. He wants to see you smiling at the gate of Rayyan. He wants to see you standing in the ranks of angels. He wants it to be said about you: "O Lord! This is the servant who remembered You even in hunger." And whoever does not respond to this call, whoever does not step on the path of fasting, is actually stopping himself from coming to his Lord. He closes the doors of his heart himself. He builds a wall with his own feet in the path of salvation. But the good fortune is that the door is still open, the voice is still coming: "My servant! Come back... I am still waiting for you." "Fasting is the path back to Allah, and Rayyan is the last door on that path. Whoever fasts and moves forward moves towards Paradise, and whoever stops leaving the fast actually stops himself from salvation."
By Qalam Mahmood ul Bari
mahmoodulbari342@gmail.com