Foreword The Message of Fasting

That is why God has ordained a month of fasting each year. During fasting, a believer has to temporarily eschew even lawful things, such as basic necessities of food and drink, without which he cannot survive. This is a very important training course designed to inculcate in a person the thinking that, over and above unlawful things, he should also be able to abstain from lawful things in order to fulfil God’s commands. Moreover, according to a saying of the Prophet, fasting does not just mean abstaining from food and drink: fasting is, in reality, the act of abstinence from all inappropriate speech and action. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 1903) In this way fasting helps one learn the art of desire-management. It is desired that one should lead a life of thankfulness to God. The very first verse of the Quran reads: ‘Al hamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin’. (The Quran, 1:2) Those who utter these words mean to say: “We are grateful to God who is the Lord of the Universe.” Man is only a taker, whereas God is the Giver. But when people continue to receive all kinds of blessings uninterruptedly in this world, they become so accustomed to them that they take everything for granted, as a matter of right. They unconsciously come to feel that they are getting everything not from God but from material sources and are therefore unable to become truly grateful servants of God. For this reason, one is temporarily stopped from partaking of these blessings, so that he may be made to feel how precious these blessings are! The present book aims to help readers to comprehend and inculcate the spirit of Ramadan in themselves. This will enable them to live a God-oriented life in this world and help them to become deserving of eternal Paradise in the world Hereafter with God’s Grace. Wahiduddin Khan April 10, 2021 New Delhi, India