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Your Questions Answered

Is it possible for a person to fast in the month of Ramazan in the best of form but miss out on its spirit totally?

Roza (fasting) has a spirit and a form. Both are equally necessary, but without the inner spirit there is no value of fasting. A teaching of the Prophet clearly tells us that a person who keeps fasts without observing its spirit, his fasting will be considered insignificant in God’s eyes, as it will be merely hunger and thirst. (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Apart from God’s rewards in the Hereafter, what are the immediate benefits of fasting in this world?

The immediate benefit is that by keeping fasts a person is enlisted by angels as a grateful servant of God. According to a teaching of the Prophet God says: “O people, all of you are hungry except the one whom I feed.” (Sahih Muslim). This is indeed a reality because if the food we eat does not grow and be nourished by soil, we humans cannot gain it for consumption by any other means. This is why if a person keeps fasts in the month of Ramazan, he proves himself deserving of receiving the food grown in the soil for the rest of the year as well. Otherwise he will be deemed a usurper.

What are the things I should do to ensure that the benefits of fasting continue throughout the year?

The way to this is that one must fast in the month of Ramazan in terms of form, but must adhere to its spirit through the whole of the year. The spirit of fasting is to be grateful to God (QURAN 2: 185). That is, a person must continuously acknowledge the food, drink and other lifesustaining commodities that one draws from nature created by God.

One must discover this fact and sincerely acknowledge the Creator for His innumerable bounties not only for the year but also for the whole of his life. This is the way to keeping alive the benefits and training gained during the month of Ramazan.

In what way does a believer who fasts in the month of Ramazan—in both the best of form and spirit—contribute positively to society? 

Contributing to society is possible for a believer by universalization of the spirit of fasting. Every person in this world who eats and drinks should acknowledge the act of eating and drinking as exceptional—as if God Almighty were directly sending down these blessings to him. One must make the spirit of fasting a universal realization for oneself. That is, the profound feeling of God being the Giver and one’s own self being the 'taker' should incite one to become a ‘giver’ member of society. That is, one should strive to give to others what one is receiving from the Creator.