I've been trying to remind people pretty routinely to fast Mondays and Thursdays and some of the narrations that we have about the blessing of fasting Mondays and Thursdays.
And subhanallah, you know, when it comes to the winter you have all of these narrations from the salah from the pious predecessors that refer to winter as the spoils of the believer.
Why? Because Allah has made the days short so fasting is easy and the nights are long for prayer. And though the days are shorter the reward is not decreased.
The days are shorter but the reward with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is still just as great when we fast these days that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given to us where the sunset comes so early.
Now when you talk about fasting typically you hear about the rewards of fasting when Ramadan comes around.
But I wanted to talk about some of the rewards of fasting that we probably are either unaware of or are not as explicit but they have such meaningful consequences in our lives.
So you can go through the ones that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned that are explicit and that specifically refer to the reward in the hereafter.
So for example the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions that whoever fasts three days of the month it's as if they have fasted the entire year.
Why? Because a good deed is rewarded at the very least by ten times ten and so if you're fasting Ramadan and that covers ten and you're fasting three days and it covers ten then it covers the entire month.
Therefore it covers the entire year and so it's as if you meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala having fasted an entire lifetime.
You have the hadith where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions the gates of paradise and he mentions Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam a specific gate of fasting.
Now the gates of Jannah, the gates of paradise that refer to good deeds that we might do at their usual times are for people that are distinguished by those deeds.
And so for example there's Baab As-Salah, the gate of prayer.
Now we have to pray to be Muslims but the gate of prayer is for those that are distinguished with their salah, likewise with charity, likewise with fasting and so on and so forth.
And what makes Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu so special is that he was distinguished in all of the deeds and therefore he is called from all eight gates of paradise radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us of the same station. Allahumma ameen.
So you have a special gate of Al-Jannah, Baab Ar-Rayyan for those that are distinguished with fasting.
SubhanAllah you have the hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam where he mentions that whoever fasts one day for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah will put between him and the hellfire the distance of a journey of 70 years.
One day is like a lifetime of distance from the fire. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from it. Allahumma ameen.
You have all of the hadith which talk about how fasting is distinguished in what it brings about of sincerity where you have the hadith Qudsi that all of the deeds of the son of Adam are for him except for fasting.
Fasting is for me and I reward accordingly. You have the hadith that refer to fasting as a form of patience and of course fasting is As-Sabr.
It's literally the act known as As-Sabr, patience. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned it for those that were having trouble getting married for example. He said Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that fasting is a shield.
It is a way of maintaining patience and it's a shield from that which one fears. So you have those ahadith.
SubhanAllah what I wanted to talk about and of course you have the hadith of the deeds being presented to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on Monday and Thursday in specific. And therefore the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said he wanted to be in a state of fasting when the deeds are presented to Allah.
You have the hadith about Monday being the day that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was born and so it's a form of gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would fast on Mondays and we too fast on Mondays. All of these ahadith right.
But subhanAllah one thing that I think we really may not pay attention to is the unique way that fasting builds character. Fasting builds character. How?
Because if you're fasting particularly Mondays and Thursdays by the way which is the sunnah of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And you're fasting in a way that you're not just abstaining from food and drink and your desires but you're abstaining from those other things that we're reminded of with the fast of Ramadan.
Where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam talks about a person who doesn't leave off idle speech and doesn't leave off false testimony. And Allah Azawajal has no need for their leaving off of food and drink if they don't leave off those things.
And so we're reminded every Ramadan about the importance of fasting from backbiting as well and fasting from gossip and fasting from false testimony. And the fasting of our limbs from things that are displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And you know I want you to think about that in regards to our Mondays and Thursdays. Monday is the first day of the week where you know we're really getting into the mix of things and everything peaks on Monday right.
Everything has increased usage on Monday.
And if a person is going into the beginning of the week fasting and they are specifically trying to fill their day with things that fill the soul and things that bring them closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
As they are starving themselves and removing themselves from food and drink and their shahawat, their desires. And in the process of that they're also cutting down on their social media time.
They're also making sure that they're very mindful about their usage of technology. That they're very conscious about what they're saying in their conversations. That they're not looking at something that is going to be displeasing.
So their eyes are fasting, their ears are fasting, their tongue is fasting, their fingers are fasting right. All of these different faculties are fasting for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by holding back from things that are displeasing to him.
SubhanAllah imagine what that means for your character, for your akhlaq. If you're not just fasting on Monday and Thursday to get the reward.
And you know it's just natural that just like people might not take their voluntary prayers. You know they might rush through their voluntary prayers a little bit quicker than they do their obligatory prayers.
You know we might not take our voluntary fast as seriously as we take our fasting in Ramadan. And of course the obligatory is more serious than the voluntary.
But trying to bring about that same level of consciousness to avoid those sins that pollute the character. Particularly when you're trying to you know keep your fasting intact.
You're trying to keep your character intact as well. Imagine the implications of that for a lifetime. And so subhanAllah you know it's not just bringing about the gate of fasting for Jannah.
But you're trying to make sure you're praying your sunnahs, you're abstaining from the things that are forbidden. That cause a person to be bankrupt on the day of judgment. Because Allah Azawajal causes their deeds to be taken away from them because of their bad characteristics.
You are giving sadaqah, you're giving charity during the day of fasting. So you might be opening the gate of charity for yourself as well. You might be visiting a sick person or you know visiting the graveyard or doing some of these other actions right.
Calling and checking in on people. All of that to beautify your fast and in the process beautify your character. And you're not just getting the reward of fasting for an entire lifetime.
But you could be changing your character for a lifetime. And in the process elevating yourself in the status and the stations that would cause a person to be higher and higher and higher in Jannah.
And so it's not just that fasting removes a person from hellfire for a distance of a journey of seven years. It's that most people fall into the depths of hellfire because of what their tongues pronounce. As the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned.
Because of what the tongues harvest of slander, of gossip, of backbiting, of evil. And so you're abstaining from that too. So it could be even more subhanAllah than the seven years. It's not just the gate of paradise of fasting.
But it's also pushing you to the other actions that open the other gates of paradise. It's not just the reward of fasting a lifetime. It's not just the reward of your deeds being presented to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala while you're fasting.
It could be that because you're fasting, your deeds are also being presented to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And you're not backbiting because you're fasting. And so I just wanted us to really reflect on that. And let's encourage one another. Let's encourage one another.
Obviously, when it comes to voluntary good deeds, it's good for a person to keep some of its secret between them and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But just like with charity, just like with the other good deeds to promote virtue, let's remind one another.
And so find a fasting buddy. If you have your family around you and they can fast, push them to fast. If you have some friends and you want to encourage them by saying, Hey, I know people are doing Zoom iftars now, let's do Zoom iftars together.
But just remind one another, bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. And let's keep our ummah, our bleeding ummah, in our dua.
As the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned, and this is another benefit of fasting, that the dua of the fasting person is accepted until they break their fast. So let's keep each other in our prayers, bi'idhnillahi ta'ala, especially while we're fasting.
And the list goes on and on of the benefits of fasting.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from al-qaimin, make us from those that are devout, that stand in prayer, that fast regularly, that give charity regularly, that are devoted regularly.
Those that remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala frequently from the men and the women. May Allah make us of those categories that are pleasing to Him.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala find us worthy to be entered by His mercy into the highest level of Jannah, the third dose, in the companionship of our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Allahumma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran.
Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
