What are the spiritual benefits of fasting?.Part1

Every human being has a body and a soul.

Both the body and the soul have certain desires and they strive for domination over one another in order to fulfill their desires.

Lustful and carnal desires pertain to the body created from dry clay; in connection with this the Holy Qur’an declares:

“Verily We created man from potter’s clay, from mud molded into shape” [al-Hijr 15:26]

“Just ask their opinion: Are they the more difficult to create, or those (angels, the Heavens, and the Earth) whom We have created. Surely We have created you from sticky clay” [as- Saffat 37:11].

“He created humankind from dry clay like earthen vessels” [ar-Rahman 55:14].

The other aspect of human beings is the soul, which is a reminder of the wisdom in the creation of humanity and which guides them toward good and Godly deeds, helping them to contemplate and admire the spiritual worlds. The soul rejoices and relishes in great pleasures even when the body is crying out for a sip of water or a morsel of food.

Fasting helps human beings to understand the dark and heinous nature of certain deeds and avoid them.

When the dominance of the soul over the body weakens or when the body becomes dominant, then human beings become slaves to their carnal desires. They pay no heed to the intellect or to religious admonitions and spend all their energy trying to quench thirst and hunger for worldly delights. Their only concern is to find new ways of satisfying their carnal desires. They have to invent substances that increase the appetite, that aid digestion, or even act as stimulants.

“Such people are like a donkey or an ox even if they are at the peak of science, culture, and civilization.
They will commute between the dining room and the toilet all their life and will have no time for any principles or for the eternal life. All their faculties will die, except for those pertaining to lust, food, drink, and foolish entertainment.”

No depiction can be more precise or more elegant than that of the Qur’an:

“…as for those who disbelieve, they shall enjoy this world and eat as cattle eat; and the Fire shall be their abode” [Muhammad 47:12].

a. Fasting helps the believer to remember Allah

Every hour, even every second of the daily life of a person who fasts leads to the remembrance of Allah, reunion with the Almighty, and the blessings He has bestowed upon human beings. Fasting brings about this remembrance in two ways: It makes the believers long for eternal blessings by showing them that the worldly favors are transient.

The pleasure that the believers who fast enjoy when they break their fast and thus end a form of suffering also makes them remember Allah and the eternal blessings He has created for them in the Hereafter.

Although those who suffer from hunger and thirst from dawn until sunset apparently feel pain, the favors that await them in the other world soothe their sufferings. Moreover, they find pleasure in contemplating reunion with the Almighty Allah; it is for Him that believers abstain from food, drink, and other corporeal desires.

The Noble Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, says:

“There are two pleasures for the fasting person, one at the time of breaking their fast, and the other at the time when they will meet their Lord.”