The Holy Quran states, "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become righteous." (Surah Al-Baqarah, verse: 183) In the above verse, Allah has declared fasting as obligatory upon Muslims. This verse is a proof for all Muslims until the Day of Judgment.
Allah has addressed, 'O you who believe!'. There is special wisdom and mystery behind this address. Because fasting is something that is difficult and difficult for people. It requires courage. That is why fasting is based on faith. It has been said, this instruction is for those of you who have believed in Allah, have pledged to obey all of Allah's words, have entered the boundaries of Islam, and have surrendered yourselves to Allah.
It does not matter whether it is pleasant or not, whether it has worldly benefits, whether it is easy or difficult, whether it is high or low in status. When we have accepted the servitude of Allah, put on the shackles of His servitude and declared our obedience, then it is our duty to accept whatever command He gives us. That is why Allah has called us believers.
Allah says, 'O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you.'
In the history of religion and morality, as proven by the history of nations and states, all religions have some form of fasting. In books on religion and history, you can find details about what method and how much fasting was prescribed, what time it started, how long they had to fast, and what were the restrictions on certain matters.
In this verse, Allah also says, 'That you may attain piety.' This sentence draws attention to a point. When a word from one language is translated into another, its meaning is lost and it becomes difficult to understand. Two such words are taqwa and muttaqee.
In the Indian subcontinent, the word muttaqī refers to a person who worships a lot, sleeps little or does not sleep at night, eats very little, is always engaged in worship, prays a lot, his mind is on prayer, etc. But in Arabic, the word taqwa does not refer to excessive worship and night vigils.
For the Arabs, a Muttaqī (God-fearing) is a person who considers every action, how will it be? Legal or illegal? Is it favorable or unfavorable to the religion? Taqwa means shame and consideration. Therefore, shame and consideration must become a habit of a believer. If a person receives proper education, a good environment, and proper family upbringing, he respects his elders. What does it mean to respect elders? It means not to do or behave in such a way in front of them, not to belittle or ridicule them. Such a young person is said to be very polite and well-mannered. The same is true of Taqwa.
A God-fearing person thinks at the beginning of every task – how will the task be? Will Allah be pleased with it or will He be angry? Does the Shariah allow the task or not? The name of this habit of thinking and thinking is Taqwa. Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (RA) asked Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud (RA), what is Taqwa? He said, O Commander of the Faithful! Suppose you are walking on a road with thorny trees on both sides and the road is very narrow. Omar (RA) said, This happened in my life. Ibn Mas’ud (RA) said, What did you do then? He said, I walked carefully with my clothes wrapped around me. So that the clothes do not get caught in the thorns. Ibn Mas’ud (RA) said, This is Taqwa. Living your life in such a way that Allah is not displeased with any action.
Taqwa is the name of a feeling and a habit. A sense of shame and consideration operates within a pious person, and he judges all actions from a place of consideration.
