Neser din Albani

Fasting is for Allah
Explained by Shaykh
Fawzan
Translated by Rasheed
Barbee
Explanation of the
hadith… " All the
actions by the son of
Adam are for him,
except fasting" By
Sheik Fawzan
Q: In the hadith Qudsi,
“All the actions by the
son of Adam are for
him, except fasting for
verily it is for Me and I
shall reward for
it.” (Related in Sahih
Bukari, hadith of Abi
Hurarrai) I would like
an explanation to this
hadith. Why is fasting
singled out with this
specification? A: All
praise is for Allah. This
is a great hadith and it
has been established
that the Prophet,
peace and blessing be
upon him, has
narrated this hadith
from his Lord the
Mighty and Exalted.
“All the actions by the
son of Adam are for
him, except fasting for
verily it is for Me and I
shall reward for it.”
This hadith contains
the great virtue of
fasting, and its great
merit in comparison
with the other deeds.
And Allah singled out
fasting for Himself,
from amongst the
deeds of the son of
Adam. The people of
knowledge have
answered the
statement of Allah,
(“Fasting is for Me and
I shall reward for it”),
with a number of
answers, from them is
the one who said the
statement of Allah,
(“Fasting is for Me and
I shall reward for it”),
means that a person’s
good deeds may leave
him pending
retribution between
him and the one that
he oppressed; so the
one that he oppressed
will take retaliation
from him on the Day
of Judgment by taking
something from his
good deeds and his
charity. This is as
appears in the hadith
that a man will come
on the Day of
Judgment with good
deeds like a mountain.
But he insulted this
person and he struck
this person and he
consumed the wealth
of this person.
Therefore they will
take for this
wrongdoing some of
his good deeds, and
for that wrongdoing
some of his good
deeds, until when the
person does not have
any good deeds left
then they will have to
take the sins of the
ones they oppressed,
so all of these sins will
drop upon them and
they will be flung into
the fire. Except for
fasting, for verily it
will not be taken by
the creditor (meaning
the one who was
oppressed and is due
retribution) on the
Day of Judgment. But
rather it shall only be
preserved and saved
by Allah the Mighty
and Majestic for the
one who observes it
and He shall reward
him for it.
The proof is His
statement, “All of the
actions of the son of
Adam are atonement
for him except fasting,
for verily it is for Me
and I shall reward for
it.” Meaning that a
person’s good deeds
may leave him
pending retribution
between him and the
one that he
oppressed, and the
oppressed person will
take from his good
deeds on the day of
Judgment if he
oppressed them,
except for fasting, for
verily Allah will protect
it and He will not give
the oppressed person
authority over it but
rather the good deed
of fasting shall be for
its companion with
Allah the Mighty and
Majestic...
And it is said that
what is meant by the
statement of the
Exalted, “Fasting is for
Me and I shall reward
for it”, is because
fasting is a hidden
action that no one
knows except for Allah
the Glorified and
Exalted. Therefore it is
an intention of the
heart as opposed to
the rest of the actions,
because they are
apparent and seen by
the people. As for
fasting then it is a
secret action between
the slave and his Lord
the Mighty and
Majestic. And for this
reason He said,
“Fasting is for Me and
I shall reward for it,
verily he gave up his
desires, his food and
his drink because of
Me.” So the person
giving up their desire
and food for the sake
of Allah is a hidden
action and a hidden
intention that no one
knows except for Allah
the Glorified and
Exalted; as opposed to
giving charity for
example, or praying or
hajj and those
apparent actions that
the people see, as for
fasting then no one
sees it, because the
meaning of fasting is
not giving up food
and drink only or
leaving alone those
things that break the
fast; but along with
that it is a must that
one fast sincerely for
Allah the Mighty and
Majestic. Therefore the
statement, “verily he
gave up his desires, his
food and his drink
because of Me.”
Explains His statement,
“Fasting is for Me and
I shall reward for it.
Some of the Scholars
have said that the
meaning of Allah’s
statement, “Fasting is
for Me and I shall
reward for it” to mean
that shirk is not
associated with fasting
as opposed to the
other actions. This is
said because the
pagans used to put
forward acts of
worship to their false
gods, such as
slaughtering, and
vowing and other
types of worship, like
supplication, fear, and
hope, so many of the
pagans would seek to
get closer to their
idols and their objects
of worship with these
types of deeds, as
opposed to fasting,
because it has not
been mentioned that
the pagans used fast
for their idols or their
objects of worship.
Therefore fasting is
exclusively only for
Allah the Mighty and
Majestic, so for this
reason the meaning of
His statement, “Fasting
is for Me and I shall
reward for it” means
that shirk is not
associated with fasting
because the pagans
did not use it as a way
to seek closeness to
their idols but rather
fasting is only used to
get close to Allah.
Translated by Rasheed
Barbee
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