Homework Assignment #1
(Fasting)

by Rami Mahmoud Elsawah

Author's note: Please don't get scared by the length of this article. If you are REALLY pressed for time then just skip the first hadith (in bold) and read it later. But make sure you read it later, insha Allah. It is the hadith of Miraj

Sahih Bukhari
Volume 9, Book 93, Number 608:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

The night Allah's Apostle was taken for a journey from the sacred mosque (of Mecca) Al-Ka'ba: Three persons came to him (in a dreamy while he was sleeping in the Sacred Mosque before the Divine Inspiration was revealed to Him. One of them said, "Which of them is he?" The middle (second) angel said, "He is the best of them." The last (third) angle said, "Take the best of them." Only that much happened on that night and he did not see them till they came on another night, i.e. after The Divine Inspiration was revealed to him. (Fateh-Al-Bari Page 258, Vol. 17) and he saw them, his eyes were asleep but his heart was not----and so is the case with the prophets: their eyes sleep while their hearts do not sleep. So those angels did not talk to him till they carried him and placed him beside the well of Zam-Zam. From among them Gabriel took charge of him. Gabriel cut open (the part of his body) between his throat and the middle of his chest (heart) and took all the material out of his chest and abdomen and then washed it with Zam-Zam water with his own hands till he cleansed the inside of his body, and then a gold tray containing a gold bowl full of belief and wisdom was brought and then Gabriel stuffed his chest and throat blood vessels with it and then closed it (the chest). He then ascended with him to the heaven of the world and knocked on one of its doors.

The dwellers of the Heaven asked, 'Who is it?' He said, "Gabriel." They said, "Who is accompanying you?" He said, "Muhammad." They said, "Has he been called?" He said, "Yes" They said, "He is welcomed." So the dwellers of the Heaven became pleased with his arrival, and they did not know what Allah would do to the Prophet on earth unless Allah informed them. The Prophet met Adam over the nearest Heaven. Gabriel said to the Prophet, "He is your father; greet him." The Prophet greeted him and Adam returned his greeting and said, "Welcome, O my Son! O what a good son you are!" Behold, he saw two flowing rivers, while he was in the nearest sky. He asked, "What are these two rivers, O Gabriel?" Gabriel said, "These are the sources of the Nile and the Euphrates."

Then Gabriel took him around that Heaven and behold, he saw another river at the bank of which there was a palace built of pearls and emerald. He put his hand into the river and found its mud like musk Adhfar. He asked, "What is this, O Gabriel?" Gabriel said, "This is the Kauthar which your Lord has kept for you." Then Gabriel ascended (with him) to the second Heaven and the angels asked the same questions as those on the first Heaven, i.e., "Who is it?" Gabriel replied, "Gabriel". They asked, "Who is accompanying you?" He said, "Muhammad." They asked, "Has he been sent for?" He said, "Yes." Then they said, "He is welcomed.'' Then he (Gabriel) ascended with the Prophet to the third Heaven, and the angels said the same as the angels of the first and the second Heavens had said.

Then he ascended with him to the fourth Heaven and they said the same; and then he ascended with him to the fifth Heaven and they said the same; and then he ascended with him to the sixth Heaven and they said the same; then he ascended with him to the seventh Heaven and they said the same. On each Heaven there were prophets whose names he had mentioned and of whom I remember Idris on the second Heaven, Aaron on the fourth Heavens another prophet whose name I don't remember, on the fifth Heaven, Abraham on the sixth Heaven, and Moses on the seventh Heaven because of his privilege of talking to Allah directly. Moses said (to Allah), "O Lord! I thought that none would be raised up above me."

But Gabriel ascended with him (the Prophet) for a distance above that, the distance of which only Allah knows, till he reached the Lote Tree (beyond which none may pass) and then the Irresistible, the Lord of Honor and Majesty approached and came closer till he (Gabriel) was about two bow lengths or (even) nearer. (It is said that it was Gabriel who approached and came closer to the Prophet. (Fate Al-Bari Page 263, 264, Vol. 17). Among the things which Allah revealed to him then, was: "Fifty prayers were enjoined on his followers in a day and a night."

Then the Prophet descended till he met Moses, and then Moses stopped him and asked, "O Muhammad ! What did your Lord en join upon you?" The Prophet replied," He enjoined upon me to perform fifty prayers in a day and a night." Moses said, "Your followers cannot do that; Go back so that your Lord may reduce it for you and for them." So the Prophet turned to Gabriel as if he wanted to consult him about that issue. Gabriel told him of his opinion, saying, "Yes, if you wish." So Gabriel ascended with him to the Irresistible and said while he was in his place, "O Lord, please lighten our burden as my followers cannot do that." So Allah deducted for him ten prayers where upon he returned to Moses who stopped him again and kept on sending him back to his Lord till the enjoined prayers were reduced to only five prayers.

Then Moses stopped him when the prayers had been reduced to five and said, "O Muhammad! By Allah, I tried to persuade my nation, Bani Israel to do less than this, but they could not do it and gave it up. However, your followers are weaker in body, heart, sight and hearing, so return to your Lord so that He may lighten your burden."

The Prophet turned towards Gabriel for advice and Gabriel did not disapprove of that. So he ascended with him for the fifth time. The Prophet said, "O Lord, my followers are weak in their bodies, hearts, hearing and constitution, so lighten our burden." On that the Irresistible said, "O Muhammad!" the Prophet replied, "Labbaik and Sa'daik." Allah said, "The Word that comes from Me does not change, so it will be as I enjoined on you in the Mother of the Book." Allah added, "Every good deed will be rewarded as ten times so it is fifty (prayers) in the Mother of the Book (in reward) but you are to perform only five (in practice)."

The Prophet returned to Moses who asked, "What have you done?" He said, "He has lightened our burden: He has given us for every good deed a tenfold reward." Moses said, "By Allah! I tried to make Bani Israel observe less than that, but they gave it up. So go back to your Lord that He may lighten your burden further." Allah's Apostle said, "O Moses! By Allah, I feel shy of returning too many times to my Lord." On that Gabriel said, "Descend in Allah's Name." The Prophet then woke while he was in the Sacred Mosque (at Mecca).

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Asalaam Aleikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatu,

For the next 10 weeks or so insha Allah I will be assigning to the readers and writers of Hidayaonline assignments for us to complete together insha Allah. The purpose in these assignments is for us to firstly get a feeling for the different good deeds that Allah subhanna wa taaala has allowed us to do and secondly, to rack up just a few extra points every week in our scale and book of deeds that might help us be of the succesful on the Day of Judgment insha Allah.

By doing these tasks together we will, insha Allah, be given a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood that will push us further insha Allah in doing these deeds. It is like the difference between fasting on a regular day by yourself and fasting in Ramadan.

"The Prophet returned to Moses who asked, "What have you done?" He said, "He has lightened our burden: He has given us for every good deed a tenfold reward.""

All we need is one very easy assignment every week that by Allah's grace and mercy, insha Allah, will be rewarded as ten times that which it is. It will be as if you have done a week and a half's deeds for just one day's. The assignments will be very easy insha Allah yet the reward will be priceless.

Now, let's get started.

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Sahih Bukhari
Volume 4, Book 52, Number 93:

Narrated Abu Said:

I heard the Prophet saying, "Indeed, anyone who fasts for one day for Allah's Pleasure, Allah will keep his face away from the (Hell) fire for (a distance covered by a journey of) seventy years."

Sheikh Sharaawi explained during on of his tafsir Qu'ran lessons that fasting is the only pillar of the pillars of Islam that can be done only for Allah subhanna wa taala.

Say what?

Yep, it's true.

Sahih Muslim
Book 006, Number 2568:

Abu Huraira and Abu Sa'id (Allah be pleased with both of them) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) (as saying): Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, said: Fast (is exclusively) meant for Me and I would give its reward. There are two (occasions) of joy for the observer of fast. He feels joy when he breaks the fast and he is happy when he meets Allah. By Allah in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, the breath of the observer of fast is sweeter to Allah than the fragrance of musk. A hadith like this is narrated on the authority of Abu Sinan with the same chain of transmitters (and the words are):" As he meets Allah, He rewards him, and he is happy."

If you want an explanation then let's take a look at the pillars one by one. The Shahada can be given to false gods. One can bear witness that a stick is his god, one can bear witness that Pharaoh is his god (auodhobillah!). Prayer can be perfomed to false deities as well. People fall prostrate to kings and pharaohs alike. Money can be given to false deities as people also used to pay money to Pharaoh. (I am just using Pharaoh in all these example because he is a HUMAN who declared himself to be a deity). People can also make pilgrimages to false idols and yes, they can make pilgrimage to Egypt to see Pharaoh even now (as a mummy that is).

Yet as far as fasting goes, if you promise to fast in the name of your false god that false god will never know if you fasted or not. If that false idol is a stick or a stone then obviously it is oblivious to your good intentions and if that idol is a human then how can he possible make sure that you are fasting properly? Would he stand behind you all day from sunrise to sunset keeping watch over you to make sure you don't eat? Even if he does then you can sneek one in while he's not looking or going to the bathroom. Only Allah subhanna wa taala knows all that you do, even if you yourself don't. SubhanAllah.

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This week insha Allah I would like everyone who reads this to fast for just ONE day. If you already fast regularly then fast one EXTRA day. How great would it be that when your deeds are sent up to Allah subhanna wa taala that there will be one extra day of fasting made for HIS pleasure. If you can't fast for some reason then feed a poor person for one day. If you can't feed a poor person then feed a hungry college student.

Narrated Abu Said:

I heard the Prophet saying, "Indeed, anyone who fasts for one day for Allah's Pleasure, Allah will keep his face away from the (Hell) fire for (a distance covered by a journey of) seventy years."

I just want everyone to think of that when they fast this week insha Allah. Whenever your stomach starts to growl at you or whenever you start felling weak just repeat this hadith over and over in your mind. Just ONE day might save us all from fire insha Allah. Just ONE EXTRA day might save us from fire insha Allah, make our scales heavier, and our place in the Akhira better insha Allah.

Finally, insha Allah, after having completed your fast I want you to do two things.

1. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. The du'a of the fasting person just before he breaks his fast is accepted by Allah subhanna wa taala. So, insha Allah, I want everyone, just before he/she breaks their fast to ask for Jannatul Firdaus. I want us to aspire high insha Allah. Make the dua with sincerity, Allah subhanna wa taala's bounty is limitless.

2. When you have finished, post up any stories relating to your assignment. Hopefully, insha Allah these posts will help to encourage others and give each other that sense of community that we get when doing good deeds together such as in Ramadan. I still remember having coming up with this article after a day of
fasting.

http://www.hidayaonline.com/archives/000040.html

So remember, keep strong and stick to your assignments and insha Allah we will all enter Jannah together.

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