The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said:
'Ramadan has come to you as a blessed month. During this month Allah ahs described fasting for you, the gates of heaven are open and the gates of hell are closed. The rebellious devils are chained. There is a night in this month that is better than a thousand months, whoever misses it is indeed deprived of enormous blessings.' (Bukhari)
'My people have been blessed with 5 special favours in Ramadan:
- The breath of the fasting person is better than musk
- The angels pray for them
- Paradise is prepared for them
- The mischievous devils are chained
- Fasting people are forgiven.' (Ahmad)
'This is the month in which the first part brings mercy, the middle of which brings His (swt) forgiveness and the last part of which brings freedom from the fire of hell' (Ibne- Huzimah)
'God does not refuse the prayers of 3 people:
- The FASTING person until he opens it
- The just ruler
- The oppressed.'(Tirmizi)
OK, so the month of Ramadan is a special month, I can understand that but what do you get out of fastingwhat's the purpose of starving yourself?
The typical answer to the above question nowadays is '…so we know how the poor people feel' or '..to keep healthy or lose weight'.
WRONG!
This may be a part of it, but this is not the purpose of fasting. This is why we come 'religious' for one month and then its back to our secular and dodgy lives. So listen up:
Allah says in the Quran: 'Fasting has been made compulsory on you so you may become PIOUS AND GOD-FEARING'.
Now it doesn't take Einstein's grandad to work out the main reason and purpose of fasting.
Believe it or not it is to become more pious and to become God-fearing. So when you're fasting don’t kill time in front of the telly or having a kick about in the park.
To get anything out of this month you need to do extra worship. How?
Read the Quran, do extra nawaffils, read more about Islam and remember Allah all the time.
Yeah..yeah, how the heck am I gonna do that? Easy: Every half an hour or so mention the name of Allah about 10 times in your heart.
Read Sub hanallah, Alhamdu lillah or Allah hu Akhbar as often as you can no matter where you are and what you are doing. Read Durood Sharif (salutations on the Prophet saw) and attend gatherings of Zikr as often as you can. You're doing all this - why?
To become near to Allah, to become a better person, to understand first of all, and then live your life according to Islam: To achieve TAQWA.