Sayings of the Salaf

The Trick of the Eyes

يَعْلَمُ خَآئِنَةَ ٱلْأَعْيُنِ وَمَا تُخْفِى ٱلصُّدُورُ

Allah knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal [Quran, Ghāfir (40):19]

It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Abbās – Allāh be pleased with him – said, explaining this verse:

A man is with a group of people when a woman passes. He shows them that he has lowered his gaze from looking at her. But when he sees they are not paying attention, he looks at her. If he fears they will notice, he lowers his gaze, but Allāh has seen in his heart that he wishes he could see her body (private areas).

Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd article 1428.

ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās

Sins Tafsīr Women
Two Days and Two Nights like no others

It is reported that Anas b. Mālik – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

There are two days and two nights the likes of which no one has ever heard of before: the Day on which you will receive the news about Allāh the Exalted: whether you will receive His punishment or His mercy, the Day you will be given your book (of deeds): either in your right hand or your left, that [first] night you will spend alone in your grave, a night like no other you have spent, and that night on the morning of which will be the Day of Resurrection, after which there will be no more night.

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 19.

Anas b. Mālik

Allah's mercy Death Paradise The Fire The Grave The Hereafter
Hardship and prosperity, obedience and sin

It is reported that Wuhayb b. Al-Ward – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Verily, when Allāh the Exalted wants to honor a servant of His (for his righteousness), He afflicts him with a reduced means of living, illness in his body and a fearful life (all of which expiate his sins). Until death comes upon him, and he still has some sins, death is made hard upon him because of them, causing him to meet Allāh with no sins against him.

And when a person is of little value to Allāh (because of his disobedience), He makes his body healthy, broadens his means of living and makes him feel safe (the rewards for any good deeds he did are exhausted). Until death comes upon him, and he still has some good deeds, the experience of death is lightened for him because of them, and he meets Allāh with nothing.

Abu Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 2865.

Wuhayb b. Al-Ward

Dunyā Good Deeds Sins The Hereafter
Four Distinctions of Abu Bakr

It is reported that Al-Sha’bī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Allāh the Exalted distinguished Abū Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq – Allāh be pleased with him – with four qualities He did not distinguish anyone else with: He called him Al-Ṣiddīq (the true believer), and He never named anyone else Al-Ṣiddīq; [Abū Bakr] was the companion of Allāh’s Messenger – praise and peace of Allāh be upon him – in the cave, and his companion during the Migration (Al-Hijrah); and Allāh’s Messenger – praise and peace of Allāh be upon him – told him to lead the prayer in the presence of the rest of the Muslims.

Abu Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 2815.

Al-Shaʿbī

Merits The Companions
Umar’s Instructions on the First Night of Ramadan

It is reported that on the first night of Ramaḍān, ‘Umar – Allāh be pleased with him – would pray Maghrib, then say (to the people):

Sit down. Then he would give a small address: Verily the fasting of this month has been made a duty upon you, and standing in night prayer has not been made a duty upon you, but those amongst you who can stand in prayer should do so, for it is from the extra good deeds about which Allāh told us: so whoever cannot stand in prayer, let him sleep on his bed.

And beware of saying: I will fast if so and so fasts and I will stand in night prayer if so and so stands in prayer. Whoever fasts or stands in night prayer, he must make this for Allāh. And you should know that you are in prayer as long as you are waiting for a prayer.

Minimize any vain or false speech in the houses of Allāh (mosques; he said this two or three times). Let none of you fast a few days before the month (in order to avoid missing the beginning of the month; he said this three times). And do not fast until you see [the crescent of the new month] unless it is overcast. If it is overcast, count [the previous month] as 30 days. Then do not break your fasts until you see the night upon the mountain (i.e. you are sure the sun has set).

‘Abd Al-Razzāq Al-Ṣan’ānī, Al-Muṣannaf article 7748.

ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb

Fasting Fiqh Ikhlās Intentions Mosque Ramadan
Troubled Times [corrupt scholars]

Mālik b. Dīnār – Allāh have mercy on him – once said:

Verily you are in greatly troubled times. Only one with true insight knows the times you live in. Verily you are in a time of [people] boasting and being proud.^[1] Their tongues are swollen in their mouths, and they seek worldly gain through the deeds of the hereafter. So be warned against them for yourselves, lest they catch you in their nets. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you devour [wealth] with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you boast with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you seek to amass [wealth] with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you transgress [against others] with your knowledge. If you had truly sought this knowledge for Allāh, it would have been seen on you and in your deeds.

[1] The word in some reports is tafākhur (boasting and being proud) but in some other versions, other somewhat ambiguous words are found in its place.

Abū Bakr Al-Ājurrī, Kitāb Al-‘Ālim Al-Jāhil article 73 et al.

Mālik b. Dīnār

Dunyā Hypocrisy Knowledge
Fearing that Wealth is your only Reward

‘Abd Al-Raḥmān b. ‘Awf – Allāh be pleased with him – was once brought some food, and he had been fasting. He said:

Muṣ’ab b. ‘Umayr was killed, and he was better than me and he was buried with a cloak as a shroud: if his head was covered with it his legs would be uncovered and if his legs were covered with it his head would be uncovered. And Ḥamzah was killed and he was better than me. Then, after that time, we were given what we were given of worldly wealth, and we fear that [the reward of] our good deeds has been quickened for us [in this life].

He then began to cry so much that he left his food.

Al-Bukhārī, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ hadith 1275 and other places.

ʿAbd Al-Rahmān b. ʿAwf

Dunyā Fasting Good Deeds The Hereafter
The Crown and the Weight [wives]

It is reported that ‘Abd Al-Raḥmān b. Abzā – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

A righteous woman with a man is like a great gold-leafed crown on the head of a king, and a bad woman with a man is like a heavy weight upon an old man.

Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf article 17428.

ʿAbd Al-Rahmān b. Abzā

Family Women
Sinning while fasting [does it break the fast?]

It is reported that ‘Umar – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

Fasting does not mean keeping away from only food and drink, it also means keeping away from lying, falsehood, inanity and swearing [by Allāh without need].

It is reported that Ibrāhīm Al-Nakha’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

They used to say: lying breaks the fast.

It is reported that Mujāhid – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

There are two practices, if a person can keep himself from them, his fast will be secured for him: backbiting and lying.

It is related that Abul-‘Āliyah – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The fasting person is in a state of worship as long as he does not backbite.^[1]

It is reported that Ḥafṣah bint Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on her – said:

Fasting is a shield as long as one does not tear it, and tearing it is when you backbite.^[2]

It is reported that Anas b. Mālik – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

If the fasting person backbites, his fast is broken.^[3]

Notes

Explaining the meaning of sins breaking the fast, Shaykh Al-Islām Ibn Taymīyah – Allāh have mercy on him – states:^[4]

It is related from some of the Salaf that backbiting, tale carrying and the likes break the fast, and it is mentioned as one opinion in the madhab of Imām Aḥmad. The final word on this issue is that Allāh the Exalted commanded people to fast in order to achieve piety (taqwā), and Allāh’s Messenger – praise and peace of Allāh be upon him – stated:

Whoever does not leave off false speech and acting by it; then Allāh is not in need of him abandoning his food and drink.

So if the fasting person does not achieve piety, he has not achieved what is intended through fasting, and so the reward of [his] fast will decrease in accordance [with how much he has gone against the intended goal, i.e. commensurate with his sins].

Righteous deeds have two intended goals: gaining reward and avoiding punishment. If a person fasts while also doing forbidden things, like backbiting, carrying tales between people or consuming what is forbidden and so on, he loses the reward.

Thus, when the imams say [backbiting etc.] does not break the fast, it means that the person who sins is not punished in the way a person who openly breaks his fast would be punished.

And those who said it does break the fast in the sense that the person has not achieved the intended goal behind fasting, or in the sense that he has lost the reward for fasting, then this statement is in agreement with the position of the imams.

One who says it breaks the fast in the sense that the person is to be punished for leaving [the fast], then he is in contradiction to the imams.

Conclusion

A person who disobeys Allāh while fasting hasn’t truly grasped the intent behind fasting. The real goal is to achieve piety and obedience of Allāh through the abandonment of food, drink and sin. Although a person who backbites, lies or does other sins is not considered to have physically broken his fast, he loses the reward of fasting and in this sense he has broken his fast.

Allāh knows best.

^[1] Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf articles 8975, 8980, 8981 and 8982.

^[2] ‘Abd Al-Razzāq Al-Ṣan’ānī, Al-Muṣannaf articles 8975.

^[3] Hunād b. Al-Saree, Al-Zuhd article 1204.

^[4] Badr Al-Dīn Al-Ba’lī. Mukhtaṣar Al-Fatāwā Al-Maṣrīyah pp288, 289. 1^st edn. 1418H. Dār Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmīyah. Beirut, Lebanon.

Abū Al-ʿĀliyah Anas b. Mālik Ḥafṣah bint Sīrīn Ibrāhīm Al-Nakhaʿī Mujāhid ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb

Backbiting Fasting Fiqh Ramadan Sins
Going to the mosque when fasting

Abul-Mutawakkil Al-Nājī reports:

When Abū Hurayrah and his companions fasted, they would sit in the mosque and say, “let us purify our fast.”

Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Kitāb Al-Zuhd, article 1207

Abū Hurayrah

Fasting Mosque Ramadan