روزہ اور جہاد

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever keeps one day's fast in the way of Allah, Allah in exchange for that one day keeps his face away from the fire of Hell by seventy years."

In this blessed hadith, "in the way of Allah" means keeping the fast while fighting the disbelievers (jihad). Although in the state of battle a fighter may, if he wishes, break the fast and make it up later, this reward is specific to the one who keeps the fast even in that state. Fasting is in itself a very great act of worship, for it awakens in a person's soul the mighty quality of taqwa (God-consciousness), and its excellence can be gauged from the narration that the reward of every deed of the son of Adam is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times, but Allah says that fasting is an exception, for it is exclusively for Him and He alone will reward it (as He wishes) (Bukhari and Muslim). And when the fast is kept in the state of jihad, the worth and value of this worship increases still more. Allah, glorified and exalted, says: "Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers, in exchange for Paradise, their lives and their wealth; they fight in the way of Allah, so they kill and are killed. This is a true promise binding upon Him in the Torah, the Gospel and the Qur'an; and who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in the transaction you have made; that is the great success." (Al-Tawbah: 111) The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The one who goes out to fight in the way of Allah is, in the sight of Allah, like the servant who continually fasts, stands in worship before Allah and recites the verses of Allah, and does not tire of that fasting and prayer; that (fighter), until he returns home, remains in this state in the sight of Allah." (Bukhari and Muslim). In another narration it comes that guarding for a single night in the way of Allah is better than a thousand nights whose nights are spent in standing prayer and whose days are spent in fasting (Tabarani and Mustadrak of Hakim). In contrast, consider how severe a warning has come for the one who neither performs jihad nor even keeps its intention in his heart! Whoever dies in a state where he neither ever took practical part in jihad nor ever thought of it (nor had its intention) has died in a kind of hypocrisy (Muslim). Allah says: "The true believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then have no doubt (in their hearts), and strive with their lives and wealth in the way of Allah; it is they who are the truthful." (Al-Hujurat: 15) This verse shows that jihad in the way of Allah is among the requirements of true faith, and the truly sincere believers are those in whose life and record of deeds jihad too is present (and if not practical jihad, then at least its spirit, intention and longing). So whoever departs this world having neither taken practical part in jihad nor ever even held its intention and longing has not left the world as a truly sincere believer, but rather in a degree of hypocrisy. May Allah protect every Muslim from this. Ameen! We should make this blessed month a month of struggle and continuous striving, and engage in this month in striving to gain victory over our own selves, over Satan, and over all the enemies of Islam; for it was Ramadan itself in which the warriors of Islam, filled with the spirit of jihad and martyrdom, set such splendid examples of bravery and courage at Badr and the Conquest of Makkah that even today the halls of disbelief, Judaism and Christianity tremble at their awe. Therefore, if these spirits awaken in us afresh today too, then, God willing, we shall surely and certainly gain victory and dominance over the enemies of Islam and can liberate from their grip the first qiblah, Bayt al-Maqdis.