Explanation of 'Fasting is for Me & I shall reward for it.'

 Shaykh Saalih ibn al-Fawzaan al-Fawzaan (hafidhahullaah) 

 

The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that:

"Allaah said: ‘Fasting is for Me & I shall reward for it…’”

 [Bukhaari (1761) & Muslim (1946)]

The obvious question which comes to one's mind when he reads the above hadeeth is that, we all know that all deeds, actions & worship are for the sake of Allaah & He is the One Who rewards for them, so then what is special about fasting that Allaah has singled it out from other acts of worship by his statement "Fasting is for Me and I shall reward for it"?

This question was put forward to Shaykh Saalih ibn al-Fawzaan al-Fawzaan (hafidhahullaah). He was asked,

Question: In the hadith Qudsi, “All the actions by the son of Adam are for him, except fasting for verily it is for Me & I shall reward for it.” I would like an explanation to this hadith. Why is fasting singled out with this specification? Please advise me. May Allaah bless you.

The Shaykh replied,

This is a great hadith & it has been established that the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, has narrated this hadith from his Lord the Mighty & Exalted. “All the actions by the son of Adam are for him, except fasting for verily it is for Me & I shall reward for it.”

This hadith contains the great virtue of fasting, & its great merit in comparison with the other deeds & Allaah singled out fasting for Himself, from amongst the deeds of the son of Adam. The people of knowledge have answered the statement of Allaah, (“Fasting is for Me & I shall reward for it”), with a number of answers:

(1) From them is the one who said the statement of Allaah, (“Fasting is for Me & I shall reward for it”), means that a person’s good deeds may leave him pending retribution between him & 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 & 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 & he struck this person & he consumed the wealth of this person.

Therefore they will take for this wrongdoing some of his good deeds, & 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 & 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 & is due retribution) on the Day of Judgment. But rather it shall only be preserved & saved by Allaah the Mighty & Majestic for the one who observes it & He shall reward him for it.

And this is the meaning of His saying, “All of the actions of the son of Adam are atonement for him except fasting, for verily it is for Me & I shall reward for it.” Meaning that a person’s good deeds may leave him pending retribution between him & the one that he oppressed, & the oppressed person will take from his good deeds on the day of Judgment if he oppressed them, except for fasting, for verily Allaah will protect it & He will not give the oppressed person authority over it but rather the good deed of fasting shall be for its companion with Allaah the Mighty & Majestic.

 (2) And it is said that what is meant by the statement of the Exalted, “Fasting is for Me & I shall reward for it”, is because fasting is a hidden action that no one knows except for Allaah the Glorified & Exalted. Therefore it is an intention of the heart as opposed to the rest of the actions, because they are apparent & seen by the people.

As for fasting then it is a secret action between the slave & his Lord the Mighty & Majestic & for this reason He said, “Fasting is for Me & I shall reward for it, verily he gave up his desires, his food & his drink because of Me.” So the person giving up their desire & food for the sake of Allaah is a hidden action & a hidden intention that no one knows except for Allaah the Glorified & Exalted; as opposed to giving charity for example, or praying or hajj & 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 & drink only or leaving alone those things that break the fast; but along with that it is a must that one fast sincerely for Allaah  the Mighty & Majestic.

Therefore the statement, “verily he gave up his desires, his food & his drink because of Me.” Explains His statement, “Fasting is for Me & I shall reward for it.”

(3) Some of the Scholars have said that the meaning of Allaah’s statement, “Fasting is for Me & 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, vowing & other types of worship, like supplication, fear, & hope, so many of the pagans would seek to get closer to their idols & 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 Allaah the Mighty & Majestic, so for this reason the meaning of His statement, “Fasting is for Me & 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 Allaah.

Source: Majmoo' Fataawa Fadeelat ash-Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan, 1/193-195.