Al-Salam ‘Alaykum, this is Syed Ali Imran – and you are listening to the Forties podcast, brought to you by Mizan Institute.
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ زِيَادِ بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ الْهَمَدَانِيُّ رِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ هَاشِمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ النَّوْفَلِيِّ عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ بْنِ أَبِي زِيَادٍ عَنِ الصَّادِقِ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ ع عَنْ آبَائِهِ ع قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص مَا مِنْ صَائِمٍ يَحْضُرُ قَوْماً يَطْعَمُونَ إِلَّا سَبَّحَتْ أَعْضَاؤُهُ وَ كَانَتْ صَلَاةُ الْمَلَائِكَةِ عَلَيْهِ وَ كَانَتْ صَلَاتُهُ اسْتِغْفَارا
In Hadith #2 Imam Sadiq (a) quotes the Prophet (p) who said: There is not a person who is fasting who comes in the presence of a group of people who are busy eating, except that the limbs of the person fasting will glorify Allah, and the angels will send their blessings on him, and his prayers will become a source of forgiveness.
This narration is saying that besides the reward a person will get for reciting their prayers, but the fact that they are fasting, they will also be considered someone who is seeking forgiveness at the same time – the prayers will become a source for their forgiveness. The reason why it says that a person’s limbs will begin glorifying Allah is because when a person who is fasting comes in the presence of someone who is eating, and they see them, and can smell their food, their body begins to react and also develops a desire to eat.
Yet despite this, the person controls themselves, and this is in fact an act of obedience, they are refraining from eating and control themselves in this case, which is tantamount to his or her limbs glorifying Allah (swt).
Remember that Shaytan and its allies will always try to lure you into breaking your fast, especially if it is just a recommended / mustaḥabb fast, but the Prophet is saying that you fighting against these desires is in fact tantamount to your limbs doing the tasbīḥ of Allah; though the food delights the person towards it, but the command of Allah (swt) and seeking His pleasure prevents him from breaking his fast. These small victories of the self and the soul against our desires and against the Shaytan are very important for our spiritual progress, remember every single act of worship counts towards your spiritual progress, in getting you closer to Allah (swt), especially these recommended fasts during the months of Rajab and Sha’ban, as the next few narrations will expand on. At the same time, even for these small victories that we may enjoy, but may look meaningless and very trivial in the grand scheme of things, remember to always thank Allah for them.
In the next episode we’ll read a narration regarding the reward for fasting just one day in the month of Rajab.
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Sayyid Ali studied in the seminary of Qom from 2012 to 2021, while also concurrently obtaining a M.A in Islamic Studies from the Islamic College of London in 2018. In the seminary he engaged in the study of legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophy, eventually attending the advanced kharij of Usul and Fiqh in 2018. He is currently completing his Masters of Education at the University of Toronto and is the head of a private faith-based school in Toronto, as well as an instructor at the Mizan Institute and Mufid Seminary.
