Dr. Zakir: The things which are Fard for a person who fasts as I mentioned earlier one of them is to abstain from things that break the fast i.e. food, drink and having sexual relationship but besides this one another important factor is, is the intention, is the Neeya. Any deed without the neeya for the Aakhira it is useless. The neeya should be the, the intention is very important because intention is to intend to fast to please Allah (swt), it’s an act of worship. If the intention is not there then there is various types of fast for example a person may fast for political reason, a person may fast as a passive resistance, a person may fast as a hunger strike, I am starving, I’m hunger strike to get whatever he wants, you know there are people fasting non-muslims fasting. A person may fast for health reasons may be for dieting, he may fast may be to lose weight. He may fast may be a medical treatment but all these fasts they don’t have an intention, the neeya to please Allah (swt) so that’s the reason in the Islamic Shariah when we abstain from things that break the fast it should be accompanied by the neeya. Without the neeya, the fast is useless. Its very important, neeya is compulsory for every act of worship including fasting
And our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said, its mentioned in
Sahih Muslim Vo no. 2 in the Book of Zakaat ch. no. 370 Hadith no. 2198, our beloved Prophet said that
“When you have intention to approach your wife, to have relationship with your wife the moment you have intention even that becomes charity. The Sahabas asked: “Having relationship with your wife is also charity! How come our beloved Prophet?” the Prophet said that “If you have sexual relationship with people who are not your wives if its unlawful isn’t it a sin?” They said “Ya Rasoolullah, yes it is a sin.”
So that is if you have sexual relationship with a person you are suppose to have with the Neeya, that’s an act of charity. That means Neeya is very important, the moment you have neeya you have sawab for that.
And Allah says in the Quran in Surah Bayyinah ch. no. 98 verse no. 5 its mentioned
“And He commanded that you worship Him alone and in sincere devotion, true in faith. Here the word used is ‘liya’budoo’ which means to worship but actually ‘A’budhu’ it means to humble but the word ”liya’budoo’ in Arabic is normally used for worship, it actually means to humble. The other Arabic word used is ‘mukhlisoon’ which means to serve with piety and with dedication. So here we should serve only for Allah and your worship should be to Him alone that should be our Neeya that is our intention.
And Allah says in the Quran in Surah Baqarah ch. No. 2 verse no. 29 that
“We have created for you everything on this earth”
When Allah has created everything on this earth for us, not 1/10th, not 1/5th, not 1/4th, not half but everything for the human beings in this earth so but natural our servitude should only be to Him and no one else. If while you are worshipping Him, we worship somebody else then it is useless. We have to only worship Him and no one else. We can’t say that I am praying 2 Rakaat for Allah and 2 Rakaat for somebody else, we can’t say that I am sacrificing 1 goat for Allah and the 2nd goat for a king or a ruler. All our worship should be to Him alone and no one else and that reminds me of a Hadith,
The first Hadith in Sahih Bukhari where Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, he says that the beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said
“Innamal A’malu bin neeya”
“Your deeds are based in your intention, your actions are judged on your intention. And anyone who has migrated with the intention for Allah and His Rasool, he has migrated for Allah and His Rasool. But if someone has migrated for the wealth in this world or for marriage, he has migrated for the wealth and marriage.”
Your intention is important is important, why did you do it. You know, why did you migrate, why did you do Jihaad. So intention is very important for any act of worship including Saum i.e. fasting.
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