Proofs of Prophethood
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The Ritual Fast: The Prophet’s ﷺ Message
Siyam, ritual fasting, is a fundamental pillar of Islam, exemplified to early believers by the final Prophet ﷺ as an act of devotion to the Creator. Through the abstention of food and drink, fasting feeds spirituality, cultivates sincerity, and builds discipline. The fast can also benefits the body and the mind. In this episode, Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy describes the guidelines and benefits of fasting.
The Proofs for the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ eBook is available now. Download your copy here.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. In the previous episode, we began to explore the evident beauty and goodness in Islam's devotional framework, and how it effectively brings the benefits of Islam to our daily lives. After discussing the Islamic prayer, ritual fasting or siyam is another fundamental pillar of Islam, practiced by over a billion Muslims worldwide during the lunar month of Ramadan, and periodically at other times of the year. From dawn until sunset, a Muslim abstains from food and drink and conjugal relations with one's spouse, all out of devotion to his or her creator. This restriction of the carnal appetites actually feeds one's spirituality, and reinforces their religious conscience, and cultivates a deep sincerity between the individual and God, because after all, throughout that entire day, only God is watchful of you throughout. As for the positive effects of fasting, on mental health for instance, one psychology study recently tracked how, while a healthy woman fasting for an 18 hour day may report increased irritability, she may also experience an increased sense of achievement, reward, pride, and control in her life. Perhaps this is a good explanation for how the mild agitation that a healthy person feels through fasting can be just the challenge a person needs to grow and strengthen and exercise their frustration tolerance muscle, if you will, which in turn strengthens their ability to achieve their goals and accomplish their aims in life. And we all, by our nature as purposeful beings, find the accomplishment of our goals
the very thing that fuels our happiness. As for some of the physical benefits of fasting, calorie restriction of course has so many benefits towards life expectancy, and offsetting so many diseases. And I find it particularly fascinating how just a short time ago, the latest science had recommended for people three meals a day with snacks in between as the dietary ideal in order to stabilize their metabolism, they said, and to give their brain sufficient amounts of glucose supply. And yet nowadays, this theory continues to lose credibility with the many newfound benefits of intermittent fasting, which has sparked the popular adoption of one or two days of fasting per week. And this is the very thing prescribed by the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, to his followers. We find in his prophetic tradition that in addition to the required fast of the month of Ramadan for a Muslim, he recommended that Muslims fast Mondays and Thursdays of every week. And also if they cannot do that, then at the very least, three days of this ritual fast each month. And so here we are, 1400 years later, it seems that the world is starting to catch up with his timeless message and timeless guidance, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
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