Degrees of Fasting

Imam Al-Ghazali (may Allah be pleased with him) says, “Know that fasting is of three degrees: The Fast of the Masses, the Fast of the Elite and the Fast of the Elect of the Elite.

• The Fast of the Masses (Sawm al-Umum) means abstaining from food, drink & sexual satisfaction
• Fast of the Elite (Sawm al-Khusus) is keeping the hearing, the sight, the tongue, the hands, the feet, and all the different body parts free from sin.
• As for the Fast of the Elect of the Elite (Sawm Khusus al-Khusus), it is the fasting of the heart from worldly concerns and worldly thoughts – in total disregard of everything but Allah swt. Those are the ones who are in constant remembrance of Allah swt.

It is narrated that al-Hasan al-Basri had passed by a group of people who were laughing merrily and said:

إن الله جعل في شهر رمضان مضمارًا لخلقه يستبقون فيه لطاعته، فسبق قوم ففازوا، وتخلف أقوام فخابوا،

فالعجب كل العجب للضاحك اللاعب في اليوم الذي فاز فيه المسابقون وخاب فيه المبطلون

Meaning: “Verily Allah has made the month of Ramadhan a racecourse upon which His creatures compete in acts of obedience to Him. Some precede (others) and win, whilst others lag behind and lose. It is most amazing to find people laughing and playing on a day when success attends to those who precede, and failure to those who waste (it).”

These levels of fasting are real, and people vary in their fasting. The believers should strive to fast truly in all senses. This does not mean that the common people have one kind of fasting, and the elite have another kind; rather everyone is enjoined to attain the highest and the most perfect level of fasting, but Allah (swt) has ordained that His slaves will vary in that regard, just as they vary with regard to establishing prayer and achieving true focus and humility (khushoo‘) therein.

May Allah swt bless us in these holy days of Ramadan by enabling us to fast in a true sense, and make us among those who are continuously in remembrance of Allah (swt), Ameen

“In Ramadan, you should eat less and think more.” Dr. Tariq Ramadan