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Hadith 16
اُردوEn
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : " الصِّيَامُ جُنَّةٌ، فَإِذَا كَانَ يَوْمًا أَحَدُكُمْ صَائِمًا فَلا يَجْهَلْ وَلا يَرْفُثْ، فَإِنِ امْرُؤٌ قَاتَلَهُ أَوْ شَاتَمَهُ فَلْيَقُلْ : إِنِّي صَائِمٌ، إِنِّي صَائِمٌ "
And the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Fasting is a shield, so if any one of you is fasting on a day, he should neither behave ignorantly nor speak obscenely. So if someone fights with him or abuses him, then he (the fasting person) should say (in response): I am fasting, I am fasting."
Explanation & Benefits
Hafiz Abdullah Shameem
Explanation of the Hadith:
Fasting is a shield:
That is, it protects from sins, as fasting breaks desires and causes weakness in the body, due to which a person stays away from sins. Fasting protects from the Fire, because fasting restrains from carnal desires, and the Fire warns against them, thus a person is saved from Hellfire. This meaning is indicated by the hadith whose words are as follows: ((As-sawm junnatun min an-nar)) “Fasting is a shield from the Fire.” (Sunan Tirmidhi, no. 674 – Sahih Abu Dawud, no. 2046 – At-Taliq At-Targhib: 2/57-58)
It should be noted that there is no harm in taking both meanings, as both are interdependent, because when a person refrains from carnal desires and sins in this world, this becomes a means of protection from Hellfire for him, and he will not enter Hell.
So when any one of you is fasting on a day, he should not speak ignorantly:
Allamah Qurtubi rahimahullah says: “From these words of the hadith, it should not be understood that without fasting these acts are permissible and lawful; rather, the words of the hadith prohibit the fasting person emphatically, while they are also prohibited for others.” (Fath al-Bari: 4/104)
Prohibition of obscene speech and the like:
((wa la yarfuth))... “Rafath” means obscene speech and intercourse, and even the preliminaries to intercourse are intended. Therefore, it should not be restricted to any one meaning, but rather understood in its general sense.
((fa in imru’un qatalahu aw shatamahu)) “So if someone fights with him (the fasting person) or abuses him.” This includes cursing, reviling, and all forms of verbal abuse.
And ((qatal, shatam)) are in the form of “mufa‘alah” (reciprocal form), and one of the characteristics of “mufa‘alah” is participation, but here the meaning of participation is not intended; rather, the unilateral meaning is taken, that the other person fights or abuses. And if the meaning of participation is taken here, then it would mean that the other person fights or abuses, and the fasting person sometimes intends to do these acts, and then says to himself: ((inni sa’im)) “Indeed, I am fasting.”
((fal-yaqul: inni sa’im, inni sa’im)) “So he should say: Indeed, I am fasting, indeed, I am fasting.”
Imam Baghawi rahimahullah says: “These words bear two meanings: (1) The fasting person says these words (aloud) to the other person so that the one who is arguing may desist from the quarrel. (2) Or he says these words (quietly) to himself, and by saying this, he will refrain from quarreling and thus save his reward from being wasted.” (Summarized from Sharh as-Sunnah: 6/226)
Allamah ‘Ayni has transmitted a similar statement from Karmani rahimahullah. And according to Imam Shafi‘i rahimahullah, it is necessary to take this statement in both meanings. Allamah ‘Ayni says: Our Shaykh Zain ad-Din says: This statement bears three meanings: the two aforementioned, and a third, that if the fast is obligatory, the person should say these words aloud so that the one who is arguing may hear and desist from the quarrel. And if the fast is voluntary, then he should say these words quietly to himself so that he himself refrains from quarreling. (‘Umdat al-Qari: 9/8)
Indeed, I am fasting:
These words occur twice in the hadith for emphasis, to further intensify the prohibition, as if the first time he is rebuking the one who is quarreling, who has violated the sanctity of fasting and, by abusing, has diminished his own reward. And the second time, by saying ((inni sa’im)), he is reminding himself, so that he does not quarrel and does not diminish his own reward.
From this hadith, it is also understood that a servant may reveal his hidden acts of worship, provided there is no pride or showing off, but rather for encouragement or some other benefit.
Fasting is a shield:
That is, it protects from sins, as fasting breaks desires and causes weakness in the body, due to which a person stays away from sins. Fasting protects from the Fire, because fasting restrains from carnal desires, and the Fire warns against them, thus a person is saved from Hellfire. This meaning is indicated by the hadith whose words are as follows: ((As-sawm junnatun min an-nar)) “Fasting is a shield from the Fire.” (Sunan Tirmidhi, no. 674 – Sahih Abu Dawud, no. 2046 – At-Taliq At-Targhib: 2/57-58)
It should be noted that there is no harm in taking both meanings, as both are interdependent, because when a person refrains from carnal desires and sins in this world, this becomes a means of protection from Hellfire for him, and he will not enter Hell.
So when any one of you is fasting on a day, he should not speak ignorantly:
Allamah Qurtubi rahimahullah says: “From these words of the hadith, it should not be understood that without fasting these acts are permissible and lawful; rather, the words of the hadith prohibit the fasting person emphatically, while they are also prohibited for others.” (Fath al-Bari: 4/104)
Prohibition of obscene speech and the like:
((wa la yarfuth))... “Rafath” means obscene speech and intercourse, and even the preliminaries to intercourse are intended. Therefore, it should not be restricted to any one meaning, but rather understood in its general sense.
((fa in imru’un qatalahu aw shatamahu)) “So if someone fights with him (the fasting person) or abuses him.” This includes cursing, reviling, and all forms of verbal abuse.
And ((qatal, shatam)) are in the form of “mufa‘alah” (reciprocal form), and one of the characteristics of “mufa‘alah” is participation, but here the meaning of participation is not intended; rather, the unilateral meaning is taken, that the other person fights or abuses. And if the meaning of participation is taken here, then it would mean that the other person fights or abuses, and the fasting person sometimes intends to do these acts, and then says to himself: ((inni sa’im)) “Indeed, I am fasting.”
((fal-yaqul: inni sa’im, inni sa’im)) “So he should say: Indeed, I am fasting, indeed, I am fasting.”
Imam Baghawi rahimahullah says: “These words bear two meanings: (1) The fasting person says these words (aloud) to the other person so that the one who is arguing may desist from the quarrel. (2) Or he says these words (quietly) to himself, and by saying this, he will refrain from quarreling and thus save his reward from being wasted.” (Summarized from Sharh as-Sunnah: 6/226)
Allamah ‘Ayni has transmitted a similar statement from Karmani rahimahullah. And according to Imam Shafi‘i rahimahullah, it is necessary to take this statement in both meanings. Allamah ‘Ayni says: Our Shaykh Zain ad-Din says: This statement bears three meanings: the two aforementioned, and a third, that if the fast is obligatory, the person should say these words aloud so that the one who is arguing may hear and desist from the quarrel. And if the fast is voluntary, then he should say these words quietly to himself so that he himself refrains from quarreling. (‘Umdat al-Qari: 9/8)
Indeed, I am fasting:
These words occur twice in the hadith for emphasis, to further intensify the prohibition, as if the first time he is rebuking the one who is quarreling, who has violated the sanctity of fasting and, by abusing, has diminished his own reward. And the second time, by saying ((inni sa’im)), he is reminding himself, so that he does not quarrel and does not diminish his own reward.
From this hadith, it is also understood that a servant may reveal his hidden acts of worship, provided there is no pride or showing off, but rather for encouragement or some other benefit.
Source: Sahifa Hammam bin Munabbih: Commentary by Hafiz Abdullah Shameem, Page: 16
