✿ Fasting in the Path of Allah (During Jihād) ✿
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من صام يوما في سبيل الله بعد الله وجهه عن النار سبعين خريفا
“Whoever fasts for one day in the path of Allah, Allah will distance his face from the Hellfire by a distance of seventy autumns (years).”
[Bukhārī: 284, Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb Faḍl al-Ṣawm fī Sabīlillāh; Muslim: 1153; Tirmidhī: 1623; Nasāʾī: 4/172; Ibn Mājah: 1717; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2112; Dārimī: 2404; ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd: 977]
✔ The phrase "في سبيل الله" (in the path of Allah) — when used without any qualification — refers specifically to Jihād.
➡ This is likely why Imām Bukhārī رحمه الله placed this ḥadīth under the chapter “The Virtue of Fasting in the Path of Allah” in his Kitāb al-Jihād.
✔ This narration proves the great virtue of fasting during Jihād, even if it's for just one day.
However, if fasting causes weakness, and that negatively affects the ability to fight in Jihād, then:
➡ Not fasting is better and more virtuous in such a situation, so that the objective of Jihād is not compromised.
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Immense Reward for Fasting in the Path of Allah
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من صام يوما في سبيل الله بعد الله وجهه عن النار سبعين خريفا
“Whoever fasts for one day in the path of Allah, Allah will distance his face from the Hellfire by a distance of seventy autumns (years).”
[Bukhārī: 284, Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb Faḍl al-Ṣawm fī Sabīlillāh; Muslim: 1153; Tirmidhī: 1623; Nasāʾī: 4/172; Ibn Mājah: 1717; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2112; Dārimī: 2404; ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd: 977]❖ Clarification: “Fī Sabīlillāh” Refers to Jihād
✔ The phrase "في سبيل الله" (in the path of Allah) — when used without any qualification — refers specifically to Jihād.
➡ This is likely why Imām Bukhārī رحمه الله placed this ḥadīth under the chapter “The Virtue of Fasting in the Path of Allah” in his Kitāb al-Jihād.
❖ Practical Ruling
✔ This narration proves the great virtue of fasting during Jihād, even if it's for just one day.
However, if fasting causes weakness, and that negatively affects the ability to fight in Jihād, then:➡ Not fasting is better and more virtuous in such a situation, so that the objective of Jihād is not compromised.
