Selections about Fasting

Yasin Aljiburi

http://www.yasinpublications.org/

Chapter 2 (al-Baqarah)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted by Ubayy saying, "Whoever recites it will receive blessings from Allah and His mercy and will be granted the rewards due to one who camps for a full year, in the way of Allah, as a soldier on the borders of the Islamic domains to protect them, being constantly on vigil." Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) turned to the narrator, Ubayy, and said, "O Ubayy! Order the Muslims to learn it, for learning it is a blessing, while leaving it is a loss, and no magician can ever overpower it." He (pbuh) is also quoted saying that everything has a zenith, and the zenith of the Qur'an is Surat al-Baqarah. "Which ayat (verse)," he (pbuh) was asked, "in it is the best, O Messenger of Allah?" He (pbuh) said, "Ayat al-Kursi [2:255]," he (pbuh) answered. And he (pbuh) entrusted the youngest among his companions, namely al-Harith ibn Zayd ibn al-Harithah, due to the fact that he knew Surat al-Baqarah by heart, to command an army to defend Islam.



Chapter 3 (Aali-`Imran)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted saying that one who recites it will be given for each of its verses security on the bridge over hell, and whoever recites it on Friday will be blessed by Allah and His angels all day long till sunset. He (pbuh) is also quoted saying, "Memorize Surat al-Baqarah and Surat Aali-`Imran, for they are like two fragrant flowers, and they will shade the one who learns them by heart on the Day of Judgment like two clouds..." to shade those who used to recite them quite often from the intense heat of that Day.



Chapter 4 (al-Nisaa)

He (pbuh) is also quoted saying that one who recites it will be regarded by the Almighty as though he were charitable to all orphans, and he will be granted rewards due to one who emancipates a person who dissociates himself from shirk and who, by the will of Allah, is forgiven." Imam Ali (a.s.) is quoted saying that whoever recites it every Friday will be secure from the constriction of the grave.



Chapter 5 (al-Maida)

Imam Ali (a.s.) is also quoted saying that whoever recites it will be given ten good deeds, and ten of his sins will be forgiven, and his status will be elevated by ten degrees for each and every Jew and Christian alive. (This may be due to the fact that this Qur'anic chapter discusses Judaism and Christianity in great detail). Imam-al-Sadiq (a.s.) says that one who recites it on every Thursday will not mix his belief with any oppression, nor will he ever commit shirk.



Chapter 6 (al-An`am)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said that this Chapter was revealed as a whole escorted by seventy thousand angels praising and glorifying the Almighty in unison; so, whoever recites it will be blessed by those same seventy thousand angels for a full day and night. Imam al-Rida (a.s.) is quoted saying that those angels will keep blessing him till the Day of Judgment. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said, "One who recites it from its beginning till the verse saying, `And thus do We make some oppressors befriend others on account of what they earned (6:129),' Allah will assign for him forty thousand angels to write for him (in his book of good deeds) the like of their own adoration till the Day of Resurrection." According to the author of Al-Afrad wal Gharaib, one who does the same after having performed the fajr prayers, forty angels will descend for him, and it will be recorded for him the like of their adoration. According to the author of Al-Waseet, if one does so upon waking up, Allah Almighty will assign for him a thousand angels to protect him and to record for him the like of their deeds (of adoration) till the Day of Judgment.



Chapter 7 (al-A`raf)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted saying that if one recites this chapter, Allah, the most Exalted One, will install a protective veil between him and Iblis, and Adam (a.s.) will seek intercession for him on the Day of Judgment. Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq (a.s.) is quoted saying that one who reads it every month will be among those who shall have no fear on the Day of Judgment, nor shall they grieve; so, if he recites it every Friday, he will be among those who will not be tried on the Day of Judgment.



Chapter 8 (al-Anfal)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted saying, "If someone recites both Surat al-Anfal and Bara'ah together, I shall seek intercession for him and testify for him on the Day of Judgment that he is free from hypocrisy, and he will be granted of the rewards ten times as many as the number of hypocritical men and women in the world, and ten of his sins will be wiped out, and his status will be elevated by ten degrees, and the `Arsh and those (angels) that bear it shall bless him as long as he lives." Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) has said, "One who recites both of these chapters every month will not undergo any hypocrisy, and he will be as a true Shi`a of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and will be eating on the Day of Judgment of the tables of Paradise with them till Allah, the most Exalted One, is through with the Judgment."



Chapter 9 (Bara'ah)

Its merits are similar to those of Surat al-Anfal above. In a footnote regarding this Chapter, al-Kaf`ami explains that "Bara'ah" (which means clearance or dissociation or a separation from) means: dissociation (of the infidels) from Ali (a.s.); the Basmala was not included at its beginning, as is the case with all other Chapters of the Holy Qur'an, simply because the Basmala connotes security and mercy, whereas Bara'ah was revealed to lift such security and to warn of confrontation. This chapter, al-Kaf`ami goes on, has ten names:

1. "Bara'ah," after the first word in it;

2.  "Tawbah," due to the repentance to which it refers within its text;

3. "Fadhiha," the revealer, unveiler, or announcer, for it unveils and reveals the truth about and announces the hypocrisy of those hypocrites about whom it informs us;

4. "Muba`thira," scatterer, because it scatters and displays to everyone the hidden secrets of those hypocrites;

5. "Muqashqisha," a chapter that cures or heals or clears those who believe in it of hypocrisy and polytheism due to the supplication and sincerity it contains;

6. "Bahooth," investigator or researcher or seeker, because it looks for the hypocrites' secret schemes;

7. "Mudamdima," annihilator, because it annihilates hypocrisy and hypocrites;

8. "Hafira," excavator or digger: it dug up the hearts of the hypocrites and unveiled what they were hiding;

9. "Mubashshira," bearer of glad tidings: By making public the abominations and ugly schemes of those hypocrites, it brought glad tidings to those who were not among them, and;

10. "Athab," torment or torture, because of repeatedly referring to the torment awaiting those hypocrites and all others like them.
     

Chapter 10 (Younus)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted saying that one who recites this chapter will be given ten good deeds for each and everyone who believed in prophet Younus (a.s.) as well as for those who disbelieved in him and who were drowned with Pharaoh. Imam al-Saadiq (a.s.) is quoted saying that whoever recites it once a month will not be among the ignorant ones and will instead be on the Day of Judgment among those near to the Almighty.



Chapter 11 (Hud)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted saying that one who recites this chapter will be granted of the rewards ten good deeds for the number of each person who believed in prophet Noah (a.s.) and who disbelieved in him and in prophets Hud, Salih, Shu`ayb, Lot, Ibrahim and Musa (Moses), peace be upon all of them, and he will be on the Day of Judgment among the happy ones. Imam al-Saadiq (a.s.) is quoted saying that anyone who recites it every Friday will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment among the group that will include the prophets, peace be upon all of them, and he will receive an easy trial and no sin will be recorded against him.