How Ramadan Trains Us To Have Taqwa Shaykh
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-07T23:01:32.591013+00:00 | Topic: Ramadan
How Ramadan Trains Us To Have Taqwa
Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Opening
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon you. Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Come to prayer. Come to success. Come to success.
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. O you who believe, have taqwa of Allah and say good speech. So in today's khutbah insha'Allah ta'ala, we will be commenting on this very verse that deals with taqwa.
The Purpose of Fasting: Achieving Taqwa
Why? Because in the Qur'an we learn that the purpose of fasting is to achieve taqwa. O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may achieve taqwa. The goal of fasting is not the fast in and of itself.
The end result of fasting is not the fast. There is a higher purpose, there is a higher cause, and that higher purpose is the achievements of taqwa. So in today's khutbah insha'Allah ta'ala, I will summarize some of the main factors of how fasting inculcates taqwa.
What is it about fasting that causes us to be conscious of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
First Mechanism: Training Our Sincerity (Ikhlas)
First and foremost, fasting necessitates that we train our sincerity, our ikhlas. Why? Because fasting is all about sincerity. We have to be sincere.
We cannot monitor each other's fast. We all know that fasting is a private act of worship. We cannot monitor even our spouse's fast, even our child's fast.
Fasting must be done sincerely for the sake of Allah. No one is monitoring the fasting person 24x7. No one is watching the fasting person in the privacy of their individual lives.
For a person to fast, a person must develop ikhlas. And ikhlas or sincerity is the key to our entire religion.
Allah says in the Quran:
"They have been given is that they worship Allah with sincerity."
They worship Allah with ikhlas, making the religion completely for Him. Fasting polishes the heart. Fasting causes us to be sincere.
Fasting removes this concept of showing off, of riyab. And of course, showing off is the antithesis. It is the opposite of sincerity.
When we do something for Allah versus doing something for other people. And fasting cannot be done for the sake of showing off. You cannot show off your fasting in Ramadan.
Because everybody is doing it. And because no one can monitor your fast. So by its very nature, fasting inculcates ikhlas.
The Three Pillars of Ikhlas
And ikhlas is the key. Ikhlas is the cornerstone of our religion. As well, ikhlas or sincerity is based upon three pillars.
Love of Allah and wanting Allah's desire and fear of Allah's punishment. And of course in Arabic, this is mahabba and raja and khawf. And fasting, once again, it embodies all three of these things.
In order for you to give up something you love, you have to love something more than what you are giving up. When we give up our food, we are demonstrating we love Allah more than we love our food. In order for us to fast, we have to hope for a higher reward than the pleasures of eating and drinking.
And that is raja or hope. In order to fast for the sake of Allah, we need to have a fear of the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so fasting trains all three of these principles of loving for the sake of Allah, wanting Allah's reward and fearing Allah's punishment.
And all of this deals with ikhlas.
Second Mechanism: Developing Patience (Sabr)
The second manner that fasting brings about taqwa is through the medium of sabr, of patience. Because patience is one of the pillars of iman.
It is one of the keys of iman. In some narrations we learn that patience is half of iman. And fasting is half of patience.
1 - Sunan An-Nasa'i - الصوم يصف الصبر
(Sunan An-Nasa'i)
This is a hadith in Sunan Nisa'i. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, that assawmu nisfu assabr. That fasting is half of sabr.
When we master the concept of fasting, we are mastering the concept of patience. And patience is a cornerstone to iman and taqwa. Therefore once again when we fast, we are training ourselves for the concept of taqwa.
And that is why Ramadan is actually called in some ahadith, it is called shahru sabr, the month of sabr. Not just the month of fasting, but the month of sabr. And that is because sabr is the key to fasting.
And we all know that you cannot have the taqwa of Allah without patience for the sake of Allah. We all know that patience brings about Allah's reward.
That patience is what causes us to enter Jannah.
That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, the people of Jannah are those who, when the angels will come to greet them, they will say, salamun alaykum bima sabartum. Because you had sabr, now peace be unto you in Jannah. So once again, fasting is linked with one of the pillars of taqwa.
The Linguistic Meaning of Sabr
And that is sabr. And of course, the reality of fasting being linked to sabr is self-evident. What is sabr? Sabr, in Arabic, linguistically, it actually means to withhold, to withdraw.
When an animal is masboor, it is tied up. That's what sabr means, is to withdraw or to abstain or to withhold. And it is obvious that when we are fasting, we are withholding our desires.
We are withdrawing our limbs from reaching out to eat and to drink. So we are mastering the concept of sabr. And if we are demonstrating to ourselves in these summer months, that we can live without food and water, which is essential for life.
If we are showing ourselves that when Allah says, do not eat and do not drink, we are not eating and drinking, then we are showing ourselves that we don't need the haram outside of this month of Ramadan. If we can live without food and water, which is halal, which is an essential component of life, then we can definitely live without that which is haram, outside of this month of Ramadan. So we are once again manifesting one of the keys to taqwa, and that is the reality of sabr.
Training Sabr Through Fasting
One cannot attain taqwa without sabr. And fasting teaches us the reality of sabr. In fact, it is said, our scholars mentioned, that the best way to train our sabr, the easiest way to increase our sabr, is through the medium of fasting.
And fasting trains us on a daily basis. We're counting down, we're looking at the clock, we're saying, we're not gonna eat and drink until that time. 13, 14, 15, 16 hours go by, and we are patient for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
We're monitoring what we're doing, we're monitoring what we're saying, we're taking back that which might even be makrooh, we are not doing it. And so we are conquering this reality of sabr. And of course, sabr is of multiple types, and we've given talks about this, the three types of sabr.
And fasting demonstrates all three types of sabr. And especially the sabr of not doing something, and the sabr of the persistence of worship. One of the categories of sabr is to be persistent in the worship of Allah.
And fasting inculcates this reality of sabr. And so this is a second mechanism of how fasting leads directly to taqwa, and that is by training us in sabr.
Third Mechanism: Perfecting Our Character (Akhlaq)
The third mechanism that fasting helps us to attain taqwa is via the means of perfecting our akhlaq, via the means of treating one another in the best manner.
And that is because you cannot attain taqwa without being good mannered. The muttaqi is a person who is humble. The muttaqi is the person who controls his tongue.
The muttaqi is the one who controls his anger.
Those who control their anger and forgive people. The muttaqi is not fahish or mutafahish or badh.
The muttaqi is not uttering vulgarities or being crude and nasty to people. How is that linked to fasting? What are we told in the hadith? If one of you is fasting, and then somebody comes and curses, somebody comes and utters vulgarity, what is your response?
(Sahih Bukhari)
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: - Sahih Bukhari
If somebody comes and curses you, uses vulgarities, then respond back (اللهم إني صائم) am fasting. We are taught to have good akhlaq when we are fasting.
We are taught to master the harshness of the tongue. We are taught to leave evil deeds. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
(Sahih Bukhari)
Whoever doesn't stop acting upon vulgarities and evil, then Allah has no need that this person gives up his food and his drink.
The Importance of Good Manners in Islam
And so once again, we have the mechanism of fasting, perfecting our taqwa via perfecting our akhlaq. And of course the concept of good manners is essential to our religion. We all know our Prophet (صلی الله عليه وسلم) was sent to perfect good manners.
(Musnad Ahmad)
As he said : - Musnad Ahmad
I have only been sent to perfect good manners. And our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that the heaviest matter on the mizan, on the scales of the Day of Judgment will be a person's good manners.
(Sunan At-Tirmidhi)
And our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: - Sunan At-Tirmidhi
The people who will be the closest to me on the Day of Judgment. And also in Jannah will be those who are أَحَاسِنُكُمْ أَخْلَاقًا The best of you in your akhlaq. And once again, in this month of Ramadan, we control our anger, we forgive people, we do not utter vulgarities, we treat people in the best of manners. And therefore we are training our akhlaq.
We make sure that we don't do any cheating, any stealing, anything that hurts anybody else. We all know the hadith, that the one who is hurting other people while he is not eating and drinking, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, I don't care, or Allah is saying, I don't care if he doesn't eat or drink if he's hurting other people. So we train the mechanism of taqwa via the means of good akhlaq.
Fourth Mechanism: Controlling Our Desires (Nafs)
That is point number three. Point number four, one of the mechanisms that fasting leads to taqwa is that we begin to control our nafs and our urges. And that is because taqwa and controlling one's desires, they go hand in hand.
You cannot have taqwa if you let your desires go unchecked. Allah says in the Quran:
O Dawood, we have made you a khalifa in the earth, so judge between people with justice, and do not follow your desires for whoever follows his desires will be led astray from the path of Allah. Umar ibn Abdulaziz said, the muttaqi is like the one who is tied up because he has tied all of his desires and he cannot go wherever he wants.
Notice how he explicitly linked taqwa with tying one's desires. You cannot have taqwa if you act upon every urge. Every time you feel something, and this is what this modern culture wants us to do, this
The Power of Controlling Desires
What power is there on earth that can come between a person and cold water in the summer months? What power is there that when it is so hot outside and there's cold water available, and he says, no, I'm not going to do that because my Lord has told me to not drink. That is the power of taqwa that is going to be instilled via controlling our nafs. And that is why Allah criticizes the one who just acts unchecked upon his desires.
In fact, Allah calls this person a type of deification of his own self.
Have you not seen the one who has taken his own desires as his own god? In other words, the one who lets his desires go unchecked, it is as if he has worshipped himself besides Allah. And that is why the one who is fasting is training himself or herself that I will control my desires.
Even the halal urge of eating and drinking, it's not just halal, it is necessary. You cannot live without eating and drinking. You cannot live without this food and drink.
So when we fast, we are conquering halal urges. How about haram urges? How about desires that are not permissible? During the fast, we give up even intimacy with our spouses. That which Allah praises in the Quran and other regular things that it is good.
But in the days of fasting, we give that up as well. So the one who can give up halal urges in the days of Ramadan can definitely master and conquer haram urges. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said in the famous hadith in Sahih Muslim that temptations are shown to the heart, one temptation after the other.
The Training of the Heart
And every time the heart follows one temptation, the heart is poked with something dark and something evil until finally the whole heart becomes putrid and rancid and fested. And as for the heart that turns a temptation down, then it has an element of purity. And the more temptations it turns down, it becomes the heart of purity until our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, until finally there are two types of hearts left.
The heart that is pure, the heart that is good and tayyib, and the heart that is mirbad, the heart that is fested and infested with impurities. And how do these two hearts become pure and impure? By turning
down or accepting one temptation after the other. The heart that turns temptations down becomes the pure heart, the strong heart.
And the heart that follows one desire and then another and then another, it opens up the door for destruction. And that is why our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
(Various hadith collections)
Three are the things that will destroy a person. And one of them الْهَوَى الْمُتَّبَعُ Desires that are followed unchecked.
A person who opens this door of following every single desire, that person will be destroyed. Fasting comes and says, no, you have the power. Allah is giving you that power.
Allah is demonstrating for you that I can control my nafs, I can control my desires. Al-Hasan al-Basri was asked, which jihad is the best jihad? He said, the jihad against your own desires. That is the best jihad.
And that is very true. That the one who can conquer his desires can conquer anything. And that is why once again in this concept of fasting, we understand how and why we will achieve taqwa by conquering our desires.
Fifth Mechanism: Tasting the Sweetness of Iman
Point number five and my final point for today's khutbah. And of course much more can be said as usual, time is always limited. Point number five, how does fasting increase our taqwa? Point number five, fasting increases our taqwa by allowing us to taste the sweetness of iman.
Because the muttaqi will never be a muttaqi unless and until he understands how pleasurable it is to experience taqwa.
Sahih Bukhari
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, there's something called the ta'am or the tastiness of iman. In another hadith he said:
Sahih Bukhari
The sweetness of iman.
The one who does not know the sweetness of iman will never achieve the height of piety and taqwa. The one who does not understand how beautiful it is, how pleasurable it is to worship Allah, the pleasure of the nafs, the pleasure of the soul, the pleasure of the fitrah. The one who has not tasted the sweetness of iman will never rise high in the ranks of iman.
Ramadan: A Gift for Every Muslim
They're always gonna be struggling at the lower levels. And so fasting comes along, saum comes along, and it causes each and every one of us without exception, Wallahi what a gift from Allah, what a gift from Allah. Every single Muslim on the face of this earth without exception, anyone who has an ounce of iman, they appreciate this month of Ramadan.
They embrace the blessings of this month. Their iman goes up. They realize how beautiful is the worship of Allah when Ramadan is over, when Ramadan finishes.
Even though we all like to go back to our schedules, and we like to return to the eating and drinking, still one part of us, we miss the beauty of Ramadan. We miss the sweetness of Ramadan. And that is the reality of faith across the globe.
And what saum does, what fasting does, is that it causes each and every one of us every year to taste that sweetness of iman. And that sweetness, it is a motivational factor. We need that sweetness to rise higher up.
The Inner Contentment of Fasting
We want to desire success. And we will desire success when we know what success feels like, tastes like, smells like. And in this month of Ramadan, we demonstrate to each and every one of us, we can taste the sweetness of iman.
We know how pleasurable it is. Subhanallah, is it not amazing that our bodies are going to be tired even within a few days and a few weeks, that our throats are gonna be parched and dry. And yet we have an inner sense of contentment, an inner sense of happiness, that money cannot buy, the pleasures of this world cannot buy, food and drink cannot buy.
The iman that we feel, that is halawatul iman. And how did we feel it? What caused us to feel it? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us to fast, because fasting leads to taqwa. And it will lead to taqwa when we taste that sweetness of iman.
Historical Examples of This Sweetness
It is reported that Khalid ibn Walid, the famous companion of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), he asked the people around him that, do you know how happy the groom feels on the night of his wedding? He's excited to meet his bride. They all joked, they said, yes, of course we know. So he said to them, Wallahi, the sweetness and happiness that I feel when I'm riding my horse for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on the battlefield, it is much more to me than how you feel on the night of your wedding.
He's talking about the halawatul iman. He's talking about the sweetness of iman. How great it feels.
One of the famous scholars of the past, Abdal ibn Shikhir, he said, if these princes and these kings, if they knew how sweet we feel when we pray tahajjud and we read Qur'an, they would fight us with swords and they would open our chest to feel that happiness if they could do that. But they think happiness is in money, is in wealth, is in pleasures. They don't know how we feel.
So that pleasure of iman, how will us average Muslims feel it? Allah has gifted us. We are not Khalid ibn al-Walid. We are not the famous Taabi'un and Sahaba.
Okay, but Allah has gifted us a mechanism where we can, every one of us without exception, we can begin to taste that sweetness of iman. And that sweetness of iman, that is what is going to cause us to arise in our taqwa.
Conclusion: The Five Mechanisms
Dear Muslims, this is the month where all five of these mechanisms, these are five mechanisms, where all five of them, they're going to help us achieve the higher goal of taqwa.
And so indeed embrace this month. Embrace this month of fasting. Thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for having blessed us with a mechanism to increase our taqwa and ask for Allah's acceptance during this month.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless me and you with and through the Qur'an. May He make us of those who its verses they understand and who implement its halal and haram throughout their life span. I ask Allah's forgiveness.
You as well ask Him for He is the Ghafoor and the Rahman.
Second Khutbah: Understanding Taqwa
If fasting has been prescribed for the reality of taqwa, let us remind ourselves as well very briefly what is taqwa. Because too many of us, we get too involved in the mechanics of fasting, which is important.
We need to know the haram and halal. We need to know the fiqh. But let us not neglect the higher goal which is taqwa.
Because fasting is not an end goal. The end goal is taqwa. The fasting is the mechanism to get there.
The Definition of Taqwa
So let us remind ourselves of very briefly what is this reality of taqwa. Taqwa of course, the concept of taqwa is to protect yourself from the punishment of Allah. And that is the root word taqwa.
It comes from waqaya or waqa which means to put a barrier or to place something between you and something else. And so the concept of taqwa is that you place a barrier between yourself and the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commanded all of the prophets without exception to tell their people to have taqwa.
Allah azza wa jal says in the Quran to the Prophet Hud, to the Prophet Salih, to the Prophet Nuh, to the Prophet Shu'ayb, to the Prophet Ibrahim:
That we told all of the peoples before you, all the peoples of the book before you. And we are telling you as well to have taqwa of Allah.
And Allah says in the Quran that their prophets came to them
And they said to him, (أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ - 7:65 Quran)
The people said, the prophets said to the people, will you not have taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And so taqwa is the core of our faith. It has always been the faith. And we translate it as God consciousness.
But in reality it is many many factors. Obviously God consciousness is the core of taqwa.
The Blessings of Taqwa
What are some of the blessings of having taqwa? Well, obviously the one who achieves taqwa achieves the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah has a phrase in the Quran (وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ) Allah loves. And the most common or one of the most common phrases that only occurs around 11-12 times in the whole Quran that Allah loves. Not that many categories are mentioned.
But one of the most categories:
Allah loves the people of taqwa. That is the highest category that we want to achieve the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. As well of the blessings of taqwa is that taqwa causes us to be enveloped in the rahma of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah's rahma envelops the one who has taqwa. Allah says in the Quran:
My rahma encompasses everything. But I shall especially write it for those who have taqwa.
So if we want to have the rahma of Allah, we need to achieve it via the mechanism of taqwa. Also of the blessings of taqwa is that taqwa causes us to be amongst Allah's camp and to be amongst those whom Allah calls His own, and whom Allah will help. Allah says in the Quran:
"Allah is with those who have taqwa.
Allah is with us. And when Allah is with us, then all of our problems are solved. If Allah is with us, we don't care who is against us because we have Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.
When we have Allah on our side, it doesn't matter who is on the other side. We need Allah, and we will attain that when we have taqwa. If Allah is on our side, every single problem of this world and the next will be taken care of.
Worldly Benefits of Taqwa
And that is achieved primarily through the mechanism of taqwa. As well of the blessings of taqwa is that even this world is given to the muttaqi. Even the blessings of this world is given to the one who has taqwa.
Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran:
"Whoever has the taqwa of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah will create a way out from every difficulty. And Allah will provide for him sustenance and blessings. Allah will provide for him a rizq from sources he never expected from.
We are facing the biggest difficulty of our lives in this corona lockdown. The entire globe is shut down.
There is a pandemic. There is a crisis of global magnitude and proportion. And the only way out especially for us of faith is through the taqwa of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.
"Whoever has taqwa of Allah, Allah will make a way out for him. And Allah will provide for him sustenance and blessings. Allah will provide for him a rizq from sources he never expected from.
We are all feeling the pinch of this virus. Some of us more than others. We need the rizq of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, especially in this time frame.
So the month of Ramadan comes, and this month is the month of taqwa. And via taqwa, we will attain the way out that we need from this pandemic and this crisis.
Taqwa as Preparation
And the last thing that I'll mention it again, so much can be said, is that Allah reminds us that the best mechanism to prepare ourselves for every problem and every calamity is the mechanism of taqwa.
"Take precautions, take measures, be prepared Allah is saying. The word zaad here, it means when you go on a journey, you'd better have what you need for the journey. You know when we go on a long drive, we make sure we have water, our car is full of gas, we have food for the kids, everything is there.
In Arabic this is called zaad. There is no one English word, it's just the preparations for the journey. Allah is saying, whenever you go on a journey, be prepared, (وَتَزَوَّدُوا - watazawadu), but then Allah reminds us (فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى - fa'inna khayra azzaadi at-taqwa) The best way you can prepare for any journey, any problem, any issue, any path that you're taking, for every single issue of life, the best mechanism to protect you is going to be the mechanism of taqwa.
Final Thoughts: Ramadan as Training for the Soul
These are some of the blessings of taqwa, dear Muslims. And realize that all of these five things that I have said about the concept of fasting, which is sabr, and controlling one's desires, and mastering the reality of being conscious of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, and having sincerity, all of these are mechanisms that directly link us with the taqwa of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. You know we have heard this phrase very often, that fasting is like going to the gym for our soul.
Wallahi, it is so true, because it is literally going to the gym for our soul. We are training our soul via these mechanisms every single day. Any one of us who has trained our body, after a week or two, the weight that you were lifting becomes so easy to lift because you've trained the body.
Well, Ramadan is the gymnasium of the soul. Ramadan is when we work out our soul via these mechanisms, and more, obviously more can be said. So when we do this fast every single day, all of these things are going to help us, and they're all helping us for the same goal.
Just like the goal of going to the gym is a healthier body, so the goal of the fast is to have the taqwa of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. And there is no one action of worship that leads to taqwa more easily for the average Muslim than the act of fasting. And that is why fasting is such a gift that Allahazza wa jal has given us.
"O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous"
We ask Allahazza wa jal to bless us with taqwa in this month.
Closing Remarks
(قَوِيٌّ يَا عَزِيزٌ يَا - Qawiyyun ya 'Azizu ya) In this month of Ramadan all of us are suffering and especially our masjid as well that we are having financial issues. So please if you can donate whatever you can may Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala bless you in this time frame.
And may Allahazza wa jal make it easy for all of us but please do donate as well to Epic and to all of your local masajid wherever you are. Please give to your masajid because all the masajids around the world are struggling and it is not appropriate that the houses of Allah, that the masajid are having any financial difficulties in this time.
Al-Fatiha.