By Shaykh Abdul Qayum
27 February 2026

﷽ 

Brothers and sisters, alhamdulillah, Allah has allowed us to witness this Ramadan.

Many people were with us before this month began. We saw them in the masjid. We prayed beside them. Some of them even saw the beginning of Ramadan. And today, they are no longer here. Today we stand and pray janazah.

Allah is so kind to us. He chose us to continue. He allowed us to enter this blessed month. We have reached the middle of the Blessed Month. We ask Allah to give us tawfīq to complete it the way He is looking for from us, and to accept it from us.

But we must understand something clearly.

One of the biggest dangers in fasting is losing the reward.

Many people think fasting is only not eating, not drinking, and staying away from physical relations. Yes, in the fiqh sense, that makes the fast valid.

But that is not the main objective.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Whoever does not abandon false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need of him abandoning his food and drink.

This is serious.

Allah does not need our hunger. Allah does not need our thirst. The purpose is not to stay hungry. The purpose is to leave sin. The purpose is to gain taqwa.

All our acts of ‘ibadah have an inner dimension. Salah is not just movements. Fasting is not just hunger. These are programs of purification. They are meant to take us to a higher level. They are meant to help us leave wrong actions and come closer to Allah.

And today, one of the biggest problems is the tongue.

Lies and falsehood spread very easily today. Before, slander might stay between two people. Now one message can destroy someone’s reputation. One post on social media can harm a family. One comment can reach hundreds, even thousands.

People take it lightly.

“I was just joking.”

“I just forwarded it.”

“It’s only information.”

But the Prophet ﷺ warned Muʿadh (رضي الله عنه). He held his tongue and said: “Control this.”

Muʿadh asked, “O Messenger of Allah, will we be taken to account for what we say?”

The Prophet ﷺ replied that people will be thrown into the Hellfire on their faces because of what their tongues harvested.

A person may not steal. May not commit murder. But his tongue destroys him.

And the Prophet ﷺ told us something else. A person may say a good word, he does not think much about it, and Allah raises him to high ranks because of that word.

And another person may say a word that displeases Allah. He thinks it is small. Just a word. And that word takes him down to the lowest level of the Hellfire.

Just words?

And Allah says:

Every word is written. Every message. Every comment. Every insult. Every joke.

It is all recorded.

Now think about our fasting.

Some people fast the whole day. They feel hungry. They feel weak. They feel tired. They think they are collecting reward.

But then they sit and backbite. Or they slander someone. Or they spread something without care.

And what happens?

They destroy what they built.

The Prophet ﷺ warned that there are people who fast and get nothing from their fasting except hunger.

Nothing except thirst.

Imagine that.

A whole day fasting – and at the end, nothing.

Why?

Because fasting is not only the stomach.

Some of the scholars said the lowest level of fasting is to leave food and drink. That is the easiest part.

We leave halal food for the sake of Allah. But we engage in haram speech, which is always haram – Ramadan or not.

Why are we able to leave what is halal, but we continue in what is clearly haram?

This is something we must reflect on.

Ramadan is a training. It teaches us discipline. If someone comes to argue with you, what did the Prophet ﷺ teach?

Say: “I am fasting.”

Not to show off. But to remind yourself – I am protecting my fast. I will not argue. I will not fight. I will not lose my reward.

Brothers and sisters, we have been fasting many years. But every Ramadan we must improve.

Let this Ramadan be different.

Make a firm intention.

I will control my tongue.

I will not backbite.

I will not slander.

I will not forward everything I receive.

If I speak, I will speak good, or remain silent.

If I protect the tongue, I protect the fasting.

If I protect the fasting, I gain taqwa.

And that is the real objective.

 

O Allah, purify our tongues from falsehood.

O Allah, protect us from backbiting and slander.

O Allah, allow our fasting to reach its true purpose and not be only hunger and thirst.

O Allah, accept from us this blessed month and make us among those whose fasting is accepted and rewarded.

 

Ameen.

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