Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Divine Perspective on Rights Right n. 11: The Right of Fasting حق الصوم وَأَمَّا حَقُّ الصَّوْمِ فَأَنْ تَعْلَمَ أَنَّهُ حِجابٌ ضَرَبَهُ اللهُ عَلَى لِسَانِكَ وَسمْعِكَ وبَصَرِكَ وَفَرْجِكَ وبَطْنِكَ لِيَسْتر'َكَ بهِ مِن النَّارِ وَهَكَذَا جَاءَ فِي الْحَديثِ «الصَّوْمُ جُنَّةٌ مِنَ النّارِ» فإنْ سكَنَتْ أَطْرَافُكَ فِي حَجَبَتِهَا رَجَوْتَ أَنْ تَكُونَ مَحْجُوبًا.
وَإنْ أَنْتَ تَرَكْتَهَا تَضْطَرِبُ فِي حِجَابهَا وتَرْفَعُ جَنَبَاتِ الْحِجَاب فَتُطّلِعُ إلَى مَا لَيْسَ لَهَا بالنَّظْرَةِ الدَّاعِيةِ لِلشَّهْوَةِ وَالقُوَّةِ الْخَارِجَةِ عَنْ حَدِّ التَّقِيَّةِ للهِ لَمْ تَأمَنْ أَنْ تَخرِقَ الْحِجَابَ وَتَخرُجَ مِنْهُ. وَلا قُوَّةَ إلا باللهِ. And the right of fasting is that you should know it is a veil, which God has set up over your tongue, your hearing and your sight, your private parts and your stomach, to protect you from the Fire.
This meaning is asserted in the tradition: “Fasting is a shield against the Fire.” Thus if your parts become tranquil within the veil of fasting, you have hopes of being protected. [^1] But if you leave them agitated behind the veil and let them lift the sides of the veil, so they look at things that are not lawful for them to look at that incite lust and powers that are beyond the limits of being God-fearing, you will not be safe from tearing through the veil and coming out of it.
And there is no power but in God. The Philosophy behind Fasting Since sins are usually committed via the tongue, the eyes, the ears, the stomach or the unleashing of sexual desires, Imam Sajjad considers the philosophy behind fasting to be restraining oneself from committing sins. The Imam considers fasting to provide a veil over our body parts that will prevent them from engaging in sin.
The Qur’an expresses the same philosophy behind fasting in the following verse: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ “O’ ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.” [The Holy Qur’an, al--Baqarah 2:183] We see that self-restraint has been stated to be the main reason behind fasting. Fasting implies self-restraint.