A Believers Guide to Fasting

These two treatises discuss and examine the various aspects of fasting and contribute to serving this great pillar of Islam, written by two eminent scholars; both from the blessed land of Shām. The first is by Shaykh ʿAbd-Allāh Sirāj al-Dīn from Aleppo, Syria, wherein the author examines the wisdom behind fasting: its obligation, etiquette, requirements, benefits and virtues. It includes a detailed discussion on Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of the Divine Decree), exploring its derivation, significance and virtues.

The second is by the late Ḥanafī scholar from Damascus, Shaykh Hishām Burhānī, and primarily deals with the legal aspects of fasting: its rulings in accordance with the Ḥanafī school of Islamic jurisprudence. They serve as a means to providing the believer with indispensable knowledge of this pillar so that he may maximise in reaping the reward and benefit from the blessed month of Ramadan; in the words of the author Shaykh Hishām Burhānī, ‘Allah has not legislated for us this compulsory hunger every year for an entire month except that each individual should achieve the spiritual, health and social benefits which the legislation of fasting contains.’