Author: Shaykh ibn al-'Uthaymeen, may Allâh have mercy upon him
From the wisdom of fasting is that: It is an act of
worship done for Allâh, in which the 'abd (servant) draws closer to His
Lord by abandoning the things that he loves and desires, such as food,
drink and sexual intercourse. So because of this, the truthfulness of
his Faith and the completeness of his servitude to Allâh become
apparent, as well as his love for Allâh and his longing for what Allâh
has prepared for him (of good). This is since the one who fasts does not
abandon something that is beloved to him except for that which is
greater to him than it (which is Allâh). When the believer knows that
Allâh's contentment lies in the fasting - which is abandoning those
desires that he naturally loves - he will give his Lord's contentment
precedence over his desires. So he abandons his desires no matter how
much he longs and yearns for them, because his delight and the
tranquillity of his soul lies in his abandoning all that for the sake of
Allâh.