Narrated Abu Huraira:
While we were sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) a man came and said, "O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! I have been ruined." Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) asked what was the matter with him. He replied "I had sexual intercourse with my wife while I was fasting." Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) asked him, "Can you afford to free a slave?" He replied in the negative. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) asked him, "Are you able to fast for two successive months (from sunrise to sunset)?" He replied in the negative. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, "Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?" He replied in the negative. The Prophet (ﷺ) kept silent and while we were in that state, a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet (ﷺ) . He asked, "Where is the questioner?" He replied, "I (am here)." The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to him), "Take this (basket of dates) and give it in charity." The man said, "Should I give it to a person poorer than I? By Allah; there is no family between its (i.e. Medina’s) two mountains who are poorer than I." The Prophet (ﷺ) smiled till his premolar teeth became visible and then said, ‘Feed your family with it."
Ponder This Hadith
A Companion came to the Prophet ﷺ deeply distressed after breaking his fast by having relations with his wife before sunset. He believed himself to be ruined. He did not treat the fast casually, symbolically, or metaphorically. He understood it as a real, binding act of worship with clear limits and consequences.
If the Ismaili understanding of fasting were correct—that fasting is merely a perpetual “fast of the heart,” independent of time, Ramadan, or physical restraint—why did the Prophet ﷺ not tell him so? Why did he not reassure him that his inward intention was sufficient, or that fasting is continuous throughout the year, as later claimed by Sultan Muhammad Shah in his Farmans?
Instead, the Prophet ﷺ affirmed the reality of the fast by walking him through its expiations: freeing a slave (where applicable), fasting sixty consecutive days from sunrise to sunset, or feeding sixty poor people. These rulings only make sense if a specific, time-bound fast had been violated.
Equally telling is the Companion’s attitude. He was not dismissive or indifferent—he was genuinely afraid of having failed in his obligation from Allah. This is the spirit of a Muslim. In contrast, Al-Waizeen are frequently heard belittling fasting in Ramadan, speaking of it as though it were primitive, merely external, or even spiritually backwards.
The Prophet ﷺ and his Companions—including Hazrat Ali—did not hold such a view. They did not oppose the inward to the outward. Rather, they upheld fasting as a serious obligation whose inward sincerity is expressed through outward obedience.
So which understanding truly reflects the Prophetic model:
one that produces consciousness of Allah and accountability for breaking the fast,
or one that dissolves fasting altogether while claiming deeper spirituality?