voluntary acts. Yet good deeds that erase sins (1) are attained only when the act is accepted and rewarded. Accordingly, only to the extent that reward is recorded for a person are his past sins expiated through it (2). That which brings no reward expiates nothing, even if it discharges the obligation.
This is expressed in the reported hadith:
“Many a fasting person gains nothing from his fast but hunger and thirst (3), and many a person who stands in prayer gains nothing from his prayer but wakefulness.” (4)
That is, he exerted himself without deriving any benefit. Nevertheless, his obligation was discharged (5), so he escaped punishment but remained as he was, gaining no further good thereby.
Fasting was prescribed only to cultivate mindfulness of Allah, as He Most High says:
“O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become mindful of Allah—for a prescribed number of days.”
[Surah al-Baqarah: 183–184]
The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:
“Fasting (6) is a shield. When one of you is
(1) ن, م, and أ read: “sins”; و reads: “with sins.”
(2) “Through it” is omitted in ن and م; و reads: “through it, from him.”
(3) “Except hunger and thirst” is the reading of ب alone. و reads: “His share from his fast is thirst,” while all other manuscripts read: “except thirst.”
(4) This hadith, with some variation in wording, is narrated from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—in *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 1/539, Book of Fasting, chapter “What Has Been Narrated Concerning Backbiting and Obscene Speech by One Who Is Fasting,” where it reads: “Many a fasting person gains nothing from his fast…” It is also found in *Sunan al-Dārimī*, 2/301, Book of Heart-Softening Reports, chapter “Guarding the Fast,” with the wording: “How many fasting persons…” The hadith also appears in *al-Musnad*, al-Maʿārif edition, 17/35. Shaykh Ahmad Shākir—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic”; at 18/204, he likewise graded it authentic. Al-Albānī also graded its two narrations authentic in *Sahīh al-Jāmiʿ al-Saghīr*, 3/174.
(5) ح and ب read: “But his obligation was discharged, even if his obligation was discharged.”
(6) ح and ب read: *al-sawm* (“fasting”).