It also prompts mutual kindness and mercy: when the well-off taste the pain of hunger and the sting of thirst,
he recalls that his poor brother suffers these torments all his life. He therefore shares some of his wealth with him, wiping away grudges and enmity and replacing them with love and concord. In this way social peace is achieved between the different classes.

Among its benefits are moral and educational lessons: fasting teaches patience and endurance, strengthens resolve and willpower, and trains one to confront hardships and surmount them, to face difficulties and make light of them.

There are likewise health benefits, for “the stomach is the home of disease, and restraint is the foremost remedy.” The stomach needs a period of rest and recuperation after the fatigue of continual eating and its constant labour in digesting food.

This is but a brief glimpse of some of Allah’s wisdoms and secrets. To set out everything the human mind can grasp would require separate volumes—let alone the realities known only to Allah, the All-Wise, the All-Guiding.

The First Hadith

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Do not precede Ramadan by fasting a day or two before it, except a man who already keeps a regular fast—let him fast.”

Terminology:

la taqaddamū: with fatḥa on the tāʾ and dāl; the original form is la tattaqaddamū, but the first tāʾ of the imperfect verb has been omitted.

Overall meaning:

The Wise Lawgiver wishes to distinguish acts of worship from ordinary habits, and to separate obligatory worship from voluntary devotion so that each is clearly recognizable. For that reason He forbade fasting one or two days before the month of Ramadan, so that a person enters the month having eaten and is fully prepared for its fast. The exception is someone who already has the habit of fasting—such as Thursday or Monday—or who must make up a missed fast whose deadline is near, or fulfill a binding vow; he may fast because there is a specific reason. As for unrestricted voluntary fasting at that time, the least that can be said is that it is disliked.

Points derived from the hadith:

1- The prohibition of fasting one or two days directly before Ramadan.
2- The concession for anyone whose habitual fast, such as Thursday or Monday, happens to fall immediately before Ramadan.