and drink” (Bu. 30:8). This is true of all the Islamic injunctions. A man who says his prayers and does not keep in view their inner meaning, the object of prayer, is condemned in clear words: “Woe to the praying ones, who are unmindful of (the object of) their prayers” (107:4, 5). In another ḥadīth, the ethical side of the fast is shown in the following words: “Fasting is a shield, so let the man who fasts not indulge in any foul speech or do any evil deed (lā yajhal), and if anyone fights or quarrels with him or abuses him, he should say, I am fasting. By Him Who holds my soul in His hand, the breath of the faster is pleasanter with Allāh than the scent of musk” (Bu. 30:2). It is not refraining from food that makes the breath of the faster so sweet; it is refraining from foul speech and abuse and evil words and deeds of all kinds, so much so that he does not even utter an offensive word by way of retaliation. Thus a fasting person undergoes not only a physical discipline by curbing his carnal desires, the craving for food and drink, and the sex appetite, but he is actually required to undergo a direct moral discipline by avoiding all kinds of evil words and evil deeds. It is not only a training on the physical side, which has a moral value; it is a direct training on the spiritual side as well. In the sight of God, as plainly stated in these ḥadīth, the fast loses its value not only by taking food or drink but also by telling a lie, using foul language, acting unfaithfully, or doing an evil deed.

The moral value of the fasting discipline is further enhanced by laying stress on the doing of good to humanity in the month of Ramadzān. The example of the Holy Prophet is quoted in this connection in a ḥadīth. “The Holy Prophet, may peace and the blessings of Allāh be upon him, was the most bountiful of all people, and he exceeded his own bounty in the month of Ramadzān” (Bu. 30:7). Another ḥadīth describes the month of Ramadzān as “a month in which the sufferings of the poor and the hungry must be attended to” (MM. 7:I-iii).

These injunctions make clear the significance of the ḥadīth which says that when the month of Ramadzān commences, “the doors of Heaven are opened and the doors of hell are closed and the devils are put into chains” (Bu. 30:5). This is true of the man who keeps the fast, both physically and morally. The devils are chained in his case