What Is Promised the Servant Who Prays and Fasts

The Hadith Qudsi continues: whoever prays and calls upon Him with sincerity, knowledge, conviction and devotion, exactly as commanded — who asks of Him, who further prays in the night, qāʾiman, and fasts during the day, ṣāʾiman, for His sake — for such a person Allah (swt) says He has prepared karāmāt, honours, and will let him break his fast. This is not merely the fast from food — when the time for ifṭār comes in Ramaḍān, a person simply says Bismillāh and eats, and that is the breaking of the fast — but the fast from desire, the difficulty of holding oneself back in order to draw nearer to Allah (swt), which He will relieve with the generosity and the gifts He has prepared in Jannah.

He who rises in the middle of the night and prays two, four, six or eight rakʿahs, breaking a sweet and comfortable sleep for the sake of Allah alone — for it is not obligatory, so why does he do it? Because he wishes to be loved by Allah — is told by Allah (swt) that because of this love and this commitment shown toward Him, his honour and his standing, his sharaf, with Him will be increased. This is the promise of Allah (swt). Of two rakʿahs prayed in the night, this is called tahajjud, prayed voluntarily in the middle of the night before the time of fajr, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says, in a hadith repeated again and again: they are better than the whole world and everything in it — better, that is, than everything the world has to offer, in terms of the honour, the sharaf, they bring a person in the sight of Allah (swt).