The purpose of fasting is not physical training to endure hunger, thirst and exhaustion; rather, it is disciplining the ego to relinquish the loved for the sake of the Beloved. The loved are the desires of eating, drinking, sexual activities etc., while the Beloved is Allah, the Exalted. Hence, it is imperative to keep in mind when we observe fasting that we do so only for the sake of Allah.
Meanwhile it becomes imperative on us to try our best to observe the rites that reflect our obedience to Allah, such as the remembrance of Allah, reading the Quran, supererogatory prayers, charitable deeds and donations, good manners, etc.
Fasting
is similarly a form of education to the whole society since when the fasting
Muslim feels that people around him are all fasting, he finds fast no longer
difficult, but feels that he is in harmony with the society to which he belongs
through worship, the unifying factor of the whole community.
