The need for the fasting person to try to keep away from all sorts of haraam is self-evident. We will not be able to experience the worldly and spiritual pleasure of our acts of worship unless what we eat and what we drink, as well as what we speak and what we listen to, are distant from the stains of haraam. This is a point also emphasized in the words of our Prophet (s.a.w).
Al-Ghazali compares the person who breaks his/her fast with haraam food to someone who builds a palace but demolishes an entire city. According to him, fasting not only commands departure from haraam, but also should bring about a limitation on the halaal.
Just like an atom of haraam brings about harm, excess in indulging in the halaal is also detrimental. Someone who sees abstinence from haraam as sufficient and eats, drinks, spends, and consumes without limit from the halaal deprives his/her soul from true development and maturing. As we all know, the purpose of fasting is taqwa (God-consciousness, piety – Baqara 2/183). We can’t reach this goal by making a mental list of everything we haven’t been able to eat during the day and eating them all at iftaar; neither can we reach it by increasing excessive speech, consumption, and expenditure. While Ramadan’s spiritual atmosphere is there to help us, it’s never too late to wipe out the haraam from our lives and limit our indulgence in the halaal to give wings to our souls.
