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Fasting brings to fore the reality of our subservience to Allah and it helps in our submission to Him. This is why fasting has been made one of the pillars of Islam, so that Islam itself is incomplete without it. Fasting conditions the worshipper upon obedience and upon carrying out his religious duties. It also reminds him that he is the servant of Allah Almighty and of no one else.

We see that Allah orders His servants to eat at certain times, so that if they were to fast at those times, they would be sinning. This is the case for the two `Îd celebrations. This is also the case for someone who fasts consecutive days without breaking his fast at night. At other times, by contrast, the worshippers are ordered to fast, so that if they were to eat at those times, they would be sinning.

We see the same thing when a pilgrim enters into the sacred state of ihrâm. While he is in that state, he is prohibited from certain things that he is commanded to do at other times. In this and many other ways, the worshipper continually reminds himself that he is the servant of Allah who complies with his Lord’s command and who keeps to the limits set by his Lord.

This is a concept of great significance that if people would only realize it in their worship, their devotions would then have a far greater impact upon them. The state of a believer should be that of a dutiful sentinel standing at attention, whose hand is ever poised to action and who is ready to advance and go forth whenever he is commanded to do so.

The importance of our worshipping Allah is one of the greatest objectives behind our fasting and behind all of our acts of devotion. Unfortunately, many Muslims fall short in their appreciation of this fact. Though they adhere to the performance of these acts of worship, their devotions are bereft of spiritual meaning and consequently fail to have the desired effect of bringing about true devotion and subservience to Allah.

http://www.islamtoday.net/english/showme2.cfm?cat_id=29&sub_cat_id=713