Levels of Fasting (As-Sawm Was- Siam)
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and His Blessing and Reassurance be upon the Noblest of the Messengers, his family, companions, and followers.Verily, Allah-SWT- does not place a burden on any soul greater than its Capacity (Wusa’aha).
“Wusa’aha” means someone’s endurance capacity, which is less than what he is able to do (Ability) (Takatahu), i.e. Allah increases his Ability (Takatahu) by adding more Capacity (wesa’) to it to endure the burden.
Allah says in the Quran “Ya Ayuha Al-ladhena Amanu Kotiba A’laikum As-Syam” which can be translated as (O you who believe, fasting is prescribed to you..”. We understand from this verse that what Allah prescribed to the believers is within their Capacity (Wesa’), and not within their ability as indicated by the verse that says, “Wa A’la Al-ladheena Youtekonahu Fedyiat Ta’am Miskeen” which can be translated as (Those who are not able to do it may effect a redemption by feeding one who is indigent). The word “Youtekonahu” means “not able to”.With the above in mind, we can safely conclude that As-Siam is within everyone’s capacity (Sea’h), while As-Sawm is not within the common people’s Takah, i.e. they are unable to do it.
It is narrated that so many fasting people may be gaining no more than hunger and thirst from their fasting. To abstain from consuming food and drink is
Siam, but it is the common people’s Siam, and for whoever desires to increase his “Capacity” to just short of his “Ability” let him achieve that by doing Sawm.The first level of As-Sawm is done by the “Elite”
(Sawm Al Khawas) who abstain from consuming any food and drink and any talk or action except the remembrance of Allah (SWT) (Dhikr Allah).
The next level is the Sawm of “the Elite of the Elite”
(Khawas El Khawas) who abstain from everything other than Allah.
The ultimate goal of their Sawm is abstention from food, drink, and all things other than Allah including even Dhikr Allah to reach a higher goal, which is Allah Himself. There are certain differences between
As-Siam and As-Sawm, e.g. to abstain from talking with people is not part of As-Siam, but it may be included with As-Sawm, as is evident by Allah’s saying to Mary (Sayyda Maryam) in the Quran “Fa Kuli Wa-Shraby Wa Kar-ry A’inan, Fa Emma Tarayn-na Min Al-Bashri Ahadan Fa Koli En-ni Nadhartu Lil-Rahmani Sawm-an Fa lan Okal-lim Al-Youma Enseyan” which can be translated as, (So eat and drink and cool your eye, and if you do see any man, say, ‘I have vowed a fast to Allah-Most Gracious, and this day I will enter into no talk with any human being’).
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http://lahzetnour.com/english/new/2011/01/levels-of-fasting-as-sawm-was-siam-2/