Fasting is an act of submission to Allah and also serves as a sort of training period, for in the many struggles for things loftier, especially in the struggle to obtain divine pleasure, one has to sacrifice many things near and dear to oneself.
KNOWLEDGE and knowledge-centred activities have always occupied a lofty and noble position in Islam. Seeking knowledge in order that one becomes learned and enlightened in religion, and is therefore qualified to educate society, is always considered a serious endeavour in the religion of Islam, so serious that those engaged in it are singled out in one Quranic verse (al-Tawbah 9: 123) to be the ones exempted from the obligation of fighting physically in defence of a valid religious cause.
