Can you imagine fasting Ramadan and not have an Eid Feast with Sweets (Dates, Desserts).

 

Bismi Allahi Al Rahmani Al Raheemi

ASA WR WB to believing Muslim friends

Allahumma Salli Ala Wa Barak Ala Sayyidi Muhammad

Look at the Mercy of Allah (swt) through Nabi Muhammad (saws). Can you imagine fasting Ramadan and not have an Eid Feast with Sweets (Dates, Desserts). Allah (swt) and Nabi Muhammad (saws) are teaching us something through this.

They are teaching a principle from Pavlovian Conditioning. It is positive reinforcement for positive behavior and negative reinforcement for negative behavior. Although there is the factor of patience (Sabrat), tolerance and clemency or (Halimat) with Negative Reinforcement.

Nabi Sulaimon (epbuh) was before Pavlov and Pavlov obviously got inspiration for Pavlovian Conditioning from Nabi Sulaimon (as) who once said in a Proverb "If you continue to reward good with evil, then evil will never leave your house."

My point is: The Hadith about having the Feast after Eid Salaat is clearly to reinforce your motivation to perform the Fasting of Saumul Ramadan. Without proper reinforcement people would not be motivated to even prepare food or even clean their homes on normal days outside of Ramdan. They would lose the Faith to do them. It is similar to the Hadith making sure you pay your workers before their sweat has dried. We have been instructed to encourage what is good and to discourage what is evil.

The virtues of eating something sweet (dates, etc.) with the meals during Ramadan. No one has ever really explained this. But it is obviously to make the experience a pleasant and satisfying remembrance when you recall it in your mind. It is a satisfying goal to reach each day.

The virtues of not making up fasts on the Days of the 2 Eids. No one has ever really explained this. But it is obviously to reserve the Day for the Eid Feast Meals. The person has to reconcile with that there was a Reward experienced in life for the Journey and other Rewards from Allah that are "pending". It (the Eid Feast) is also an effort to replenish the body after the long journey of fasting Saumul Ramadan.

Fasting on the 2 Eids is prohibited in Islam. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (ra) reported Allah's Messenger (saws) as saying, "No fast is to be observed on the two days, al-Fitr and al-Adha."

There is another virtue for fasting. Alqama narrated that the Nabi Muhammad (saws) is reported by Abdullah (ra) to have said: "He who can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him refrain from looking at other women, and save his private parts from committing illegal sexual relations; and he who cannot afford to marry is advised to fast, as fasting will diminish his sexual desire."

{I will add more to this as I look for more hadiths on virtues of sweets. I will also cite the Ayats mentioned above later. Insha Allah.}