Fasting is an Atonement for Fitna

Huzayfa, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings upon him:

Ibadat (worship) such as fasting, obligatory prayers, alms-giving, enjoining right and preventing from evil protect one from fitna (trial or tribulation; also refers to any period of disorder, such as a civil war, or the period of time before the end of the world or any civil strife.) that one is faced with because of one's family, property, one's own soul, children and neighbors, and they serve as atonement. (Bukhari, Sawm: 3; Muslim, Fitan: 26)