Greatness of Ramadan

 Truly all praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and our bad actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can turn him astray. And whomsoever Allah turns astray has none to guide him. I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, the Only One without any partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and (final) messenger.

Says Allah in the Quran:

Yā 'Ayyuhā Al-Ladhīna 'Āmanū Kutiba `Alaykumu Aş-Şiyāmu Kamā Kutiba `Alá Al-Ladhīna Min Qablikum La`allakum Tattaqūna

Oh you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may learn piety and righteousness" (Q 2:183)

In addressing the believers of this Ummah, Allah has ordered us to fast i.e.  to abstain from food and drink or marital relations, with the intention of doing so sincerely, for the pleasure of Allah the exalted ALONE. This is because fasting purifies the souls and cleanse them from evil. Therefore the fasting person is among the closest people to Allah, the exalted. Allah mentions that he ordained fasting, as he had for those before this Ummah. He mentions this, show us as an example, so that we may vigorously perform this obligation of fasting more obediently than the previous nations.

Says Allah in the Quran

Shahru Ramađāna Al-Ladhī 'Unzila Fīhi Al-Qur'ānu Hudan Lilnnāsi Wa Bayyinātin Mina Al-Hudá Wa Al-Furqāni ۚ Faman Shahida Minkumu Ash-Shahra Falyaşumhu ۖ Wa Man Kāna Marīđāan 'Aw `Alá Safarin Fa`iddatun Min 'Ayyāmin 'Ukhara ۗ Yurīdu Allāhu Bikumu Al-Yusra Wa Lā Yurīdu Bikumu Al-`Usra Wa Litukmilū Al-`Iddata Wa Litukabbirū Allaha `Alá Mā Hadākum Wa La`allakum Tashkurūna

“Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you “ (2:185)

Allah has praised the month of Ramadan, out of the other months, by choosing it to send down the glorious Quran. Without the right guidance that is provided by the Quran, the world in spite of all its charm and fascinations would have been a dark gloomy place. The prophet (SAW.) used to study the Quran with angel Gabriel during Ramadan. He used to listen and reflect upon the meaning of the glorious Quran.

In a hadith narrated by Salmaan (radhiallahu anhu) the prophet (saw.) said “oh people. Verily a great month has shaded you, a blessed month containing a night better than a thousand months and has made the act of standing in prayer and supplication during the night as an optional act (that is Tarawee salaah)

The Messenger of Allah (saw) addressed his companions on the last day of Sha`ban, saying, "Oh people! A great month has come over you; a blessed month; a month in which is a night better than a thousand months; month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Heaven. It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished at all." [Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah]

`Abdullah ibn `Amr reported that the Messenger of Allah (saw), said: "The fast and the Qur'an are two intercessors for the servant of Allah on the Day of Resurrection. The fast will say: 'O Lord, I prevented him from his food and desires during the day. Let me intercede for him.' The Qur'an will say: 'I prevented him from sleeping at night. Let me intercede for him.' And their intercession will be accepted." [Imam Ahmad]

The great benefits and advantages of the fast can accrue only if observed consciously and one faithfully abstains from all those undesirable things which render the fast ineffective.  The real fast indeed in that in which one safe guard one’s whole self-mind and body- from Allah’s disobedience and shun each evil desire. The holy prophet has said

“When you observe fast, it is necessary that you restrain your eyes, your ears, your tongue, your hands and your other limbs from everything forbidden by Allah (Kashf-ul-Mahjub)

“The person who observes a fast with full consciousness of his faith and a sense of accountability will be forgiven for all his previous sins” (Buhari, Muslim).

Fasting with full consciousness of the faith means, having firm believe in Allah’s being, in his promise, and with regard to the rewards of the hereafter, and in his knowledge, wisdom, justice on the basis of which HE will give rewards and gives out punishment

.

On the authority of Abu Harayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet , who said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says:

Fasting is Mine and it is I who give reward for it. [A man] gives up his food and his drink for my sake. Fasting is like a shield, and he who fasts has two joys: a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his Lord. The change in the breath of the mouth of him who fasts is better in Allah's estimation than the smell of musk. (It was related by al-Bukhari …)

Multiplying the rewards for fasting is different than the rest of the acts of worship and good deeds. As for fasting, there is no limit for such multiplication, while in the case of other good deeds, each good credit is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times only. Allah has chosen fasting to be the acts of worship that He Himself will reward for it, for He said, “Fasting is for Me, and I will reward for it accordingly.”. 

The Prophet Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam said, in another hadith,

“There is a gate in Paradise called Ar-Rayyan, and those who frequently fast will enter through it on the Day of Resurrection, and none except them shall enter through it. It will be said, ‘Where are those who used to fast?’ They will stand up, and none except them will enter through it. Upon entry, that gate will be closed and no one else will enter through it.”
[Al-Bukhari].

The supplication of the fasting person is accepted. The Messenger of Allah, Salla Allahu Alayhi Wasallam, said,

“The fasting person has at the time of breaking his fast a Du’aa’ that is not rejected.”
[Ibn Majah & Al-’Hakim].

May Allah accept our fasting which we do only for His sake. We do not fast just to lose weight or to show off to others, how religious we are. We fast because we love Allah, and we want to please Him.                                                                                                                                                                  

May Allah spread His richest blessings on us, and on all those who fast during Ramadhan, purely out of love for Him. May He help us to purify ourselves, by forgiving our sins.      

 Oh you who believe! Be in awe of Allah and speak a straightforward word. He will repair for you your deeds and forgive you your wrongdoings. And whosoever obeys Allah and His messenger has achieved a great success.          

O Allah, help us to purify ourselves in body, mind, heart and spirit. Help us to seek and find your good pleasure.

“O Allah, do not let our hearts deviate from the Truth now that we have been guided , but grant us Mercy from Your very Presence, for You are the Grantor of bounties without measure.”

Ramadan In focus- Part 6 ( How to begin the fast)

The fast begins with the Sehri meal, which is taken a little while before the dim beginning of dawn. The Holy Prophet himself was very particular about the Sehri meal. Hadrat Anas says when the Holy Prophet intended to observe fast, he would say:  

“I have the intention of observing fast: give me something to eat. Then I would present before him some dates and a tumbler of water.”

The Holy Prophet would urge his followers to also eat the Sehri meal regularly:

“Do take your Sehri meal , because the Sehri meal has many blessings in it.”

One blessings is that the faster does not feel undue weakness during his daily work, and his devotion to Allah, and can easily stand the rigours of fast. The Holy Prophet once remarked:

“Take support from the Sehri meal, for fasting the day, and take help from midday nap of the night prayer”.

Thus, the Sehri is a sunnah of the Prophet.  Even if a Muslim does not feel like taking a full meal, he should at least have a few draughts of milk or water. The Holy Prophet said:

“ Eating of the Sehri meal, is full of blessings, so never go without it, even if it be draught of water, because Allah sends his mercy on those who take the Sehri meal, and the angels implore for Allah’s forgiveness for them.” (Al-targhib)

It is commendable deserving of great reward to delay the Sehri meal, and eat it a little while before the dim beginning of dawn.

Fast Observed Without the Sehri meal

If a person could not get up in time for the Sehri meal, he should not abandon the fast, but should have strength to observe it as a normal fast. Even if a person gets up late, and eats his Sehri meal, thinking that there is still time for it, he should abstain from eating and drinking during the day like other fasters, though in this case, he would not be observing a valid fast. 

All the the information above was taken from:

Everyday Fiqh Vol II, By Muhammad Y. Islahi (Islamic Publications LTD, Lahore, Pakistan) 

THE INTENTION

The intention of fasting is necessary. If a person stays away from all those things that break one’s fast without an intention, the fast will not be valid.

It is not necessary to express the intention verbally as intention simply means to intend. Thus, the firm determination of the heart will suffice. However, it is better to express the intention verbally also: Bi sawmi ghadin nawaytu (‘And I intend to fast tomorrow’)
(from:http://islamqa.org/hanafi/qibla-hanafi/35333)

Ramadan in Focus- Part 5

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you in order that you might learn piety . . . . The month of Ramadan is that wherein was revealed the Qur’an, as a guidance to mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion. So, whoever among you witnesses the month should fast.” Quran [2:183, 185]

 

THINGS DISLIKED WHILE FASTING

• To chew gum, rubber, plastic items or other such things (F: which are chewed, but not swallowed, and nothing reaches the stomach, for otherwise the fast would be broken).
• To taste any article of food or drink and spit it out (F: without anything being swallowed). If a woman has a very ill tempered husband, it is permissible for her to taste the food, provided it does not go down her throat.
• To collect one’s saliva in the mouth and then to swallow it, trying to quench thirst.
• To delay a bath that has become obligatory intentionally until after fajr time.
• To use paste or tooth powder to clean one’s teeth. It is permitted to use a miswak of any permissible fresh branch or root (tooth stick). [If one wishes to use toothpaste, one should brush one’s teeth before the fast begins.]
• To complain of hunger and thirst.
• To take the water too much up the nostrils when cleaning the nose.
• To gargle more than necessary (f: because if any water goes down the throat, even accidentally, the fast is invalidated).
• To quarrel, argue, use filthy or indecent words.
• To backbite, tell a lie and swear are sinful acts even when one is not fasting. Therefore they become even worse when fasting.

THINGS THAT BREAK ONE’S FAST BUT REQUIRE ONLY A MAKEUP

• Anything put by force into the mouth of a fasting person.
• Water going down the throat whilst gargling, (whilst being conscious of one’s fast).
  
• To vomit mouthful intentionally or to return vomit down the throat.
• Intentionally swallowing a pebble, piece of paper or any item that is not used as food or medicine.
• Swallowing something edible, equal to or bigger than a grain of gram which was stuck between the teeth. However if it is first taken out of the mouth and swallowed, it will break the fast whether it is smaller or bigger than the size of a gram.
• Dripping oil into the ear canal (F: such that it goes beyond the ear drum).
• Inhaling snuff into the nostrils.
• Swallowing the blood from the gums if the color of the blood is more than the saliva with which it is mixed.

 THINGS THAT MAKE BOTH MAKEUP AND EXPIATION NECESSARY (WAJIB)

(Note that this applies only to a current Ramadan fast only)

• Intentionally eating, drinking or breaking the fast in any other manner, such as smoking, without a valid reason (f: that is, deliberately, while aware) will make both qada and kaffara necessary (F: unless there is a legal excuse that wards off the necessity of expiation, such as it not being a complete offense, such as in the case of ejaculation through any means other than actual intercourse).
• Applying kohl (antimony or surma) into the eye or rubbing oil on the head and then, thinking that the fast is broken, to eat and drink intentionally.
• To drink any kind of medicine intentionally (when one is not seriously sick).

THINGS THAT DO NOT BREAK THE FAST

• To eat and drink something unintentionally.
• A mosquito, fly or any other object going down the throat unintentionally.
• Water entering the ears.
• Dust or dirt going down the throat.
• Swallowing one’s own saliva.
• Taking an injection.
• Applying of surma (kuhl: antimony) into the eyes.
• Taking a bath to keep cool.
• Rubbing oil onto the body or hair.
• To vomit unintentionally.
• Applying itr or perfume. It is not permitted to inhale the smoke of loban or agar batti whilst fasting. It is also not permitted to smoke cigarettes or inhale its smoke.
• Brushing the teeth without tooth paste or powder, e.g., using a miswak, etc.
• A dream which makes ghusl wajib (necessary) does not break the fast.

 

PEOPLE EXEMPTED FROM FASTING IN RAMADAN

• Sick people when their health is likely to be badly affected by fasting. (F: This needs to be established by reasonable surety of one’s actual or effective inability through manifest signs, relevant past experience, or the medical advice of a qualified and upright Muslim doctor.) They should make up the loss, a day for a day, when they recover after Ramadan.
• A traveler (one who is undertaking a journey of more than 77 kms (48 miles) and does not intend staying more than 14 days at his destination). However, it is better for him to fast in Ramadan than to fast later, provided the journey is not a demanding one.
• If it is feared that hunger or thirst will lead (F: during the fast) to death (F: or harm, by reasonable surety, as described above), it is permitted to break one’s fast.
• It is necessary (wajib) to makeup of a nafl fast that was broken before completing it.

THE EXPIATORY PAYMENT (FIDYA) FOR FASTING

A very old person who does not have the strength to fast or a very sickly or diseased person who has

no hope of recovering after Ramadan must make an expiatory payment for each fast missed in Ramadan.

The expiatory payment for a fast is similar to that of a missed obligatory or necessary prayer:

To give 3½ lbs (approx. 1.6 kg) of wheat or 7 lbs (approx. 3.2 kg) of barley.

Or the equivalent of the above in cash or kind.

If, however, an old or sick person gains strength or recovers after Ramadan, he must keep the missed number of fasts and whatever was given as fidya will be a reward for him from Allah Most High.

No one is allowed to fast for another (sick or fit) person. [Hajj can be made for another person (F: under certain conditions), but one it is not valid to pray or fast for another person.]

(All of the information provided in this post were taken from : http://islamqa.org/hanafi/qibla-hanafi/35333)

Ramadan in Focus Part 4

Fasting (siyaam)  in Arabic linguistically means to restrain or abstain from. According to the Sharee‘ah it means “abstaining from food, drink, marital relations, and other acts mentioned in the divine law during the day in the prescribed way. (IOU)

The quran has given three reasons for the great merits and excellence of the month of Ramadan:

1.     The quran was sent down in Ramadan: mentioned in Quran; Chapter 2:185.
2.     There is a night called Lailat-ul-Qadr which is better than a thousand months
3.    Fasting has been made compulsory for the Muslims. “… therefore whosoever witnesses it, it is   obligatory on him to fast for the whole month (Quran 2:185).

The month of Ramadan, begins after the moon has been sighted. It is Wajib Kifayah (collective duty ie if no one makes an effort in a locality, the whole population becomes involved in sin) to make an effort to sight the moon of Ramadan on the 29:^th of Shaban. .The Holy Prophet has instructed:

“Begin fasting after the sighting of the moon and break the fast after the sighting of the moon; if the new moon is not sighted on the 29^th of Shaban, then complete 30 days of Shaban” (Bukhari and Muslim).

It is not lawful to calculate the appearance of the moon because Sharee‘ah has forbidden delving into astrology because it is guesswork and approximation, devoid of certainty.

Fard Parts in the fast

It is imperative for the one who is observing fast to abstain from the following three things from the appearance of dawn till sunset

1. All kinds of food
2. All kinds of drinks
3. And marital relations

Sunnat and desirable parts in the fast

1. It is sunnat to eat or drink something before dawn, or to have Sehri meal, even if it consists of a few dates or some water
2. It is desirable to have the intentions of observing the fast (the next day) before going to bed at night: If a person forgets to make the intention of the fast during the night, and remembers this during the day, he is allowed to express his intention of the fast before noon, for his fast to be valid
3. It is commendable to break the fast with dates or water
4. It is Sunnat to abstain from backbiting, lying , slander, losing temper, raising voice unnecessary etc.

Basic Principles concerning Expiation of Fast

• If something is made to enter the stomach deliberately, and it is meant to be useful, whether it is food or medicine, or an act that gives sexual pleasure, the fast in each case will be rendered void, and the observer will have to redeem it later and also expiate it.
• If something enters the stomach without one’s will or intention, or it is not meant to be useful or one indulges in act which does not give sexual pleasure, the Fast only will have to be redeemed and no expiation will be necessary.
• If Ramadan fast is being observed later on another day, and is rendered void, die to some reason, there is no expiation

Some cases in which the fast has to be Redeemed

• If a person rises late and takes the Sahri mean on the presumption that there is still time for it, but later come to know that the Sahri time has elapsed, he will have to observe the fast again
• If a person breaks his fast before sunset by mistake, he will have to redeem it by observing a fast later on another day.
• If a person deliberately vomits at least a mouthful of stomach content, the fast will be rendered void
• If a person swallows tears or drops of sweat, and he feels their taste in the mouth, the fast will be rendered void and will have to be recompensated

Reference:

1. IOU course material: Prophetic Reflections on Ramadan

2. Muhammad Y. Islahi Everyday Fiqh Vol II. Islamic Publications (PVT.) LTD

All notes provided were extracted from the above two mentioned sources. NB: Everyday Fiqh follows in the main Hanafi viewpoint.