INTRODUCTION
Tirmidhi, Nisaai, Mu’jam al Kabir of At-tabarani, Ibn Umar narrated that Muhammad (pbuh) said in the last days of shaban, ”O people! What comes near to you is the month of ramadan the month of Allah, this month in the eyes of Allah is the best month, its days are the best days and its nights are the best nights. This month you have been invited to be a guest of Allah and you are going to be in this month among the people of karamah. Your breathing in these days will be tasbih and your sleeping in this month is an act of worship, your deeds and dua in this month will be accepted, ask Allah with good intention, ask Allah to make you fast this month and to recite the Qur'an. Remember when you are hungry and thirsty the hunger and thirst of the day of judgment. Donate to the poor and needy people, and be kind to your young and respectful to the older people. Watch your tongues and do not look at anything prohibited or listen to anything prohibited, be kind to the orphans and Allah will help your orphans in the future, ask Allah for forgiveness from your sins and raise your hands to Him in your salah. O people! Your nafs is hostage to your actions so release it by istighfar and your back is heavy with sin so release it with long sujud. Allah has sworn by His dignity that those who used to fulfill their fasts will never fear from the hell-fire on the day when they rise for their Lord. I have said this and may Allah forgive me and forgive you.”
Muslim: This month contains a day is better than a 1000 months, 84 years of ibadah: that is laylutul qadr.
Abu dawood: when Ramadan is finished the mujahideen are prepared and the shayateen are released, so in this month you are prepared for the greater struggle.
What does this mean? Muhammad (pbuh) said, “The mujahid will fight on the battlefield with his good deeds.” The mujahid will therefore go to the battlefield with his da’wah, salah, commanding good and forbidding evil etc.
Ibn Majah, Ahmad, Bayhaqi upon the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ra), “How many people fast and achieve nothing but thirst and hunger.”
2.183: oh you who believe fasting has been prescribed for you, like those before you, so that you may manufacture the taqwa.
In another narration Muhammad (pbuh) said, “There is one organ in the body if it becomes good the whole body will become good and if it becomes bad then the whole body will become bad, that organ is the heart.” Imam At-taybi said regarding the heart that, “The tongue is the khalifah (translator) of the heart.”
This is the month, my dear Muslims, even if you fast the whole of your life you will never be able to claim back one day of ramadhan. It is a special reward for that time; consequently, we therefore need to prepare more than just samosa’s and pakora!
Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrated that Muhammad (pbuh) said, “If the month of ramadan arrives, the gates of paradise will be opened and the gates of hell-fire will be closed and the shaytan will be chained.”
When we say that the shaytan are chained, you are claiming back your iraadah, you are manufacturing the taqwa, Allah says in [2:183], “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it was prescribed before you so that you may attain taqwa.””
Abdullah ibn Masoud once said to bilal (ra), “Did you attain taqwa in ramadan?” And he replied, “Indeed and I got much more as well.” So the sahabah used to check with each other. So you want to make sure your taqwa has increased after ramadhan not decreased!
Ibn Majah, Muhammad (pbuh) said, “This month contains one day better than 1000 months whoever misses it will miss everything.”
OBLIGATORY FASTS
1) Fast of ramadhan
2) Fast of kafarah – these are fasts to alleviate sins a person committed e.g. if a man wants to make kafarah in hajj he will fast three days on days of hajj (10th, 11th, 12th of zhul hijjah) and seven on the way home
3) Fast of the yameen – these are fasts for oaths that you broke i.e. three days
RECOMMENDED FASTS
1) Mondays and Thursdays – just for the record with naafilah fasts, even if you break it intentionally, you are not obliged to make it up, which is different from the fard fasts
2) Ninth and tenth of muharram
3) The six days of shawwal – the month following ramadan
4) Any day of shaban, rajab or zhul hijjah – you want to avoid the three days of eid ul adha and eid ul fitr
5) The middle of every month - e.g. 13,14,15,
6) The fasting of dawood – fasting on every other day
PROHIBITED FASTS
1) For a woman to fast when she is in her menses
2) For a woman to fast in the state of nifaas (afterbirth)
3) Three days after eid al adha (10th, 11th, 12th of zhul hijjah)
DISLIKED FASTS
1) The naafilah fast of the woman without the husbands permission
2) To fast just in case the moon has been sighted
3) Fast from talking about munkar e.g. some people do not want to command good or forbid evil
PERMITS NOT TO FAST
1) Breast-feeding woman
2) Pregnant woman
3) Traveler
4) Elderly/ill
CONDITIONS FOR THE PERSON FASTING
1) He must be Muslim
2) He must be sane
3) He must be maturity
4) He must have capability e.g. not diabetic (requiring injections)
THE NIYYAH
Every action is according to the niyyah, the dispute is whether to make niyyah for every day of Ramadan
Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Shaybani said, “It is enough for you to have niyyah at the beginning of Ramadan.”
Imam Shafi said, “We do not fast the nights of Ramadan therefore you need to have niyyah for every day of Ramadan.” This is the stronger opinion and what we adopt.
The niyyah does not need to be pronounced, it is an action of the heart.
If you do not make the niyyah then you will need to make up the day.
SUHOOR
Eating something before fajr, at the time of sehir or suhoor is recommended.
To eat something at the time of iftari before isha is obliged – this is the difference between the fast of the muslims and the fast of the Jews and Christians. There is barakah in the suhoor. Even if you drink a glass of water, even if you don’t eat, wake up to be different from the kufaar I,e yahood wal nasarah.
Muhammad (pbuh) said, “My ummah will be in goodness as long as they delay the suhoor and open the fasts quickly (iftari).”
People make confusion between the true dawn, (suub as-saadiq) and the false dawn (suub al-kathib).
Subb as-saadiq: when you look at the horizon there will be a uniform white line above the horizon which will shed light on the village a little bit. It is the vertical line (lighter on the middle than on the sides) that you will see just as the sun is coming up. Vertical white line. That is false Dawn.
Many people stop eating at this stage and this is against the sunnah.
The best thing to do when you eat is to eat the good date, Muhammad (pbuh) would eat the fresh date and if it was not available then the old date and if that was not available then water. So if at the time of sehri you have nothing but water that is good enough.
[Note: If the time enters for fajr enters and you are drinking water you can carry on until you finish – this is an exception for drinking only]
If you start late for fasting e.g. you eat thinking Ramadan has not entered when it has, the hukm is for you to start fasting as soon as you discover it.
My ummah is good as long as they delay the suhoor. The shia they delay the iftar
[bunch of shia !!!]
The niyah:
You need to make the niyah for Ramadan for each day, at least when your break the fast for the following day, or before fajr – if you forget to make the niyah then you need to make up the day of fasting. The niyah it is an action of the heart therefore you don’t need to speak it, rather it is a function of the heart.
Permits for not fasting:
Those who cant fast i.e the weak, old, those suckling children, pregnant or ill in menses, given birth until she stops bleeding, they need to make up the day, by way of paying fidyah this is equivalent to feeding 1 person per day which is feeding a person 625 grams of wheat per day. Either you can feed one person every day until you make it up or a bunch of miskeen whom you invite to your house. The miskeen is the one who does not have enough to fulfill his daily basic needs. The faker is worse than the miskeen. Its enough for you to feel this person is a miskeen you don’t need to ask him are you a miskeen.
For those that are old and will never get younger then they can pay fidya.
If you miss the fast you have until the next Ramadan to make up for it, if you don’t do this then you pay fidya- of feeding one miskeen for each day missed.
If you break the fast intentionally with sex, then he must make up the fast, as well as pay fidyah
If you get news of fasting on the day, you can stop eating and continue fasting
If people think its Ramadan tomorrow then its prohibited to fast
Prohibited to fast on eid ul fitr, and 3 days after eid al adhar. And also to fast on the days of eid ul fitr.
6 days of shawal are recommended
Disliked days; dought days, or the nafilah for the woman without her husbands permission and the 3 days of eid it is prohibited to fast. No fasting on the day of dought. To fast because ‘ just in case its Ramadan ‘ is makroo.
The one who doesn’t fast in Ramadan, even if he fasts for the rest of the life, he will never be able to make up for it (I,e not fast deliberately)
What do you do if you wake up junub?
If someone wakes up in junub (hadath al akbar) there are two narrations that differ, one from Aisha (ra) and another from Abu Hurayrah (ra): the stronger opinion is from Aisha (ra) which states that you need to make ghusl, continue to fast and you do not need to make up the day.
[Note: the ayah [2:183] is a madinah verse]
Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Whoever fasts in jihad, Allah will make the distance between him and hell 70 years.”
The difference between fiddiyah and kafarah:
And example of kafarah: Bukhari, Abu Dawood, Muslim, Tirmizhi, Ibn Majah, A man came to Muhammad (pbuh) and said, “I am destroyed” and he asked, “What did you do?” the man replied, “I had relationship with my wife in ramadhan.” Muhammad (pbuh) then said, “Are you able to free a slave as kafarah?” And he said, “No” he (pbuh) then said, “Are you able to fast two consecutive months?” And the man said, “No.” And Muhammad (pbuh) asked, “Are you able to feed 60 miskin?” And he said, “No.” The prophet then got a large basket of dates and told him to distribute it to the people and he replied, “There is no one poorer than me.” The prophet then smiled and said, “Feed it to your family.”
The fiddiyah is specifically to feed one poor person for every day missed of Ramadan, it can specifically be elected by either the old person, the ill person, the woman who is continually breast feeding or pregnant, the traveler – they have the permit. But if they do not want to take the permit they do not have to. The pregnant woman however will not usually be pregnant for more than one year, she can choose, therefore, to make up the fast later on, rather than to pay the fiddiyah, instead. However, the ill person who looks like he will not make recovery or the one who is old, they may not be able to make up the fasts later on and hence, can elect to pay the fiddiyah, instead. Allah says in [2:184], “It is better if you fast if you but knew.”
If the individual who was ill, or breast-feeding could not make up the fast before the next Ramadan he will not be liable to pay the fiddiyah.
If however, the person was capable of making up the fasts before the following Ramadan, and he did not, he will have to pay the fiddiyah as well as make up the fast.
The fiddiyah is to feed one person 625 grams of wheat per day i.e. until the person is satisfied – that is the hukm.
What to do if you miss a large number of fasts:
Imam Abu Hanifah said, “Make up the last year and feed one person for each day missed of the rest of the fasts.”
Imam Shafi said, “Make them all up.”
Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad says the fasts can be made up by the person’s children if he passes away; this also applies to the nathr.
The same ruling does not apply to the fasts as to the prayer. If someone never prayed he was not Muslim before, therefore there is no need for him to make up the fasts. If he however, prayed on and off then he will need to make up the fasts that he missed. For the latter, you should make up as many of the fasts as you can and when you make the hajj inshAllah it will be kafarah for it.
Regarding Iftar:
Imam Abu Hanifah said, “If you do not have anything to eat at all you can spit out some saliva and eat it.” This is how seriously they looked to breaking the fast on time.
WHAT BREAKS THE FAST
This is:
“Anything that enters into the body whether normally or abnormally.”
Cupping will break the fast, the eye drops, ear drops, injections, the needle which goes into the body.
Anything abnormal/normal entering into the body:
Any food or drink
Ear drops injections.
Eye drops
Injections
Smoking
Hijmah
Inhalers, snuffing something, like a snuff box.
Vomiting, if a mouthful and you swallow it back
Eating intentionally
Sexual intercourse
Backbiting – this wont break the fast but will diminish the reward
Slandering – ‘’
Lying – ‘’
etc
Vomiting (if you do not swallow it back) and the nose bleed will not break the fast, perfume will not break the fast (but the heavy strong smell could affect the fast).
You can kiss and hug each other for the husband and wife but nothing more, no french kisses! Fasting is imsaak (to refrain) so how can you do everything?
The miswak is acceptable, but do not swallow anything, but the scented miswak is not allowed nor is the toothpaste. Tasting the food is not allowed, even when cooking.
The bath will not break the fast, however you should avoid swimming as you may swallow the water.
TARAAWIH
It has been narrated that Muhammad (pbuh) once prayed with the sahabah the tarawih and the next day people began to talk about it and he repeated it the next day and the third day he repeated it. On the fourth he did not come out and prayed fajr. They asked him why and he said that he was afraid that people would make it fard.
At the time of Umar (ra) people say he prayed 20, others say 8 the strongest opinion is 8 and the 3 witr. Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad says that that the prayers that were done after were qiyaam ul layl. There is ijmah for the 20 rakat but there is dispute about what they prayed.
The prophet never prayed all the tarawih in the masjid he prayed some of them at home.
The jamhoor said that it is 8 rakat tarawih
If the husband and wife do kiss and the husband has the pre-fluid that comes out it does not break the fast. But they should not be doing that!
Imam Shafi used to order his wife not to decorate herself at home during ramadhan.
LAYLAT UL QADR
“The Qur'an was revealed on the night of qadr….”
The big dispute is when the night is.
Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Whoever stands sincerely for the night of qadr Allah will forgive all his sins.” That is big opportunity!
The jews used to claim and boast that they used to worship hundreds of days and Allah revealed that there was one day better than a 1000 months.
These last days have been described as saving from the hellfire.
Virtues of Laylat ul Qadr:
a) Better than a thousand months
b) Forgiveness for all sins
c) Being safe from hell-fire
d) Come out as if new born
Tirmizhi, Tabarani, Ahmed (Ibn Abbas was very young) Umar said to Ibn Abbas “The prophet made dua that you would be good for ta’weel - when is layl atul qadr?” And he replied, “Allah created seven heavens, seven earth, seven days, seven, tawaaf…the chapter of qadr has thirty words and the 27th is ‘hiyyah’ and therefore that is the one that gives us indication.” And Umar found this very strange.
Tirmizhi, Muhammad (pbuh) was making i’tikaaf and said, “Look for it on the 21st night of Ramadan my head is wet and I am making sujud.” In another narration he said the 23rd night and in a third narration the sahabah said they saw it on the 27th.
One of the signs is that when you make sujud it will feel damp.
Ibn Umar said Jibreel told Muhammad (pbuh) to look for it in the last 10 days.
Ibn Abbas has his own ajeeb reason for saying it is the 27th night, he is sahabi akbar.
Muslim 1167, Abu Saeed al khidri, the prophet was making i’tikaaf looking for the night of qadr in the first 10 days of ramadhan and then jibreel came to him and said, “What you are looking for is not in the first 10 nights.” So he (pbuh) continued for the next ten nights and Jibreel again informed him that it was not on those ten nights. Then he (pbuh) did the same for the next 10 nights an it is then when he said he saw it on the 21st night.
Abu Saeed al khidri also narrated hadith about the 23rd night and that the prophet mentioned it.
We also have a statement Ibn Abbas saying it could be in the 25th or 29th night.
Bukhari, Aisha narrated Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Look for the night of power in the odd nights of the last ten days of ramadhan.”
We have so many narrations about it! The combination of all the evidence’s tell us that it will be on the odd nights of the last 10 days of ramadhan.
However, Ibn Taymiyyah said, “it is not a forgone conclusion that the ramadhan will 30 days because it could be 29 days.” And therefore the odd could become even and the even could become odd!
Therefore, to look for it on all the nights of the ramadhan is the best option.
Signs of Layl atul Qadr:
1) Ubay bin Kab said, “One of the signs is that at fajr the sun will rise without rays.”
2) Ibn Abbas said Muhammad (pbuh) said, “It is so fresh (at that night) neither hot nor cold.”
3) In Tabarani, Al Wafila narrated Muhammad (pbuh) said, “There will be complete nur and light and no cold on that day and there will be no shooting stars and no rays from the sun on that day (at fajr).”
4) People will see ru’ya (an intense dream just before fajr) and they will see the whole of creation making sujud
5) The sun will be very weak and reddish
You will feel you are making sujud on mud and water
The fadl of laylutl qadr:
- worth 1000 months of good deeds
- all mistakes are forgiven
- saved from the hellfire
- you come as if you are newborn
the quran has been reveled in this month, been reported the jews used to say, our fathers used to have a lot of worship, and allah reveled that there is reward of more than 1000 nights, we look for it in the odd nights in the last 10 days of Ramadan.
Ibn abass was asked by umar, which one is the night of power, he said it’s the 27th night. However the strongest opinion as adopted by Bukhari and Muslim is that u must search for it within the last 10 days of Ramadan.
Signs of the night of power:
narrated by ubay bin ka’ab the following as the signs :
1. at fajr sun will rise without rays,
2. night will be fresh not hot or cold strange wetness body
3. when the sun rises it will be weak and redish
4. there will be complete noor and light on that day
5. there will be no stars nor shooting stars, no rays at fajr time
6. ruyah , people will see the scene of all of the creation making sujood, like the trees, sun, mountains making sajood.
[reported in tabarani]
I’TIKAAF
Definition of I’tikaaf:
“To stay in the masjid for a specific intention and specific time.”
The minimum is from maghrib until maghrib, some say it can be at someone’s home, but the strongest opinion is that you can only do qiyam ul layl there, but there is no evidence for the i’tikaaf – this is what Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad adopts.
Conditions for I’tikaaf:
1) You must be fasting – Ibn Umar “You must be fasting when doing i’tikaaf.”
2) You must be Muslim
3) You must be mature – not acceptable for a person to do it below the age of puberty for the boy minimum age 15, or for the girl when she has menses.
4) Tahara – to be in a state of ritual purity away from the big ritual impurity, you cannot be in hadath al akbar
5) It is must be in a masjid which has been defined as a masjid – some ulema believe that it is only valid for the haram, masjid nabawi, and masjid al aqsa. However, Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad believes it can mosque which is jaami’ (they have 5 prayers and do the jumu’ah there).
Pillars:
1) Niyyah – it must be for worshipping Allah, not because uncle is doing it and you want to marry one of his daughters!
2) In the masjid
3) The time – it must be at least from maghrib until maghrib, you can pray the isha and then go home – that is the kamal of it
Adab ul I’tikaaf:
1) Not to be busy with any dunya matter, you must be busy in ibadah
Forms of ibadah: making tasbih, takbeer, reciting the Qur'an, zhikr, commanding good and forbidding evil, da’wah – what is not acceptable is to go with last years accounts and sort them out or to sell things!
Bukhari, Muslim, Safiyyah came to visit Muhammad (pbuh) and spoke to him for a short time and then left and the prophet came with her until he reached the door of the masjid and there was Umm Salamah’s house and two ansari’s passed by and said “Assalamu’alaikum.” And he (pbuh) replied and said, “She is my wife.” And then they said, “Subhanallah! We do not doubt you.” And he replied, “Shaytan will come like in the blood of the person. Allah blesses the man who prevented the people from backbiting him.”
That is called shubhat ul haram, meaning when someone could doubt you and your deen, it is prohibited to be in a position like that. Like fore example, a woman is in a taxi, not marked as a taxi, she is in the back he is in the front and the people know that they are not husband and wife – this is haram.
Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Whoever makes i’tikaaf should not have any sexual relationship or speak fahisha nor swear and he should pray juma’ah and the janazah and he should not go out or do any dunya matter or trade.”
Imam Shafi said, “The best ibadah after salah, jihad, and dawah is i’tikaaf in the last 10 days of ramadhan.”
If you enter a masjid and make i’tikaaf it is prohibited to leave unless you have an emergency.
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