ETIQUETTE AND SUNNAH OF FASTING, AHKAAM (RULINGS) AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE

 

ETIQUETTE AND SUNNAH OF FASTING, AHKAAM (RULINGS) AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE

ASSEMBLED BY MALLAM ABBA ABANA, KUBWA, ABUJA, NIGERIA

http://variousislamicdawadocuments.blogspot.com

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emails:gonidamgamiri@yahoo.com; abba.abana@gmail.com

Tuesday 8 Ramadan 1442 AH and 20 April 2021 CE

Reminder Day 8

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah. As-Salaam Alaikum WA-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu.

Praise be to Allaah; we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His slave and Messenger.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “A person who leads others to doing what is good will earn the same reward as those who do it.” (Muslim, 1893)

“Do not lose hope, nor be sad. You will surely be victorious if you are true in Faith.” And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].” Holy Quran Chapter Al Imran Ayah 139

“If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who is there that can aid you after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely.”

Holy Quran Chapter Imran Ayah 160

Preamble

General tips for fasting people

When breaking fast, avoid taking sudden large intakes of sugars and fatty foods, which can disturb your metabolism and cause dizziness, fatigue or indigestion.

Doctors advise that you should break your fast with a date, yoghurt and water and then wait for 10 minutes before consuming foods that are rich in minerals and vitamins.

Avoiding foods that are high in fat and sugar may be a little hard with dishes, so perhaps break your fast with lighter foods first before consuming a bigger meal.

It’s tempting to skip sahur if you’re tired. But it’s important to take it during your travels in order to have sufficient energy to get you through the day. Choose foods that contain complex carbohydrates such as whole-grain bread, barley and lentils, which help store and provide energy.

Because you’ll be less active while fasting and may eat a heavy meal right before bedtime, it is important to exercise to stay healthy. But avoid straining yourself; concentrate on lighter exercises such as brisk walking or yoga. International SOS doctors recommend waiting two to three hours after iftar before you start working out. Keep in mind that exercising right before bedtime may make it harder to fall asleep.

Aside from fasting and doing charity, Ramadan also encourages Muslims to focus on learning more about the religion.

Take advantage of Ramadan

Treat every second of Ramadan as if it’s a huge treasure chest full of money.

Each moment that passes is extremely valuable and precious, so do not waste these priceless moments on things that offer you no benefit nor gain.

You want to keep your bank account in Ramadan in a constant state of growth. Keep depositing into your account with good deeds and avoid withdrawing by wasting time or committing sins.

And most importantly, never allow your tongue to remain idle. Busy it with the Dhikr of Allah or recitation of the Quran.

Take advantage of every moment!

Etiquette And Sunnah Of Fasting

Some aspects are obligatory (waajib) and others are recommended (mustahabb). We should make sure that we eat and drink something at suhoor, and that we delay it until just before the adhaan of Fajr. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Have suhoor, for in suhoor there is blessing (barakah).” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath, 4/139). “Suhoor is blessed food, and it involves being different from the people of the Book.

What a good suhoor for the believer is dates.” (Reported by Abu Dawood, no. 2345; Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1/448).

Not delaying iftaar, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The people will be fine so long as they do not delay iftaar.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath, 4/198).

Breaking one's fast in the manner described in the hadeeth narrated by Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him): “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to break his fast with fresh dates before praying; if fresh dates were not available, he would eat (dried) dates; if dried dates were not available, he would have a few sips of water.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 3/79 and others. He said it is a ghareeb hasan hadeeth. Classed as saheeh in al-Irwa’, no. 922).

After iftaar, reciting the words reported in the hadeeth narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), when he broke his fast, would say: “Dhahaba Al-Zama’, Wa’btallat Al-‘Urooq, Wa Thabat Al-Ajru In Sha Allaah (Thirst is gone, veins are flowing again, and the reward is certain, in sha Allaah).” (Reported by Abu Dawood, 2/765; its isnaad was classed as hasan by al-Daaraqutni, 2/185).

Keeping away from sin, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any of you is fasting, let him not commit sin…”(Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, no. 1904). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does not stop speaking falsehood and acting in accordance with it, Allaah has no need of him giving up his food and drink.” (Al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, no. 1903). The person who is fasting should avoid all kinds of haraam actions, such as backbiting, obscenity and lies, otherwise his reward may all be lost. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It may be that a fasting person gets nothing from his fast except hunger.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, 1/539; Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1/453).

Among the things that can destroy one’s hasanaat (good deeds) and bring sayi’aat (bad deeds) is allowing oneself to be distracted by quiz-shows, soap operas, movies and sports matches, idle gatherings, hanging about in the streets with evil people and time-wasters, driving around for no purpose, and crowding the streets and sidewalks, so that the months of tahajjud, dhikr and worship, for many people, becomes the month of sleeping in the day so as to avoid feeling hungry, thus missing their prayers and the opportunity to pray them in congregation, then spending their nights in entertainment and indulging their desires. Some people even greet the month with feelings of annoyance, thinking only of the pleasures they will miss out on. In Ramadaan, some people travel to kaafir lands to enjoy a holiday! Even the mosques are not free from such evils as the appearance of women wearing makeup and perfume, and even the Sacred House of Allaah is not free of these ills. Some people make the month a season for begging, even though they are not in need. Some of them entertain themselves with dangerous fireworks and the like, and some of them waste their time in the markets, wandering around the shops, or sewing and following fashions. Some of them put new products and new styles in their stores during the last ten days of the month, to keep people away from earning rewards and hasanaat.

Not allowing oneself to be provoked, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If someone fights him or insults him, he should say, ‘I am fasting, I am fasting.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari and others. Al-Fath, no. 1894) One reason for this is to remind himself, and another reason is to remind his adversary. But anyone who looks at the conduct of many of those who fast will see something quite different. It is essential to exercise self-control and be calm, but we see the opposite among crazy drivers who speed up when they hear the adhaan for Maghrib.

Not eating too much, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The son of Adam fills no worse vessel than his stomach.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, no. 2380; he said, this is a hasan saheeh hadeeth). The wise person wants to eat to live, not live to eat. The best type of food is that which is there to be used, not that which is there to be served. But people indulge in making all kinds of food (during Ramadaan) and treating food preparation as a virtual art form, so that housewives and servants spend all their time on making food, and this keeps them away from worship, and people spend far more on food during Ramadaan than they do ordinarily. Thus the month becomes the month of indigestion, fatness and gastric illness, where people eat like gluttons and drink like thirsty camels, and when they get up to pray Taraaweeh, they do so reluctantly, and some of them leave after the first two rak’ahs.

Being generous by sharing knowledge, giving money, using one’s position of authority or physical strength to help others, and having a good attitude. Al-Bukhaari and Muslim reported that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was the most generous of people [in doing good], and he was most generous of all in Ramadaan when Jibreel met with him, and he used to meet him every night in Ramadaan and teach him the Qur’aan. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was more generous in doing good than a blowing wind.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, no. 6).

How can people exchange generosity for stinginess and action for laziness, to the extent that they do not do their work properly and do not treat one another properly, and they use fasting as an excuse for all this.

Combining fasting with feeding the poor is one of the means of reaching Paradise, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “In Paradise there are rooms whose outside can be seen from the inside and the inside can be seen from the outside. Allaah has prepared them for those who feed the poor, who are gentle in speech, who fast regularly and who pray at night when people are asleep.” (Reported by Ahmad 5/343; Ibn Khuzaymah, no. 2137. Al-Albaani said in his footnote, its isnaad is hasan because of other corroborating reports). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever gives food to a fasting person with which to break his fast, will have a reward equal to his, without it detracting in the slightest from the reward of the fasting person.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 3/171; Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1/451). Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “What is meant is that he should feed him until he is satisfied.” (Al-Ikhtiyaaraat al-Fiqhiyyah, p. 109).

A number of the Salaf (may Allaah have mercy on them) preferred the poor over themselves when feeding them at the time of iftaar. Among these were ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar, Maalik ibn Deenaar, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others.‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar would not break his fast unless there were orphans and poor people with him.

What Should Be Done During This Great Month of Ramadan

Preparing oneself and one’s environment for worship, hastening to repent and turn back to Allaah, rejoicing at the onset of the month, fasting properly, having the right frame of mind and fearing Allaah when praying Taraaweeh, not feeling tired during the middle ten days of the month, seeking Laylat al-Qadr, reading the entire Qur’aan time after time, trying to weep and trying to understand what you are reading. ‘Umrah during Ramadaan is equivalent to Hajj, and charity given during this virtuous time is multiplied, and I’tikaaf (retreat in the mosque for worship) is confirmed (as part of the Sunnah).

There is nothing wrong with congratulating one another at the beginning of the month. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to tell his Companions the good news of the onset of Ramadaan, and urge them to make the most of it. Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘There has come to you Ramadaan, a blessed month. Allaah has made it obligatory on you to fast (this month). During it the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are locked, and the devils are chained up. In it there is a night that is better than a thousand months, and whoever is deprived of its goodness is deprived indeed.’” (Reported by al-Nisaa'i, 4/129; Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1/490)

Some Of The Ahkaam (Rulings) On Fasting

There is the kind of fasting that must be done on consecutive days, like fasting in Ramadaan, or fasting to expiate for killing someone by mistake, divorcing one’s wife by zihaar [a jaahili form of divorce in which a man says to his wife, “You are to me as the back of my mother”], or having intercourse during the day in Ramadaan. Also, one who makes a vow to fast consecutive days must fulfil it.

There is also the other kind of fasting which does not have to be done on consecutive days, such as making up days missed in Ramadaan, fasting ten days if one does not have a sacrifice, fasting for kafaarat yameen (according to the majority), fasting to compensate for violating the conditions of ihraam (according to the most correct opinion), and fasting in fulfilment of a vow in cases where one did not have the intention of fasting consecutive days.

Voluntary fasts make up for any shortfall in obligatory fasts. Examples of voluntary fasts include ‘Aashooraa, ‘Arafaah, Ayyaam al-Beed [the 13th, 14th and 15th of the hijri months], Mondays and Thursdays, six days of Shawwaal, and fasting more during Muharram and Sha’baan.

It is not permitted to single out a Friday for fasting (al-Bukhaari, Fath al-Baari, no. 1985), or to fast on a Saturday, unless it is an obligatory fast (reported and classed as hasan by al-Tirmidhi, 3/111) – what is meant is singling it out without a reason. It is not permitted to fast for an entire lifetime, or to fast for two days or more without a break, i.e., to fast two or three days without a break in between.

It is haraam to fast on the two Eid days, or on the Ayyaam al-Tashreeq, which are the 11th, 12th and 13th of Dhoo’l-Hijjah, because these are the days of eating and drinking and remembering Allaah, but it is permissible for the one who does not have a sacrifice to fast them (Ayyaam al-Tashreeq) in Mina.

Sources

1. https://islam.worldofislam.info/index.php/online-books/128-al-siyaam-70-matters-related-to-fasting/695-etiquette-and-sunnah-of-fasting?

2. https://www.nairaland.com/2406223/etiquette-sunnah-fasting

3. https://islamqa.info/en/answers/39462/some-of-the-sunnahs-of-fasting

4. Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid: Seventy Matters Related to Fasting Published On: 16/7/2015 A.D. - 29/9/1436 H.

6. https://rasoulallah.net/en/articles/article/6556/

7. https://www.soundvision.com/article/10-great-goals-to-set-for-this-ramadan