As Ramadan bids a farewell
How many times, we should ask ourselves, have we completed the recitation of the holy Qur’an in this Ramadan? How constant have we kept asking Allah for the forgiveness of our sins? How spiritually purified have our minds and character become since the beginning of this Ramadan?Ramadan is a unique opportunity for believers to reinforce […]
How many times, we should ask ourselves, have we completed the recitation of the holy Qur’an in this Ramadan? How constant have we kept asking Allah for the forgiveness of our sins? How spiritually purified have our minds and character become since the beginning of this Ramadan?
Ramadan is a unique opportunity for believers to reinforce their relationship with their creator. It is an occasion for those who have been unrighteous to repent; and for those who have been presumably righteous to improve upon their acts of righteousness. Ramadan should make women more obedient to their husband in the same way it should make husbands more tender-hearted and obliging to their wives. Ramadan provides opportunities for mending fences where relationships have not been healthy.
With only few days to the close of this year’s Ramadan, sincere believers are already missing the sacred month. As we prepare to observe the Eidul Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan, we encourage believers to resolve to continue with all the good acts of worship they undertook in the last four weeks. Let us decide individually and collectively to repent and resolve not to go back to our past misdeeds which we deserted since the Ramadan fast commenced. The righteous life of a true believer during Ramadan should be the same life he lives after Ramadan. Only a hypocrite would live a life after Ramadan different from that which he lived during the holy month. He is not a true believer who thinks he requires being devoted to religious duties only during Ramadan.
One major act of worship that signifies the end of Ramadan is the Zakat ul-Fitr. It is a Sunnah that is considered compulsory on every Muslim, children and adult, young and old, male and female, free-born as well as slave. The cost of paying the Zakat ul-Fitr is to be borne by the person responsible for individual’s sustenance and upkeep. A man would give the Zakat ul-Fitr of his wife/wives, child/children, and every other person under his care including domestic servants and maids. The Zakat ul-Fitr is to be paid in the staple food item that is commonly eaten in one’s community.
The quantity to be given out per head, as Zakat ul-Fitr, is four measures of the food item (grains or cereals) using the prophetic cubic measure (mudun-nabiyy). The two palms of a man put together and filled with grains or cereals are supposedly equivalent to one full measure of the Prophet’s cubic measure where the latter is not practically available. It is Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) to pay Zakat ul-Fitr after daybreak of the day of Eidul Fitr, before going for the Eid prayers. Malik (RA) relates that the people of knowledge used to pay the Zakat ul-Fitr after dawn had broken on the day of the Eid before they went to the prayer ground. However, could also be paid a day or two before the Eid day. If a Muslim were unable to pay the Zakat ul-Fitr before leaving his house for the Eid prayers for reasons of indigence, he/she is still required to give it out when it is affordable. Zakat ul-Fitr has no waiver or substitute. It is obligatory on all Muslims.
Zakat ul-Fitr gives the poor and the needy a sense of belonging. It is a comforting consolation to the underprivileged members of the Muslim community. Like the Zakat of wealth; Zakat ul-Fitr is a wholesome form of internal security against selfishness and greed. While it is an effective instrument for cultivating the spirit of social responsibility in the giver, it provides a feeling of security in the recipient. In other words, it is an epitome of altruism. Zakat ul-Fitr is an expression of the general philosophy of Islam, which adopts a moderate or middle but positive and effective course between the individual and society; between capitalism and socialism; and between materialism and spirituality.
Allah (SWT) lists recipients of Zakat in Qur’an 9:60 “Alms are for the poor, and the needy, and those employed to administer the (funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to the Truth); for those in bondage and in debt; in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer: (Thus is it) ordained by Allah and Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom”.
Apart from paying the Zakat ul-Fitr before going for the Eid prayers, every Muslim is enjoined to break his fast in the morning of the Eid day. The sighting of the crescent of Shawwal (tenth month of Islamic lunar calendar) marks the end of Ramadan. It is therefore expected that everyone who observed the Ramadan fast should eat or drink (of everything halal) in the morning before leaving the house for the Eid praying ground, or before leaving the mosque in respect of those who were in seclusion (i‘tikaf) during the last ten days of Ramadan. Refusing to eat or drink after daybreak on the Eid day does not really make the person more pious than others. Let us not seek to extend the Ramadan period against Allah’s will.
As we look forward to observing the Eid next week, we ask Allah (SWT) to guide us to make effective resolutions such that our private and public life would remain virtuous as it were during the holy month, amin. Eid Mubarak! Kullu Aamin Wa Autum Bi Khairin!!