Ramadan: Fasting, its manners and rulings

O’ Servants of Allah! It is narrated that the Prophet (SAW) said: “The month of Ramadan has come to you as a blessing, in which Allah covers you with His Mercy, remits sins and answers supplications. Allah sees your competition in good deeds and takes pride in you over His angels Thus you should show […]

O’ Servants of Allah! It is narrated that the Prophet (SAW) said: “The month of Ramadan has come to you as a blessing, in which Allah covers you with His Mercy, remits sins and answers supplications. Allah sees your competition in good deeds and takes pride in you over His angels Thus you should show Allah’s goodness in yourselves since a miserable one is he who is deprived from Allah’s Mercy during this month.”

Salman Al-Farisi reported: “The Messenger of Allah (SAW) delivered a sermon on the last day of Sha’ban, saying “0 people! The shadow of a great blessed month has come over you. In it there is a night that is better than one thousand months. Allah has made fasting obligatory during it and night prayer (Tarawih) optional. Whoever performs any good deed in it will obtain the reward of an obligatory act and whoever performs obligatory act of devotion will be rewarded 70 times more than in any other month. 

“It is the month of patience, and the rewards in which is Paradise. It is the month of rewards in which provision increases. 

“Whoever provides food for a person to break his fast, his sins will be forgiven, and he will be saved from the Hellfire. He will receive rewards similar to the sun one for whom he provided food, without diminishing anything from the reward of the former (the person he fed).” 

The people said: “Messenger of Allah! Not all of us are capable of providing food for fasting persons”. The Messenger (SAW) said: “Allah will reward whoever provides food for a fasting person even if it be some milk mixed with water, a date or a sip of water.”

The beginning of this month (Ramadan) contains mercy, the middle of it contains forgiveness and the end of it contains deliverance form the Hellfire. Thus, you should be keen to foster four qualities as much as you can: two qualities with which you will please your Lord and two qualities that are indispensable to you. As for the first two qualities, it is to testify  that there is no god but Allah and to seek is forgiveness. 

The second two qualities are to ask Allah for Paradise and seek His refuge from Hellfire.

O’ Believers! It was reported that the Prophet (SAW) said: “Whoever observes fasting, all his previous sins will be forgiven,” also “whoever prays the nights of Ramadan, out of faith and in anticipation of Allah’s reward will have all previous sins forgiven.”

He (SAW) also said: “Whoever stands in prayer, will be considered as one who spent all night in prayer.” In addition, he (SAW) said: “Whoever stands in prayer on the night of Lailatul Qadri (the Night Revelation) all his previous sins will be forgiven. 

He (SAW) also said: “Fasting is like a shield on the day one of you is fasting he should avoid obscenity and clamour. If anyone insults him or abuses him he should say: ‘I am fasting.’

The Prophet  (SAW) also said: stressed striving in keeping fasting free from anything that may render it null, saying whoever does not give up falsehood and its application and foolish behaviour, Allah will be in no need that such person give up food and drink. 

Jabir bin Abdallah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “If you fast, let your hearing, sight and tongue observe fasting from lying and sin. You should desist from harming your neighbour, and be distinguished by solemnity and calmness on the day on which you break your fasting and the day you fast the same (in behaviour).

O’ Believers! The above mentioned statements describe the desirable behaviour of Muslims in Ramadan, which can be elaborated as follows: 

FIRST: To have the pre-dawn meal (Sahur) to support fasting during the day. It is preferable to have it shortly before dawn. It is also preferable to break the fast immediately after sunset, for people will continue to be good as long as they break their fast immediately after sunset, and delay their Sahur to the time just before Fajir.

SECOND: To avoid all words and deeds or acts leading to that which breaches or invalidates one’s fasting.

THIRD: To perform supererogatory night Prayer, especially Tarawih to the best of one’s ability until the Imam concludes and offer any number of Raka’at at the latter part of the night. One may take a nap during the day to be physically able to perform supererogatory night prayer, enthusiastically.

FOURTH: To avoid staying awake until late at night spending time doing things other than devotion for this eliminates the blessings of this special time and deprives man from many good aspects of using the time well and lead to committing sin.

FIFTH: To spend time in doing great acts of devotion such as reciting the Holy Qur’an, asking Allah’s forgiveness, remembering Allah, making supplication, inviting people to do good, enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil, as well as giving support in word and deed to others to do all these things.

Thus, man can be a good example and obtain a reward equal to the reward of all those who follow him.

SIXTH: To be keen to provide food for the fasting people both at the time of breaking fast and for the Pre-dawn meal; to encourage them, to support them in doing good and to patiently bear their bad behavior; to abstain from directing harm to others and to be benevolent to people, seeking Allah’s pleasure and anticipating His abundant forgiveness and great Benevolence, Blessing and Generosity.

Fear Allah, O’ servants of Allah Guard against acts that result in misery and deprivation of AIIah’s Mercy; Try hard to achieve the requirements of Allah’s Unlimited Mercy in the month of Ramadan in which he gives so many rewards for even the smallest deeds and remits many slips and errors for whoever is sincere and hastens to repentance. Ramadan is a month in which the reward for good deeds is doubled.

Congratulations to the pious fasting Muslims for the profitable trade with Allah and the unquantifiable forgiveness, remittance of sins and pardon we receive. I seek Allah’s forgiveness for you and myself from all sins. Muslim brothers and sisters seek His forgiveness that He may forgive you, for He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Benevolent.

DSP Kutubi wrote in from Zone 7 Police Headquarters, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.