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FASTING THE MONTH OF RAMADAN Part I By: Sheikh Mohammed M. Kanneh 13 August, 2010  IN
THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
Introduction:
All praise and purity belongs to Allah who has shaded upon us a great month, known as Ramadan in which sins are burnt and difficulties dispersed.
Brothers and Sisters in Islam, Assalam Alaykum
The month of Ramadan has arrived. Therefore, let's welcome this holy month with eagerness and love, and let's take opportunity of its blessings by obedience and abstention from sins. This is in conformity to these deeds to which the Prophet Muhammad ( sallallahu alaihi wa sallam ) motivated us towards till the day of judgment.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has mentioned " When the first night of Ramadan approaches, the Satan and the evil Jinns are imprisoned, the doors of Hell fire are closed without a single door left opened, the doors of Heaven are opened without any door closed. (Throughout the month), a caller will call out, O ! seeker of good, proceed forward ( in good deeds) and O! Seeker of evil, stay away from sins. and Allah (through His mercy) frees a lot of people every night from the Hell fire. Reported by Tirmizi, Ibn Maajah, and Ahmed
Brothers and sisters in Islam, The first part of this month (first 10 days ) is a period wherein the blessings of Allah, The middle part (2nd 10 days ) is the part for forgiveness, the last part (last 10 days) is freedom from the hell fire. I seek refuge of Allah, from Satan, the accursed. Allah says: “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it has been made obligatory on the nations before you so that you may have fear of Allah”
May almighty Allah accept our fasts, prayers and good deeds during this holy month of Ramadan and bestow his blessings on us and on the entire Muslim nation world wide. Aamin
Ramadan Definition:
Fasting or Siyaam, has two meanings, Generally, siyaam or sawm, is derived from the root of the Arabic word saama, that means to restrain from normal things, such as eating, drinking, and talking. If an individual refrain from these things, he is considered saaim (the observer of fast) In the Shari'ah ( Islamic law ) the word "sawm " means and implies a specific act, that is," to worship Allah, abstaining, with intention to please Him from fast breakers, such as physical nourishment, food, drink, and sexual intercourse or lustful discharge of semen from the period between the break of dawn until sundown.
Although the definition indicates restraining the stomach and private parts, the tongue, eyes, ears and other limbs are equally obligated to be restrained if the faster wants to gain the total rewards of fasting, This is why the Messenger of Allah Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him has been reported as saying in a hadith by abu Hurairah. " He who does not desist from obscene language and acting obscenely (during the period of fasting) Allah has no need that he did not eat or drink " Bukhari and Muslim.
In another Hadith by Abu Hurairah, the Prophet may Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him said; " Fasting is not only to restrain from food and drink, fasting is to refrain from obscene (acts), If someone verbally abuses you or acts ignorantly towards you, say (to them) I am fasting" Ibn khuzaimah)
Indeed, these two reports imply fasting will not be complete until one observes three elements:
1. Restraining the stomach and the private parts from the breakers of the fast- food and drink. 2. Restraining the other body parts, which may render the fast worthless despite the main factors of hunger and thirst. A. Tongue, must avoid backbiting, slander, and lies, B. The eyes should avoid looking into things considered by Allah as unlawful; C. The ears must stop from listening to conversations, words, songs, and lyrics that spoil the spirit of fasting, and 3. Restraining of the heart and mind from indulging themselves in other things besides remembrance of Allah.
Ramadan Ethic:
Whenever the orbit turns and another month of Ramadan approaches, happiness and joy return to the Muslim nations world wide, for with it come two of the greatest gifts of Allah, namely the fasting month of Ramadan and the celebration of the revelation of Al-Qur'an . As part of the celebration to welcome this holy month, the tradition of the Prophet Mohammed clearly indicated that believers are recommended to fast most of the month Su'aban, in anticipation for Ramadan.
Fasting is an eloquent expression of Allah, leading Muslims to the gates of His mercy. a key to unlocking the mysteries of His nearness. While humanity is divided on the basic elements of the notion of the Creator. a Muslim is far ahead of the rest of the world in this field and travelling at the speed of light to the neighborhood of the Throne of the Creator (Allah). Where else would you find a discipline that provides direct communication between the servant and the lord he served ? .Where else would you have an act of worship that enriches self - worth, self-strength, self-rebuilding, self discipline and control. ? where else would one find a discipline that moves the believer from unauthentic to authentic as the institution of fasting. ? Where else would you find a discipline that enriches the vital needs of human being, both physical and spiritual.? PRAISE BE TO ALLAH !
The institution of fasting is a unique form of worship prescribed as part of an overall system of Islam. Its uniqueness mirrors the uniqueness of the human being, a creature of physical and spiritual parts whose excellence depends on the right proportion of these two parts. Too much of the physical material will ruin man, and too much of the spiritual will too, Fasting orients the observer to the art of balancing the spiritual essentials with physical needs, a vivid proof that there is in all of us the will power, a pivotal element that controls our actions. This will be needed to help us all to curb the animalistic tendencies originating from the stomach, in full. It makes us forgot about our beginning, it awakens the mind and reconstruction of our spiritual faculties.
Fasting has instilled in food and beverages a legitimacy, as its amount and the hour taken are expressed in terms of religion, and chewing and sipping at proper intervals equals praise and glorification of Allah. It makes the individual ready and primed to meet the Creator. You see, it has never been easy trying to gain access to the nearest of Allah, due to several considerable obstacles obstructing our view. Mainly ignorance, multiple images or double vision, passive will power, time, place, culture, upbringing and prejudice. Fortunately, the gates that lead to the nearness of Allah swing both ways with the help of fasting.
Fasting cures the double vision that many people suffer in the realm of spirituality. The inauguration of Fasting eliminates the middleman, a spiritual broker, an insidious opinion held by some that a believer can only gain access to nearness to Allah through another, who is endowed with superpowers to reach Allah's worship that clarifies all the acts of worship including Prayer, Fasting renders this magnificent and beautiful idea of oneness of Allah, there being no deity but Allah, and Muhammad being His Messenger, into an effective power charge, a potent and effective concept for focusing and organizing one's world view and epitomizing the religious and psychological orientation of the believer.
On the other hand, Ramadan was the host month for the inauguration of the final revelation. Al-Qur'an .Allah bestowed this book upon the humanity through His Messenger Muhammad bin Abdullah. The reading of Al-Qur'an has been mandated by its author, Allah himself, for the believers all the time, more so in the month of Ramadan, as this is reported from the messenger, Muslims past and present have always mixed fasting with reading Al-Qur'an, perhaps the reason for this is that one of the objectives of Satan is to hinder the believer from reading Al-Qur'an, But during Ramadan Satan himself is hindered from tempting the believer. for Al-Qur'an avails the reader a cherished privilege of directly conversing with the Creator of the universe.
What Al-Qur'an and Hadith says about Ramadan ?
The observation of Ramadan is mandated by two Islamic sources, Al-Qur'an and Sunnah, along with the consensus of the scholars. Allah said in Al-Qur'an " O, you who believe fasting is prescribed to you, as it was prescribed to those before you that you may acquire self-restraint" Al-Qur'an 2:183
The proof in this citing is very obvious, for whenever Allah uses the Arabic word kutiba which means , among other things, prescribed or written, it indicates the action that follows. it becomes mandatory upon the believers, men and women. After establishing fasting, the verse emphasized that this was not the first time the obligation of fasting had been established, for it stated that previous nations received the same mandate. We are not certain about the time, date, and amount.
Many scholars state the introductory clause kamaa implies and refers to the analogy between our fasting today and the fasting of previous people. There are similarities in the time and amount, but what happened to Ramadan is that the high priests, before the time of prophet Mohammad ( PBUH) added more days than were prescribed for them, It became difficult and they could not do it, so they moved the date to spring until they neglected it altogether.
This is how the pillar of religion was neglected. Even some Christian writer complained, " For nearly a century and a half, fasting has been out of vogue. at least in the Churches of the West. The very idea of someone actually fasting today seems strange to most twentieth century Christians. They associate it with medieval Christianity. " ( fasting a Neglected Discipline ).
Elsewhere Allah (SWT) states;
" Ramadan is the month in which we sent down the Qur'an as a guide to humanity and as a clear sign for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong.) So anyone of you who witnesses the month should spend it in fasting..." ( Al-Qur'an, 2:185)
This verse contains important rules and reasons for fasting that will be explained later. however, what concerns us here is the statement. " So, anyone of you who witnesses the month should spent it in fasting. "There are exceptions, like when traveling, which will be explain later.
The above examples have been the proof from in Al-Qur'an, As for the proof from hadith, there are many amongst them a hadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim in which the messenger states: " Islam is built on five (pillars), testimony that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and testimony that Muhammad is His messenger, establishing Salat, giving Zakaat, observing the fast of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the House of Allah, " Bukhari and Muslim
The Hadith established fasting during the month of Ramadan as one of the pillars on which this religion is built. this Hadith reinforces the obligation of fasting as stated in Al-Qur'an. We will see later that there are other Hadiths that explain in detail how to observe the worship of fasting.
Because of this collection of proofs from both Al-Qur'an and the Sunnah, the Muslim scholars agreed in consensus ( Ijmaa'u ) that abstinence from physical nourishment and sex associated with intention to seek Allah's pleasure is mandatory upon every believer. Before verse 2:185 was revealed, Muslims were commanded to fast three days in every month (verse 2:183). This verse 2:185 was revealed on Monday, Sha'aban 2, in the second year of Hijrah, thus, abrogating the earlier order
This was the first portion of the Ramadan's article, kindly check our community websites for the second and third portion Insha Allah
Wassalaam Alaykum
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