Fasting in Ramadan
It’s Ramadan again, and we would like to share an excerpt from Endless Bliss – Fifth Fascicle about fasting in Ramadan. You can find useful related links at the end of that post:
The fourth of the five principles of Islam is to fast every day in the blessed month of Ramadân. The fast became fard on the tenth day of the month of Sha’bân eighteen months after the Hegira and a month before the Ghazâ (Holy War) of Bedr.
Ramadân means to burn. Sins of those who fast and beg Allah for forgiveness in this month burn and perish. It is written in the book Riyâd-un-nâsihîn that Hadrat Abû Hureyra “radiy Allâhu anh” stated in the book Bukhârî:
Rasûlullah “sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam” declared, “When the month of Ramadân comes the doors of Paradise are opened and the doors of Hell are closed, and the devils are tied.” Imâm-ul-aimma Muhammad bin Is’haq bin Huzeyma writes that Hadrat Selmân-i-Fârisî (radiy Allâhu ’anh) conveyed that Rasûlullah (sall Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) had declared in his khutba on the last day of the month of Sha’bân:
“O Muslims! Such a great month is about to overshadow you that one night [Qadr night] in this month is more beneficial than a thousand months. Allâhu ta’âlâ has commanded fasting every day during this month. Also, it is a sunna to perform the namâz of tarâwih at nights during this month. Doing a small favour for Allah’s sake during this month is like doing the fard in other months. Doing the fard in this month is like doing seventy fards in other months. This month is the month of patience. The place where the patient person will go is Paradise. This month is the month of getting along well. There is an increase in the subsistence of Believers during this month. If a person gives iftâr to a fasting person in this month his sins will be forgiven. Allâhu ta’âlâ will manumit him from Hell-fire. And he will be given as many blessings as has that fasting person.”
The Sahâba said, “O Rasûlallah! Each of us is not so rich as to give the iftâr to a fasting person or to give him a whole meal.”
The Messenger (’alaihi-s-salâm) declared; “The blessings will be given even to a person who gives a date as the iftâr or who provides a little water to break the fast or who offers a little milk. This month is such a month that it has compassion in its early days, pardon and forgiveness in the middle, and liberation from Hell in the latter days. Allâhu ta’âlâ will forgive and rescue from Hellfire those [patrons, chiefs, commanders and directors] who facilitate the duties of [workers, civil servants, soldiers and students]. Do four things very often in this month! Two of them Allâhu ta’âlâ loves very much. They are to say the Kalima-i-Shahâda and to say the istighfâr. And the other two you have to do at all times. They are to ask for Paradise from Allâhu ta’âlâ and to trust yourself to Allâhu ta’âlâ to be protected from Hell. A person who gives water to a fasting person during this month will never be in need of water on the Rising Day.”
A hadîth which exists in Sahîh-i-Bukhârî declares, “If a person knows it as fard and as a duty to fast in the month of Ramadân and if he expects its thawâb from Allâhu ta’âlâ, his past sins are pardonned.”
This means to say that it is necessary to believe that fasting is Allah’s command and to expect blessings for it. It is a condition not to complain that the days are long or that it is difficult to fast. One should deem it good luck and a great fortune to fast with difficulty among people who do not fast.
You can continue reading that section at Endless Bliss – Fifth Fascicle
Endless Bliss is a translation of Se’âdet-i Ebediyye, which was originally written in Turkish. You can read these books online for free:
Tam İlmihal Se’âdet-i Ebediyye (Turkish)
Endless Bliss: 1th – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – 5th – 6th Fascicles (in .pdf format)
