“O ye who believe, fasting has beenprescribed upon you as it was prescribed upon those before you, so that ye may learn self-restraint”.

(Chapter:2, Verse:183)

Objective of Fasting

• Intensive Tarbeyah program for the

individual and the society

• To develop Taqwah (consciousness) of

Allah

• To submit to Allah as humble servants

• Success in the hereafter.

Influence of fasting upon the

society

• Promotes atmosphere of Taqwah and

righteousness.

• Promotes compassion for those who are less

fortunate.

• Promotes sense of sharing and giving.

• Encourages sense of unity amongst the

global Muslim community.

Influence of fasting upon the

individual

• Reminder (Tazkeer) of submission to

Allah’s commands

• Duty consciousness

• Builds Islamic conduct and character

(Khulq Hasan)

• Self discipline

• Promotes Taqwah and sense of

accountability

• Builds compassion and generosity..

General Recommendations

It is strongly recommended by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) to

observe these practices during Ramadan:-

• To have a light meal before the break of the dawn,

known as Suhoor.

•To eat three dates and have a drink of water right after

sunset, saying this prayer: “O God! For Your sake we

have fasted and now we break the fast with the food

You have given us”.

•To make your meals as light as possible because, as the

Prophet put it, “The worst thing man can fill is his

stomach”. (Al-Tirmidhi, no. 2380)

•To exchange social visits & intensify humanitarian

services.

General Recommendations

•To observe the supererogatory prayers known as

Taraweeh.

•To increase study & recitation of the Quran.

•To exert the utmost in patience & humbleness.

•To be extraordinarily cautious in using the senses, the

mind and, especially, the tongue; to abstain from careless

& gossipy chats & avoid all suspicious motions.

“All the deeds of man are for himself, except for

fasting, which is for Me and I shall reward it

MYSELF”.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said, that Allah

Subhanahu-wa-taala said:

(Al-Bukhaari, Al-Fath, no. 1904)

Virtues and Benefits of Fasting

• Fasting will intercede for a person on the Day of Judgement,

and will say, “O Lord! I prevented him from his food and

physical desires during the day, so let me intercede for him.”

(Reported by Ahmad, 2/174)

• The smell that comes from the mouth of a fasting person is

preferred by Allah than the scent of musk.

(Muslim, 2/807)

• Whoever fasts one day for the sake of Allah, Allah will remove

him a distance of seventy years’ from the Hell-fire.

(Muslim, 2/808)

Virtues and Benefits of Fasting

• Whoever fasts one day, seeking the pleasure of Allah, if that is

the last day of his life, he will enter Paradise.

(Reported by Ahmad, 5/391)

• The Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said, “Whoever fasts

Ramadan out of faith and with the hope of reward, all his

previous sins will be forgiven.”

(Al-Bukhari, Fath, no. 37)

• In Paradise there is a gate called al-Rayyaan, through which

those who fast will enter, and no one will enter it except them;

when they have entered, it will be locked, and no-one else will

enter through it.

(Al-Bukhari, Fath, no. 1797)

MISTAKES TO AVOID IN

RAMADAN

• 1- Taking Ramadan as a ritual:

• We forget that its a time to purify our hearts

and our souls from all evil

• Although the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi

wa Sallam) said:

• “Jibreel said to me, May Allah rub his nose

in the dust, that person to who Ramadan

comes and his sins are not forgiven, and I

said, Ameen. (Tirmidhi, Ahmad)

2 : Too much stress on food and

drink

• Some people turn the month of fasting into

the month of feasting

• They increase in their greed and desires

instead of learning to control them.

• “and eat and drink but waste not by

extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not

Al-Musrifoon (those who waste by

extravagance)”[al-Araaf :31]

3 : Spending all day cooking

• Some of the sisters (either by their own

choice or forced by their husbands) are

cooking ALL day and ALL night.

• By the end of the day, they are too tired to

even pray Ishaa, let alone pray Taraweeh or

Tahajjud or even read Quraan.

• So turn off that stove and turn on your

Iman!

4 : Eating too much

• Some people stuff themselves at Suhoor or

Iftaar until they are ready to burst.

• “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel

worse than his stomach; for the son of

Adam a few mouthfuls are sufficient to

keep his back straight. If you must fill it,

then one-third for food, one-third for drink

and one-third for air.” (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah.

5 : Sleeping all day

• Some people spend their entire day (or a

major part of it) sleeping away their fast.

• They are missing the purpose of fasting and

are slaves to their desires of comfort and

ease.

• They need to be awake and face a little

hunger and exert a little self-control.

6 : Wasting time

• The month of Ramadan is a precious time.

Allah calls this month “Ayyamum

Madoodaat” (A fixed number of days).

• We should try and spend every moment

possible in the worship of Allah

• There are some of who waste it by playing

video games, or worse still, watching TV,

movies or even listening to music. Subhaan

Allah!

7 : Fasting but not giving up evil

• Some of us fast but do not give up lying,

cursing, fighting, backbiting, etc

• Some of us fast but do not give up cheating,

stealing, dealing in haraam, buying lotto

tickets, selling alcohol etc

• “Whoever does not give up false speech and

acting upon it, and ignorance, Allah has no

need of him giving up his food and drink.”

(Bukhaari)

8 : Smoking

• Smoking is one of al-Khabaaith (evil

things). And this includes ALL kinds of

smoking material eg.cigars, cigarettes,

pipes, sheesha, hookah etc.

• “he allows them as lawful At Tayyibaat (all

good and lawful things), and prohibits them

as unlawful Al Khabaa’ith (all evil and

unlawful things) [al-Araaf :157]

• It invalidates the fast.

9 : Skipping Suhoor

• The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa

Sallam) said: “Eat Suhoor for in Suhoor

there is blessing.”(Bukhaari, Muslim).

• “The thing that differentiates between our

fasting and the fasting of the People of the

Book is eating Suhoor.” (Muslim)

10 : Stopping Suhoor at Imsaak

• Some people stop eating Suhoor 10-15

minutes earlier than the time of Fajr to

observe Imsaak.

• “and eat and drink until the white thread

(light) of dawn appears to you distinct from

the black thread (darkness of night)( 2:187]

• “eat and drink until you hear the adhaan of

Ibn Umm Maktoom, for he does not give

the adhaan until dawn comes.” Hadith

11 : Not fasting if they missed

Suhoor

• Some people are too scared to fast if they

miss Suhoor.

• However, this is a kind of cowardice and

love of ease. What is the big deal if you

missed a few morsels of food?

• Remember, obedience to Allah overcomes

everything.

12 : Saying the intention to fast

loud or saying a specific dua to

start fasting• The intention is an action of the heart.

• We should resolve in our heart that we are

going to fast tomorrow. That is all we need.

• It is not necessary in Shariah to say a dua

loud.

13 : Delaying breaking fast

• Some people wait until the adhaan finishes

or even several minutes after that, just to be

on the safe side.

• However, the Sunnah is to break fast

whenever the adhaan starts, right after the

sun has set. (Reported by Aisha)

• “The people will continue to do well so

long as they hasten to break the fast.”

(Bukhaari, Muslim)

14 : Eating continuously until the

time for Maghrib is up

• Some people ontinue eating, enjoying

dessert, drinking tea, etc., until they miss

Maghrib.

• The Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) was that

once he broke his fast with some dates,

them he would hasten to the prayer.

• Once you are done with the prayer, you can

always go back and eat some more if you

wish.

15 : Missing the golden chance of

having your Dua accepted

• Instead of sitting down and making Dua at

iftaar time, some people forego this

beautiful chance, and are too busy talking,

setting the food, filling their plates and

glasses and eating etc

• :”Three prayers are not rejected: the prayer

of a father, the prayer of a fasting person,

and the prayer of a traveler.” (al-Bayhaqi)

16 : Fasting but not praying

• The fasting of one who does not pray WILL

NOT BE ACCEPTED.

• ”Between a man and shirk and kufr there

stands his giving up prayer.” (Muslim)

• In fact, NONE of his good deeds will be

accepted; rather, they are all annulled.

• “Whoever does not pray Asr, his good

deeds will be annulled.” (Bukhaari)

17 : Fasting and not wearing

Hijaab

• Not wearing the Hijaab is a major sin as it is

obligatory for Muslim women. (See Surah

Nur, Surah Ahzaab).

• So fasting and not wearing Hijaab certainly

takes away enormously from the rewards of

fasting, even if it does not invalidate it.

18 : Not fasting because of exams

or work

• Exams or work is NOT one of the excuses

allowed by the Shariah to not fast.

• “Whosoever fears Allah, He will appoint for

him a way out and provide for him from

where he does not expect, Allah is

Sufficient for whosoever puts his trust in

Him.” (Surah at-Talaaq 2-3)

19 : Mixing fasting and dieting

• DO NOT make the mistake of fasting with

the intention to diet. That is one of the

biggest mistakes some of us make (esp.

sisters).

• Fasting is an act of worship and can only be

for the sake of Allah alone.

• Mixing it with the intention of dieting may

become a form of (minor) Shirk.

20 : Fighting over the number of

Rakaah of Taraweeh

• There is no specific number of rakahs for

Taraweeh prayer.

• Both 8 and 20 are okay.

• Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said: “No one

should be denounced for praying eleven or

twenty-three (Rakaah), because the matter

is broader in scope than that, praise be to

Allah.”

21 : Praying ONLY on the night

of the 27th

• Some people pray ONLY on the 27th to

seek Lailat ul-Qadr, neglecting all other odd

nights.

• Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi Wa Sallam)

said: “Seek Lailat ul-Qadr among the odd

numbered nights of the last ten nights of

Ramadan.” (Bukhaari, Muslim).

22 : Wasting the last part of

Ramadan preparing for Eid

• Some people waste the entire last 10 days of

Ramadan preparing for Eid, shopping and

frequenting malls, etc. neglecting Ibadah

and Lailatul Qadr

• When the (last) ten nights began, the

Messenger of Allah would tighten his

waist-wrapper (i.e., strive hard in worship)

stay awake at night and wake his family.”

(Bukhaari and Muslim).

23 : Iftaar parties

• Inviting each other for breaking fast is

something good and encouraged.

• Some people go to extremes with lavish

Iftaar parties with all sorts of disobedience

to Allah, from flirting, mixing of the sexes

and hijaab-less women, to showoff and

extravagance, to heedlessness to Salaah, and

Taraweeh to even music and dancing.

Verily, We have sent it (this Quran) down in the night of Al-Qadr (Decree).

Therein descend the angels and the Ruh [ Jibrael (Gabrial)] by Allah’s Permission with all Decrees.

In the Name of Allah, the

Most Gracious, the Most

Merciful.

And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr(Decree) is?

better than worshipping Him a thousand months, which is 83 years & 4 months).

The night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months(i.e, worshippingAllah in that night is

(All that night), there is Peace (and Goodness from Allah to his believing slaves) until the appearance of dawn.

(Chapter: 97)

What to do in the Night of Glory or Power

Narrated Aisha (P.B.U.Her), Allah’s messenger

(P.B.U.H) said, “Search for the night of Qadr in the

odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan”.

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol: 3, Hadith no: 234)

Aisha (P.B.U.Her) narrated, “I asked Allah’s

Messenger (P.B.U.H) what should I do if I find the

night of Qadr”.

The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) replied, “Pray to Allah: O

our Lord! You are the most Forgiving, You love to

forgive, so forgive us”.

(Al-Bukhari & Muslim)

• give us the strength & patience to fast during the whole month

of Ramadan.

• accept all our fasts in this holy month.

• give us the opportunity to worship in the night of Qadr & accept

our worshipping.

• help us to continue all the good deeds we do in this holy month.

(AMEEN)