11. FASTING IN RAMADAN (4)

11. FASTING IN RAMADAN (4)

E. The time of the prescription of fasting in Islam. There are several views: (1) Fasting in ‘Āshūrā’ which is the view of Ḥanafī school (2) three days at every month, as the Prophet (ﷺ) when he came to Madinah he fasts three days for every month (3) fasting in Ramadan abrogating previous fasting. It was the first prescribed fasting according the Shāfi‘ī school. It was prescribed in Sha‘bān in the 2 AH, and the Prophet (ﷺ) fasted nine months of Ramadan until he passed away.

F. Things recommended in fasting and its rules of conduct. It is recommended for the person who fasts to do among the following things:

1.    Pre-dawn meals (saḥūr), even a mouthful of water, and do it at the end of the night.  It is highly recommended to delay the pre-dawn meal unless one is doubtful of the occurrence of dawn (fajr), as the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

تَسَحَّرُوا فَإِنَّ فِي السَّحُورِ بَرَكَةٌ (وراه البخاري و مسلم)

Take sahur, as there is a blessing in it

(Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim)

اسْتَعِينُوا بِطَعَامِ السَّحَرِ عَلَى صِيَامِ النَّهَارِ وَبِالْقَيْلُولَةِ عَلَى قِيَامِ اللَّيْلِ

(رواه ابن ماجة و الحاكم)

Help yourself with having saḥūr for fasting in the

day time, and with midday-nap for having night

 prayer (Reported by Ibn Mājah and al-Ḥākim)

إنَّ فَصْلَ مَا بَيْنَ صِيَامِنَا وَصِيَامِ أَهْلِ اْلكِتِابِ

 أَكلة السَّحَر (رواه مسلم)

Verily, the distinction between our fasting and

the fasting of the People of the Book is having

pre-dawn meal (Reported by Muslim)

      When does the time of saḥūr (pre-dawn meal) start? There are two views: (a) it starts at midnight, and whoever takes his pre-dawn meal after midnight, he will get the reward of it; (b) it starts at the last sixth part of the night. Although the vast majority of scholars hold this view there is no clear evidence of it, except that delaying the suhur at this last sixth part of the night is the sufficient time for having suhur, which had been practiced by the Prophet (ﷺ). There has to be an interval between the end of sahur and the ādhān for fajr prayer where eating and drinking have to be stopped. Zayd ibn Thābit asked the Prophet (ﷺ), “What was the interval between the saḥūr and the adhan?” He answered, “The interval was sufficient to recite fifty verses of the Qur’ān” (Reported by al-Bukhārī ). We can calculate the time spent in reading slowly surat Ibrahim (Q. 14) which consists of 52 verses, or surat Fatir (Q. 35) which consists of 45 verses. It took me ten minutes to read surat Ibrahim consisting of 52 verses.

      When does fasting actually start?  According to the majority of scholars, including those among the ṣaḥābah and tābi‘in, Imam al-Nawawī as well as the four Imams, fasting starts at the second dawn. Ibn ‘Umar narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said,

إنَّ بِلَالاً يُؤَذِّنُ بِلَيْلٍ فَكُلُوْا وَاشْرَبُوْا حَتَّى يُؤَذِّنَ ابْنُ أُمِّ مَكْتُوْم

(رواه البخاري و مسلم)

Verily, Bilal called the ādhān at night, so eat and

 drink until Ibn Umm Maktūm called the  ādhān

(Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim)

                Ibn Umm Maktūm did not start calling the ādhān until it was said to him, “it has become dawn.”

  The other evidence is the following Qur’ānic verse:

وَكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الأَبْيَضُ

مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْر... (البقرة:187)

,… and eat and drink until the white thread (light)

 of dawn appears to you distinct from the black

 thread (darkness of night)… (Q. 2:187)

            ‘Adī ibn Ḥātim narrated:  when the above verses were revealed, “Until the white threat appears to you, distinct from the black thread,” I took two (hair) strings one black and the other white, and kept them under my pillow and went on looking at them throughout the night but could not make anything out of it. So, the next morning I went to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and told him the whole story. He explained to me, “That Verse means the darkness of night and the whiteness of dawn.” (Reported by al-Bukhārī)

2.    To hurry up for having ifṭār when sunset has been ascertained, and before performing maghrib prayer. It is recommended to start with something moist and wet, then dates, then sweets, then water, and to be taken in odd number, three, five, seven, etc. The Prophet (ﷺ)  said:

لاَ يَزَالُ النَّاسُ بِخَيْرٍ مَا عَجَّلُوا الْفِطْرَ (رواه البخاري و

 مسلم و أحمد و الترمذى و ابن ماجة)

The people will remain on the right path as long

 as they hasten the ifṭār (breaking the  fast)  

  (Reported by al-Bukhārī , Muslim, Ahmad,

al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah)

Allah said:(البقرة187)  ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا الصِّيَامَ إِلَى اللَّيْلِ “… then complete your fast till the nightfall (Q. 2:187) means having ifṭār at sunset. Narrated by ‘Umar r.a. that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

إذَا أَقْبَلَ الَّلْيلُ مِنْ هَاهُنِا وَأَدْبَرَ النَّهَارُ مِنْ هَاهُنَا، فَقَدْ

 أَفْطَرَ الصَّائِم (رواه البخاري و مسلم)

 When the night has approached from here and

 the day time has slipped away from here, then the

 time of ifṭār has come to the one who fasts

(Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim)

عَنْ عُمَرَ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم:

 إذَا أَقْبَلَ الَّلْيلُ وَأَدْبَرَ النَّهَارُ وَغَابَتِ الشَّمْسُ، فَقَدْ أَفْطَرَ

الصَّائِم. (رواه البخاري و مسلم وأبو داؤد)

  ‘Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah said,

When the night has approached and the sun has set,

then the time of ifṭār has come to the one who fasts

(Reported by  al-Bukhārī ,  Muslim, and Abū Dā’ūd)

إذَا أَقْبَلَ الَّلْيلُ مِنْ هَاهُنِا - وَضَرَبَ بِيَدِهِ نَحْوَ

اْلمَشْرِقِ - فَقَدْ أَفْطَرَ الصَّائِم (رواه الطبراني)

When the night has approached from here --and

he pointed with his hand to the East--, then the

time of ifṭār has come to the one who fasts

(Reported by al-Ṭabrānī)

Therefore the time of ifṭār is the nightfall which is the meaning of layl (night) in the above verse, not to wait until it is dark. In Northern hemisphere such as Canada, Russia and Scandinavia the darkness of the night is extremely slow in summer, and should not be waited in order to break the fast.

The Prophet (ﷺ) also said:

إِذَا أَفْطَرَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيُفْطِرْ عَلَى تَمْرٍ ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَعَلَى مَاءٍ

فَإِنَّ الْمَاءَ طَهُورٌ  (رواه أحمد و النسائي و الترمذي)

When one of you breaks the fast, he should do so with

 dates, because it is blessed. If he couldn’t get dates,

 then (break your fast with) water, because it purifies

(Reported by Ahmad, al-Nasa’I, and Tirmidhī)

                  Following the Prophet’s practice who had ifṭār before praying, it is recommended to do the same. In case it was cloudy that the sunset could not be ascertained, then it would be recommended to delay the ifṭār. However, in modern time, due to the advance of technology and astronomical calculation we can ascertain the time of ifṭār disregarding the condition of the sky.

3.    Making du’a (supplication) after the ifṭār, the most completed one is as follows:

اللًّهُمَّ إنِّي لَكَ صُمْتُ، وَعَلَى رِزْقِكَ أَفْطَرْتُ, وَعَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْتُ,

وَبِكَ آمَنْتُ, ذَهَبَ الظَّمَأُ,  وِاْبَتلَّتِ اْلعُرُوْقُ, وَثَبَتَ اْلأَجْرُ

إنْ شَاءَ اللهُ تَعَالىَ, يَا وَاسِعَ الْفَضْلِ اغْفِرْلِي, الْحَمْدُ لِلّه

الّذِي أَعَانَنِي فَصُمْتُ, وَ رَزَقَنِي فَأَفْطَرْتُ

O Allah, I kept the fast for You, and with Your

 sustenance I am breaking (my fast). I have put

my trust in You, I have believed in You.  The thirst

 has gone, the veins replenished, and  the reward

 is confirmed if Allah wills.  O the very Generous One,

 forgive me; Praise be to Allah Who has aided me,

 so I fasted, and has given me sustenance,

 so (with it) I break my fast.

        To make it short we can simply say:            

اللًّهُمَّ إنِّي لَكَ صُمْتُ، وَعَلَى رِزْقِكَ أَفْطَرْتُ, , ذَهَبَ الظَّمَأُ,

 وِاْبَتلَّتِ اْلعُرُوْقُ, وَثَبَتَ اْلأَجْرُ إنْ شَاءَ اللهُ

O Allah, I kept the fast for You, and with Your

sustenance I am breaking (my fast). The thirst

has gone, the veins replenished and  the reward

is confirmed if Allah wills.

And the shortest one we can just say,

اللًّهُمَّ إنِّي لَكَ صُمْتُ، وَعَلَى رِزْقِكَ أَفْطَرْتُ

O Allah, I kept the fast for You, and with Your

sustenance I am breaking (my fast).

Another version of supplication is as follows:

اللًّهُمَّ إنِّي لَكَ صُمْتُ، وَعَلَى رِزْقِكَ أَفْطَرْتُ, سبحانَكَ

وبحمدِكَ، اللهمَّ تقبلْ مني إنَّك أنت السميع العليم

O Allah, I kept the fast for You, and with Your sustenance

 I am breaking (my fast). Glory be to You and Praise. O Allah, accept (the fasting) from me, Verily, You are

 Most Hearer, and Most Knowing

Saying supplication is very important as the Prophet (ﷺ) said, لِلصَّائِمِ عِنْدَ فِطْرِهِ دَعْوَةٌ لَا تُرَدُّ (رواه ابن ماجة) “There is a du‘a by a fasting person which is not rejected when he is breaking his fast” (Reported by Ibn Majah).

4.    Giving ifṭār to people who fast, even with a piece of date, drinking water, but making them full would be better. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: مَنْ فَطَّرَ صَائِمًا فَلَهُ مِثْلُ أَجْرِهِ , غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ لاَ يَنْقُصُ

 مِنْ أَجْرِ الصَّائِم شَيْءٌ (رواه الترمذي و النسائي)”Whoever feeds a person breaking his fast will earn the same reward as him without anything being lessened from the reward of the fasting person. (Reported by al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasā’ī)

Anas ibn Malik reported: Sa’d b. ‘Ubādah presented the Prophet with bread and olive oil. The Prophet (ﷺ)    said: أَفْطَرَ عِنْدَكُمُ الصَّائِمُونَ وَأَكَلَ طَعَامَكُمُ الْأَبْرَارُ وَصَلَّتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ.

“May Allah reward you for breaking the fast of those whofast. The righteous have eaten your food and the angels send blessings upon you” (Reported by Abū Dā’ūd)

5.    Helping the needy and becoming more generous in giving charity to the poor. The Prophet (ﷺ) himself was more generous in the month of Ramadan.

6.    Being occupied with seeking knowledge, reading and studying the Qur’ān, citing adhkar, and citing the salawat to the Prophet (ﷺ) night and day. The angel Gabriel met the Prophet (ﷺ) in the nights of Ramadan and teaching him about the Qur’ān.

7.    Doing I’tikāf in the mosque, especially the last ten days of Ramadan

8.    Avoiding idle talk and deed which give no benefit.

9.    Taking bath before dawn for people who are in the state of janābah (major impurity), after menstruation, and nifās (delivery) for women.           (CIVIC, 9 June, 2017)

 المراجع:

المكتبة الشاملة

تفسير الطبري (ت. 310/922   (

تفسير القرطبى (611 - 671 هـ / 1214 - 1273 م(                        

تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774/ 1373(

 الزحيلى, أ.د. وهبة. الفقة الإسلامي وأدلته. ج 3. دمشق,  1427\2006

Khan, Dr. Muhammad Muhsin. Summarized Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.

Bin Jamil Zeno, Shaykh Muhammad. The Pillars of Islam & Iman. Riyadh: Dār al-Salām, 1416/1996

http://abuaminaelias.com/an-nawawi-on-the-virtue-of-giving-food-to-those-who-break-their-fasting/