continuation....
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IN THIS GREAT MONTH
Prepare yourselves and your environment for worship [by doing the following]:
- Hasten to repent and turn back to Allaah.
- Rejoice at the onset of this month.
- Fast properly.
- Have the correct frame of mind and fear Allaah when praying Taraaweeh.
- Do not become tired during the middle34 ten days of the month.
- Seek Laylat al-Qadr.
- Read the entire Qur`aan repetitively, try to weep, and try to understand what you are reading.
-'Umrah during Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj [performed with the Prophet (ﷺ)].
- Charity given during this virtuous time is multiplied.
- I'tikaaf (retreat in the mosque for worship) is a confirmed Sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ).
- There is nothing wrong with congratulating one another at the beginning of the month. The Prophet (ﷺ) used to tell his Companions the good news of the onset of Ramadan and urge them to make the most of it.
Abu Hurayrah (R.A) said:
"The Messenger of Allaah (ﷺ) said, 'There has come to you Ramadan, a blessed month. Allaah has made it obligatory on you to fast (this month). During it, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are locked, and the devils are chained up. In it there is a night that is better than a thousand months, and whoever is deprived of its goodness has indeed been deprived.' "
SOME RULINGS CONCERNING FASTING
(6) One kind of fasting is that which must be done on consecutive days, such as the fast of Ramadan, fasting in expiation for killing someone by mistake, divorcing one's wife by dhihaar, or having intercourse during
the day in Ramadan. Also, one who makes a vow to fast consecutive days must fulfill it.
Another kind of fasting is that which does not have to be done on consecutive days, such as making up days missed in Ramadan, fasting ten days if one does not have a sacrifice [in Hajj], fasting for breaking an sworn oath (according to the majority), fasting to compensate for violating the conditions of ihraam (according to the most correct opinion), and fasting in fulfilment of a vow in cases where one did not have the intention of fasting consecutive days.
(7) Voluntary fasts make up for shortcomings in the obligatory fasts. Examples of voluntary fasts include 'Aashooraa´, the Day of 'Arafah (for those not performing Hajj), Ayyaam al
-
Beed37, Mondays and Thursdays,
six days of Shawwaal, and the specifics fasts of Muharram and Sha'baan.
(8) It is not permitted to single out Friday for fasting38 or to fast on a Saturday unless it is an obligatory fast. What is intended here is singling it out without there being a valid reason. It is not permitted to fast for an
entire lifetime, or to fast for two days or more without a break (i.e., to fast two or three days [straight] without breaking one's fast each day after Maghrib).
It is haraam to fast on the two Eid days or on the Ayyaam al
-
Tashreeq
-
the 11th, 12th and 13th of Dhu'l
-
Hijjah,
-
for these are days of eating, drinking and remembering Allaah. It is permissible though for pilgrims performing Hajj to fast them (Ayyaam al
-
Tashreeq) in Minaa if they do not have a sacrifice to offer.
HOW IS THE ONSET OF RAMADAN DETERMINED?
(9) The onset of Ramadan is confirmed by the sighting of the new moon or by the completion of thirty days of Sha'baan. Whoever sees the crescent of the new moon or hears about it from a trustworthy source is obliged to
fast.
Using calculations to determine the onset of Ramadan is a bid'ah (innovation), because the hadeeth of the Prophet (ﷺ) clearly states:
"Fast when you see it (the new moon) and break your fast when you
see it."
If an adult, sane, trustworthy, reliable Muslim who has good eyesight says that he has seen the crescent with his own eyes, then we should take his word for it and act accordingly (i.e., start fasting).
TO BE CONTINUED INSHA ALLAH....
