Sermon of the Prophet(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) welcoming Ramadhaan
Salman(R.A.) of Persia related to us that "the Apostle of God (sallallaho
alaihi wa sallam) delivered a sermon on the last day of the month of Shaban."
In it, he said: "O’ people ! A blessed month is casting its shadow upon you ; a
night of this month (the Night of Power) is better than a thousand months ;
Allah has prescribed the fasts of this month and ordered as a supererogatory
worship the standing up in his presence (i.e.; the offering up of Taraweeh
prayers ) during its nights ( on which there is great reward ). Whoever will
offer, in it, a non - obligatory ( i.e.; Sunnat or Nafl ) prayer with the
object of seeking the countenance of the Lord, will get a reward identical in
value to the reward on a Fardh ( i.e.; obligatory) prayer on the other days of
the year. It is the month of patient perseverance and the reward on patient
perseverance is Paradise, and it is the month of kindness and compassion. It is
the month in which the sustenance of the faithful bondsman is increased.
Whoever will invite a person who is fasting to break the fast with him will get
the same reward as the one who was
fasting and there will be no reduction in his reward either. Upon it, It was
enquired from the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) `Everyone of us does
not have the means to ask (people) to break the fast with him. (So, will he
remain deprived of the great reward ?) The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam) replied `Allah will give the reward to him (also) who will have a
person who is fasting break the fast with a little milk or a draught of water.`
(Continuing the prophet observed): ` And whoever will feed fasting person with
a full meal (at the time of breaking the fast), God will satiate him in such a
manner from my pond (i.e.; Kausar) that, after it, he will not feel thirsty
until he has reached heaven.( After it, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam) said) : `The first part of this blessed month is Mercy, the second part
is Forgiveness, and the third part is Freedom from the Fire of Hell.` (After
it, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)
said ): `Whoever will make a reduction in the work of his slave or servant,
Allah will forgive him and grant him Freedom from Hell.` - Baihaqi
Commentary: The purport of the above Hadith is clear. Yet we will offer a few
comments on some of the points here.
(I) The first and the greatest virtue of the month Ramadan is that there occurs
during it a night which is better than thousand nights but months. It has,
also, been mentioned , as we know, in Sura-i -Qadr of the Quran. In fact, the
whole of the Surah deals with the suspiciousness and splendour of this night
which it should be enough to appreciate its worth and importance.
Approximately, one thousand months thirty thousand nights. The superiority of
the Night of Power to a thousand months should, therefore, be taken to mean
that the devotees who are keenly desirous to earn the good graces of the Lord
and His propinquity can make as much progress in one night as in a thousand
other nights. Just as in the material world we see that by a jet propelled
aeroplane one can, nowadays, cover as much distance in a day as, or even in an
hour, as we done in a hundred years in the past, the rate of advance of the
earnest seekers of the countenance of the Lord, too, is increased so greatly in
the night of Power that they can attain in it was is possible in hundreds of
months.
The Prophet's (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) remark that if a person will seek
the propitiation of Allah, in the month of Ramadan, by performing a
superogatory act, it will be treated as equal in recompense to the fulfilment
of an obligatory duty in the other days of the year and if he will fulfil an
obligatory duty during it, it will be treated as equal in recompense to the
fulfilment of seventy obligatory duties during the rest of the year should be
seen in the same light. Thus, while the superiority of the Night of Power
peculiar to a particular night of Ramadan, the fetching of seventy times reward
by a virtuous act is the characteristic attribute of every day and night of the
blessed month.
(ii) Ramadan has been described in the sermon quoted above as the month of
fortitude and compassion. In the Islamic usage `fortitude` signifies the
suppression of sensual desires and urges and endurance of painful and
unpleasant things the sake of learning the good pleasure of Allah. This is what
fasting stands for, from the beginning to the end. In the same way, while
fasting the bondsman has an experience of the rigours of starvation, and, from
it, he learn to feel for and sympathise with those who are forced by their
circumstances to go hungry.
(iii) It, also, tell that, in this month, the provision of the truthful
bondsman is augmented. The experience of every fasting believer is that he more
and better to eat and drink during Ramadan than in the other eleven months of
the year. In whatever way or through whatever course this increase may take
place in this world of cause and effect, it by the command of Allah in any
case.
(iv) At the end of the sermon it is said that the first part of the month of
Ramadan is Mercy, the second part is Forgiveness, and the third is Freedom from
the Fire of Hell.
The most satisfactory explanation of it, in our view, is that there can be
three kinds of bondsmen who avail themselves of the boon and blessings of
Ramadan. Firstly, the pious souls who habitually take care not to commit a sin,
and if they ever fall into error, they immediately make amends for it through
sincere repentance. On these bondsmen the Mercy of the Lord begins to descend
from the very first night of Ramadan. Secondly, those who are not so pure in
the heart but are not altogether bereft of the fear of Allah as well. such
Bondsmen improve their state and make themselves deserving of the Mercy and
Forgiveness through fasting, repentance and other virtuous acts during this
part of Ramadan, the decision for their forgiveness is taken in the second part
of the month. Thirdly, those who have been unjust and have made themselves
wholly worthy of Hell through their misconduct . When even they atone somewhat
for their sinfulness through fasting and
repentance along with the common Muslims during the first and second parts of
Ramadan, Allah decides upon their freedom from Hell during the last one-third
of the month when the Divine benevolence is at its peak.
FROM Meaning and Message of the Traditions
BY SHAYKH Mohammad Manzoor Nomani (RA
Fiqh: (Hanafi)
Masaa'il Pertaining to the Saum of Ramadhaan
1. The Saum of Ramadhaan is Fardh. The one who denies the fardhiyaat (being
Fardh) of the Saum of Ramadhaan becomes a kaaflf while one who accepts its
fardhiyaat but neglects its observance is described as a faasiq.
2. The Saum of Ramadhaan commences, when the sighting of the Ramadhaan hilaal
(crescent moon) has been confmned in accordance with the rules of Shariat.
Niyyat for the Saum of Ramadhaan should be renewed each day. A single niyyat at
the beginning of Ramadhaan will not suffice for the Saum of the entire month.
Partaking of the Sahri meal will be an adequate niyyat for the validity of the
Saum. While it is better to recite a verbal niyyat as well, the mere act of
rising from sleep to participate in Sahri with the intention of fasting
constitutes the actual niyyat.
3. If on account of a reason accepted as valid by the Shariah, one does not
fast during Ramadhaan, one should not eat in the presence of others.
4. If a woman ' s haidh begins during the course of the fasting day, the fast
is not valid It is not incumbent to abstain from eating during the remaining
part of the day. However, she should not eat in the presence of others.
5. A woman whose haidh ends during the course of the day (i.e. during
Ramadhaan) should compulsorily abstain from eating, etc. Her fast on the
particular day her haidh ended is not valid. Hence, she has to make qadhaa in
spite of having to refrain from eating etc., on that day.
6. A fast of Ramadhaan broken deliberately without valid reason, after having
made the niyyat for fasting during the night, i.e. before Subah Saadiq brings
about the penalty of Kaffaarah. Kaffaarah for flagrantly breaking a fast of
Ramadhaan is to fast 60 consecutive days -sixty days,one after another, without
missing any day in between.
