Innal-Hamdulillah was-Salaatu was-Salaamu ‘Alaa
Rasoolillah
As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum wa-rahmatullah wa-barakaatu
RAMADAN MUBARAK TO YOU
ALL!!!
Sunnahs
Neglected in Ramadaan
Author: Imaam
Al-Albaanee
Source: Silsilah al-Hudaa
wan-Noor, Tape No. 590
Shaikh al-Albaanee, may Allaah have mercy upon him said,
"Allaah, the Exalted and Most High, says in the Noble Quraan:
'O you
who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before
you, so that you may become people having Taqwaa.' [Soorah al-Baqarah (2):
183]
So in this aayah, as will not be hidden to all those who are
present, Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, informs the Ummah of Muhammad (saws),
through this aayah, that He has made Fasting obligatory upon them just as He had
made its like obligatory upon the nations before us. This is a matter that is
well-known to all of the Muslims who read this aayah, and clearly understand its
meaning. But what I wish to speak about is something else, a matter which very
few of the general people notice - and this is the saying of Allaah, the Exalted
and Most High, at the end of this aayah:
'...So that you may become
people having Taqwaa.'
So Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, when He
commands His believing servants, or obligates them with some Legislation, (then
He) usually just mentions the command, without explaining the wisdom behind it.
This is because the general wisdom behind Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic¹s,
placing duties upon His servants is that He should test them by it, so that it
should become apparent (as to) those who will obey Him and those who will
disobey Him, the Exalted and Most High.
However in this aayah, He
mentioned something that is not found frequently in the Noble Quraan, which is
that He mentioned the reason for the order to Fast, by His Saying:
'...So that you may become people having Taqwaa.'
So the
wisdom behind the Believers' fasting is not just that they should prevent
themselves from enjoyable and permissible good things, even though this is an
obligation upon the fasting person - but this is not the only thing that is
required and intended by this Fasting. Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic,
concluded His command to fast by saying:
'...So that you may become
people having Taqwaa.'
Meaning: that the wisdom behind the
prescription of Fasting is that the Muslim should increase in obedience to
Allaah, the Exalted and Most High, in the month of Fasting, and become more
obedient than he was before it.
Also the Prophet (saws) clearly stated
and completely clarified this point of divine wisdom, by his (saws) saying, as
is reported in the Saheeh of al-Bukhaaree (no. 1903), that he (saws) said,
"Whoever does not abandon falsehood in speech and action, then Allaah has no
need that he should leave his food and drink." Meaning: that Allaah, the
Mighty and Majestic, did not intend and desire, by the obligation of Fasting -
which is to withhold for a stated time, well known to you all - that they should
only withhold from eating and drinking. Rather they should also withhold from
that which Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, has forbidden with regard to sins
and acts of disobedience to Him; and from that is falsehood in speech and
action.
So the Messenger (saws) is emphasizing the aayah:
'...So that you may become people having Taqwaa.'
i.e.
that you should, as an act of worship to draw you closer to Allaah, the Mighty
and Majestic, in addition to withholding from food and drink, also withhold from
forbidden actions such as backbiting, carrying tales to cause harm to people,
false witness, lying and so on, with regard to those forbidden manners that we
are all aware of.
Therefore it is obligatory that all the Muslims should
be aware that actions, which disrupt the Fast, are not just the physical acts,
which are generally known, which are eating, drinking and sexual intercourse.
The Fast is not just that you withhold from this. Therefore some of the scholars
differentiate, and divide those things which disrupt the Fast into two
categories, and this is what I intend by this talk of mine at this time that is
blessed, if Allaah wills.
This is especially important since those who
deliver Khutbahs and admonish the people during Ramadaan, when they speak about
those things which disrupt the Fast, then they only speak about the material
things, those things that we have just mentioned - eating, drinking and sexual
intercourse. But what they should do, as sincere advisers and people who give
reminder to the Muslims in general, is to concentrate a great deal upon the
second category of things which disrupt the Fast. This is because the people
have become used to thinking that Fasting is just to refrain from the first
category, to withhold from the material things. But there is another category of
things, which disrupt the Fast, which we are able to call the non-material
things that disrupt the Fast.
So you have just heard his (saws) saying,
"Whoever does not abandon falsehood in speech and action, then Allaah has no
need that he should leave his food and drink."
Therefore every
fasting person should examine himself and see: is he just withholding from the
material things, or is he also withholding from those non-material things?
Meaning: has he made his manners and behavior good when the blessed month of
Ramadaan comes? If that is the case, then he has fulfilled the Saying of Allaah,
the Exalted and Most High, at the end of the aayah:
'...So that you
may become people having Taqwaa.'
But as for the one who restricts
himself in his fasting to just withholding from food and drink, but who
continues and persists upon the evil manners which he was upon previously,
before Ramadaan, then this is not the Fasting that is desired and required from
the wisdom behind the legislation of this noble month, which our Lord, the
Mighty and Majestic indicates in His Saying:
'...So that you may
become people having Taqwaa.'
So therefore we advise and remind our
brother Muslims that they should remember this other category of things, those
that are non-material, which disrupt the Fast, and it is something which the
admonishers and those who seek to direct the people to the correct way rarely
speak about, not to mention the general people, who are not aware of this
category of things which disrupt the fast, i.e., the non-material things.
This is what I wanted to remind our brothers who are present in this
fine gathering about, if Allaah wills, so that it may be a cause for their
increasing in acts of worship, seeking to draw closer to Allaah, the Exalted and
Most High, in this blessed month, the month of Fasting, which is such that we
hope that Allaah, the Exalted and Most High, will guide and grant us all the
success of fulfilling the due right of this blessed month, which is that we
withhold from both the material and the non-material things that disrupt the
Fast.
Furthermore in addition to this, I hope that you will pay
attention to some affairs, which have been neglected by a majority of the
general Muslims, not to mention those having knowledge.
There is a
hadeeth that is very often neglected due to another hadeeth, because the
majority of people are unable to reconcile in practice and application between
them. This hadeeth is his (saws) saying, "My Ummah will continue to be upon
good for as long as they hasten to break the fast and delay the pre-dawn
meal."
So here two matters were mentioned, and they are neglected by
most of the people, and they are: hastening to break the fast, and delaying the
pre-dawn meal (Suhoor).
As for neglect of the first matter, which is
hastening to break the Fast, then in the view of some people it contradicts
another hadeeth, which is his (saws) saying, "My Ummah will continue to be
upon good for as long as they hasten to pray the Maghrib Prayer."
So
here we have two commands, to hasten with two matters. So it appears to some
people that we cannot hasten to perform both of them together.
But
reconciling between the command to hasten with breaking the Fast and the command
to hasten to pray the Maghrib Prayer is a very easy matter. So it is something
that our Prophet (saws) made clear to us by his action and practice. He (saws)
used to break the Fast with three dates. He would eat three dates. Then he would
pray the Maghrib Prayer, then he would eat again if he found that he needed to
eat the evening meal.
But today we fall into two offences:
(i)
Firstly we delay the Adhaan from its legislated time. Then after this
delay comes another delay, which is that we sit down for a meal - except for a
few people who are eager and pray the Maghrib Prayer in the mosque. But the
majority of the people wait until they hear the Adhaan, and then they sit
down to eat as if they are having a dinner, or their evening meal, and not just
breaking their fast.
So the Adhaan these days - in most of the
lands of Islaam, is, unfortunately, I have to say, and not just in Jordan, and I
have known this from investigation, in most of the lands of Islaam - the
Adhaan for Maghrib is given after the time it becomes due. And the reason
for this is that we have abandoned adhering to and applying the Islamic rulings,
and instead we have come to depend upon astronomical calculations. We depend
upon the timetable.
But these time-tables are based upon astronomical
calculations which count the land as being a single flat plane. So they give a
time for this flat plane, whereas the reality is that the land, particularly in
this land of ours varies, varying between the depression of valleys and the
elevation of mountains. So it is not correct that a single time be given which
covers the shore, the planes and the mountains. No, each part of the land has
its own time. So therefore whoever is able in his place of residence, in his
city or his village, to see the sun set with his own eye, then whatever time it
sets at, that is the hastening that we have been commanded with in his (saws)
saying, which we just mentioned: 'My Ummah will continue to be upon good as
long as they hasten to break the fast.' So the Prophet (saws) was careful to
implement this Sunnah by teaching it, and by putting it into practice.
As for his teaching, then he (saws) said, in the hadeeth reported by
al-Bukharee in his Saheeh (no. 1954), "If the night appears from this
side," and he pointed towards the east, "and the day has departed from
here," and he pointed towards the west, "and the sun has set, then the
fasting person's fast is broken"
What does 'the fasting person's
fast is broken' mean? It means he has entered under the ruling that he
should break his fast. So then comes the previous ruling where the Messenger
(saws) encouraged hastening to break the Fast, and the Messenger (saws) used to
implement this, even when he was riding on a journey.
So it is reported
in the Saheeh of al-Bukharee (no.1955) that the Prophet (saws) ordered one of
his Companions to prepare the Iftaar for him. So he replied, 'O Messenger of
Allaah it is still daytime before us.' Meaning: the light of the sun, so even
though it had set, yet its light was still clear in the west. So the Messenger
(saws) did not respond to what he had said, rather he re-emphasized the command
to him to prepare the Iftaar. So the narrator of the hadeeth who said, We could
see daylight in front of us,¹ meaning: the light of day, the light of the sun,
When we broke our fast,¹ said, "If one of us had climbed onto his camel he would
have seen the sun." The sun had set from here, and the Messenger (saws) ordered
one of the Companions to prepare the Iftaar - Why? To hasten upon good "My
Ummah will continue upon good for as long as they hasten to break the
Fast."
So what is important is that we notice that the Iftaar, which
is legislated to be hastened must be done with a few dates. Then we must hasten
to perform the Prayer. Then after this the people can sit and eat as they need.
This is the first matter, which I wanted to remind you of, and it is how
to reconcile the two things that the Prophet (saws) commanded we should hasten
to perform. The first being the command to hasten the breaking of the Fast, and
the second being the command to hasten the Maghrib Prayer. So the Iftaar should
be done with some dates, as occurs in the Sunnah, and if dates are not
available, then with some gulps of water. Then the Prayer should be prayed in
congregation in the mosque.
The other matter which I want to remind you
of is what occurs in the previous hadeeth, "And they delay the pre-dawn
meal" meaning: what is required here is the opposite to the case of the
Iftaar. So he (saws) commanded us to hasten to perform the Iftaar. But as for
the Suhoor, then it should be delayed. But what happens today is totally
contrary to this, since many people eat their Suhoor before the appearance of
Fajr by perhaps an hour. This is not befitting. This is contrary to the Sunnah
shown by the saying of the Prophet (saws) and by his practice. So the Companions
of the Prophet (saws) used to leave the Suhoor so late, that one of them would
almost hear the Adhaan and he would still be eating because he had delayed the
Suhoor.
Indeed there is an authentic hadeeth reported from the Prophet
(saws) which shows the ease afforded by Islaam, to be counted as one of the
principles of Islaam, which the Muslims are proud of, especially with regard to
the matter of Fasting, since Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, concluded the
aayahs concerning Fasting with His Saying:
'Allaah desires ease for
you, and He does not desire to make things difficult for you.
So
from this ease is his (saws) saying, "If one of you hears the call to Prayer
and the vessel is in the hand of one of you, then let him not put it down until
he fulfils his need from it."
" If one of you hears the call to
Prayer and the vessel" the vessel containing food, whether it be milk, some
drink, water, anything which a person may take as Suhoor, and he hears the
Adhaan, then he should not say, Now the food is forbidden due to the
Adhaan being heard. The person who has had enough, it is not allowed for
him to then have any more, whether it be a drink, or some fruit, when he has had
his fill of whatever he was eating.
But as for the one who hears the
Adhaan and he has not yet taken what he needs from the food and the
drink, then the Messenger (saws) made that lawful for him. So he clearly said,
in the clear and eloquent Arabic language, "If one of you hears the call to
Prayer, and the vessel is in his hand, then let him not put it down until he
fulfils his need from it."
And what is meant here by the call is the
second call, the second Adhaan. It is not the first Adhaan, which they
wrongly call the Adhaan of Imsaak (i.e. withholding). We must know
that there is no basis for calling the first Adhaan the Adhaan for
withholding (imsaak).
The second Adhaan is when we are to
withhold, and this is clearly stated in the Quraan, since Allaah, the Mighty and
Majestic, says:
'And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn
becomes clear to you from the black thread of the night.'
So eating
becomes forbidden at the start of the time of the Fajr Prayer. There is no
separation between these two things. There is no withholding from food and drink
for a quarter of an hour, or less than that, or more than that, before the start
of the time for the Fajr Prayer. Not at all.
Because the Prayer becomes
due when the true dawn appears, and food becomes forbidden for the fasting
person when the true dawn appears. So there is no separation between these two
matters at all.
So therefore there occurs in the hadeeth agreed upon by
al-Bukharee and Muslim, from the hadeeth of ¹Abdullaah Ibn ¹Umar Ibn al-Khattaab
(raa), that the Prophet (saws) said, "Let not the Adhaan of Bilaal deceive
you..." meaning, the first Adhaan, "...because he gives the Adhaan
in order to awaken the person who is sleeping, and so that the person who wishes
to eat the pre-dawn meal can do so. So eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktoon gives
the Adhaan."
Ibn Umm Maktoon, whose name was 'Amr, was a
blind man, and he was the one about whom the Saying of Allaah, the Exalted and
Most High, came down:
'He frowned and turned away, that a blind man
had come to him' to the end of the Ayaat.
So he used to give the
second Adhaan, the Adhaan which means that eating becomes
prohibited and that it is now time for the Fajr Prayer.
How did he used
to give the Adhaan when he was blind? This is a question, which naturally
occurs to some people. 'Amr Ibn Umm Maktoom used to climb on the roof of the
mosque, but he could not see the dawn, so he would wait until someone passing by
saw the dawn. So when someone saw that the dawn had appeared and spread across
the horizon, they would say to him, It is morning. It is morning. Then he
would give the Adhaan.
So you will notice here that the
Adhaan of 'Amr ibn Umm Maktoom was after the Fajr had appeared, and had
been seen by the people whilst they were walking in the streets. So when it was
said to him, "It is morning. It is morning," he would give the
Adhaan.
So therefore there is latitude in the affair, since the
muadhdhin would be delayed in giving the Adhaan until he heard the people
telling him, "It is morning, it is morning." And then Allaah¹s Messenger (saws)
said: "If one of you hears the call to Prayer and the vessel is in his hand,
then let him not put it down until he has fulfilled his need from
it."
So Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, spoke truly when He said at
the end of those Aayahs related to Fasting:
'Allaah desires to make
things easy for you, and He does not desire to make things difficult for
you.'
and '...that you should complete the number of days, and
that you should glorify Allaah by mentioning takbeer for His having
guided you, and that you should be thankful. '
So therefore from the
Fiqh that is to be criticized, and which runs contrary to this Sunnah, is that a
person says, "If someone hears the Adhaan and has some food in his mouth,
then he must spit it out." So this is over strictness, and (ghuluww)
exceeding the limits in the Religion, and the Lord of all of the creation
admonished us, and reminded us, in His Book and in the Sunnah of His Prophet
(saws) that we should not exceed the due limits in our Religion. So He said, in
the Noble Quraan:
'O People of the Book! Do not exceed the limits in
your religion, and do not say anything about Allaah except the
truth.'
And our Messenger (saws) said to us, or he (saws) said,
"Beware of (ghuluww) exceeding the limits in the Religion. Because
those who came before you were destroyed by their exceeding the limits in their
Religion."
So Allaah¹s Messenger (saws) has made it clear to us that
there is latitude and a margin of ease in the matter of a person's taking
suhoor, to the extent that he said: "If one of you hears the call to Prayer
whilst the vessel is in his hand, then let him not put it down until he has
completed his need from it."
So it is opposition to Allaah and to the
Messenger that a person says that one who hears the Adhaan whilst he has
food in his mouth must spit it out onto the ground. This is not from the Sunnah.
Rather this is contrary to the Sunnah, and is contrary to the clear command of
the Messenger (saws).
And I have been asked many times, so I will not
leave open the need for such a question, but rather I will precede you in
(answering) it, by stating that this hadeeth is to be found in some of the most
famous books of the Sunnah. From them being the Sunan of Aboo Daawood, and it is
the third book from the well-known six books. The first of which is
Saheehul-Bukhaaree, the second being Saheeh Muslim, and the third being the
Sunan of Aboo Daawood.
This hadeeth is to be found in it, and it is
likewise reported by Aboo 'Abdillaah al-Haakim in his Mustadrak, and it is
likewise reported by the Imaam of the Sunnah, Imaam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal,
rahimahullaah, in his tremendous book known as the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad.
So the hadeth is not a strange hadeeth, rather it is a well-known
hadeeth, and was reported by the Imaams of the Sunnah in the early times, and
with an authentic chain of narration.
So here I say, to conclude this
talk, since perhaps some of you have questions, which we will answer if Allaah
wills, so I will conclude it with his (saws) saying "Allaah loves that His
allowances be acted upon just as He loves that His prescribed duties be carried
out," and in one narration, "Just as He hates that disobedience to Him be
committed."
So there are two narrations, "Allaah loves that His
allowances be acted upon just as He loves that His prescribed duties be carried
out", and the second narration is, " as He hates that disobedience to Him
be committed."
So therefore the Muslim should not practice false
piety, and (as a result) refrain from obeying the Prophet (saws) in that which
he encouraged us upon and clarified to us.
And what has been said is
sufficient, and all praise is for Allaah, the Lord of all of the creation."