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Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Reward for Helping Others
Mosque (Medina). A certain person came to me and sat down. I said to
him, 'O so and so, you look sad'. He said, 'Yes of course, o fraternal
brother of the Prophet. So-and-so has his due on me, and by theone who
lies in eternal peace in the grave (i.e. Prophet Muhammad), I am not
able to pay the debt' I said, 'Should I not talk to him about your
debt?' He said, 'You can do so if you like' There upon I put my shoes
on and went out of the mosque. The person asked him, 'Have you
forgotten the state you were in (i.e. itikaaf)?' I replied, 'Not at
all, but I have heard rom the one who lies in eternal peace in the
grave [saying this his eyes became filled with tears], said:
"One who moves to fulfill any need of his brother, and makes effort
for it, will find it better than itikaaf of ten years; and one who
performs itikaaf for one day for the pleasure of Allah, he will create
a distance of three ditches between him and the hell - and each ditch
has a width which lies between East and West, or between the heaven
and earth."
Source: Al Targhib Vol II p 272.
By the blessings of Allah, we are approaching another Ramadan. For
most of us, we feel a little taste of hunger during this month only.
But thereare billions for whom it is a matter of daily life. Let us
get immense rewards by helping our needy brothers and sisters around
the world during this month of generosity./
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to help a heart Patiant: Address want to send Any Amount. * Write
to 'aydnajimudeen@ymail.com'
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The dhikr that is prescribed when breaking the fast
da'eef (weak), such as:
1 – Saying when breakingthe fast: "Allaahumma laka sumtu wa 'ala
rizqikaaftartu (O Allaah, for You Ihave fasted and by Your provision I
have broken the fast)."
2 – Ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah astaghfir Allaah as'aluka
al-jannah wa a'oodhu bika min al-naar (I bear witness that there is no
god but Allaah, I ask Allaah for forgiveness, I ask You for Paradise
and Iseek refuge with You from the Fire).
Is this prescribed, permissible, not permissible, makrooh, notvalid or haraam?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Saying du'aa' in the wordsmentioned when breaking the fast was
narrated in a da'eef (weak) hadeeth which was narrated by Abu Dawood
(2358) from Mu'aadh ibn Zuhrah, who heard that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say, when he broke his fast,
"Allaahumma laka sumtu was 'ala rizqika aftartu (O Allaah, for You
Ihave fasted and by Your provision I have broken the fast)."
There is no need for this, because we have the report narrated by Abu
Dawood (2357) from Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who
said: When the Messengerof Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) broke his fast, he would say: "Dhahaba al-zamau'a, wa
abtallat al-'urooq wa thabata al-ajr insha Allah (Thirst has gone, the
veins are moist, and the reward is assured, if Allaah wills)." This
hadeeth was classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
Secondly:
It is mustahabb for the fasting person to say du'aa' whilst he is
fasting and when breaking the fast, because of the reportnarrated by
Ahmad (8030) from Abu Hurayrah(may Allaah be pleased with him) who
said: We said: O Messenger of Allaah, when we see you our hearts are
softened and we are people of the Hereafter, but when we leave you we
are attracted by this world and by our womenfolk and children. He
said: "If you were always as you are when you are with me, the angels
would shake hands with you andthey would visit you in your houses. If
you did not commit sin, Allaah would bring another people who would
commit sin so that He could forgive them." He said: We said: O
Messenger of Allaah, tell us about Paradise, what isit built of? He
said: "Bricksof gold and bricks of silver; its mortar is musk, its
pebbles are pearls and rubies, its soil is saffron. Whoever enters it
will be happy and will never be miserable, he will abide therein
forever and never die. His clothes will never wear out and his youth
will never fade. There are three whose du'aa' will not be rejected: a
just ruler, a fasting person until he breaks the fast, and the prayer
of one who has been wronged. Itis borne on the clouds andthe gates of
heaven are opened for it, and the Lord, may He be glorified and
exalted, says: 'By My glory, I will grant you help even if it is after
some time.'"
This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by Shu'ayb al-Arna'oot in Tahqeeq al-Musnad.
It was also narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2525) with the words, "… the
fasting person when he breaks his fast…" This was classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
So you may ask Allaah for Paradise and seek refuge with Him from the
Fire, and you can pray for forgiveness, and offer other du'aa's that
are prescribed in Islam. As for the du'aa' in this particular form –
Ashhaduan laa ilaaha ill-Allaah astaghfir Allaah as'aluka al-jannah wa
a'oodhu bika min al-naar (I bear witness that there is no god but
Allaah, I ask Allaah for forgiveness, I ask You for Paradise and Iseek
refuge with You from the Fire) – we could not find any source for it.
And Allaah knows best.
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The virtue of giving iftaar to one who is fasting
Praise be to Allaah.
It was narrated that Zayd ibn Khaalid al-Juhani said: The Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever
gives iftaar to one who is fasting will have a reward like his,
without that detracting from the reward of the fasting person in the
slightest."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 807; Ibn Maajah, 1746. Classed as saheeh by
Ibn Hibaan, 8/216 and by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami, 6415.
Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] said: What is meant by giving him
iftaar is giving him enough to satisfy him. Al-Ikhtiyaaraat, p. 194
The righteous salaf were keen to provide food for others and they
thought that this was one of the best of righteous deeds.
One of the salaf said: For me to invite ten of my companions and feed
them food that they like is dearer to me than freeing ten of the sons
of Ismaa'eel from slavery.
Many of the salaf used to give up their iftaar for others, such as
'Abd-Allaah ibn Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him), Dawood
al-Taa'i, Maalik ibn Dinar and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Ibn 'Umar used only
to break his fast with orphans and the poor andneedy.
There were among the salaf those who used to offer food to their
brothers whilst fasting, and they would sit and serve them, such as
al-Hasan and Ibn al-Mubaarak.
Abu al-Siwaar al-'Adawi said: Men from the tribe of Banu 'Adiyy used
to pray in this mosque and not one of them would break his fast on his
own; if they found someone to join them they would eat with him,
otherwise they would take their food out to the mosque and eat with
the people, and the people would eat with them.
From the 'ibaadah of providing food for people stem many other acts of
worship such as creating love and friendship towards those who are
given the food, which is a means of entering Paradise, as the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "You will not enter
Paradise until you truly believe, and you will not truly believe until
you love one another." Narrated by Muslim, 54. It also fosters the
practice ofsitting with righteous people and seeking reward by helping
them to do acts of worship for which they gain strength by eating your
food.
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He told his wife to make food for him during the day in Ramadan!
with us during the month of Ramadan. After we hadfasted for one week
of themonth, my daughter's husband went with his friends for an
excursion, and the shaytaan tempted them and they ate and drank during
the day in Ramadan. On the morning of the next day, my daughter's
husband asked her to make food for him but she refused. He swore that
he would divorce her if she did not make it, and she swore that she
would not make it. In order to get out of this situation, I asked my
son's wife to make food for him and she refused, but I forced her to
do it, so she made food for him reluctantly, and he sat and ate on his
own and none of us ate with him. Were we sinning in this case? What do
we have todo in order to expiate thissin?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There is no doubt that breaking the fast in Ramadan with no legitimate
excuse is a major sin and grave evil. If it is done because of an
excuse such as travelling -- which means a journey of approximately 70
or 80km, which is the distance that could be covered in one night on
mounts and on foot, which is what is called travelling -- there
isnothing wrong with breaking the fast in this case. But if one is at
homeor on the outskirts of the city, that is not called travelling and
breaking the fast in this case is a major sin. The one who helps the
person to break his fast shares with him inthe sin, because Allah, may
He be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness
andpiety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression"
[al-Maa'idah 5:2].
The one who helps a person who breaks the fast in Ramadan without an
excuse, by offering himfood or coffee or tea or any other food or
drink is a sinner who is a partner in sin with the one who breaks the
fast, but his fast is still valid and is not invalidated by his
helping that person. But he is a sinner and he has to repent to Allah.
As you forced your daughter or your son's wife to make the food, you
have to repent to Allah. You did wrong by telling her to make food for
him. She did right by not obeying him, because there is no obedience
to acreated being if it involvesdisobedience towards the Creator. The
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Obedience is
only in that which is right and proper." If her husband ordered her to
bring him food during the day in Ramadan, without any excuse that
would make it permissible for him to break the fast, such as sickness
or travelling, she has no right to help him to do that which Allah
hasforbidden, even if he gets angry or divorces her, because obedience
to Allah takes precedence over obedience to one's husband or father or
ruler,because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "Obedience is only in that which is right and proper"; he also
said: "There is no obedience to any created being if it involves
disobedience towards Allah."
This man is not regarded as a traveller because he stayed with them
for a week and it seems that hehad decided to stay for more than four
days. This means that he was obliged to fast according to the correct
scholarly view, which is the view ofthe majority of scholars. As they
had decided to stay for more than four days with their in-laws, they
should have fasted with them. If the stay is four days or less, they
are not obliged to fast because they are travellers, but if they do
fast, there is nothing wrong with that. But as they intended to stay
with them for more than four days, what they should have done in this
case is fast, so as to avoid an area of scholarly disagreement and so
as tofollow the view of the majority, because the basic principle is
that one should fast in Ramadan, and there is some doubt as to whether
it was permissible to break the fast. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)
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The fasting person should try hard eat sahoor even if it is a little
hear in the hadeeths that are quoted in the mosques that sahoor is a
blessing. But sometimes we do not want to eat sahoor because we had
supper late, so we omit this blessing. Is there any sin on us for
that?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There is no doubt that sahoor is a Sunnah and anact of worship,
because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
enjoined that. He said: "Eat sahoor, for insahoor there is barakah
(blessing)." And he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"The difference between our fasting and the fasting of the people of
the Book is eating sahoor." The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) used to eat sahoor, so sahoor isSunnah but it is not
obligatory. The one who does not eat sahoor is notsinning but he is
forsakinga Sunnah.
So people should eat sahoor even if it is only a little; it does not
have to be a lot. So one should eatsahoor using whatever is available,
whether it is a few dates or some other kind of food, at the end ofthe
night. If there is no food or he does not feel like eating, then he
can drink a little milk or at least water, whatever he can, and he
should not forgo sahoor, because there is barakah and a great deal of
goodness in eating it; it will help the fasting person in whatever he
does during the day. So the fasting person should not forgo sahoor
even if it is a little, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "Eat sahoor, for in sahoor there is barakah
(blessing)." This is what the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said, and this kind of barakah should not be ignored; rather
thebeliever should be keen to attain it even if that is by eating a
small amount of food or dates or milk, which will help him in both
religious and worldly acts during the day. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)
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Should Maghrib prayer be given precedence over food or should food be given precedence over prayer?
distracted by eating until the time for Maghrib prayer ends, and if
you ask them they tell you: There is no prayer in the presence of
food. Is it permissible to quote these words as evidence, because the
time for Maghrib is short? Now what should I do? Should I break my
fast with somedates and then pray Maghrib and after that finish
eating, or should I finish eating completely and then pray Maghrib?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The Sunnah is for the fasting person to hasten to break the fast as
soon as he is certain that the sun has set, because of the hadeeths
"The people will continue to be fine solong as they hasten to break
the fast" and "The most beloved of the slaves of Allah to Allah
arethose who are quickest tobreak the fast." The best way for the one
who is fasting is to break his fast with a few dates, then delay
eating until after Maghrib prayer, so that hemay combine the Sunnah of
hastening to break the fast and praying Maghrib at the beginning of
its time, in congregation, following the example of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
With regard to the hadeeths, "There is no prayer in the presence of
food or when resisting the urge to relieve oneself" and "If 'Isha' and
dinner come at the same time, start with dinner," and similar reports,
what is meant is if a person is offered food or if he comes to eat,
then he should start with the foodbefore praying, so that he can pray
without his mindbeing focused on the foodand his prayer then will be
offered with proper focus and humility. But heshould not ask for food
tobe brought before praying if that means thathe will miss out on
offering the prayer at the beginning of its time or praying in
congregation.
And Allah is the source of strength; may Allah send blessings and
peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and Companions. End
quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez Aal al-Shaykh,
Shaykh 'Abd-Allah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh Saalih al-fawzaan, Shaykh Bakr
Abu Zayd.
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