Sunnahs Neglected in Ramadhan

موضوع: Sunnahs Neglected in Ramadhan الجمعة مايو 31, 2013 9:02 pm

Question: "Could the Shaikh give us some words of benefit for the blessed month of Ramadaan, on this fine occasion?"
Shaikh al-Albaanee, may Allah have mercy upon him replied:
"Allah, 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, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, informs the Ummah of Muhammad, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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 Allah, the Exalted and Most High, at
the end of this aayah:
So that you may become people having Taqwaa.
Sunnahs Neglected in Ramadhan Roma.19

So
Allah, 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 for it. This
is because the general wisdom behind Allah, 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 of Taqwaa.
So
the wisdom behind the Believers to fast is not just that they should
prevent themselves from enjoyable and permissible and 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. So Allah,
the Mighty and Majestic, concluded His command to fast by His Saying:
So that you may become people of Taqwaa.
Meaning:
that the wisdom behind the prescription of Fasting is that the Muslim
should increase in obedience to Allah, the Exalted and Most High, in the
month of Fasting, and become more obedient than he was before it.
Then the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, clearly stated and completely clarified this point of divine wisdom, by his, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,Saheeh of al-Bukhaaree (no. 1903), that he sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, said, "Whoever does not abandon falsehood in speech and action, then Allah has no need that he should leave his food and drink."
Meaning: that Allah, 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
Allah, 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. saying, as is reported in the
So the Messanger, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, is emphasizing the aayah:
So that you may become people of Taqwaa.
i.e.
that you should, as an act of worship to draw you closer to Allah, 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 Allah 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 which disrupt the Fast.
So you have just heard his, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,
saying, "Whoever does not abandon falsehood in speech and action, then
Allah 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
behaviour good when the blessed month of Ramadaan comes? If that is the case, then he has fulfilled the Saying of Allah, the Exalted and Most High, at the end of the aayah:
So that you may become people of Taqwaa.
But
as for he 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 of Taqwaa.
Sunnahs Neglected in Ramadhan Boo5

Therefore
we advise and remind our brother and sister Muslims that they should
remind 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 and sisters who are present in
this fine gathering about, if Allah wills, so that it may be cause of
their increasing in acts of worship seeking to draw closer to Allah, the
Exalted and Most High, in this blessed month, the month of Fasting,
which is such that we hope that Allah, 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 which disrupt the Fast.
Then
in addition to this word, I hope that you will pay attention to some
affairs which have been neglected by the majority of the general
Muslims, indeed and also by those having knowledge.
There is a hadeeth which is very often neglected because of another hadeeth, because the majority of people are unable to reconcile in practice and application between them. So this hadeeth is his, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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 which our Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, made clear to us by his action and practice. So he, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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:
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 plain, 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 plains 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, then that is the hastening
that we have been commanded with in his, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,
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 sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, was careful to implement this Sunnah by teaching it, and by putting it into practice.
As for his teaching, then he, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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 persons fast is broken."
What does, 'the Fasting persons 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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, encouraged hastening to break the Fast, and the Messenger, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, used to implement this, even when he was riding on a journey.
Sunnahs Neglected in Ramadhan Shaw31

So it is reported in the Saheeh of al-Bukharee (no.1955) that the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, ordered one of his Companions to prepare the Iftaar
for him. So he replied, O Messenger of Allah it is still daytime
before us.¹ Meaning: the light of the sun, so even though it had set,
yet its light was still clear in the west. So the Messenger, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, did not respond to what he had said, rather he re-emphasised the command to him to prepare the Iftaar. So the narrator of the hadeeth
who said, "We could see daylight in front of us (meaning: the light of
day, the light of the sun) when we broke our fast," said, "If one of us
had climbed onto his camel he would have seen the sun." The sun had set
from their location, and the Messenger, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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 of, and it is how to reconcile the two matters which the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,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 pray in congregation in the mosque. Then the other
matter which I want to remind 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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, and by his practice. So the Companions of the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, used to leave the Suhoor so late, that one of them would almost hear the Adhaan and he would still be eating. He delayed the Suhoor.
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 to perform the
Indeed there is an authentic hadeeth reported from the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,
which shows the ease afforded by Islaam, which is 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 Allah, the Mighty and
Majestic, concluded the aayahs concerning Fasting with His Saying:
Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire to make things difficult for you.
So from this ease is his, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,
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
he has had his fill of whatever he was eating, then it is not allowed
for him to then have any more, whether it be a drink, or some fruit."
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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,
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 for withholding (al-Imsaak). 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 Allah, 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, radiyAllahu ¹anhumaa, that the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, 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, and his name was 'Amr, he was a blind man, and he was the
one about whom the Saying of Allah, the Exalted and Most High, came
down: He frowned and turned away, that the blind man came to him." to
the end of the Aayahs.
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 had he used to give the adhaan
when he was blind? This is a question which naturally occurs to some
people. So 'Amr ibn Umm Maktoom used to climb upon the roof of the
mosque, and he could not see the dawn, but he would wait until someone
passing by saw the dawn. So when someone saw that the dawn had appeared
and spread across the horizon, then 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 the 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 Allah¹s Messenger, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam,
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 Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, spoke truly when He said at the end of those Aayahs relating to Fasting: Allah desires to make things easy for you, and He does not desire to make things difficult for you.
and,
And that you should complete the number of days, and that you should glorify Allah by mentioningtakbeer for His having guided you, and that you should be thankful.
So therefore from the Fiqh that is to be criticised, and which runs contrary to this Sunnah, is that a person says, "If someone hears the Adhaanghuluww)
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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, that we should not exceed the due limits in our Religion. So He said, in the Noble Quraan: and has some food in his mouth, then he must spit it out." So this is over-strictness, and (
O people of the Book! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not say anything about Allah except the truth.
And our Messenger sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam 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 when Allah¹s Messenger, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, has made it clear to us that there is in the matter of a persons taking suhoor,
latitude and a margin of ease, 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 Allah 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 upon 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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam.
And I have been asked many times, so I will not leave the need for such
a question, but rather I will precede you in 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 Abdullaah al-Haakim in his Mustadrak, and it is likewise reported by the Imaam, the Imaam of the Sunnah 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 Allah wills, so I conclude it with
his, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, saying "Allah 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, "Allah 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, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, in that which he encouraged us upon and clarified to us.
And what has been said is sufficient, and all praise is for Allah, the Lord of all of the creation."

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