Ron-Kid
HasbunAllahu wa ni`mal Wakil '
How to Prepare for Ramadaan
The Muhaddith of Egypt, al-‘allaamah Ahmad
Muhammad Shaakir, may Allaah have mercy upon
him
The month of Ramadaan has almost approached you
– the month of fasting, the month of worship, the
month of the elevation of the soul and its
purification.
You may reach tomorrow morning as fasting people –
have you made the necessary preparations for
meeting it? Have you taken yourselves into account,
counting the good you have done, praising Allah for it
and asking Him to increase upon it, or the evil you
have done so that you can be sorry for it and repent
to Allaah and seek His forgiveness from it and asking
Him to protect you from returning to it?
This is how the month of Ramadaan is to be received.
I fear that many people understand that Ramadan is
to be received with official celebrations; preparing for
excellence in food and drink; preparing different kinds
of cuisine and drink; preparing different types of
games and amusement for the late evenings and not
thinking beyond this!
O respected people! Allaah has legislated fasting for
you as a purification of your souls and as a means of
protection for the soul against the tyranny of the
body and its desires – He did not legislate it solely
that you taste the pangs of hunger and thirst of drink.
For this reason the messenger of Allaah sall Allaahu
‘alahi wa sallam said, “Whoever does not give up
lying speech (false statements) and acting on those
lies and evil actions, etc., Allaah is not in need of his
leaving his food and drink.” [al-Bukhaari: 1903].
Allaah prescribed upon us fasting the day of
Ramadaan and standing its night; He made it a month
of worship with remembrance of Allaah, recitation of
the Qur’aan and frequent prayer – especially the
night prayer, the reward for which He has made the
greatest reward.
And in the authentic hadeeth on the authority of the
messenger of Allaah sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,
“Every action of the son of Aadam is multiplied – a
good deed is worth tenfold to 700 times its value.
Allaah says, ‘Except for fasting, which is for Me, and I
will give the reward for it. [the son of Aadam] leaves
their desires and subsistence for my sake’. There are
two pleasures for the person observing the fast – one
at the time of breaking the fast and the other at the
time when he will meet his lord. And the breath of
the fasting person is sweeter smelling for Allaah than
the fragrance of musk.” [Muslim: 1151].
O respected people, indeed I see many of that which
we have taken as customs during fasting that negates
its reality – rather that which diminishes its reward –
rather that which increases an individual in sin. We
have understood the standing of the night [qiyyaam
al-layl] to be staying awake at night. We have begun
spending our evenings in cafes, not thinking about
anything other than amusement and games until very
late at night. Then we eat whatever we wish to eat
and awaken exhausted and tired – our chests
tightened, our senses muddled and our manners ill to
the extent that two people will not talk except that
anger is flared up, turmoil ensues and coarse
language follows – as is what you see the case being.
You all know as you may excuse your companion as
he is fasting. And I do not make anyone an exception
to this – except those who Allaah has protected.
So look, ponder and compare this widespread
irregular state when fasting with the saying of the
messenger of Allaah sall Allaahu ‘alahi wa sallam, “So
when it is the day of the fast of one of you, there is
no sexual relations with one’s wife, nor behaving
foolishly and impudently and if someone curses or
fights with them, they should say, ‘I am
fasting.’” [Muslim: 1151].
And this is because th fasting individual should have a tranquil soul,
pleasing character, who put at the fore of their minds
that fasting is a barrier for them against sin; against
bad character; against disobedience; against idle
speech and against evil talk and acting upon it.
And that which is befitting during this blessed month,
if you pay heed to my advice, is that you adhere to
your legislated way [Shariyyah] in your fasting – that
you are moderate in your eating and drinking when
breaking fast and at suhoor and that you dedicate
your evenings, if you stay awake in the evenings, to
reciting the Qur’aan and pondering over its
meanings. And whosoever from you has the ability to
stand in prayer, then they should do so. And that is
that they pray what Allaah wills in their house or
masjid. And this is the Salaati Taraaweeh, that has
been changed from its original form. Those praying
now flip speedily shortly after salaatil Ishaa, in a
prayer that does not benefit, nor is accepted. The
prayer is that which has humility and tranquillity in it
and the more the person praying delays it till after
the last third of the night, the better.
Then you should sleep that which Allaah wills you to
sleep and then wake up before salaatil Fajr and eat a
light meal for suhoor and then pray Fajr. Then, if you
wish, you can sleep or begin going about your
business and affairs.
As for those who eat just before going to bed and
then wake until after the sun has risen, they have
contravened the sunnah of Islaam with regards to the
suhoor and I fear that their abandoning of the Fajr
prayer will negate the reward they receive from their
fast. So in reality, they have neither fasted, nor
eaten. And Allaah has no need for them to leave their
food and drink, as they have not followed His
command, nor have they taken the sunnah of His
prophet as they have purposefully left off Salatul Fajr
in its correct time.
O respected people: The nations are presently melting
in fire, as a punishment of that which they have
disbelieved in from the favours of Allaah. And
perhaps Allaah has protected the Islaamic states from
much of that which afflicts other than them for a
wisdom He knows and a great occurance He is saving
for them – that He returns Islaam to its glory. That
the Muslims are rulers of the world as they once
were. However, this is if they are [true] Muslims,
adhering to their religion, establishing His Shariyyah
and seeking guidance by His guidance.
So seek lessons [from this] and fear your lord, for you
may see those who dilute the Muslims with evil
actions that I fear Allaah will blind them with
punishment by reason of it. And you will see those
outwardly declaring their evil deeds, not fearing
Allaah or feeling shame from the people, or fearing
the consequences of that which they do.
And from that which we see them doing, outwardly
calling their lord to war, is their openly breaking fast
in Ramadaan in the streets, public spaces and
government buildings, claiming that they are seeking
solace in that which they claim is freedom of the
individual. But freedom is not like this and this is not
how the nations should be in their adherence to their
cultures and the manifest signs of their religion. This
action harms the truthful Muslims in their
consciousness and their hearts.
And Allaah has given success to the righteous one,
the noble leader, he of the lofty rank, Mustapha an-
Nuhaas, as he recently had a great book published in
this regard, to preserve the nobility of the Muslims,
ease their consciousness and lift the hurt from their
hearts and ordered that none breaking fast in
Ramadaan should openly declare their breaking of the
fast – Muslim or non-Muslim – out of respect for this
ummah’s right to adhere to the tenets of its faith and
practices. His actions have been the actions of a man
who knows what he wants and knows how to put
matters in their rightful places.
Seeking His aid, and relying upon Him,
Ahmad Muhammad Shaakir
1361AH
Source: Jamharatu Maqaalaatul ‘Allaamatish Shaykh
Ahmad Muhammad Shaakir, Daar Riyadh 1426AH
(1/421).
www.ashabulhadeeth.com/2013/07/01/how-to-meet-ramadaan-al-allaamah-ahmad-muhammad-shaakir-may-allaah-have-mercy-upon-him/
The Muhaddith of Egypt, al-‘allaamah Ahmad
Muhammad Shaakir, may Allaah have mercy upon
him
The month of Ramadaan has almost approached you
– the month of fasting, the month of worship, the
month of the elevation of the soul and its
purification.
You may reach tomorrow morning as fasting people –
have you made the necessary preparations for
meeting it? Have you taken yourselves into account,
counting the good you have done, praising Allah for it
and asking Him to increase upon it, or the evil you
have done so that you can be sorry for it and repent
to Allaah and seek His forgiveness from it and asking
Him to protect you from returning to it?
This is how the month of Ramadaan is to be received.
I fear that many people understand that Ramadan is
to be received with official celebrations; preparing for
excellence in food and drink; preparing different kinds
of cuisine and drink; preparing different types of
games and amusement for the late evenings and not
thinking beyond this!
O respected people! Allaah has legislated fasting for
you as a purification of your souls and as a means of
protection for the soul against the tyranny of the
body and its desires – He did not legislate it solely
that you taste the pangs of hunger and thirst of drink.
For this reason the messenger of Allaah sall Allaahu
‘alahi wa sallam said, “Whoever does not give up
lying speech (false statements) and acting on those
lies and evil actions, etc., Allaah is not in need of his
leaving his food and drink.” [al-Bukhaari: 1903].
Allaah prescribed upon us fasting the day of
Ramadaan and standing its night; He made it a month
of worship with remembrance of Allaah, recitation of
the Qur’aan and frequent prayer – especially the
night prayer, the reward for which He has made the
greatest reward.
And in the authentic hadeeth on the authority of the
messenger of Allaah sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,
“Every action of the son of Aadam is multiplied – a
good deed is worth tenfold to 700 times its value.
Allaah says, ‘Except for fasting, which is for Me, and I
will give the reward for it. [the son of Aadam] leaves
their desires and subsistence for my sake’. There are
two pleasures for the person observing the fast – one
at the time of breaking the fast and the other at the
time when he will meet his lord. And the breath of
the fasting person is sweeter smelling for Allaah than
the fragrance of musk.” [Muslim: 1151].
O respected people, indeed I see many of that which
we have taken as customs during fasting that negates
its reality – rather that which diminishes its reward –
rather that which increases an individual in sin. We
have understood the standing of the night [qiyyaam
al-layl] to be staying awake at night. We have begun
spending our evenings in cafes, not thinking about
anything other than amusement and games until very
late at night. Then we eat whatever we wish to eat
and awaken exhausted and tired – our chests
tightened, our senses muddled and our manners ill to
the extent that two people will not talk except that
anger is flared up, turmoil ensues and coarse
language follows – as is what you see the case being.
You all know as you may excuse your companion as
he is fasting. And I do not make anyone an exception
to this – except those who Allaah has protected.
So look, ponder and compare this widespread
irregular state when fasting with the saying of the
messenger of Allaah sall Allaahu ‘alahi wa sallam, “So
when it is the day of the fast of one of you, there is
no sexual relations with one’s wife, nor behaving
foolishly and impudently and if someone curses or
fights with them, they should say, ‘I am
fasting.’” [Muslim: 1151].
And this is because th fasting individual should have a tranquil soul,
pleasing character, who put at the fore of their minds
that fasting is a barrier for them against sin; against
bad character; against disobedience; against idle
speech and against evil talk and acting upon it.
And that which is befitting during this blessed month,
if you pay heed to my advice, is that you adhere to
your legislated way [Shariyyah] in your fasting – that
you are moderate in your eating and drinking when
breaking fast and at suhoor and that you dedicate
your evenings, if you stay awake in the evenings, to
reciting the Qur’aan and pondering over its
meanings. And whosoever from you has the ability to
stand in prayer, then they should do so. And that is
that they pray what Allaah wills in their house or
masjid. And this is the Salaati Taraaweeh, that has
been changed from its original form. Those praying
now flip speedily shortly after salaatil Ishaa, in a
prayer that does not benefit, nor is accepted. The
prayer is that which has humility and tranquillity in it
and the more the person praying delays it till after
the last third of the night, the better.
Then you should sleep that which Allaah wills you to
sleep and then wake up before salaatil Fajr and eat a
light meal for suhoor and then pray Fajr. Then, if you
wish, you can sleep or begin going about your
business and affairs.
As for those who eat just before going to bed and
then wake until after the sun has risen, they have
contravened the sunnah of Islaam with regards to the
suhoor and I fear that their abandoning of the Fajr
prayer will negate the reward they receive from their
fast. So in reality, they have neither fasted, nor
eaten. And Allaah has no need for them to leave their
food and drink, as they have not followed His
command, nor have they taken the sunnah of His
prophet as they have purposefully left off Salatul Fajr
in its correct time.
O respected people: The nations are presently melting
in fire, as a punishment of that which they have
disbelieved in from the favours of Allaah. And
perhaps Allaah has protected the Islaamic states from
much of that which afflicts other than them for a
wisdom He knows and a great occurance He is saving
for them – that He returns Islaam to its glory. That
the Muslims are rulers of the world as they once
were. However, this is if they are [true] Muslims,
adhering to their religion, establishing His Shariyyah
and seeking guidance by His guidance.
So seek lessons [from this] and fear your lord, for you
may see those who dilute the Muslims with evil
actions that I fear Allaah will blind them with
punishment by reason of it. And you will see those
outwardly declaring their evil deeds, not fearing
Allaah or feeling shame from the people, or fearing
the consequences of that which they do.
And from that which we see them doing, outwardly
calling their lord to war, is their openly breaking fast
in Ramadaan in the streets, public spaces and
government buildings, claiming that they are seeking
solace in that which they claim is freedom of the
individual. But freedom is not like this and this is not
how the nations should be in their adherence to their
cultures and the manifest signs of their religion. This
action harms the truthful Muslims in their
consciousness and their hearts.
And Allaah has given success to the righteous one,
the noble leader, he of the lofty rank, Mustapha an-
Nuhaas, as he recently had a great book published in
this regard, to preserve the nobility of the Muslims,
ease their consciousness and lift the hurt from their
hearts and ordered that none breaking fast in
Ramadaan should openly declare their breaking of the
fast – Muslim or non-Muslim – out of respect for this
ummah’s right to adhere to the tenets of its faith and
practices. His actions have been the actions of a man
who knows what he wants and knows how to put
matters in their rightful places.
Seeking His aid, and relying upon Him,
Ahmad Muhammad Shaakir
1361AH
Source: Jamharatu Maqaalaatul ‘Allaamatish Shaykh
Ahmad Muhammad Shaakir, Daar Riyadh 1426AH
(1/421).
www.ashabulhadeeth.com/2013/07/01/how-to-meet-ramadaan-al-allaamah-ahmad-muhammad-shaakir-may-allaah-have-mercy-upon-him/
