Part 1

thirty lessons for those

Aa‘id Abdullah al Qarni

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful

Thirty Lessons for Those Who Fast

Aa’id Abdullah al Qarni

Translated by Dr Daud A. Abdullah

Lesson 5 Ramadan is a school for the learning of generosity and SACTIFICE oo eceeeseesesesseneseseseeneseseacaeseseeeucessesteeasaeaeanenenes 28

Lesson 8 How does the heart fast? ...c.sessssseesssseseseeeeeeeeeteneneee 41

Lesson 10 How does the eye fast? ..c.ccseesseeseeesseseesseseeeseee 50

Lesson It How does the ear fast? ..s.ccccecceseseeseeeesneeseeteneneaeeeeee 54

Lesson 14 Our memories in Ramadan ...ececsesseseseseeeeeeseereeeeees 69

Lesson 18 How do we train our children during Ramadan

Lesson 23 Letter to Muslim woman on the occasion Of Ramadan, ..ssscecsssescssesescsessseessssseseseesesessseensnenese 112

Lesson 26 Images of love and brotherhood are manifested in Ramadan .

Lesson 30 Tomorrow is Eid — the festival of the breaking Of the fast ..csccessessssseesescsescstevesesessstsesssesesreeneaseeee 142

All praise is due to Allah, the Most Holy, the Source of Peace. He is the owner of might, glory and honour. He guided us to Islam and exalted us with prayers and fasting. May He bestow His peace and blessings upon His noble prophet, Muhammad, the Imam of all the Messengers, and the best of those who ever pray and fast. We implore similar favour upon his relatives, companions and those who came. after them.

Ihave gathered in this book, Thirty Lessons for Those who Fast the most pertinent Quranic verses, authentic hadiths, delightful poetry and touching advice. It is, therefore, a book for the righteous when they meet for pleasant conversations. It is also a gift for wayfarers when they break their journeys for rest, a treasure for those who share mutual love and respect, when they assemble for picnics. It is, in addition, an asset for counsellors in their lectures. Indeed, the teacher will benefit from it, the orator will turn to it and the imam of the mosque will find it rewarding to

read. This book is intended to serve three purposes:

First, to document its advice and words which soften the heart with verses from the Glorious Quran and the authentic hadiths. It does not contain a single weak hadith, bogus story or absurd tradition.

Second, through these lessons I also intended to sow the ers. My aim was not to highlight legal rulings or issues, as we are quite satisfied with the efforts of our eminent scholars who have enriched the Islamic libraries with their writings. Truly, the field of juridical rulings is packed with scholastic contributions. We remain, however, in dire need of works relating to spirituality, basic morals and sublime calls. I trust that this effort will fulfil this demand.

Third, I have taken special care to clothe these lessons in the garments of attractive literature and present them with exquisite expression and eloquence. Toward this end, we embraced the methodology of the Noble Quran and the pure prophetic traditions with their beautiful language so that the reader will find himself between a scrub and rivulet, garden and oasis, water and shade and drizzle and dew.

It was confirmed that when the Prophet Muhammad 2% witnessed the new moon at the beginning of Ramadan he would say: ‘My Lord and your Lord is Allah, O crescent of goodness and guidance. O my Lord! Let it dawn upon us with peace, submission, security and faith.’ Surely Ramadan is the noblest month and its days are the sweetest days. The righteous rebuke Ramadan because of the shortness of its visit and the length of its absence. For it comes after much longing and makes amends after separation. It is often greeted thus:

Welcome to the month of fasting, O beloved who visits us every year.

We have met you with overflowing love, All love except for the Holy Master is prohibited.

Accept O my Lord our fast And increase us from your great favour.

Do not punish us because we were already punished by sleepless anxiety in darkness.

Strangely enough, Allah mends hearts with the coming of this guest. He forgives sins with his visit, and covers up

faults with its arrival.

Welcome to you dear Ramadan!

Guidance of the Prophet in fasting

All praise is due to Allah. May He bestow His peace and blessings upon His Prophet, his relatives, companions and those who are loyal to him.

Tbn al Qayim mentioned that: ‘Among the guidance of the Prophet in the month of Ramadan was his engagement in many forms of worship. The angel Gabriel used to teach him the Quran in this month. Whenever Gabriel met him he was more generous than a guided breeze. He was, ordinarily, the most charitable person, and yet when Ramadan arrived he became even more generous. He gave much charity and engaged in kind acts, recitation of the Quran, prayers, remembrance and retreat during this month.’

He used to apportion to Ramadan a degree of worship that was not set aside to any other month. Some times he actually used to continue into the night. The Prophet, however, forbade his companions from doing so. When they pointed out to him that he continued he responded saying: ‘My body is not like yours, I dwell with my Lord, He feeds me and gives me drink’ (Bukhari and Muslim). Accordingly, Allah Almighty used to nourish His Prophet # during those periods of extended fasts with

subtle knowledge, and abounding wisdom and light of the message. Of course, it was not food and drink in the literal sense, for if this were so the Prophet would not be considered fasting.

‘When the Prophet # became satisfied from the worship of his creator, and his heart opened up to his aim, and his mind rested with the remembrance of his Master, and his condition improved by his closeness to His Lord, he forgot all food and drink. As it was said: spiritual power is in the essence of souls, it is not dependent on food or drink. Nothing can harm you, if you have attained the knowledge of your Lord.

The Prophet Muhammad was the best of those who remembered and worshipped Allah. As for the month of Ramadan, it was made to be a season of worship and a time for remembrance and recitation. His nights were spent in supplication and humiliation unto his Lord, seeking His help, support, victory and guidance. He read long chapters of the Quran and stayed for long periods bowing (in ruku’) and prostrating himself before Him. Such was the desire that was never satisfied with worship, making his standing in the night a source of sustenance and supply as well as power and energy. Allah Almighty says: ‘O Thou enwrapped one! Keep awake [in prayer] at night, all but a small part’ (73:1).

‘And rise from thy sleep and pray during part of the night [as well], as a free offering from thee, and thy Sustainer may well raise thee to a glorious station [in the life to come]’

During the days of the fasting month, the Prophet # spent his time in propagating the Islamic call, engaging in jihad, providing advice and training, and reminding his companions. Among his practices was that the Prophet & never commenced the fast of Ramadan except with a vision of what was to be achieved. He used to encourage his companions to partake of a meal before daybreak. Indeed, it was confirmed that he said: ‘Have the meal before daybreak, because there is blessing in it.’ The period before daybreak is considered blessed because it is in the last third of the night, the time of divine descent and forgiveness. Allah says: ‘And in the hours of early dawn, they were found praying for forgiveness’ (51:18).

He also says: ‘Those who show patience, firmness and selfcontrol; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend in the way of Allah; and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning? (3:17).

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Still besides, the meal before daybreak helps the individual in his fast and worship. It is, therefore, a payment for the bounty of worship that Allah has bestowed upon us.

It was also established that the Prophet 2 used to hasten to have a meal after the setting of the sun. He, likewise, ordered his companions to do the same. Usually he had dates or water because something sweet was most agreeable for an empty stomach. Several sources have narrated that the Prophet # said: ‘Verily the fasting person has a prayer that will never be rejected.’ Thus, he used to pray for the good of this world and the hereafter. He broke his fast before praying Salaat ul Maghreb (the evening prayer). In one authentic hadith he said: ‘If the night enters from here and slips away

from there, then the faster should end his fast.’

The Prophet Muhammad travelled during Ramadan, fasting and then breaking his fast. In this regard, he gave the companions the choice of fasting or not while travelling. During battle, however, he ordered them to break their fasts, to enable them to fight. Here it would be recalled that the Great Battle of Badr was fought during the month of Ramadan. Then, Allah gave the Muslims a victory that has known no parallel since. Yet, the Prophet & broke his fast in two of his battles according to narrations by Umar ibn al Khattab and collected by Al Tirmidhi and Ahmad. The Prophet did not, however, specify the distance after which the fast should be broken. There are in fact no authentic accounts to prove this.

There were, observedly, times when the morning prayer, al Fajr, came and the Prophet was still in a state of impurity following sexual intercourse. He would, in those circumstances, perform the ritual bath and thereafter fast. Ina related matter, he used to kiss some of his wives while he was fasting in Ramadan. He compared the kiss of the fasting person to the washing of the mouth.

On another level, the Prophet Muhammad & ruled that the person who broke his fast through a genuine act of forgetfulness was not required to make up that day’s fast. He pointed out that it was Allah Almighty who had fed and given drink to that person. We have learnt from the prophetic traditions also that the things which invalidate one’s fast are: eating, drinking, cupping, and vomiting. The Noble Quran explains that sexual intercourse nullifies fasting in the same way that eating and drinking does.

Among his practices also was that of retreat and seclusion during the last ten days of Ramadan. The Prophet 2 did this in order to attune his heart ever more with Allah and to free his mind from the concerns of the world. The gaze of his heart thus became entirely focused in the heavens.