MEANING AND STAGIES OF RAMADAN.

MEANING AND STAGIES OF RAMADAN.

 

AlhamduliLLAH, we thank Allah for our life and good health. Before I kick start, I would like to extend the  best of Islamic greetings, the greeting when practiced with sincerity, establishes love; Assalaamualaikum WARAHMATULLAAHI WABARAKAATUHU.All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the universe. We ask for His forgiveness, help and guidance. We seek refuge in Him from the evil of ourselves and that of our bad deeds.

May His peace and blessings be upon our noble Prophet, Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, his households, his companions, and all those who adhere sincerely to his teachings until the day of reckoning.

I am very grateful for the honour to be called upon to present on the topic; Ramadan meaning and stages. The topic seems too narrow so I will prefer the topic to be A MUST KNOW ABOUT RAMADAN.Alhamdulillah for making us witness the month of Sha'ban, we pray that Ramadan reaches us in good health

The fast of Ramadan starts when the crescent is sighted on the 29th of Sha'ban, the preceding month. It ends when the crescent is sighted on the 29th for the month of shawwaal, the subsequent month.

However, if the crescent   is not seen on the 29th for the commencement of Ramadan, then Sha'ban is counted as 30days

.َقَالَأَبُوالْقَاسِمِصلىاللهعليهوسلم‏"‏صُومُوالِرُؤْيَتِهِ، وَأَفْطِرُوالِرُؤْيَتِهِ، فَإِنْغُبِّيَعَلَيْكُمْفَأَكْمِلُواعِدَّةَشَعْبَانَثَلاَثِينَ‏"

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Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) or Abul-Qasim said, "Start fasting on seeing the crescent (of Ramadan), and give up  fasting on seeing the crescent (of Shawwal), and if the sky is overcast (and you cannot see it),  complete thirty days of Sha'ban."

SahihBukhari

Therefore, today being the 10th or 11th of Sha'ban, we have about 18 days left for us to sight the moon.

We should endeavor to fast a lot in this blessed month, at least to prepare the body for Ramadan fast

Brothers and sisters,The Arabic word SAWM  means to abstain from something as used in the Quran on the tongue of Mariam in chapter 19:26.

In the sharia sense, as an act of worship, to fast means to ABSTAIN from food, drink and sexual intercourse from the appearance of fajir (dawn), to the time of sunset with INTENTION to do so.

Meaning should one starve him/herself between these two times, without the intention to fast, one cannot say he/she is fasting.

Fasting is mainly grouped into two; obligatory and nonobligatory.

The obligatory fasting is further grouped into three;

1.the fast of Ramadan

2.the fast for expiation from sin, kaffaarah  and

3.the fast for fulfilling promise.

 

In this presentation, we will talk about the fast of Ramadan.

The Month of Ramadan has some special merits as well as the deeds that are done in it. (I will leave this for the subsequent presentation ).

When the month of Ramadan comes three things happen;

1. The doors of Jannah(heaven) are opened.

2. The doors of Jahannam (hell fire) are closed, and

3. Shayaatween (devils)are chained. This is done to pave way for the fasting person to reach his or her destination of success.

Consider the following hadith;

عَنْأَبِيهُرَيْرَةَ، - رضىاللهعنه - أَنَّرَسُولَاللَّهِصلىاللهعليهوسلمقَالَ‏"‏إِذَاجَاءَرَمَضَانُفُتِّحَتْأَبْوَابُالْجَنَّةِوَغُلِّقَتْأَبْوَابُالنَّارِوَصُفِّدَتِالشَّيَاطِينُ‏"

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: When there comes the month of Ramadan, the gates of mercy are opened, and the gates of Hell are locked and the devils are  chained,

Sahih Muslim

 (The Book of Fasting)

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is unlike fasting in other months. If one does as per the teaching, his or her reward his immeasurable. Consider the Hadeeth below;

عَنْأَبِيهُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضىاللهعنه ـ عَنِالنَّبِيِّصلىاللهعليهوسلمقَالَ‏"‏مَنْقَامَلَيْلَةَالْقَدْرِإِيمَانًاوَاحْتِسَابًاغُفِرَلَهُمَاتَقَدَّمَمِنْذَنْبِهِ، وَمَنْصَامَرَمَضَانَإِيمَانًاوَاحْتِسَابًاغُفِرَلَهُمَاتَقَدَّمَمِنْذَنْبِهِ‏"

 Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever established prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping  for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven; and whoever fasts in the month of  Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be  forgiven."

SahihBukhari (Fasting)

 

The fast of Ramadan has two conditions, for its validity to hold;

• Abstainance from food, drink and sexual intercourse from the time of the appearance of fajir (dawn), to the time of sunset.


• Intention, which is in the heart and not necessarily voicing it out.

The Prophet s.a.w encouraged a fasting person to take sahuur(dawn meal) as it contains a lot of barakah (blessing). However, if one refuses to take it (denying himself the blessing), his fast is valid. Consider the Hadeeth below;

حَدَّثَنَاآدَمُبْنُأَبِيإِيَاسٍ، حَدَّثَنَاشُعْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَاعَبْدُالْعَزِيزِبْنُصُهَيْبٍ، قَالَسَمِعْتُأَنَسَبْنَمَالِكٍ ـ رضىاللهعنه ـ قَالَقَالَالنَّبِيُّصلىاللهعليهوسلم‏"‏تَسَحَّرُوافَإِنَّفِيالسَّحُورِبَرَكَةً‏"

 

 Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Take Suhur as there is a blessing in it."

SahihBukhari (Fasting)

 

NB:

Sahuur is a noun, meaning; the dawn meal.

Suhuur is a verb, meaning; taking the dawn meal.

the act of taking the meal

Like wuduu, ablution and waduu, ablution can

It is also recommended that one delays the Suhuur (close to fajir) and hastens the iftuaar( break the fast right after sunset).

The fast of Ramadan is obligatory upon the Muslim who;

1.is sane

2.has attained puberty

3.is a resident and

4.has good health.

 

It is not obligatory upon;

1.the traveller

2.the insane

3.the child

4.the sick

5.the menstruating woman

6.the post child birth bleeding woman and

7.the lactating mother.

 

However, among the second group are some  who will make up the lost days, as indicated in Qur'an 2:185. Details are as follows;

 

 

CATEGORIES OF PEOPLE ON HOW TO MAKE UP THE LOST DAYS OF RAMADAN

 

A. Those who are allowed to eat during the day and pay ransom. This group include;

1. Old men and women who can't fast due to old age.

2. The sick whose sickness is incurable.

3. Those who work under hardship throughout the seasons of the year, such that they have no means of sustenance should they stop the work.

They are permitted to eat and feed the poor on each day of Ramadan.

Those who are allowed to eat and obligated to make up the lost days.

1. The sick whose sickness is curable

2. The traveller

For this, they have the concession to eat and pay for  the  lost days on other days. However, if they choose to fast under the hardships, their fast is valid. But acceptance of the concession is preferred.

C. Those who are not allowed to fast.

1. The menstruating woman.

2. Post child birth bleeding woman. For this of people, it is haraam on them to fast. Even if they choose to fast, their fast is invalid. So they do not fast until they are clean (out the that state), then they make up the lost days.

 

The month of Ramadan is divided into three stages;

 

The first stage is the first ten days. During this period, Allah descends his mercy upon his servants.

 

The second stage is the next ten days, following the first stage. During this period Allah opens the door of forgiveness for his servants who are truly and sincerely fasting.

 

The third and final stage covers the last ten days. During this period, people who are destined to reside in the hell fire are likely to gain the mercy of Allah, and their destiny is changed. It is the stage that contains the night of predestination, a night in which an accepted worship in it is more than that of a thousand months.

I will conclude my presentation on some acts that invalidate fast and these include;

• Eating and drinking intentionally


• Induced vomit


• Menstruation


• post birth bleeding


• masturbation


• Making the intention to eat


• Sexual intercourse

Let's endeavor to read more on Ramadan so that we can fight ignorance. For ignorance is not an excuse in the hereafter.

To  those who owe the previous Ramadan, please to well to pay your dept.

On this note, I say Assalaamualaikum WARAHMATULLAAHI WABARAKAATUHU