عربي
Home


Articles

Articles

The State of the Righteous during Ramadan
Author : Dr. Safwan Odaybat
Date Added : 29-09-2024

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

Indeed, studying the lives of past scholars who passed their knowledge to others, devout worshipers, and righteous individuals is one of the greatest means of strengthening the heart's love for the Knower of the unseen. Allah The Almighty Says (What means): "And We have related to you, [O Muhammad], some of the stories of the messengers to strengthen your heart with it. And there has come to you in this [Qur'an] the truth and a confirmation of what was before it, and an admonition and reminder for the believers." [Hud/120].

By reading about their lives, clouds of blessings gather to shower us with mercy. When this mercy reaches the hearts of the believers, their spirits are elevated, and they strive harder in their worship of their Lord, tasting the sweetness of Allah's Words (What means): "Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds - the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection." [Maryam/96].   

It was narrated from some of the pious predecessors that he would spend his nights reciting the Quran. When he reached this verse, he would repeat it until dawn. His student heard him and asked him about it. The scholar said: "Keep secret what you have seen." The student replied: "I will keep it secret as long as you are alive, but tell me about it.' The scholar said: "When I repeated it, the love between the servant and his Lord descended into my heart, and I began to take pleasure in that love. And every time I repeated the verses, I tasted a different kind of love."

This was their state outside of Ramadan. So how was it when the blessed month, the season of worship and obedience, came to them?

Abu Nu'aim in 'Al-Hilya' and Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi in 'Tarikh Baghdad' narrated from Al-Rabi' Ibn Sulayman that Muhammad Ibn Idris Al-Shafi'i would complete sixty recitations of the Quran in the month of Ramadan, all of which were during prayer.

This was their state with the Quran, but their state with night prayer was even more astonishing. Sa'ib Ibn Yazid said: "During the time of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (May Allah Be Pleased with him), they used to perform twenty Rak'ahs of night prayer in Ramadan. They would recite two hundred verses. During the time of Uthman Ibn Affan (May Allah Be Pleased with him), they would lean on their staffs due to the intensity of their standing in prayer." [Al-Bayhaqi].

As for the state of the righteous predecessors with the poor and needy, there is no end to the stories. How could it be otherwise when their model was the most generous of creation, our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him? Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah was the most generous of people, and he was most generous in Ramadan when he would meet with Jibril. He would meet him every night in Ramadan and he would revise the Quran with him. The Messenger of Allah was more generous than the abundant wind." [Agreed upon].

It was narrated from Ibn Umar that he would fast and not break his fast except with the poor. And if a beggar came to him while he was eating, he would take his share of the food and stand up and give it to the beggar.

This is a glimpse of the state of the righteous during Ramadan. If we were to examine every aspect of their acts of worship, we would find that they had the greatest share in it. They were the most eager for good deeds during the seasons of goodness. They knew that the world was temporary, so they dedicated it to obedience. They knew that life was short and the deadline was near, so they invested their time in acts of worship. And Ibn Al-Qayyim said truthfully: "Wasting time is worse than death, because wasting time cuts you off from Allah and the Hereafter, while death cuts you off from the world and its people."

 

The published article reflects the opinion of its author

Article Number [ Previous | Next ]

Read for Author




Comments


Captcha


Warning: this window is not dedicated to receive religious questions, but to comment on topics published for the benefit of the site administrators—and not for publication. We are pleased to receive religious questions in the section "Send Your Question". So we apologize to readers for not answering any questions through this window of "Comments" for the sake of work organization. Thank you.




Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on compensating the patient in case of medical error on the part of the treating physician?

 
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
The foundational principle is that every mistake issued by a physician that causes harm to another due to his negligence or lack of expertise obligates him to guarantee liability and compensate the harmed party. The Sharia maxim, in this regard, states: "The direct actor is liable."
 
Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "As for if he was skilled but his hand committed an error—such as exceeding the proper limit of incision, cutting in an incorrect site, cutting with an instrument that inflicts excessive pain, or cutting at an unsuitable time—he is liable, because it is destruction (Itlaf) whose liability does not differ between intent and mistake, thus resembling the destruction of property; and because it is a prohibited act, so he guarantees liability for its secondary effects." [Al-Mughni].
 
However, if the physician performed what was necessary in the most complete manner and took all measures of care and caution, but complications occurred that could not be avoided according to specialists, then no liability rests upon him.
 
Shaykh al-Islam Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "The cupper and the circumciser bear no liability if they have not been negligent, and likewise the veterinarian if he bleeds an animal and it perishes." [Rawdat al-Talibin].
 
Al-Khattabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "I know of no disagreement that if the practitioner transgresses and the patient perishes, he is liable. Anyone who undertakes knowledge or practice he does not know is a transgressor; so if perishing arises from his action, he is liable for the blood-money (Diyah) while capital retaliation (Qisas) is dropped from him, because he did not act independently without the patient's permission. And the physician’s offense in the view of the generality of jurists is borne by his agnates ('Aqilah*)."* [Ma'alim al-Sunan].
 
If negligence or transgression is established against the physician, it is necessary to compensate the patient or seek forgiveness from him. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on deliberately breaking the fast while being capable of fasting?

Whoever intentionally breaks their fast in Ramadan without a valid excuse has committed a major sin and bears great guilt. They must repent, seek forgiveness, refrain from eating and drinking for the rest of the day, and make up for that day after Ramadan.
They have lost an immense reward, which cannot be compensated even by fasting an entire lifetime as a voluntary act, because an obligatory fast cannot be equaled by voluntary fasting.
If the fast was broken through sexual intercourse, the person must:
● Make up for the missed fast (qada), and
● Perform kaffarah by fasting two consecutive months.
● If they are unable to do so, they must feed sixty needy people.

What is the ruling on making up the regular pre-Dhuhr *sunnah* (*al-sunnah al-rātibah al-qabliyyah*) for one who missed it in the Dhuhr prayer?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
Every timed supererogatory prayer (nāfilah) is recommended (mandūb) to be made up if its time passes. As for a nāfilah that precedes the obligatory prayer, performing it before the farḍ is a matter of proper etiquette (adab); if it is prayed after the farḍ, it is still considered adāʾ (performed within its time). If the time of the farḍ has ended, it is recommended to make up (qaḍāʾ) the nāfilah for one who did not pray it.
Whoever misses the sunnah before Dhuhr, whether with an excuse or without one, it is recommended for him to pray it after the obligatory Dhuhr prayer, within the time of Dhuhr, even at its end, and it counts as adāʾ, not qaḍāʾ. It is also recommended for one who missed the pre-Dhuhr sunnah to pray it before the post-Dhuhr sunnah, in observance of the proper order. It is stated in ʿUmdat al-Sālik wa ʿUddat al-Nāsik (Vol.1/p.60): "What precedes the obligatory prayer has the same time as the obligatory prayer, and performing it before the farḍ is a matter of etiquette; after it, it is adāʾ. What follows the farḍ has its time begin with the performance of the farḍ and end with the end of its time."
If the time of Dhuhr has ended, it is recommended for him to pray both the pre- and post-Dhuhr sunnahs, and they count as qaḍāʾ for both. It is stated in ʿUmdat al-Sālik (1/61): "Every timed nafl, such as the ʿĪd prayer, Duha, Witr, and the regular rawātib of the obligatory prayers, if it is missed, it is recommended to make it up forever." And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on someone who possesses gold with the intention of saving/hoarding it, and owns nothing else — is he obligated to sell a portion of it in order to pay the zakāh due on it?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Zakāh becomes immediately obligatory on cash, and likewise on gold — that which is not designated for a woman's personal adornment— once both reach the niṣāb (minimum threshold liable for zakah) and a full ḥawl (lunar year) has passed over them. It is not permissible to delay payment when it is genuinely possible to pay — meaning, when the wealth and the eligible recipients are both available. It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vol.2/p.129): "Zakāh is obligatory immediately once it becomes feasible to pay it, meaning when the wealth and the eligible recipients are both present."
The one paying zakāh must discharge the obligatory zakāh due on saved (hoarded) gold either from the gold itself, or from its equivalent monetary value, in the event that no other funds are available — since paying from the gold itself is the original default (al-aṣl). It becomes permissible to pay from other funds instead only because zakāh is built upon the principle of ease and leniency, as stated in Asnā al-Maṭālib (Vol.1/p.366): "When a full ḥawl has elapsed on wealth other than trade goods... zakāh attaches to the actual asset itself (al-‘ayn), and the poor effectively become partners in it — even, for example, [becoming partners] in camels through the value of a sheep [owed as zakāh on them]... Paying from other wealth is permitted only because zakāh is built upon the principle of ease and leniency."
Accordingly: the one paying zakāh must discharge it either from the actual saved gold itself, or by selling a portion of the gold equal to the amount of zakāh owed. He may also borrow money to pay the zakāh, or pay the zakāh in installments before the ḥawl is complete [as an advance payment]. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

See More