How To Know if You’re Too Ill to Fast

Sheikh Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, was asked, “What is the scale/degree of harm according to which a fast becomes harmful for someone who is ill and after which it becomes forbidden?”  

He replied, “Indeed, harm is known through feeling & it may be known by being informed of it.  As for knowing it by feel then it is if an ill person feels that the fast is harming him & making his pain worse & delaying his recovery.  And as for [recognizing that] by being informed then it is if a knowledgeable, trustworthy, doctor tells him that [it is harmful], & it is not a condition that the doctor be a Muslim.”

Ash-Sharh al-Mumti, vol. 6, pp. 328-329.

Ibn Baaz on Fasting During a Journey

Shaikh Ibn Baaz, may Allaah have mercy on him, said,

“The traveller has the choice of either fasting or not fasting, and what is apparent from the legislated proofs is that not fasting is better especially if the fast is difficult for him, due to the saying of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, “Fasting during a journey is not righteousness.”

Vol. 15, p. 236.

A Supplication of Abu Dardaa (radiyAllaahu anhu)

 

Ibn Abee Shaybah (rahimahullaah) reported in Kitaab Al-Imaan & also in Al-Musannaf that Abu Dardaa (radiyAllaahu anhu) always use to supplicate saying:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي  أَسْأَلُكَ إيمَانًا دَائِمًا وَعِلْمًا نَافِعًا وَهَدْيًا قَيِّمًا

‘O Allaah! I ask you for abiding Imaan, beneficial knowledge & upright guidance.’

Mu-aawiyyah Ibn Qurra (rahimahullaah) transmitted this narration from Abu Dardaa & then said: “Because there is Imaan that is not abiding, knowledge that is not beneficial & guidance that is not upright.”

[Source: Quoted by Shaikh Abdur-Razzaaq Al-Badr in Al-Madkhal Li-diraasaat Al-Aqeedah Al-Islaamiyyah: Lesson 2]

Allaah Looks at your Competition & Boasts of You, so show Him Goodness from Yourselves!

'Advice from Shaykh Ibn Baaz (rahimahullaah) to the Muslimeen':

It was authentically reported from the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم that he used to herald the glad tidings of the advent of the month of Ramadhan to his Companions and inform them that all the doors of mercy and Paradise are opened in this month, the doors of Hell are closed, and devils are chained in fetters. 

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

'When it is the first night of the month of Ramadhan, the devils and rebellious jinn are chained up and the gates of Hell are closed, and not one gate of it is opened. The gates of Paradise are opened, and not one gate of it is closed and a caller cries out: 'O seeker of good, proceed; O seeker of evil, desist.' And Allaah has those whom He redeems from the Fire, and that happens every night.'

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

"There has come to you the month of Ramadhan, a month of blessing, in which Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى covers you with grace, sending down mercy, forgiving sins and answering supplication. Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى looks at your competition in doing good therein, and boasts of you before His angels. So show Allaah goodness from yourselves, for truly the wretched person is the one who is deprived of the Mercy of Allaah during this month."

Is having fear of the Jinn considered from natural fear or not?

 

Question: Is having fear of the Jinn considered from natural fear or not?

Sheikh Rabee’ ibn Haadi al-Madkhali, may Allaah preserve him, says: “Fearing the jinn; if it is the fear of the heart where he believes that the jinns can benefit or harm him then this is shirk.”

وَأَنَّهُ كَانَرِجَالٌ مِّنَ الْإِنسِ يَعُوذُونَ بِرِجَالٍ مِّنَ الْجِنِّ فَزَادُوهُمْ رَهَقًا

“And verily, there were men among mankind who took shelter with the masculine among the jinns, but they (jinns) increased them (mankind) in sin & disbelief.”

(Al-Jinn 72:6)

The majority of time fearing from the jinn is the fear of the heart where he believes that they can benefit or harm when in fact no one possesses this ability except Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى, not jinn nor man. And know that if the entire world was to gather together to benefit you, they wouldn’t be able to do so at all unless Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى wrote it for you. And if they gathered to harm you, they wouldn’t be able to except if Allaah wrote it upon you as the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said. The true believer doesn’t fear anything except Allaah.

A Warning from Wasting away the Prayer !!

Sheikh ‘Abdur Rahman ibn Naasir as-Sa’dee (may Allaah have mercy upon him) said in one of his Friday sermons:

“ Oh Mankind! Fear Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى, & beware of being from those who Allaah mentioned concerning them:

“Then, there had succeeded them a generation who have given up As-Salat (the prayers) [i.e. made their Salat (prayers) to be lost, either by not offering them or by not offering them perfectly or by not offering them in their proper fixed times, etc.] & have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Hell.”  

(Maryam 19:59)

They disregarded the prayer by not praying it at its correct time & were negligent concerning the juma’ (Friday prayers) & congregational prayers. They did not fear there Lord nor were they heedful of His punishments. When they offered the prayer it was like the pecking of a bird not consisting of any tranquility, serenity or hope of a reward. You would think they were being propelled when they began to pray & you see them careless about its pillars & conditions, unconcerned about its completeness. They forgot Allaah, therefore He forgot them & they wasted the worldly & religious benefits.

“Don’t get angry”

“Oh Muslims! Verily it has been authentically reported on The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ that a man said to him, “Give me advice Oh Messenger of Allaah!” So he replied, “Don’t get angry,” & then he repeated it, “Don’t get angry.” Anger is an ember that Shaytan lights in the heart of the son of Adam; for that reason his jugular veins expand, his face turns red, his eyes enlarge, & his hair stands up. All of these things are from the anger that Shaytan cast into the heart until his blood boils.

Oh Muslims! If a person becomes angry then it is necessary for him to take the means that prevent you from getting angry. So, you make Wudu (legislative ablution), if he is standing sit down, & if he is sitting down lay down. If he is somewhere, then he should go somewhere else so that his anger can subside; as what came in the Prophetic statement of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ & that which he allowed to take place.

Intention: Prerequisite for fasting or not?

Question: Sometimes I fast without making my intention at the beginning of the fast. So is the intention a condition everyday when fasting or is making it in the beginning of the month sufficient?

Shaykh Saalih Al-Fowzan (hafithahullah — may Allah preserve him) answered: Fasting and other than it from actions must be based upon an intention. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Indeed actions are by intentions, and for ever man is what he intended.” And in another narration, “Actions are not except by the intention.”

So, it is obligatory for the fasting in Ramadhan to have a Niyya (intention) from the night so that you’ve made your intention when the sun rises for your fast of that day. The Muslim waking up in the last part of the night and eating Suhoor (pre-fasting meal) proves their intention. Therefore it is not necessary for a person to verbalize, “I intend to fast”, for this is an innovation and not permissible.

An action that is SURE to save one from the Punishment of Allaah?

 

 

Mu'ad bin Jabal reported:

“There is no action from the action of Adam [that brings] more success for him [in saving him] from the punishment of Allaah than the remembrance of Allaah.

[Shaykh Albanee rahimahullaah graded it to be Authentic]

Race to His Pleasure ...

Some of the Salaf used to say:             

  

“Indeed Allâh, the Most High, has made the month of Ramadhân as a competition for His creatures, in which they may race with one another to His pleasure, by obeying Him. Thus, one group comes first and so they prosper and another group comes last and so they fail.”

Latâ’if-ul-Ma’ârif of Ibn Rajab: page 246