daughter fasts, by making food on that occasion and inviting the
family to come and eat at the time of iftaar (breaking the fast). This
event is called a "celebration of the first fast." I would like to
know the following:
1. What is the Islamic ruling on celebrating this event; is it
permissible to attend if I am invited, and to eat this food?
2. What is your view on parties to celebrate the iftaar by inviting
the people to come and have iftaar in a particular place?
3. In most of the mosques, the Qur'an is completed on the night of
the twenty-seventh and sweets are handed out in the mosque; what is
the Islamic ruling on that?
May Allah reward you with good for your efforts for His sake.
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
There is nothing wrong, in sha Allah, with the family celebrating the
first time a boy or girl fasts, so long as it is limited to this
occasion only, and will not become something that is repeated. There
is nothing wrong with expressing happiness when the child reaches the
age to observe this act of worship, or to encourage him and help him
understand that thisis an important event in his life. It is also a
blessing for which thanks should be given to Allah. Some of the
scholars regard it as mustahabb to make food for every happy occasion,
and they specifically mentioned making food when a child completes the
Qur'an.
See the answer to question no. 89705
Secondly:
If the reason for meetingto have iftaar is to spread love and harmony
among those who gather, especially if they are relatives or if they
are in a foreign land, and to encourage them to uphold ties withone
another and show compassion towards oneanother, and to strengthen the
bonds between Muslim familiesand their children, or that is done to
help feed people and give iftaar tothose who are fasting, and other
valid purposes, then there is nothing wrong with it. In fact it is
something praiseworthy that should be encouraged according to the
purpose for which it is done, so long as it is not regarded as a
Sunnah and is not taken by the participants as a regular "eid" other
than the Eidsprescribed in Islam, such that they gather on a
particular day or in a particular manner, thinking that doing so has a
particular virtue in Islamic terms.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
I announce in one of themosques that there will be an iftaar for
everyonewho wants to fast every Thursday. What is the ruling on that?
He replied: There is nothing wrong with making this announcement,
because it is an announcement that is calling to good and the aim of
it is not to buy or sell. What is haraam is to make announcements
having to do with buying and selling, or renting and hiring, which are
purposes for which the mosques were not built. As for calling people
to good, feeding people and giving charity, thereis nothing wrong with
that.
With regard to its nature, and whether it isa gathering to perform
akind of worship, in fact they did not announce a communal fast;
rather they announced iftaar only, so there is nothing wrong with
that. And Allah knows best. End quote.
Thirdly:
The night of the twenty seventh of Ramadan is one of the odd-numbered
nights among the last ten, on which Laylat al-Qadr mayoccur, according
to the saheeh report narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him). But Laylat al-Qadr is not necessarily on this
particular night according to the correct view; rather it may be on
this night or on some other of the last ten nights, although this
night is the most likely of those nights.
Based on that, it is not correct to be certain thatit is always Laylat
al-Qadror to believe that. But if a person increases his prayers or
strives harder in that, on the basis that it is the most likely of
thelast ten nights, there is nothing wrong with that, in sha Allah. As
for singling it out for completing the Qur'an on that night, that is
something that should not be done, lest it be believed for certain
that it is Laylat al-Qadr. We know of no basis for doing that from the
practice of the early generations.
With regard to distributing sweets on that night, we do not know of
any basis for that. It seems that this is a kind of taking that night
as an Eid. It is not prescribed to single out that night for that
purpose; rather it is not prescribed to do that deliberately on that
night or any of the othernights on the basis of its virtue. However,
if the purpose of giving out these sweets is to be kind to small
children and do something nice for them, it should not be done only on
that night; rather if it is done every time there is a need for it,
that is Islamically acceptable.
And Allah knows best.
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