2a] Getting Children Accustomed to Fasting

2a]
It should be noted that if the child becomes too exhausted, you should
not insist that he completes the fast, so thatthis will not make him
hate acts of worship or lead to him lying or make him sick, because he
is notyet one of those who are accountable. It is important to pay
attention to this and not be harsh with regard to telling the child to
fast.
And Allah knows best.

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2] Getting Children Accustomed to Fasting

2] I have a son who is nine years old and I would like your help in
teaching me how I can make my son get used to fasting Ramadan in sha
Allaah, because he only fasted 15days of Ramadan last year.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
We are very happy to see questions like this, which is indicative of
great care and concern for children and for raising them to worship
Allah. This is good care for those whom Allah has entrustedto the
parents' care.
Secondly:
A boy of nine years of ageis not one of those who are accountable for
fasting according to sharee'ah (Islamic law), because he has not yet
reached puberty. But Allahhas enjoined parents to raise their children
to do acts of worship. Allah commands them to teach their children the
prayer when they are seven years old, and to smack them (lightly) if
they do not do it when they are ten years old. The Companions (may
Allah be pleased with them) used to make their children fast when they
were small so as to make them get used to this great act of worship.
All ofthat is indicative of great concern to raise one's children with
the best of attributes and deeds.
With regard to prayer:
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: " Teach your children to pray when they are sevenyears old and
smack themif they do not pray when they are ten years old, and
separate them in their beds." Narrated by Abu Dawood (495) and classed
as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
With regard to fasting:
It was narrated that al-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwidh ibn 'Afra' (may Allah
be pleased with her) said: On the morning of 'Ashoora', the Messenger
of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sent word to the
villages of the Ansaar around Madeenah, saying: "Whoever started the
day fasting, let him complete his fast, and whoever started the day
not fasting, let him complete the rest of the day (without food)."
After that, we used to faston this day, and we would make our children
fast too, even the little ones in sha Allaah. We would make them toys
out of wool, and if one of them cried for food, we would give (that
toy) to him until it was time to break the fast.
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1960) and Muslim (1136).
'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to one who was drunk during
Ramadan: "Woe toyou! Even our children arefasting!" And he hit him.
Narrated by al-Bukhaari ina mu'allaq report, Bab Sawm al-Subyaan
(Chapter on the fast of children).
The age at which parents should start teaching theirchildren to fast
is the age when they are able to fast, which varies according to the
physical constitution of each child, but some scholars have defined it
as the age of ten years.
For more details on that please see the answer to question number
65558 , in which there is important information.
Thirdly:
With regard to means of helping children to get used to fasting, that
may involve a number of things, such as:
1. Telling them of the virtues of fasting and thatit is one of the
most important means of entering Paradise, and that in Paradise there
is a gate called al-Rayyaan through which those whofast will enter.
2. Prior experience of getting used to fasting, such as fasting a
few daysin the month of Sha'ban, so that fasting in Ramadan will not
come asa shock to them.
3. Fasting part of the day and increasing the time gradually.
4. Delaying sahoor (pre-dawn meal) until the last part of the
night. Thatwill help them to fast during the day.
5. Encouraging them to fast by giving them rewards each day or each week.
6. Praising them in front of the family at the time of iftaar
(breaking fast) and sahoor, because that will raise their morale.
7. Instilling a spirit of competition for the one who has more
than one child, whilst rememberingthat it is essential not to rebuke
the one who is struggling.
8. Distracting the one who gets hungry by letting him sleep or
play permissible games that do not involve effort, as the noble
Sahaabah (Companions) used to do with their children. There are
suitable programmes for children and cartoons on the trustworthy
Islamic channels with which you can distract them.
9. It is preferable for the father to take his son -- especially
after 'Asr -- toattend the prayer and lessons, and to stay in the
mosque to read Qur'aan and remember Allah.
10. Arranging visits duringthe day and night to families whose young
children are also fasting, so as to encourage them to carry on
fasting.
11. Rewarding them with permissible trips after iftaar, or making the
kindsof food, sweets, fruits and juices that they want.
It should be noted:->

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Ruling on offering food to non-Muslim workers during the day in Ramadan

There is a man who has land and has non-Muslim workers. They asked him
to give them food during the day in Ramadan, otherwise they will leave
the job. And in fact he did bring them food in Ramadan throughout the
month. What is your opinion on this action?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Bringing non-Muslims [into the country] to workis not appropriate and
they should not be brought; rather no non-Muslims should be brought
in, because bringing in non-Muslims may adversely affect a person in
himself or in his beliefs or in his attitude, or it may adversely
affect his children and household members, especially female
servantsand nannies, because the harm they cause is great. So no one
should be brought to work in the house or to raise the children except
Muslim women only. The same applies to men; only Muslims should be
brought in and not non-Muslims, because they cause a great deal of
harm and because their beliefs and attitudes are not the same as the
beliefs and attitudes of Muslims. So it is essential to avoid bringing
them in so as to avoid the evil that may be caused by following their
example and mixing with them.
Moreover, it is not permissible for any religion but one to remainin
the Arabian Peninsula; there should not be two religions in it. But
these servants and workers maystay there for a long time because of
work or because of wanting to work. It is not permissibleto bring
non-Muslims intothe Arabian Peninsula, because the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Expel the Jews and Christians
from the Arabian Peninsula." And according to another version he said:
"Expel themushrikeen (polytheists)."And he left instructions to that
effect when he died (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). So it
is not permissible for a Muslim to bring in anyonebut Muslim men and
women into the Arabian Peninsula, and not anyone else.
No one should be broughtinto the Arabian peninsulaexcept Muslims, as
we have stated above, because the Messenger (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) enjoined that the mushrikeen, Jews and Christians
should be expelled from it and only one religion should be leftin it,
because it is the cradle of Islam and because the Muslims pin their
hopes on it after Allah, and take it as an example. Therefore if
non-Muslims are brought in, that opens the door to other people
bringing in non-Muslims and mixing with them, and this will cause a
great deal of harm to all.
With regard to offering food to them:
It is not permissible to offer food to them. If theyare not Muslim and
they want food to be offered to them in Ramadan, he should not help
them with that. If they are kuffaar, even if they fast their fast will
not be valid.However, the minor issuesof sharee'ah are addressed to
them, and if that is addressed to them it is not permissible to help
them in that which will go against sharee'ah. Rather they should be
advised and taught in the hope that they might become Muslim. So they
should be called to Islam and told about what is good and right in the
hope that they might become Muslim, then one will attain a reward like
theirs. "The one who tells another about something good will have a
reward like that of the one who does it." "If one man wereto be guided
through you that would be better for you than having red camels (the
best kind)." This is what the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said.
If they insist, then they are the ones who should make their own food.
They are the ones who should take care of their own needs in this
regard, in the hope that they maybe influenced by this and become
Muslim. Otherwise their contracts should be cancelled and Allah will
bring someone better than them. He should not take this matter lightly
and if they decide to leave the job, then praise be to Allah, they
have given up the job and Allah will bring people better than them. So
he should never help them in this matter; he should not help them to
find food and drink in Ramadan, whether they are kaafirs or evildoers
(faasiq) among the Muslims who do not fast. They should not help them
to eat or drink in Ramadan or help them to do anything that Allah
hasforbidden. They can do it for themselves and buy what they need
themselves. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)

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1a] The story of the killing of ‘Asma bint Marwaan is false

1a] who said:
A woman from Banu Khatamah wrote poetry lampooning the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and news of that reached
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and upset him.
He said: "Who will deal with her for me?" A man from among her people
said: I will, O Messenger of Allah!She was a seller of dates, so he
went to her and said to her: Do you have any dates? She said: Yes. So
she showed him some dates, and he said: I want something better than
this. So she went inside toshow him and he followed her and looked
right and left, but he did not see anything except a small table, and
he kept hitting her head with it until he killed her. Then he went to
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: O
Messenger of Allah,I have taken care of her for you. The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "The validity of what
you have done is something that no one could dispute."
This woman was 'Asma bint Marwaan.
This is an invalid isnaad and a fabricated report that was narrated by
Muhammad ibn al-Hajjaaj of whom al-Bukhaari said:His hadeeth is to be
rejected. Ibn Ma'een said: (He is) an evil liar. Ad-Daaraqutni said:
(He is)a liar; and on one occasion he said: He is nottrustworthy.
Mizaan al-I'tidaal, 3/509
Ibn 'Adiyy said: Muhammad ibn al-Hajjaaj fabricated the hadeeth about
the woman who used to lampoon the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him), according to which when she was killed he
(allegedly) said: "The validity of what you have done is something
that noone could dispute."
End quote from al-Mawdoo'aat by Ibn al-Jawzi 3/18
This hadeeth was also mentioned by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have
mercy on him) in ad-Da'eefah (6013); he said it is fabricated
(mawdoo').
It was narrated by al-Waaqidi in al-Maghaazi(p. 173) and via him by
al-Qadaa'i (858): 'Abdullahibn al-Haarith told me, from his father,
that 'Asma bint Marwaan, fromBanu Umayyah ibn Zayd, was married to
Yazeed ibn Zayd ibn Hisn al-Khatmi. She used to revile the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), criticise Islam and incite
people against the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
When news of what she said and her incitement of the people reached
'Umayr ibn 'Adiyyibn Kharashah ibn Umayyah al-Khatmi, he said: O
Allah, I make a vow to You that I shall killher if You grant a safe
return to Madinah to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) – as the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) was inBadr at that time. When the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came back from Badr,
'Umayr ibn 'Adiyy came to her in the middle of the night and entered
upon her in her house when she had agroup of her children sleeping
around her, including an infant who was still being breastfed. He
reached out to touch her and found the infant whom she was
breastfeeding. He pushed the child aside then he plunged his sword
into her chest until it came outof her back. Then he wentout and
prayed Fajr with the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) in Madinah. When the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) finished praying, he looked at 'Umayr and said: Did you kill
the daughter of Marwaan? He said: Yes, may my father be sacrificed for
you, O Messenger of Allah.
'Umayr was afraid that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) would not approve of his killing her, so he said: Is there
any sinon me for that, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "The validity of
whatyou have done is something that no one could dispute." And this is
the first time I heard this phrase from the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him). 'Umayr said: The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) turnedto those who were around him and
said: "If you want to see a man who supported Allah and His Messenger,
then look at 'Ubayr ibn 'Adiyy."
End quote.
This is a worthless isnaad. Imam Ahmad said concerning al-Waaqidi –
whose name was Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibnWaaqid – : He is a liar; he
alters hadeeths. Ibn Ma'een said: He is not trustworthy. On one
occasion he said: His hadeeth is not to be written down.
Al-Bukhaariand Abu Haatim said: He is matrook (rejected). Abu Haatim
and an-Nasaa'i said: He fabricates hadeeth. Ibn 'Adiyy said: His
hadeeths are odd and problematic. Ibn al-Madeeni said: al-Waaqidi
fabricates hadeeth.
Mizaan al-I'tidaal, 3/663
An-Nasaa'i said: The liars who are known for fabricating hadeeth are
four: Ibraaheem ibn Abi Yahya in Madinah, al-Waaqidi in Baghdad,
Muqaatil in Khorasan and Muhammad ibn Sa'eed in Syria./

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