1] A Golden Principle About How to Benefit from the Qur’an

1]
If you truly want to benefit from the Qur'an, your heart must be
attentive and alert when reciting it or listening to it.Listen to it
carefully with presence of mind, paying attention to it as if Allah
Himself was speaking to you directly. Understand that this Qur'an is
an address directed to you from Allah, Most High, upon the tongue of
His Messenger (SAW).
Allah, Most High, says,
"Truly there is a reminder in this for anyone who has a heart, or who
listens attentively with presence of mind." [1]
A deep and lasting impression is dependant upon something that will
stimulate a person, a location that can be influenced, his being in
theright condition, and removing any barrier that would impede this
from happening. This verse mentions of all of these in the most
succinct and lucidof ways; clearly articulating the intended meaning.
"Truly there is a reminder in this"
refers to the previous verses of this chapter. This,the Qur'an, is the stimulus.
"for anyone who has a heart"
refers to the location that can be influenced. The heart referred to
here is the living heart: the heart that is aware of Allah. He, Most
High, says,
"it is simply a reminder and a clear Qur'an so that you may warn
thosewho are truly alive," [2]
i.e. those whose hearts arealive.
"or who listens attentively,"
i.e. directs his faculty of hearing towards it and pays it the utmost
attention. This is the condition that must exist for a person to be
roused by the words.
"with presence of mind,"
i.e. with an alert and present heart, not one thatis unmindful and
absent. Ibn Qutaybah said,
i.e. a person who listens attentively to Allah's Book with presence of
heart andmind, not someone who isunmindful with an absent air.' [3]
This then alludes to the barrier: an unmindful and inattentive heart
which does not understand what is being said and, as such, is unable
to reflect upon it or direct any conscious thought towards it.
Therefore, if all these things come together, the end-result is
obtained: benefiting from the Qur'anand taking heed.
If someone were to ask: if the end-result, the lasting impression, is
only attained by the combination of these matters, why then did Allah
say
"or"
in the verse,
"or who listens attentively"
which implies a choice between one or another option? Surely "and"
should have been mentioned in its place?
It is said in reply: this is a good question; "or" has been mentioned
by taking into consideration the state of the addressee.
Some people have hearts which are alive, hearts thatwill readily
accept the truth and whose innate nature ( fitrah ) is intact; if such
a person was to reflect in his very heart and turn his mind to it, he
would conclude that the Qur'an is authentic and true. His heart would
witness what the Qur'an informs it of and the subsequent impression
upon it would be light layered on top of the light of its innate
nature. This is the description of those about whom it is said,
"those who have been given knowledge see that what has been sent down
to you from your Lord is the truth." [4]
Concerning them, Allah says,:->

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Does the one who startsto pray Taraweeh have to complete it?

If a Muslim starts to pray Taraweeh, does he have to complete it? Or
can he pray as much as he wants and then leave?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There is no doubt that Taraweeh is a Sunnah andis naafil; it is the
qiyaam of Ramadan. The same may be said of night prayers, Duha
(forenoon) prayer and the regular Sunnah prayers that are offered
along with the obligatory prayers. All of them are naafil, so he may
do them if he wants or not do them if he wants, but doing them is
better.
If he starts to pray Taraweeh with the imam and wants to leave
beforecompleting it, there is nothing wrong with that, but staying
with the imam until he finishes is better, and it will be recorded for
him as if he spent this night in prayer, because the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever prays qiyaam
with the imam until he finishes, Allah will record for him the qiyaam
of onenight." So if he stays with the imam until he completes it, he
will have attained the virtue of spending the whole night in prayer,
but if he leaves after praying some rak'ahs, there is nothing wrong
with that and no sin, because it is naafil. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)

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The dhikr that is prescribed when breaking the fast

What is the ruling on the du'aa' from hadeeth which they say are
da'eef (weak), such as:
1 – Saying when breakingthe fast: "Allaahumma laka sumtu wa 'ala
rizqikaaftartu (O Allaah, for You Ihave fasted and by Your provision I
have broken the fast)."
2 – Ashhadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah astaghfir Allaah as'aluka
al-jannah wa a'oodhu bika min al-naar (I bear witness that there is no
god but Allaah, I ask Allaah for forgiveness, I ask You for Paradise
and Iseek refuge with You from the Fire).
Is this prescribed, permissible, not permissible, makrooh, notvalid or haraam?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Saying du'aa' in the wordsmentioned when breaking the fast was
narrated in a da'eef (weak) hadeeth which was narrated by Abu Dawood
(2358) from Mu'aadh ibn Zuhrah, who heard that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say, when he broke his fast,
"Allaahumma laka sumtu was 'ala rizqika aftartu (O Allaah, for You
Ihave fasted and by Your provision I have broken the fast)."
There is no need for this, because we have the report narrated by Abu
Dawood (2357) from Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who
said: When the Messengerof Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) broke his fast, he would say: "Dhahaba al-zamau'a, wa
abtallat al-'urooq wa thabata al-ajr insha Allah (Thirst has gone, the
veins are moist, and the reward is assured, if Allaah wills)." This
hadeeth was classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
Secondly:
It is mustahabb for the fasting person to say du'aa' whilst he is
fasting and when breaking the fast, because of the reportnarrated by
Ahmad (8030) from Abu Hurayrah(may Allaah be pleased with him) who
said: We said: O Messenger of Allaah, when we see you our hearts are
softened and we are people of the Hereafter, but when we leave you we
are attracted by this world and by our womenfolk and children. He
said: "If you were always as you are when you are with me, the angels
would shake hands with you andthey would visit you in your houses. If
you did not commit sin, Allaah would bring another people who would
commit sin so that He could forgive them." He said: We said: O
Messenger of Allaah, tell us about Paradise, what isit built of? He
said: "Bricksof gold and bricks of silver; its mortar is musk, its
pebbles are pearls and rubies, its soil is saffron. Whoever enters it
will be happy and will never be miserable, he will abide therein
forever and never die. His clothes will never wear out and his youth
will never fade. There are three whose du'aa' will not be rejected: a
just ruler, a fasting person until he breaks the fast, and the prayer
of one who has been wronged. Itis borne on the clouds andthe gates of
heaven are opened for it, and the Lord, may He be glorified and
exalted, says: 'By My glory, I will grant you help even if it is after
some time.'"
This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by Shu'ayb al-Arna'oot in Tahqeeq al-Musnad.
It was also narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2525) with the words, "… the
fasting person when he breaks his fast…" This was classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
So you may ask Allaah for Paradise and seek refuge with Him from the
Fire, and you can pray for forgiveness, and offer other du'aa's that
are prescribed in Islam. As for the du'aa' in this particular form –
Ashhaduan laa ilaaha ill-Allaah astaghfir Allaah as'aluka al-jannah wa
a'oodhu bika min al-naar (I bear witness that there is no god but
Allaah, I ask Allaah for forgiveness, I ask You for Paradise and Iseek
refuge with You from the Fire) – we could not find any source for it.
And Allaah knows best.

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The virtue of giving iftaar to one who is fasting

What is the reward for giving iftaar to one who isfasting?
Praise be to Allaah.
It was narrated that Zayd ibn Khaalid al-Juhani said: The Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever
gives iftaar to one who is fasting will have a reward like his,
without that detracting from the reward of the fasting person in the
slightest."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 807; Ibn Maajah, 1746. Classed as saheeh by
Ibn Hibaan, 8/216 and by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami, 6415.
Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] said: What is meant by giving him
iftaar is giving him enough to satisfy him. Al-Ikhtiyaaraat, p. 194
The righteous salaf were keen to provide food for others and they
thought that this was one of the best of righteous deeds.
One of the salaf said: For me to invite ten of my companions and feed
them food that they like is dearer to me than freeing ten of the sons
of Ismaa'eel from slavery.
Many of the salaf used to give up their iftaar for others, such as
'Abd-Allaah ibn Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him), Dawood
al-Taa'i, Maalik ibn Dinar and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Ibn 'Umar used only
to break his fast with orphans and the poor andneedy.
There were among the salaf those who used to offer food to their
brothers whilst fasting, and they would sit and serve them, such as
al-Hasan and Ibn al-Mubaarak.
Abu al-Siwaar al-'Adawi said: Men from the tribe of Banu 'Adiyy used
to pray in this mosque and not one of them would break his fast on his
own; if they found someone to join them they would eat with him,
otherwise they would take their food out to the mosque and eat with
the people, and the people would eat with them.
From the 'ibaadah of providing food for people stem many other acts of
worship such as creating love and friendship towards those who are
given the food, which is a means of entering Paradise, as the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "You will not enter
Paradise until you truly believe, and you will not truly believe until
you love one another." Narrated by Muslim, 54. It also fosters the
practice ofsitting with righteous people and seeking reward by helping
them to do acts of worship for which they gain strength by eating your
food.

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