FACTS OF RAMADAN

FASTING
Assalamualaikum
The Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. TheMonth of Ramadan
isalso when it is believed the Holy Quran "was sent down from heaven,
aguidance unto men, a declaration of direction, and a means of
Salvation"
It is during this month that Muslims fast. It is called the Fast of
Ramadan andlasts the entire month. Ramadan is atime when Muslims
concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concernsof their
everyday lives. It is a time of worship and contemplation
During the Fast of Ramadan strict restraints are placed on the daily
lives of Muslims. They are not allowed to eat ordrink during the
daylight hours. Smoking and sexual relations are also forbidden during
fasting. At the end ofthe day the fast is broken with prayer and a
meal called theiftar. In the evening following the iftar it is
customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends. The fast
is resumed the next morning
According to the Holy Quran:
One may eat and drink at any time during the night"until you can
plainlydistinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daylight:
then keep the fast until night"
The good that is acquired through the fast can be destroyed by five things -
the telling of a lie
slander
denouncing someone behind his back
a false oath
greed or covetousness
These are consideredoffensive at all times,but are most offensive
during the Fast of Ramadan
During Ramadan, it is common for Muslims to go to the Masjid (Mosque)
and spend several hours praying and studyingthe Quran. In addition to
the five daily prayers, during Ramadan Muslims recite a special prayer
called the Taraweeh prayer (Night Prayer). The length of this prayer
is usually 2-3 times as long as the daily prayers. Some Muslims spend
the entire night in prayer
On the evening of the 27th day of the month, Muslims celebrate the
Laylat-al-Qadr (the Night of Power). It is believedthat on this night
Muhammad first received the revelation of the Holy Quran. And
according to the Quran, this is when God determines the course of the
world for the following year
When the fast ends (the first day of the month of Shawwal) it is
celebrated for three days in a holiday called Id-al-Fitr (the Feast of
FastBreaking). Gifts are exchanged. Friends and family gather to pray
in congregationand for large meals. In some cities fairs are held to
celebrate the end of the Fast ofRamadan.
Special Characteristics of Ramadan
1. Observing the fourth pillar of Islam has been prescribed during
this month, and it is one of the best means by whicha person attains
piety and forgiveness of sins.
2. The first revelationof the Qur'an as guidance for humanity was
given to the Prophet (pbuh) during this month.
3. The sunnah of performing the tarawih prayer is observed during this month.
4. Ramadan containsLaylatul-Qadr, which is better than a thousand months.
5. The great battle ofBadr between the Muslims and the unbelievers
took place during Ramadan in the second year of the Hijrah.
6. The Muslims re-entered Makkah victorious during Ramadan in the
eighth year of the Hijrah. After this conquest people began to enter
the fold of Islam in multitudes, and Makkah became free of polytheism
and evil.
Benefits from Ramadan
1. It strengthens one's ties with Allah and trains the soul toobserve
duties of devotion in accordance with the teachings of the Qur'an and
Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh).
2. It enforces patience and determination in theMuslim individual.
3. It promotes the principle of sincerity by keeping the Muslim away
from arrogance and showing off, since it is an act between the
individual and his Creator.
4. It promotes good character, particularly truthfulness and trust-worthiness.
5. It encourages the Muslim to do away with bad habits and change
his/her circumstances for the better.
6. It enhances generosity, hospitality, and spending on charitable causes.
7. It reinforces feelings of unity and brotherhood among Muslims.
8. It instills orderliness and closeobservance of the value of time.
9. It serves as an opportunity for children to perform acts of
obedience and to practice Islamic acts of worship.
10. It offers a chanceto balance one's attention to both physical and
spiritualneeds.

4a] Disturbed by waswaas (whispers from the Shaytaan) and evil thoughts

4a]
The fact that you hate that and your heart recoils from it is a clear
sign of faith. Waswaas happens to everyone whoturns to Allaah by
reciting dhikr etc. It is inevitable, but you have to be steadfast and
patient, andpersevere with your dhikrand prayer, and not give up,
because in this way you will ward off the plot of the Shaytaan. "Ever
feeble indeed is the plot of Shaytaan" [al-Nisa' 4:76– interpretation
of the meaning]. Every time a person wants to turn to Allaah, waswaas
brings other matters to mind. The Shaytaan is like a bandit: every
time a person wants to move towards Allaah, he wants to block the way.
Hence when it was said to one of the salaf that the Jews and
Christians say, "We donot experience waswaas,"he said, "They are
speaking the truth, for what would the Shaytaan do with a house in
ruins?"
(From Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, 22/608).
The remedy:
1 – If you feel that you are being affected by this waswaas, say,
"Aamantu Billaahi wa Rasoolihi (I believe in Allaah and His
Messenger)." It was narrated from 'Aa'ishah that the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Shaytaan
comes to one of you and says, 'Who created you?' And he says 'Allaah.'
Then the Shaytaan says, 'Who created Allaah?' If that happens to any
one of you, let him say, AamantuBillaahi wa Rusulihi (I believe in
Allaah and His Messenger). Then that willgo away from him."
(Narrated by Ahmad, 25671; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in al-Saheehah, 116).
2 – Try to stop thinking about that as much as possible, and keep busy
with things that will distract you from it.
Finally we advise you to keep on turning to Allaah in all situations,
and to ask Him for help, and to beseech Him, and to ask Him to make
you steadfast until death, and to cause you to die doing righteous
deeds… And Allaah knows best.

4] Disturbed by waswaas (whispers from the Shaytaan) and evil thoughts

4]
When I do Salah or intendto do good deeds I often get very evil
thoughts in my mind. When I concentrate in Salah, and try to focus on
the meaning of the words, evil thoughts enter my mind, which make evil
suggestions about everything including Allah. I feel very
frustratedand angry about this. I know that none forgives sins except
Allah alone, but because of my thoughts I feel that there is nothing
worse than to have evil thoughts about Allah. After Salah I ask
Allah's forgiveness, but feel very bad because I want to stop these
evil thoughts, but I can't stop them. These thoughts spoil my
enjoyment of Salah, and also make me feel as though I am doomed.
Please advise me.
Praise be to Allaah.
Evil whispers during prayer and at other times come from the Shaytaan,
who is keen to misguide the Muslim and deprive him of good and keep it
far away from him. One ofthe Sahaabah complained to the Messenger of
Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about waswaas during
prayer, and he said: "The Shaytaan comes between me and my prayers and
my recitation, confusing me therein." The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "That is a devil called
Khanzab. If he affects you seek refuge in Allah from him and spit
drily to your left three times." He [the Sahaabi] said, I did that and
Allaah took him awayfrom me.
(Narrated by Muslim, 2203)
Proper focus (khushoo') is the essence of prayer. Prayer without
proper focus is like a body without a soul. The following are two of
the things that help one to develop the proper focus:
1 - Striving to think aboutwhat you are saying and doing, pondering
the meanings of the Qur'aan, dhikr and du'aa's that youare reciting;
bearing in mind that you are conversing with Allaah as if you can see
Him. For when the worshipper stands to pray, he is speaking to his
Lord, and ihsaan means worshipping Allaah as if you are seeing Him,
and knowing that even though you cannot see Him, He sees you. Every
time a person experiencesthe sweetness of prayer, he will be more
inclined to do it. [?]. This depends of the strength of one's faith -
and there are many means of strengthening one's faith. Hence the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "Of the
things of your world, women and perfume have been made dear to me, and
my joy is in prayer." According to another hadeeth he said, "Let us
relax, O Bilal, with prayer," and he did not say, Give us a break from
it.
2 - Striving to ward off the things that may distract you during
prayer, namely thinking about things that are irrelevant or
distracting. Waswaas affects each person differently, because waswaas
has to do with a person's level ofdoubts and desires and the degree to
which a person is attached to other things or is fearing other things.
(From Majmoo' Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, 22/605)
With regard to what you say about the waswaas reaching such a great
level that you have begunto experience waswaas that makes you think
about Allaah in ways that are not appropriate, theseare evil whispers
from theShaytaan. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And if an evil whisper from Shaytaan (Satan) tries to turn you away
(O Muhammad) (from doing good), then seek refuge inAllaah. Verily, He
is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower"
[Fussilat 41:36]
Some of the Sahaabah complained about the waswaas that was bothering
[?] them. Some of the companions of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) cameto the Prophet (peace
andblessings of Allaah be upon him) and said to him, 'We find in
ourselves thoughts that are too terrible to speak of.' He said, 'Are
you really having such thoughts?' They said, 'Yes.' He said, 'That is
a clear sign of faith.'" (Narrated by Muslim). (Narrated by Muslim,
132 from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah).
Al-Nawawi said in his commentary on this hadeeth: "The Prophet's
words, 'That is a clear signof faith' means, the fact that think of
this waswaas as something terrible is a clear sign of faith, for if
you dare not utter it and you are so afraid of it and of speaking of
it, let alone believing it, this is the sign of one who has achieved
perfect faith andwho is free of doubt."
And it was said that what it means is that the Shaytaan only whispers
tothose whom he despairs of tempting, because he isunable to tempt
them. As for the kaafir, he can approach him in any manner he wants
and is not restricted to waswaas,rather he can play with him however
he wants. Based on this, what the hadeeth means is that thecause of
waswaas is pure faith, or that waswaas is asign of pure faith. :->

Al-Itikaaf- Is i’tikaaf in musallas and Islamic centres valid?

Is it permissible to observe i'tikaaf in musallas or Islamic centres
(in which the five daily prayers and Jumu'ahprayer are offered), or is
itpermissible only in masjids? May Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is only valid to observe i'tikaaf in masjids, becauseAllaah says
(interpretationof the meaning): "And do not have sexual relations with
them (your wives) while you are in I'tikaaf (i.e. confining oneself in
a mosque for prayers and invocations leaving the worldly activities)
in the mosques" [al-Baqarah 2:187].
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The evidence in this verse indicates that if it (i'tikaaf)were valid
in places other than the mosque, the prohibition on intimacy with
one's wife would notbe singled out for prohibition there because
intercourse is contrary to i'tikaaf according to scholarly consensus.
So it is known, from mention of the mosques, that whatis meant is that
i'tikaaf can only be in the mosques. Ibn al-Mundhir narrated that
there was scholarly consensus that what is meant by "sexual relations"
in this verse is intercourse. Al-Tabari and others narrated via
Qataadah that the reason for revelation of this versewas that if they
were in i'tikaaf, and a man went for some need and met his wife, he
had intercourse with her if he wanted, so this verse was revealed. End
quote.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (3/65):
I'tikaaf is not permissible except in a mosque in which prayers in
congregation are held.
I'tikaaf is not valid anywhere except in a mosque if the person
observing i'tikaaf is a man. We do not know of any difference of
opinion among the scholars concerning this. The basic principle
concerning that is the words of Allaah (interpretation of the
meaning): "And do not have sexual relations withthem (your wives)
while you are in I'tikaaf (i.e. confining oneself in a mosque for
prayers and invocations leaving the worldly activities) in the
mosques" [al-Baqarah 2:187]. End quote.
Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo' (6/505):
I'tikaaf on the part of a man or of a woman is notvalid anywhere
except in the mosque. It is not validin the prayer-place of a woman's
house or the prayer-place of a man's house, which is a separatearea
set aside for prayer. End quote.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Shar'i i'tikaaf must be in the mosques, because Allaah says
(interpretationof the meaning): (interpretation of the meaning): "…
while you are in I'tikaaf (i.e. confining oneself in a mosque for
prayers and invocations leaving the worldly activities) in the
mosques" [al-Baqarah 2:187].
End quote from Fataawa Noor 'ala al-Darb (8/176)
See also the answer to question no. 48985
Based on this, i'tikaaf in musallas or Islamic centres is not valid.
And Allaah knows best.