Five Sunnahs of Fasting The Prophet ( ﻲﻠﺻ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ) taught us five favourable (mustahab or “sunnah”) actions for us to follow while fasting. These are: 1. Hasten Iftaar: When Maghrib time arrives, hasten to break your fast–do not delay. It’s said that he, ( ﻲﻠﺻ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ), sent Bilal ( ﻲﺿﺭ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻪﻨﻋ ) to stand on top of a high-up hill to see when the sun set, then broke his fast immediately. 2. Eat Suhoor: A lot of cultures teach us to skip suhoor and start fasting when we sleep. (Though nobody skips the sunnah of hastening iftaar …) Aside from being (medically) bad for you, it extends the length of your fast by a good six or more hours. Forget that. Eat suhoor–and close to Fajr time–and with this, with iftaar, protects your fast–dawn to sunset. The Prophet ( ﻲﻠﺻ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ) said: My nation will remain in goodness as long as they break the fast as soon as it is due. [Muslim] 3.Pray Fajr: The Prophet ( ﻲﻠﺻ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻢﻠﺳﻭ) never, ever missed Fajr intentionally, ever. Skipping salaah entails a major sin! Scholars differ on whether you are considered Muslim or not if you skip prayers intentionally, i.e. whether you will enter Hellfire forever–may Allah protect us all. So don’t do it! If you eat suhoor close to Fajr anyway, it becomes very easy to pray Fajr. If you have access to transportation,pray at the masjid and get the benefit of multiplied good deeds deposited in your account. 4. Avoid Foul Language: The Prophet ( ﻲﻠﺻ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ) said: Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his fasting.) [Bukhari 3/31/127, Muslim] So no swearing, lying, backbiting, insulting, etc. You wouldn’t want to struggle though all that hardship, to end up with an unaccepted fast, would you? 5. Make Du’a at Iftaar: A lot of people miss out on this. We cram dates into our mouth when the adhaan sounds, then rush off to make wudoo or pray Maghrib. The Prophet ( ﻲﻠﺻ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ) said: Three prayers are not rejected: the prayer of a father, the prayer of a fasting person, and the prayer of a traveler. [Al-Bayhaqi, Saheeh according to Al-Albani] [1] So keep it simple: stick the date in your mouth and raise your hands to the sky. You get the best of both rewards! And remember, the reward of following a sunnah (or musthabb– recommended act) is an accreditation of good deeds in your account. And we can all do with more good deeds. May Allah ( ﻪﻧﺎﺤﺒﺳ ﻰﻟﺎﻌﺗﻭ ) keep us all on the Straight Path and help us to follow the sunnah, ameen!
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 18:00:23 +0000
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