Ramadan and the Propagators of Doubt

Along comes Ramadan and along with it Come the Propagators of Doubt

Allah has made the month of Ramadan a month for goodness, blessing and worship through a variety of actions. Tremendous historical events took place in Ramadan.

1. Allah the Elevated said:
   {The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion

2. A day that is better than a thousand months falls in it; which is Laylatul Qadr; Allah the Elevated said:
   {The night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is better than a thousand months

3. Allah obligated fasting during it, and the Prophet - صلى الله عليه وسلم - established the Sunnah of the night prayer saying:
   "Whoever stands for the night prayer in Ramadan, out of faith and yearn for Allah’s reward, would have his past sins forgiven! "

4. The Great Battle of Badr took place during it - the Day of Criterion, where Allah decreed the Criterion between truth and falsehood.
5. During it, was The Great Victory, the victory over Makkah.

Therefore it is an obligation to know the merited status of this tremendous month, and people should busy themselves with righteous actions such as fasting, the night prayer, recitation of the Quran and ‘Itikaaf, as the Prophet - صلى الله عليه وسلم – used to specify this month with a variety of forms of worship.

However, in this age of ours, a lot of people are negligent of this month.

1. A group of them prepare media programs, most of which are a waste of time; such as soap operas, movies, comedy shows, competitions and other shows.
2. Another group busies themselves with the varieties of food and drink. They turn Ramadan into a month of eating, drinking and staying up late at night instead of being a month of fasting and prayer. They stay up all night and sleep during the day. They abandon praying the obligatory prayers in the Masjid at their appointed times and neglect them:
   {Then, there succeeded them a people who have given up the prayers and followed lusts
3. Another group busies people with doubts and debates about when the month of Ramadan starts, when the daily fast should start, the legislation of the prayer and the number of Rak’aat that should be prayed while disregarding the specific evidence for these affairs.

   1. A group of them propagate doubts about relying on the sighting of the moon – which was made to be the start and the end of the month by the Messenger of Allah - صلى الله عليه وسلم - where he stated:
      "Begin the fast [of Ramadan] when you sight the moon, and stop the fast when you sight it. If visibility is low and you cannot see it, complete thirty days of Sha’ban."

      There are those who want to abrogate acting upon the sighting of the moon and rely on astronomical calculations. There are also those who want to link the sighting of the moon with astronomical calculations; if they are not in accordance with each other they care nothing for the sighting.

      In these recent days, some newspapers news published that it would be impossible to sight the moon on Friday night! This is how they placed a judgment on a future matter – something that no one knows except Allah! How many times have they claimed the same, and the opposite of what they propagated came to pass; the moon was sighted on the same night that they claimed it would not be sighted on. This is because, most of the time, there is no doubt about the sighting of the moon, one who sees is not like one who hears:

      {They (the believers) saw them (the disbelievers) with their own eyes twice their number

      Astronomical calculations are carried out by man, man is prone to erring and deficiency. All our worship is based upon either the sighting of the moon, or the sighting of the break of dawn [for Fajr], or the decline of the sun [for Dhuhr], or the sighting for when a person’s shadow is proportional to him [for ‘Asr], or the sighting for the setting of the sun [for Maghrib], or the sighting for the fading red twilight haze [for the end of Maghrib] for the times of our five daily prayers!

   2. Another group propagates suspicions about the time in which the break of dawn emerges for the Fajr prayer, and the time we should start our daily fast. Indeed Allah the Elevated said:
      { and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears distinct from the black thread (darkness of night) to you

      This is only done by sighting it with one’s eyesight, which cannot be doubted. Therefore, if the sighting of the moon is not in accordance to astronomical calculations, then astronomical calculations are not to be relied upon.

   3. Another group propagates doubts about the legislation of the Taraweeh, while it has been authentically reported that the Prophet - صلى الله عليه وسلم - prayed it with his companions for two nights, then refrained on the third night for fear that it would be obligated upon them. He never prevented them from praying it in congregation or alone, until it was 'Umar – may Allah be pleased with him – who gathered them behind one Imam during his reign, he did this as the affair that the Messenger - صلى الله عليه وسلم - feared by praying with them was no longer possible. [i.e. after the Messenger - صلى الله عليه وسلم - passed away, it could no longer be obligated.]
   4. Another group propagates doubts about the number of Rak’aat and wants to limit the people to a specific number ^[1].

      Indeed the Messenger of Allah - صلى الله عليه وسلم - said:

      "Whoever stands for the night prayer in Ramadan, out of faith and eagerness for Allah’s reward would have his past sins forgiven!"

      He did not specify a number of Rak’aat. He - صلى الله عليه وسلم - also said:

      "Whoever stands for the night prayer behind the Imam until he leaves, would have the reward of praying the whole night written for him!"

      Again he did not specify a number; he encouraged people to pray the night prayer while he did not specify a number. What is required is to perfect the prayer, not the number of Rak’aat.

   5. Another group propagates doubts about the Tahajjud prayer at the last part of the night during the last ten days, while the Messenger - صلى الله عليه وسلم - used to exert more effort in practicing righteous actions during the last ten than any other time. When the last ten came in, he would tighten his Izaar (figure of speech meaning be keen on – like "roll up his sleeves".), he would stay up for most of the night, awaken his family and perform other righteous actions as was stated in other Ahadeeth and Athaar transmitted by the Salaf about their Tahajjud prayer during the last ten and how they would elongate it.

And may the Salaat and Salaam be upon our prophet Muhammad, his family and companions.

Written by: Saaleh ibn Fawzaan al Fawzaan.

Member of the Committee of Major Scholars.

[1] This is an area of differing between our scholars and the affair is expansive.