I'm bumping this thread because in exactly 46 minutes (EST), it will be Ramadan. If you live somewhere else like the Middle East, then it's already happening for you.
So who's fasting. Why or why not. What time do you guys need to end Sahoor and when do you break fast?
Ramadan Kareem brother. (Or Ramadan Mubarak if your from the Indo-Pak regions lol)
The beautiful month has begun Alhamdulillah. Well here in England Iftar is just after 9pm whilst sehri was about 3.45am. Long time but Alhamdulillah, the greater the test the greater the benefit.
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For those who would like some more info on what Ramadan is as well as a Reminder of the blessings of this month to fellow Muslims, I'll just quote a compilation of Hadiith from ibn Khuzayma's collection and Imam Ahmad.
O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious).
Al-Qur'an - Al-Baqara Ch2:V183
The Messenger of Allah had addressed the people:
"O people! shadowing you is a great month, a blessed month, a month in which is a night greater than a thousand months. Allah has made fasting compulsory in this month and has made staying awake at night rewarding.
"Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any deed of good in it (Ramadan), he is as one who has performed a Fard in any (time) other than it. And whoever performs in it a Fard, he is as one who has performed seventy Fara'id in any (time) other than it.
"It is the month of patience; and of patience, its reward is Jannah. It is a month of consoling, and it is the month wherein a believer"s sustenance is increased.
"Whoever in it feeds a fasting person (or provides the means of opening the fast), it will be for him forgiveness for his sins, and the freedom of his neck (i.e. himself) from the Fire. And for him is the same reward (as the fasting person) without his (the fasting person's) reward being lessened in the least."
The companions interjected:
"Not all of us have what feeds a fasting person."
The Messenger of Allah answered:
"Allah grants this reward to one who feeds a fasting person with a single date, or a drink of water, or a sip of milk."
(The Messenger of Allah continued
"And it is a month the beginning of which is mercy, the centre of which is forgiveness and the end of which is freedom from the Fire.
"Whoever makes things easy for his subordinates, Allah will forgive him and free him from the Fire.
"Increase in Ramadan four deeds, two of which will please your Lord and two of which you will not find success in besides. The two deeds that your Lord is pleased with are, the (recitation of) Shahadah, that there is no god but Allah, and your seeking forgiveness from Him. The two deeds that there is no success besides them are, you asking Allah for Heaven and you seeking His protection from Hell.
"And whoever satisfies the hunger of a fasting person, Allah will give Him water to drink from my pool. Such a drink that he will not feel thirsty even when he enters heaven."
Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Bayhaqi
Once when the moon of Ramadan was seen, the Messenger P.B.U.H. said:
"If Allah"s servants knew what Ramadan was, they would wish that it were perpetually Ramadan."
A person from the Khuza`ah tribe asked:
"O Nabi of Allah, tell us."
The Messenger P.B.U.H. continued:
"Indeed Heaven is adorned for Ramadan from the beginning of each year till the next. When it is the first day of Ramadan a wind blows from beneath the Throne, through which the leaves of heaven all rustle.
"The *[P.B.U.H. will see this and ask, "O Lord! make for us, in this month, from Your servants spouses who will be the joy of our eyes, and of whose eyes we will be the cause of joy.
"Allah will reply, "The servant who fasts for a day in Ramadan will be paired with a spouse from the wide-eyed *[P.B.U.H. in a tent made of a (single) pearl."
Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Bayhaqi, Abu Ya`la
The Messenger P.B.U.H. has said:
"My Ummah has been given five things in regards to Ramadan which has not been given to any other ummah before them. (One is) that the odour of the mouth of a fasting person is more fragrant according to Allah than musk. (The second is) that the angels continuously seek forgiveness on their behalf until they end their fast. (The third is) that Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, everyday adorns His Heaven and then says (to it),
"The time is near when My pious servants shall be freed from difficulties and (meager) provisions, and they will come to You. (The fourth is) that the shaytan will be shackled and restrained from performing the mischief that they can perform outside Ramadan. (The fifth is) that they (the fasting) will be forgiven on the last night of Ramadan."
It was asked:
"O Prophet of Allah! Is that the night of Qadr (Power)".
The Messenger P.B.U.H. replied:
"No (i.e. the night of Qadr is additional to all this). But it is that a worker should get his reward upon the work"s completion."
Ahmad
