Bismillah irRahman irRahim
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
With the approach of Ramadan, I am getting few requests from my non muslims friends about the dos and don’t of fasting (Roza). I am writing this piece to address the same inshaAllah.
First of all, fasting in Ramdan is really easy and straight forward. There aren’t a lot of rules involved unlike the popular belief. I will try to summarise the same below inshaAllah.
What is fasting or Roza?
Roza is basically an Urdu word popularly used in the Indian Subcontinent for the arabic word Saum. The question then becomes what is Saum? Without me getting into technical and linguistic details, Saum is basically fasting where the observer abstains from all types of foods & drinks from sunrise to sunset.
I want to fast this Ramadan, what do I need to do?
Make the intention
Intention is the backbone of all the deeds in Islam and the same goes for fasting. If you want to fast, make the right intention.
"The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended… “ (Prophet Mohammad PBUH - Sahih al-Bukhari 1)
We don’t fast because of anything else but to fulfil the commandment of Allah swt as mentioned in the Quran -
“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous” (Surah Baqarah)
Abstain from eating/drinking from sunrise to sunset
Once you have made the intention, you need to abstain from eating/drinking from sunrise to sunset. Sunrise and Sunset here may not mean the Sunrise and Sunset you know of. To know the timing correctly, I would suggest you to contact the nearest mosque and get the calendar from them. If you can not do this, visit www.IslamicFinder.org and enter your location, you will get a timetable similar to the one below -
For now, you need to make note of the time that is shown under Fajr and Maghrib (Both of these are prayer names). Between Fajr and Maghrib, you should abstain from any food/drink. Please note, no water, no cigarette, no medicines… nothing at all! If you are ill and an expert doctors says that fasting is going to be bad for your health, Islam allows you to miss the fasts. Apart from food, you need to also abstain from intimate relation with your wife/husband.
Have Sehri
Sehri in simple term is the food that one has with the intention of fasting before Fajr. Though this is not mandatory and your fast will inshaAllah be valid without this as well but it is recommended to have Sehri (or Suhoor).
“Take Sahur, for in Sahur there is blessing.” (Prophet Mohammad PBUH - Sunan an-Nasa'i 2149)
You can have any food or drink in Sehri as long as it is halal. Note that certain food items may not be enough to last the whole day, I assume that the reader will do his/her own research on the selection of food items. Also, I would recommend you to have enough water in Sehri because given the summer in India this year, I expect a lot of thirst during fasting.
Have Iftar
Iftar is simple terms is again food that is had at the time of Maghrib, this marks the end of fast. To know the time of Iftar, you will either have the calendar from the nearest mosque or use IslamicFinder online. It is recommended to have Dates as the first thing in iftar but its not mandatory, you can do it with any other food item as long as it is halal. Also, as soon as the time for Iftar is due, you need to have something; its discouraged to delay iftar.
“Whoever has dried dates, then let him break the fast with that, and whoever does not, then let him break the fast with water, for indeed water is purifying.” (Prophet Mohammad PBUH - Jami` at-Tirmidhi 694)
“The people will remain on the right path as long as they hasten the breaking of the fast” (Prophet Mohammad PBUH - Sahih al-Bukhari 1957)
Not just food
Fasting is not just for the stomach, fasting is much more than that. I don’t want to make this article very long with the essence and details of fasting but would like to add couple of more points. While fasting, we need to abstain from anything wrong. Abstain from harming anyone (unless you are a cop or a soldier), fighting, abusing, hurting, disrespecting, etc etc. Also do all the good things, mend the broken ties with family and friends, give charity, help others etc etc.
Conclusion
Thats it, so simple, your fast is done! Similar, there will be either 29 or 30 fasts in the month of Ramadan depending on the sighting of the moon. Beyond the time of fasting (i.e before Fajr and after Maghrib), you are allowed to have any food/drink of your choice as long as it is halal. This was the bare minimum of fasting, if you want to explore more of the blessed month of Ramadan, offer the Maghrib prayer in the mosque in congregation (go along with one of your muslim friend). I have had few of my friends offering the prayer with me in the mosque and they have said that it has been an amazing experience for them. I would also recommend reading the holy Quran during this month. You can do this online using sites like http://quran.com/ or http://quranexplorer.com/. For anything else, feel free to comment and inshaAllah, I will respond as soon as possible.
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