Most beautiful month in the year

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Each year, Islamic and Arab nation well

And Muslims all over the world to the health and happiness

allah says in the Holy Qur'an

185. The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong). So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadan ie is present at his home), he must observe Saum (fasts) that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [ of days which one did not observe Saum (fasts) must be made up] from other days. Allah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allah [ie to say Takbir (Allahu-Akbar; Allah is the Most Great) on seeing the crescent of the months of Ramadan and Shawwal] for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him.


Muslims spend the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observing a community-wide fast. The annual fast of Ramadan is considered one of the five "pillars" of Islam. Muslims who are physically able are required to fast each day of the entire month, from sunrise to sunset. The evenings are spent enjoying family and community meals, engaging in prayer and spiritual reflection, and reading from the Qu'ran.

Aside from the five-times-daily prayer, fasting during the month of Ramadan is the most visible and recognizable of Muslim acts the world over. During the 30-odd days of Ramadan, Muslims are required to fast during daylight hours, drinks included, and abstain from bodily pleasures like sex or other forms of sensual abandon. The focus is on humility, spiritual oneness with God and social oneness with the umma, or Islamic community, across the globe.

Fasting in Islam has its origins in Judaism, Christianity and the pre-Islamic Arab world. Although Ramadan is when Muslims fast most, they may fast voluntarily the rest of the year, or fast three days a month, or six days during the month of Sawwal, which follows the month of Ramadan, or fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Each of these proscriptions is recognized in Islam.



prophet Muhammad peace be upon him once said, "If one does not abandon falsehood in words and deeds, Allah has no need for his abandoning of food and drink." It is therefore imperative that the fasting person not only refrains from food and drink, but also from foul speech, lying, arguing, and the like.

Muslims are called upon to use this month to re-evaluate their lives in light of Islamic guidance. We are to make peace with those who have wronged us, strengthen ties with family and friends, do away with bad habits - essentially to clean up our lives, our thoughts, and our feelings. The Arabic word for "fasting" (sawm) literally means "to refrain" - and it means not only refraining from food and drink, but from evil actions, thoughts, and words.

During Ramadan, every part of the body must be restrained. The tongue must be restrained from backbiting and gossip. The eyes must restrain themselves from looking at unlawful things. The hand must not touch or take anything that does not belong to it. The ears must refrain from listening to idle talk or obscene words. The feet must refrain from going to sinful places. In such a way, every part of the body observes the fast.


During the fast, Muslims experience hunger and thirst and learn to sympathize with those in the world who have little to eat. They come to appreciate the blessings that Allah grants them. Through increased charity during the month, Muslims develop feelings of generosity and goodwill toward others. And since all Muslims in the world are undergoing the same experience at the same time, this practice strengthens community bonds throughout the Muslim world.



The Qur'an commands as follows: "Ramadan is the month in which the Qur'an was sent down, as a guide to mankind, and clear signs for guidance and judgment between right and wrong. So every one of you who is present at his home during that month should spend it in fasting. But if anyone is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period should be made up by days later "(Qur'an 2:185). Therefore, every Muslim is required to fast, with the following exceptions:

Travelers

Those who are suffering from a temporary illness

The elderly or chronically ill

Women in menses or postchildbirth bleeding

Pregnant or nursing women

Children who have not yet reached adolescence

If possible, missed days are to be made up at a later time. If the reason for exception is long-term, then the missed days may be compensated for by giving in charity enough to feed one poor person for each day of fasting.

Children are not required to fast until they reach puberty. However, many children like to join in the activities of the family and try to fast for a day or part of a day. Sometimes they will fast on the weekends, for example, or will fast from noon until sunset. This is encouraged as practice for the day when fasting will be incumbent upon them.


On a day of fasting, Muslims rise before dawn for an early meal called suhoor. This light meal is intended to nourish the body through the rigorous daylong fast. The fast begins with the predawn call to prayer. Muslims continue through their daily lives of work, school, or other commitments, conscious of the limitations of fasting, and striving to be on their best behavior. Muslims continue to observe the daily prayers as usual and often spend part of the day reading chapters of the Qur'an.

As sunset approaches, Muslims often gather together as family or community to break the fast and enjoy a meal together at the end of the day. Muslims break their fast just as the call to prayer for the sunset prayer is heard. Following the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims often break their fast by eating dates and drinking some milk. After the sunset prayers, they sit down together for an evening meal called fitoor (technically, "breakfast").



In the evening, Muslims gather at the mosque for special prayers called taraweeh. These extra prayers are offered each night of Ramadan. Every evening, a section of the Qur'an will be read in a long prayer, so that by the end of the month the entire Qur'an will have been heard. Muslims also spend time visiting with friends and relatives before retiring for the night to rest before starting the fast again the next day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e1er86VQXA

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"Verily! We have sent it (this Quran) down in the night of Al-Qadr.

And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr is?

The night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months

Therein descend the angels and the Ruh (Gabriel) by Allah's Permission with all Decrees,

Peace! until the appearance of dawn (97:1-5)

THE HADITH ON FASTING

Abu Huraira related that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. And he who passes Lailat al-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven (Bukhari, Muslim).

Abu Huraira related that Rasulullah said: If anyone omits his fast even for one day in Ramadan without a concession or without being ill, then if he were to fast for the rest of his life he could not make up for it (Bukhari).

Abu Huraira related that the Prophet said: Allah the Majestic and Exalted said: "Every deed of man will receive ten to 700 times reward, except Siyam (fasting), for it is for Me and I shall reward it (as I like). There are two occasions of joy for one who fasts: one when he breaks the fast and the other when he will meet his Lord" (Muslim).

Abu Huraira related that Rasulullah said: Many people who fast get nothing from their fast except hunger and thirst, and many people who pray at night get nothing from it except wakefulness (Darimi).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eY7UdUylBU

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How do Muslims observe Ramadan in places where the sun

THE Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins at the sighting of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar calendar. During Ramadan (which starts on July 9th this year) observant Muslims around the world abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset. Because it follows the lunar calendar, Ramadan shifts by 11 days a year in relation to the Gregorian calendar. In some places, like Saudi Arabia, that makes little difference to the number of hours a day Muslims must fast. But what happens in northern countries where there can be up to 24 hours of darkness or light, depending on the time of year? What about in Antarctica, where periods of continuous daylight and continuous darkness last several months? How do Muslims observe Ramadan in places where the sun does not set?

This question has become more pressing as Muslims have ventured further afield from their original Arabian homeland, where the shortest day of the year lasts for around 12 hours and the longest for about 15. Islamic scholars have proffered various solutions. The strictest interpretation of the Koran, Saudi Arabia’s Council of Senior Scholars, maintains that one must always observe local timings as long as night is distinguishable from day, even if that means fasting for more than 23 hours a day in the summer and for just a few hours during the winter. (The photo shows Kaltouma Abakar, a refugee from Sudan's Darfur province, breaking her fast during the four-hour night in Rovaniemi, a city in northern Finland.) In those places where the sun does not set at all, one must observe the times of the nearest place where it does.

But other scholars argue that this makes for confusion over which city to follow, and that it is anyway unreasonable and not in the spirit of Islam to require people to fast for such long periods. Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, one of the world’s most respected Islamic institutes, has ruled that Muslims should not fast for more than 18 hours a day. “We are not supposed to starve to death,” says Salman Tamimi, head of the Muslim Association of Iceland. Some communities, like the 1,000 or so Icelandic Muslims, therefore follow a fatwa (Islamic ruling) which recommends observing the fast times of the 45th parallel. Others, in Alaska and Sweden for example, instead observe the times of Mecca, since that is the place to which the Koran’s verses originally referred, a ruling backed by the European Council of Fatwa and Research. Yet another group of scholars suggests fasting for 12 hours irrespective of the time of year, because an average day offers 12 hours of sunlight.

And what of observing Ramadan from low-earth orbit, where each period of daylight lasts just 45 minutes? In 2007, when Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a Malaysian astronaut, became the first observant Muslim to go into space during Ramadan, Malaysia’s government published a 20-page booklet of guidelines, confirming that astronauts should follow the same prayer and fasting times as the location from which their spacecraft lifted off—in this case, the Baikonur launch pad. “There is no monolithic standard,” says Imam Abdullah Hasan of the Neeli mosque in Greater Manchester, Britain. “The beauty of Islam is its flexibility.”

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opZIMNTEw38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBWCIjXu3Go

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Things do not invalidate the fast:
• wet dream during fasting does not break the fast, the lack of willful intent and agreement of the scholars.
• It got him to vomit without choosing him when he was fasting, but did not break his fast, his fast is valid for saying peace be upon him: (from help vomiting - the drop and oppression - do not eliminate it).

• What is included in the throat without the choice of dust or flies, and other things that can not be avoided, it does not invalidate the fast, the lack of intent. Did not mean that the unthinking, heedless, and is costly to the verse: God Punish us not if we forget or fall. And saying peace be upon him: (pardoned for my error and what they forget it).

• bleeding from unintentionally: bleeding and the wound, and so on, does not break the fast, does not invalidate the fast, the lack of choice.

• from eating or drinking by mistake meaning it to him, for saying peace be upon him: (pardoned for my error and what they forget it). And saying peace be upon him: (forgets that he is fasting and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast for it is fed and drink).

• Shaka from eating at dawn his fast is valid, do not eliminate it, because the basic survival of the night.
• It became the side of a wet dream or intercourse, and fed him the time, it is fast and may delay the ghusl until after the fast, and dawn, and his fast is not it properly spent. What is in the correct: that the Prophet (peace be upon him was becoming side of intercourse, then washed and fast). In Saheeh Muslim,

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxKrNrG9KxI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uw9xtV1cw4

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The medical benefits of fasting are as a result of fasting. Fasting in general has been used in medicine for medical reasons including weight management, for rest of the digestive tract and for lowering lipids. There are many adverse effects of total fasting as well as so-called crash diets. Islamic fasting is different from such diet plans because in Ramadan fasting, there is no malnutrition or inadequate calorie intake. The caloric intake of Muslims during Ramadan is at or slightly below the national requirement guidelines. In addition, the fasting in Ramadan is voluntarily taken and is not a prescribed imposition from the physician.

Ramadan is a month of self-regulation and self-training, with the hope that this training will last beyond the end of Ramadan. If the lessons learned during Ramadan, whether in terms of dietary intake or righteousness, are carried on after Ramadan, it is beneficial for one’s entire life. Moreover, the type of food taken during Ramadan does not have any selective criteria of crash diets such as those which are protein only or fruit only type diets. Everything that is permissible is taken in moderate quantities.

The only difference between Ramadan and total fasting is the timing of the food; during Ramadan, we basically miss lunch and take an early breakfast and do not eat until dusk. Abstinence from water during this period is not bad at all and in fact, it causes concentration of all fluids within the body, producing slight dehydration. The body has its own water conservation mechanism; in fact, it has been shown that slight dehydration and water conservation, at least in plant life, improve their longevity.

The physiological effect of fasting includes lower of blood sugar, lowering of cholesterol and lowering of the systolic blood pressure. In fact, Ramadan fasting would be an ideal recommendation for treatment of mild to moderate, stable, non-insulin diabetes, obesity and essential hypertension. In 1994 the first International Congress on "Health and Ramadan," held in Casablanca, entered 50 research papers from all over the world, from Muslim and non-Muslim researchers who have done extensive studies on the medical ethics of fasting. While improvement in many medical conditions was noted; however, in no way did fasting worsen any patients’ health or baseline medical condition. On the other hand, patients who are suffering from severe diseases, whether diabetes or coronary artery disease, kidney stones, etc., are exempt from fasting and should not try to fast.

There are psychological effects of fasting as well. There is a peace and tranquility for those who fast during the month of Ramadan. Personal hostility is at a minimum, and the crime rate decreases. This psychological improvement could be related to better stabilization of blood glucose during fasting as hypoglycemia after eating, aggravates behavior changes.

Recitation of the Quran not only produces a tranquility of heart and mind, but improves the memory. Therefore, I encourage my Muslim patients to fast in the month of Ramadan, but they must do it under medical supervision. Healthy adult Muslims should not fear becoming weak by fasting, but instead it should improve their health and stamina.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNGTYzWe1KA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22tFGT1lnMY

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The Prophet in Ramadan

It was Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, who made us raise our eyes from the dust beneath to view the glory of the starry heavens above. It was Muhammad who led us from the depths of darkness to the grandeur of the light of God.

The Prophet was the one who led us to break our stone statues and wooden gods. It was Muhammad who lifted us out of the filth of idolatry to relish the serenity of God’s transcendence.

On the Night of Power in one Ramadan, the Quran descended on Muhammad, and he received its first verses in the Cave of Hira. (Ibn Abbas)

Thereafter the Prophet taught us how to celebrate Ramadan through days of fasting and nights of prayer: to honor each day of Ramadan as a day of patient endurance through fasting, and each night as a night of gratitude through prayers.

An Unexpected Transformation

It was nothing short of miraculous how the Prophet reformed and refined those unruly tribes of Arabia and transformed them into pious, disciplined, God-fearing ascetics, who stood in prayers in the mosque five times a day seeking the guidance of God.

And imagine: these same people who once reveled in the pleasures of “wine and women” could now spend the whole month of Ramadan in fasting and prayers.

Into the hearts of his followers, the Prophet instilled the love and fear of God and love for humanity. His example was inspiring and irresistible; and each of them became eager to be his closest follower.

To them he was the sincerest and the most cordial of leaders. And his life was open before them like a book; they could see him practicing most closely in his own life what he was preaching.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy2KzRbO4s0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL2KzvqhM3Q

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Wassam Azaqeer, a Lebanese, who lives in a country surrounded by icebergs called “Greenland”, is the only Muslim in this state who is fasting daily for 21 hours with full determination.
Greenland is the largest island in the world; lies between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean; a self-governing province of Denmark.
According to an Arab TV report, Wassam Azaqeer, who is living in Greenland from the past several years and has been called “Arab Columbus” as he is the only Arab Muslim who not only managed to live in Greenland-despite the long and difficult journey, but also running a successful business in the capital city of Greenland called Nuuk.
Wassam, is running his own restaurant where he receives 200 customers each day.
The month of the Ramadan, this year, came in summer so Wassam has to fast for 21 hours and after Iftaar he only got 2 hours to prepare Suhur - the pre-dawn meal to start next fast.
In these 2 hours Wassam, also has to offer the Maghrib and Isha prayers.
Wassam says that he is very proud Muslim to be living on a state where he is the only one fasting and praying in the name of Allah.
He says he sometimes think about going to Lebanon in this holy month but he stops himself by thinking that if left Greenland, there wont be anyone to fast and pray on this land

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhahlUwLKtA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCeZkHBBVuM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIIxpUMZrS8

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Things invalidate the fast:

A person who has sex with his wife during the day of Ramadhaan, his fast becomes null and void. On the other hand, he is required to expiate his sin either by freeing a slave, failing that he should observe fast for two consecutive months, failing that he must feed sixty poor people. Moreover, he has to follow the mentioned order of expiation in case of failing short of doing any of the three ways. This is the opinion of the majority of Muslim scholars.

This opinion is based on a narration reported by Al-Bukhaari and Muslim may Allaah have mercy upon them from Abu Hurayrah may Allaah be pleased with him: "A person came to the Apostle of Allaah ( sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention )) and said: 'O Messenger of Allaah! I am doomed'. The Prophet, sallallaahu Alayhi wa sallam, said: 'What has brought about your ruin?' The person said: 'I had a sexual enter course with my wife during the month of Ramadhaan (i.e. during the day)'. Upon this the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "Can you find a slave to set him free? He said: 'No'. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "Can you observe fast for 2 consecutive months? He said: 'No'. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "Can you provide food for sixty poor people?" He said: 'No'. Abu Hurayrah may Allaah be pleased with him said: 'While we were sitting with the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) a large basket full of dates was produced to the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ). So, the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "Where is the inquirer?" He said: 'Me'. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "Take this and give it as charity".

This also means that if such a person is not able to pay the expiation, it is permissible for someone to pay on his behalf as long as the first accepts, and this will be sufficient. But, if such a person does not expiate by all means, it is still his duty until he can do so. Then, when he can pay the expiation, he should feed the sixty poor people. Also, one can do such an expiation in his own homeland and this is better, since transferring the expiation to another country is permissible. This ruling of transferring the expiation is in contrast with paying Zakaah, which should be paid in the country where a giver lives unless there is some benefit, such as poor relatives in dire need, or no need exists for it where the giver lives.