Alhamdulillah we have seen the end of Ramadan. Some people were with us last Ramadan but did not make it to this one; some made it but were too sick to fast; some made it but Allah took their lives before the end. So, we say Alhamdulillah for being able to start and see it through.
Ramadan is over but its not all over. It is now time for us to ask ourselves how the Prophet (SAW) followed up the month and what he adviced us to do.
make up any missed sawm (fast). If you have missed a fast during the month of Ramadan due to illness, child bearing, menstruation, breast-feeding, travel, or any reason accepted by the Shari'ah, you pay it up. But remember that you don't have to do it immediately! You have eleven months before the next Ramadan. But whatever you do, be sure to make it up before the next Ramadan.
Next we have fasting six days of Shawwal. The Prophet (SAW) said in a hadith of Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah that,"Whoever fasts Ramadan and follows it up with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasted the entire year." You don't have to fast the six days consecutively. You can do them at the beginning of the month, the middle, or the end. However you choose to do it. But the idea is to fast six days in the month of Shawwal. You can start fasting from the second day of Shawwal bacause it is haraam to fast on Eid day.
It has also been established that the Sahaba used to spend five months after each Ramadan asking Allah to accept their fasts and spend the next six months asking Allah to let them see the next Ramadan so that they can perform more acts of worship.
The final advice I will give is to continue with the good deeds we learnt and developed during Ramadan. Remember how you spent your days reciting the Qur'an and reciting different types of Azkar; and how you spent your nights in Taraweeh and Tahajjud? Well you can still continue with these acts after Ramadan. You can also continue to fast. Some recommended Sunnah Sawm include fasting every Monday and Thursday. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Deeds are shown (to Allaah) on Mondays and Thursdays, and I like my deeds to be shown when I am fasting.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 747; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1041;you can also fast three days of each month, preferrably the ayyamul beed, i.e the 13th, 14th, and 15th of each month; you can also fast every other day for the rest of the year as shown in some hadeeth. It was narrated from Jareer ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fasting three days of each month is fasting for a lifetime, and ayaam al-beed are the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth.” Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, 2420; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1040. It is narrated in al-Saheehayn from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best fasting is the fast of Dawood: he used to fast one day and not the next.”
Good luck and always remember that Allah's rewards will never end and He will continue to shower them on you as long as you seek them.
No comments:
Post a Comment