This excerpt is taken from the book of His Eminence Sheikh Mubashar Ahmad Rabbani رحمه الله, Ahkam o Masail Ramadan.
By the grace and mercy of Allah Almighty, the sacred month of Ramadan is bestowed upon the Muslims every year, from whose blessings millions of Muslims benefit. Everyone gathers the means for forgiveness according to their own capacity and effort. The ways to attain good deeds are varied. Acts of worship and spiritual exercises, charity and almsgiving, dissemination of Islamic literature, etc., all are deeds of righteousness for which reward is hoped. To benefit from the blessings of Ramadan, this brief booklet has been compiled, in which the rulings and issues related to Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr have been collected in a very concise manner. All issues have been derived from the Holy Quran and authentic Ahadith. No weak or unreliable narration has been included. Our preachers and orators generally do not observe this caution and narrate all kinds of authentic and unauthentic reports, whereas in religious matters great care must be taken, and only what is strong and sound should be written and stated. Several rulings related to Ramadan have been briefly mentioned along with their concise authentication so that readers may become acquainted with the ruling of the issue, and if they wish to see the detailed Hadith, they can easily refer to the mentioned book, which is published by the exemplary institution for the publication of the Book and Sunnah, "Dar al-Balagh." This booklet will, God willing, prove beneficial for everyone, both common and learned. May Allah Almighty bestow acceptance upon this humble effort and grant abundant reward for it to me, my parents, my offspring, and other friends who assisted in its publication, and make it a means of salvation for all Muslims. آمين يا رب العالمين
The believer is very cautious regarding the issues of Ramadan:
Among the five pillars upon which Islam is established, one is fasting. When the blessed month of Ramadan arrives, it becomes obligatory upon every sane, adult Muslim to observe its fasts. In other words, a person's claim to Islam — "I am a Muslim" — is fundamentally based on fasting. That is, if he observes the complete fasts of this month within the limits and conditions prescribed by the Quran and Hadith, then his Islam is valid. However, if he neglects fasting or violates it, then his claim to Islam holds no meaning; he is a Muslim in name only but a non-Muslim in practice.
Since fasting is a fundamental pillar of Islam and due to its great importance, Allah the Exalted has promised the fasting person a magnificent reward Himself. How much does Allah love the fasting person? Consider this: Allah Himself states that the smell from the mouth of a fasting person is more beloved to Him than the fragrance of musk. For the entry of fasting people into Paradise, Allah has created a special gate through which only those who fast sincerely for His pleasure will enter in a unique manner. Furthermore, during the month of Ramadan, Allah multiplies the reward for the righteous deeds of the fasting person many times over compared to other days. Indeed, if He is pleased with His servant’s deeds, He may increase the reward from one to seven hundred times. That is, if a servant spends one rupee, Allah grants him the reward equivalent to spending seven hundred rupees. Whereas on ordinary days, the reward is ten times the expenditure.
Because of these virtues, every believer desires that there be no deficiency or negligence in their fasting. The fast should be observed precisely within the guidelines, limits, and conditions provided by the Quran and Hadith — exactly as Allah the Exalted and His Messenger ﷺ have instructed. This spirit causes the believer, when fasting, to abstain from anything about which there is doubt. He tries to avoid it and wishes to perform every act during Ramadan in accordance with the Quran and Hadith. He fears that by doing something, he might nullify the reward of his fast, or commit an act that invalidates the fast, or perform something that would make him deserving of punishment rather than reward, displeasing Allah instead of pleasing Him.
He desires that all actions performed throughout Ramadan be completed according to the instructions of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Whether it concerns the issue of pre-dawn meal (suhoor), breaking the fast (iftar), recitation of the Quran, or prayer, he wants to know the rulings from the Holy Quran and authentic Hadith so that he may act accordingly and make the blessed month of Ramadan a season of goodness and reap abundant mercy from Allah. To find the correct solutions to doubts and issues related to Ramadan and fasting, he repeatedly consults scholars and asks questions so that he may maximize the reward of his fast and become deserving of Allah’s mercy, love, and blessings.
The esteemed Sheikh Maulana Abul Hasan Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani is a young, practicing scholar of the Jamaat, whom Allah the Exalted has blessed with abundant knowledge and practice from a young age, so much so that even senior and authoritative scholars consult him on certain complex issues. ذٰلك فضل الله يؤتيه من يشاء In Pakistan, his fatwas, which are based on the Quran and Hadith, are considered authoritative. To clarify the solutions to people’s daily problems in the light of the Quran and Hadith, he has authored a four-volume book titled "Your Issues in the Light of Quran and Hadith," which is undoubtedly one of the well-known and popular books in Pakistan.
Regarding Ramadan, a few years ago he wrote a concise yet comprehensive booklet titled "Ahkam-e-Ramadan aur Masail-e-Eid-ul-Fitr" (Rulings of Ramadan and Issues of Eid al-Fitr), which was widely distributed and served as guidance for many. Subsequently, some of his fatwas have been published periodically in the weekly Ghazwa, monthly Majallah al-Da’wah, Ikhwat, and other journals, which Dar al-Andalus has now compiled into "Ahkam wa Masail" (Rulings and Issues). While compiling this book, we have also added fatwas of Arab scholars that beautifully cover contemporary issues faced by fasting people.
For this purpose, we have especially benefited from the fatwas of scholars of the Land of the Sacred (Makkah and Madinah), as well as from Fatawa Islamiyyah, Fatawa al-Siyam, the fatwas of Ibn Baz رحمه الله, and the Dar al-Ifta Saudi Arabia published by Dar al-Salam Lahore. Additionally, we have included an article by our respected friend Muhammad Akhtar Siddiq (a graduate of Madinah University) titled "Mistakes of Fasting People" at the end of the book, which will certainly help fasting people avoid intentional or unintentional errors during the month of fasting. ان شاء الله
Now, this book has become a guide, a mufti, and a mentor for every fasting person. We have made a special effort to provide guidance on contemporary jurisprudential and modern issues faced by people today. We pray to Allah the Exalted to accept this effort, elevate the ranks of the learned and practicing young scholar Maulana Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani رحمه الله, make this book a means of success and prosperity for him in this world and the Hereafter, and enable people to benefit abundantly from this guidance. آمين
