Sawm (Fasting in Ramadan)
Hadith Quotes on Sawm (Fasting)
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him addressed his companions on the last day of Sha`ban, saying, "Oh people! A great month has come over you; a blessed month; a month in which is a night better than a thousand months; month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Heaven. It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished at all."Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said: "Ramadan has come to you. (It is) a month of blessing, in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He sends down Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers. In it, Allah looks at your competition (in good deeds), and boasts about you to His angels. So show Allah goodness from yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in (this month) of the mercy of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted."Narrated by Tabarani
When Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him saw the crescent, he used to say, "Oh Allah! Cause it to appear over us with prosperity, faith (Iman), security and Islam. (Then to the moon:) My Lord and your Lord is Allah." [Narrated by Tirmidhi, who said it is a good (hasan) hadith.] Qatadah said that he was informed that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to say, when seeing the crescent, "A crescent of goodness and orientation, a crescent of goodness and orientation, a crescent of goodness and orientation. (To the moon:) I believe in Allah who created you." (Three times), and then he would say, "Praise be to Allah who has taken away such- and-such month and brought such-and-such month."Talhah ibn `Ubaydullah, Narrated by Abu Dawud
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Qur'an. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was the most generous person, even more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds). Sahih Bukhari 1.5, Narrated by Ibn Abbas
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said: "Whoever establishes prayers during the nights of Ramadan faithfully out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards (not for showing off), all his past sins will be forgiven." Sahih Bukhari 1.7, Narrated by Abu Huraira
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said: The Prophet said, "Abusing a Muslim is Fusuq (an evil doing) and killing him is Kufr (disbelief)." Narrated 'Ubada bin As-Samit: "Allah's Apostle went out to inform the people about the (date of the) night of decree (Al-Qadr) but there happened a quarrel between two Muslim men. The Prophet said, "I came out to inform you about (the date of) the night of Al-Qadr (Power), but as so and so and so and so quarreled, its knowledge was taken away (I forgot it) and maybe it was better for you. Now look for it in the 7th, the 9th and the 5th (of the last 10 nights of the month of Ramadan)." Sahih Bukhari 1.46, Narrated by Abdullah
I was an interpreter between the people and Ibn 'Abbas. Once Ibn 'Abbas said that a delegation of the tribe of 'Abdul Qais came to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him who asked them, "Who are the people (i.e. you)? (Or) who are the delegates?"
They replied, "We are from the tribe of Rabi'a."
Then Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said to them, "Welcome, O people (or said, "O delegation (of 'Abdul Qais).") Neither will you have disgrace nor will you regret."
They said, "We have come to you from a distant place and there is the tribe of the infidels of Mudar intervening between you and us and we cannot come to you except in the sacred month. So please order us to do something good (religious deeds) and that we may also inform our people whom we have left behind (at home) and that we may enter Paradise (by acting on them.)"
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him ordered them to do four things, and forbade them from four things. He ordered them to believe in Allah Alone, the Honorable the Majestic and said to them, "Do you know what is meant by believing in Allah Alone?" They replied, "Allah and His Apostle know better." Thereupon the Prophet said, "(That means to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is His Apostle, to offer prayers perfectly, to pay Zakat, to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan, (and) to pay Al-Khumus (one fifth of the booty to be given in Allah's cause)."
Then he forbade them four things, namely Ad-Dubba.' Hantam, Muzaffat (and) An-Naqir or Muqaiyar (These were the names of pots in which alcoholic drinks used to be prepared). The Prophet further said, "Memorize them (these instructions) and tell them to the people whom you have left behind." Sahih Bukhari 1.87, Narrated by Abu Jamra
Zaid bin Thabit said, "We took the "Suhur" (the meal taken before dawn while fasting is observed) with Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and then stood up for the (morning) prayer." I asked him how long the interval between the two (Suhur and prayer) was. He replied, 'The interval between the two was just sufficient to recite fifty to Sixth 'Ayat." Sahih Bukhari 1.549, Narrated by Anas
Once I went to Abu- Sa'id Al-Khudri and asked him, "Won't you come with us to the date-palm trees to have a talk?" So Abu Said went out and I asked him, "Tell me what you heard from the Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him about the Night of Qadr."
Abu Said replied, "Once Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him performed Itikaf (seclusion) on the first ten days of the month of Ramadan and we did the same with him. Gabriel came to him and said, 'The night you are looking for is ahead of you.'
So the Prophet performed the Itikaf in the middle (second) ten days of the month of Ramadan and we too performed Itikaf with him. Gabriel came to him and said, 'The night which you are looking for is ahead of you.'
In the morning of the 20th of Ramadan the Prophet delivered a sermon saying, 'Whoever has performed Itikaf with me should continue it. I have been shown the Night of "Qadr", but have forgotten its date, but it is in the odd nights of the last ten nights. I saw in my dream that I was prostrating in mud and water.'
In those days the roof of the mosque was made of branches of date-palm trees. At that time the sky was clear and no cloud was visible, but suddenly a cloud came and it rained. The Prophet led us in the prayer and I saw the traces of mud on the forehead and on the nose of Allah's Apostle. So it was the confirmation of that dream." Sahih Bukhari 1.777, Narrated by Abu Salama
One night Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him offered the prayer in the Mosque and the people followed him. The next night he also offered the prayer and too many people gathered. On the third and the fourth nights more people gathered, but Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him did not come out to them. In the morning he said, "I saw what you were doing and nothing but the fear that it (i.e. the prayer) might be enjoined on you, stopped me from coming to you." And that happened in the month of Ramadan. Sahih Bukhari 2.229, Narrated by Aisha
Ibn 'Umar said, "In the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him I dreamt that a piece of silk cloth was in my hand and it flew with me to whichever part of Paradise I wanted. I also saw as if two persons (i.e. angels) came to me and wanted to take me to Hell.
Then an angel met us and told me not to be afraid. He then told them to leave me. Hafsa narrated one of my dreams to the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said, "Abdullah is a good man. Would that he offer the night prayer (Tahajjud)!"
So after that day 'Abdullah (bin 'Umar) started offering Tahajjud. The companions of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him used to tell him their dreams that (Laila-tul-Qadr) was on the 27th of the month of Ramadan. The Prophet said, "I see that your dreams agree on the last ten nights of Ramadan and so whoever is in search of it should seek it in the last ten nights of Ramadan." Sahih Bukhari 2.255, Narrated by Nafi
Ibn 'Umar said, "Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him made incumbent on every male or female, free man or slave, the payment of one Sa' of dates or barley as Sadaqat-ul-Fitr (or said Sadaqa-Ramadan)." The people then substituted half Sa' of wheat for that. Ibn 'Umar used to give dates (as Sadaqat-ul-Fitr).
Once there was scarcity of dates in Madinah and Ibn 'Umar gave barley. 'And Ibn 'Umar used to give Sadaqat-ul-Fitr for every young and old person. He even used to give on behalf of my children. Ibn 'Umar used to give Sadaqat-ul-Fitr to those who had been officially appointed for its collection. People used to give Sadaqat-ul-Fitr (even) a day or two before Eid. Sahih Bukhari 2.587, Narrated by Nafi