The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) taught us five favourable (mustahab or “sunnah”) actions for us to follow while fasting. These are:
- Hasten Iftaar: When Maghrib time arrives, hasten to break your fast–do not delay. It’s said that he, (صلي الله عليه وسلم), sent Bilal (رضي الله عنه) to stand on top of a high-up hill to see when the sun set, then broke his fast immediately.
- Eat Suhoor: A lot of cultures teach us to skip suhoor and start fasting when we sleep. (Though nobody skips the sunnah of hastening iftaar …) Aside from being (medically) bad for you, it extends the length of your fast by a good six or more hours.
Forget that. Eat suhoor–and close to Fajr time–and with this, with iftaar, protects your fast–dawn to sunset. The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: My nation will remain in goodness as long as they break the fast as soon as it is due. [Muslim] - Pray Fajr: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) never, ever missed Fajr intentionally, ever. Skipping salaah entails a major sin! Scholars differ on whether you are considered Muslim or not if you skip prayers intentionally, i.e. whether you will enter Hellfire forever–may Allah protect us all. So don’t do it! If you eat suhoor close to Fajr anyway, it becomes very easy to pray Fajr. If you have access to transportation, pray at the masjid and get the benefit of multiplied good deeds deposited in your account.
- Avoid Foul Language: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his fasting.) [Bukhari 3/31/127, Muslim] So no swearing, lying, backbiting, insulting, etc. You wouldn’t want to struggle though all that hardship, to end up with an unaccepted fast, would you?
- Make Du’a at Iftaar: A lot of people miss out on this. We cram dates into our mouth when the adhaan sounds, then rush off to make wudoo or pray Maghrib.
The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: Three prayers are not rejected: the prayer of a father, the prayer of a fasting person, and the prayer of a traveler. [Al-Bayhaqi, Saheeh according to Al-Albani] [1]
So keep it simple: stick the date in your mouth and raise your hands to the sky. You get the best of both rewards!
And remember, the reward of following a sunnah (or musthabb–recommended act) is an accreditation of good deeds in your account. And we can all do with more good deeds.
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) keep us all on the Straight Path and help us to follow the sunnah, ameen!
References
[1] Asma Bint Shameem. “Mistakes During Ramadaan.” Have Fun! 19 Sept. 2006. 5 Oct. 2006 <http://funyetponder.blogspot.com/2006/09/mistakes-during-ramadaan.html>.
[2] Muhammad Alshareef. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Rizq Management. University of Toronto, Toronto. June 2006.
This is a very good and that Allah(swt) may bless all the muslims sisters and brothers that are suffering and still fasting for Allah(swt).
I know some muslims girls that are in my school, they are somali and asian and they don’t really wear the hijab or pray and Still they are fasting.
May Allah(swt) bless all muslims sisters and brothers that are fasting and may Allah(swt) open the door of jannah(paradise) for all muslims that died for jihad and the palestinan peoples.
First and for most i would like to say Alihamidulilah ,then after I can say Jaza kumulahi keyiran
May Allah bless of the world Muslims
mashallah, really helpful. i will definetely be incorporating these things into everyday fasts.
Salaam alikum,
I was wondering if your fast is still valid if you didn’t wake up for fajr, but made intention to fast the night before.
@Warda wa’alikum as-salaam. Yes, your fast is still valid insha’Allah, as long as you made the intention when you went to sleep. So people who sleep through their alarms, insha’Allah their fast is valid.
This incidentally used to be the way the people before us fast — once they sleep, whenever they wake up, they had to fast until the end of the day.
Wallahu a’lam, this was mentioned in Rizq Management by shaykh Muhammad.