Fasting in Islam and the Month of Ramadan: A Comprehensive Guide Book

Introduction     xi
What is Fasting?     1
What is fasting in Islam?     3
What is the Qur'anic evidence for the necessity of fasting?     4
What do the Prophet's teachings say about the necessity of fasting?     4
What is the history of fasting in world civilizations?     5
How is fasting observed in Judaism?     6
How do Christians observed fasting?     8
How do non-Abrahamic faiths practice fasting?     10
How was fasting practiced among the pre-Islamic Arabs?     11
What is the importance of fasting in Islam?     11
What did the Prophet say about the significance of fasting?     12
Why do believers observe the fast?     15
The Merits and Benefits of Fasting     17
How does an individual benefit from fasting?     19
What are the physiological benefits of fasting?     20
Fasting helps the body to rest     21
Fasting protects against diseases     22
What is the scientific validity of fasting?     23
What are the spiritual benefits of fasting?     27
Fasting helps the believer to remember God     28
Fasting helps the believer ascend to the level of the angels     29
Fasting teachesthe worth of blessings     30
Fasting teaches a person how to economize     30
Fasting exalts the soul     31
Fasting controls worldly desires     32
Fasting protects a person against sins     33
Fasting teaches how to be trustworthy     35
Fasting teaches how to keep oaths and promises     36
Fasting teaches contentment     36
Fasting teaches patience     36
Fasting teaches perseverance and endurance     37
Fasting brings about a sense of order and harmony     37
What are the benefits of fasting for the society?     38
Fasting ensures the unity and harmony of society     38
Fasting raises awareness of the situation of the poor     39
Fasting develops dignity     39
What are the spiritual meanings of fasting?     40
Types of Fasts     45
What are the various types of fasts?     47
What are the types of obligatory (fard) fasts?     47
Fasting in the month of Ramadan     47
Making up for missed fasts     47
Fasts in fulfillment of vows (nadheer)     48
Fasts of expiation for religious offenses (kaffara)     48
What are the types of supererogatory fasts?      49
The fast of Prophet David     50
Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays     50
Fasting on three days every month     51
Fasting on the Day of Arafat     51
Fasting six days of Shawwal     52
Fasting on the Day of Ashura     52
Fasting in the month of Sha'ban     52
What are the forbidden fasts?     53
Continuous fasting     53
Fasting for life     53
Fasting on the doubtful day     53
Fasting on the eids and the days of tashrik     54
Fasting exclusively on Fridays     54
Fasting at the time of menstruation and during postnatal bleeding     55
What is the significance of the pre-dawn meal (sahur)?     55
Can one fast without having a pre-dawn meal?     55
Delaying the pre-dawn meal     56
What are the teachings of the Prophet while breaking the fast?     56
Breaking the fast right away     56
Breaking the fast with water or dates     57
Making a supplication at the time of breaking the fast     57
What is the significance of hosting iftar meals?     57
Should one first perform the evening prayer or break the fast?     58
What are some prayers that can be said at the time of breaking the fast?     59
What about the tarawih prayer?     59
Does fasting mean only abstaining from food & drink?     61
What is the fast of the eyes?     62
What is the fast of the tongue?     62
What is the fast of the ears?     63
What are the levels of fasting?     63
What is the most complete fast?     64
Should you recite the Qur'an more while fasting?     65
Some Principles & Fundamentals of Fasting     67
For whom is the fast obligatory?     69
What are the situations in which fasting is not required?     70
Is every ill person exempt from fasting?     71
When & how should the intention to fast be made?     72
Which actions do not invalidate the fast?     74
Do injections & vaccinations invalidate the fast?     75
What is the status of certain reprehensible (makruh) and other actions with regard to invalidating the fast?     77
What is the status of certain recommended (mustahab) actions with regard to the fast?     78
How should children fast?     81
What do make-up days (qada) & expiation (kaffara) mean?     82
What things invalidate the fast?     83
Which things necessitate a make-up day (qada)?     83
Which things necessitate both make-up day and expiation?     85
What about the expiatory (kaffara) fast?     86
Which situations obviate the need to perform expiation?     87
What does expiatory payment (fidya) mean?     87
What is retreat (i'tikaf) and how should it be performed?     88
What should one do during the last ten days of Ramadan in search of the Night of Power?     89
Charity in the Month of Ramadan     91
What is the charity of fast breaking (sadaqa al-fitr)?     93
Who is liable for the charity of fast breaking?     94
When is the charity of fast breaking to be paid?     96
How much should be paid for the charity of fast breaking?     96
How is the charity of fast breaking to be given?     98
To whom is the charity of fast breaking given?     99
How is the eid prayer to be performed?     99
Fasting & Health     103
Would Islam ordain a harmful practice; does fasting pose a medical risk?     105
What are the medical benefits of fasting in Ramadan?     106
How does hunger accomplish what abundance cannot?     109
What are the effects of fasting on the human body?     111
Digestive system      111
Circulatory system     112
Cells     112
Nervous system     113
Can diabetics observe the fast of Ramadan?     113
Are all diabetics exempt from fasting?     114
What is recommended for diabetics observing the fast?     114
What are the benefits of fasting for the kidney and urinary tract?     116
Is fasting beneficial for the heart?     117
Should one fast while suffering from heart disease, angina, or asthma?     118
Is it scientifically valid that fasting is a source for renewal of the body?     118
Some recommendations concerning health during Ramadan     119
Is it harmful to consume fried foods during Ramadan? What about smoking?     119
What to eat at the iftar and sahur meals?     120
What to do in case of trivial ailments?     120
Some Questions and Answers     125
Is it right to observe the fast without any interruption for three consequent months during Rajab, Sha'ban, and Ramadan?     127
Is there a ten-day fast before the Eid-al Adha (Festivity of Sacrifice) for Muslims?     128
Can those who fast use siwak to cleanse their teeth during the period of fasting?     128
What is the Prophet's practice concerning eating ?     129
How can the breath of a person fasting be thought to be sweeter than musk?     131
Some people eat openly during Ramadan, saying "what is known by God cannot be concealed from his servants." Is this not a major sin?     131
Some people say "those who do not perform daily prayers or are not careful with their other religious duties should not fast in vain." Is it not possible, then, for a sinner to worship?     132
Is it true that it is possible to eat "until a white thread is distinguishable from a black one" before the fast begins?     134
If one has a tooth extracted, does this invalidate the fast?     134
Do sins such as telling lies, backbiting, and looking at the unlawful invalidate the fast?     135
Do things such as face cream, lipstick, eye or nose drops, liniments, vaccinations, chewing gum, tooth paste and scents invalidate the fast?     136
How can we make the best of the blessed times such as the month of Ramadan?     137
Can women use medication to delay their menstruation in Ramadan?     139
Should people act as if they are fasting even if they are not?     139
Is fasting invalidated if someone puts medicine or something like a clove on an aching tooth?     140
What should the elderly who are feeble and have no possibility to fast do?     140
Maxims About Fasting     143
Some sayings of the Prophet about fasting      145
Words of wisdom about fasting     145
Appendix 1     148
The Effect of Fasting upon Human Health     148
Notes     149
Bibliography     154