Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Ramadan Mubarak! My Challenge to You

Ramadan crescent moon

Ramadan Mubarak!

As-salamu alaykum dear readers and fellow editors. On behalf of IslamicAnswers.com I wish you all a happy, blessed and successful Ramadan.

The world needs change, and it needs hope. The world needs individuals capable of self-sacrifice, righteousness in the face of greed, compassion instead of cruelty, and love to conquer hate.

Isn't this what Ramadan is about? It is a time of pure connection to Allah, pure 'ibadah, and reawakening the fitrah of the heart. It is a time of softening what has become hard in us, and cleansing what has become stained. Of course we do this fee sabeel-illah - in the cause of Allah - but let us not forget also that Islam carries with it an obligation to family, to society and to the world.

I challenge myself to do five things this Ramadan. One, to strive for awareness and humility in my salat. Two, to strive for self-purification. Three, to increase my love and kindness toward my family. Four, to ask forgiveness from whoever I have harmed. Five, to make a sacrifice (whether in money or time) for the sake of the Ummah and the world.

Will you do the same? Together, Insha'Allah, we can make a difference.

Oh Allah, make this Ramadan a start full of peace and faith, safety and Islam. Oh Allah, You are the Most Forgiving, so forgive us and and guide us forward. Ameen!

Wael Abdelgawad
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
Fresno, California, USA


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27 Responses »

  1. The world does need change and change to be positive and grateful to what Allah has given us. May all muslims in this month of Ramadan get their dua's answered inshAllah and may Allah forgive us and strengthen our imaan.

    Special thanks to you Wael and all the editors for this website and Ramadan Mubarak to you and your families.

  2. Wa Alaikum as Salam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

    Ramadan Mubarak, May Allah bless us all and give us Tawfeeq this Ramadan to have all our sins forgiven.

    Mohammed Waseem
    Editor, IslamicAnswers.com

  3. Thanks and Ramadhan Mubarak bro Wael, please tell me one thing, is the taravee prayer 20 raqat or 8 raqat is enough?

    • The sunnah of the Prophet (sws) was to pray 8 rakaat of taraweeh plus 3 of witr. After the Prophet passed away many of the sahabah prayed 20 rakaat, perhaps to make it easier on the people by breaking the recitation of the Quran into smaller segments.

      I am quoting here from the famous book of fiqh, Fiqh-us-Sunnah:

      Volume 2, Page 27b: The number of rak'at of Tarawih

      'Aishah reported that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam would not pray more than eleven rak'at during Ramadan or otherwise. This is related by the group.

      Ibn Khuzaimah and Ibn Hibban have recorded in their sahihs on the authority of Jabir that the Prophet prayed eight rak'at and the witr prayer with the companions. Then, the next day, the people waited for him but he did not come out to them.

      Abu Ya'la and at-Tabarani record, with a hasan chain, from Jabir that Ubayy ibn Ka'b came to the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have done something last night," (i.e., during Ramadan). The Prophet said: 'And what was that, O Ubayy?' He said: The women in my house said, 'We don't recite Qur'an [well or much] so can we pray behind you?' I prayed eight rak'at and the witr prayer with them.

      The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alehi wasallam was pleased with that and did not say anything."

      This is the sunnah that has been related from the Messenger of Allah and nothing besides that is authentic. It is also true that during the time of 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali the people prayed twenty rak'at, and this is the opinion of the majority of the jurists of the Hanafi and Hanbali schools as well as that of Dawud.

      At-Tirmizhi says: "Most of the people of knowledge follow what has been related from 'Umar and 'Ali and other companions of the Prophet, [i.e., that they prayed] twenty rak'at. And this is the opinion of al-Thauri, Ibn al-Mubarak, and ash-Shaf'i. And so I found the people of Makkah praying twenty rak'at."

      Some of the scholars are of the opinion that the sunnah is eleven rak'at, including witr, and it is also preferred to pray the remainder [of the twenty rak'at] .

      Al-Kamal ibn al-Hamam says: "The evidence indicates that the sunnah of the twenty rak'at is what the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam himself did and then he stopped out of fear that it would become something obligatory (for his followers), therefore, the rest of the rak'at are only preferred. It is however, confirmed that he only prayed eleven rak'at, including the witr, as is stated in the two sahihs. According to the scholars, the sunnah is eight rak'at while it is preferred to pray twelve rak'at."

      • Thank you very much brothers Wael and Ramadan Mubarak to all brothers and sisters. Brother Wael, if I can maintain the 11 raqat throughout the whole Ramadan, I think it is OK? May Allah cause this month to be the month of our forgiveness and closeness to Him, Amen.

        • If you can maintain the 11 rakaat throughout Ramadan, that would be a very good deed. Ameen to your dua.

          Wael
          IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  4. Ameen, thummah Ameen.

    Ramadhan Kareem to all our Brothers and Sisters.

    May Allah swt help us to realize our blessings and find our way on the straight path. May Allah swt soften our hearts while helping us to remain steadfast. May Allah swt unite us in Jannah in the Hereafter and Forgive us for our shortcomings, both small and big. May Allah swt, along with His Justice, shower us with His Mercy and Compassion.

    Ameen.

    • Ameen to your dua, and Ramadan Kareem to you as well. You are such a valuable and indispensable member of this website. May Allah reward you.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  5. I have done so many sins... Everytime i feel guilty and decide to stop, i somehow again go to that crap... I am geeting hurt daily as people are now mistreating me and i am allowing them i dont know why... This Ramzan i want to stop all this and want to improve my life...
    What should i do?
    And one more thing, if someone hurts you, is cursing them allowed?

    • Ibn ‘Abbas said, “Two men defamed one another in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. One of them reviled the other who remained silent. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, remained seated. Then the other man answered him back and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, got up. He was asked, “You got up?” He said, “The angels left, so I left with them. While this man was silent, the angels were answering the one who cursed him. When he answered, the angels left.” (Adab al-Mufrad)

      Abu Hurairah (ra) narrated, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘The strong person is not he who has physical strength but the person is strong if he can control his anger.” (al-Bukhari and Muslim)

      -There are many more hadiths on the subject, but these 2 stand out to me

  6. Assalamoalikum brothers/sisters
    Ramadan Kareem to all brothers sisters here .Please do remember me in your dua .May Allah guides all of us to straight path .Ameen

    • Wa alaykum as-salam. Have a blessed Ramadan and may Allah make all your affairs easy in this month.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  7. Ramadan Mubarak 🙂

  8. Ramadhan mubarek to eveyeone ! May Allah swt guide us all and bless us with the best in this world and the hereafter, Ameen

  9. Ramadaan mubarak everyone.
    I have a query. I want to know how to perform tarawee at home. I belong to a small town in india and they arent any misques here where females can go for tarawee or for any prayer for that matter. In the past i havnt perforned tarawee but just recited the Quran after asar... this year i wish to perform the tarawee salaa too but i dont know how to do that at home. I live with my brother and father who both go to the mosque for tarawee so i dont have any female companion to help me through either.
    Do i put on the Quran audio on the laptop and perform 8 +3 rakaats? Honestly though i feel i cant concentrate much listening. I prefer to read. So if i can manage to read one sipara every day and perform the 8 rakats during tahajud. Is that ok? I have been doing that for two days and i hope thats InshaAllah a sufficient way. Please let me know.
    Jaza kala khair.

    • aabshaar, it sounds like what you are doing is fine. Also, perhaps you can organize with a few other women to get together and pray taraweeh in one of your homes now and then.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  10. Hello,

    I posted a question and was just wondering when it will be published.

    • We have about 40 pending posts at the moment and we typically publish 1 to 2 per day. So if your question was just submitted then I'd say the wait time is between 20 and 40 days.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Why does it take too long to get published? We sometimes ask questions because we urgently need the answers.

        • Because we get new questions every day, and it takes us time to prep them, publish them and answer them. We are a volunteer staff and all of us have jobs and families. You know, as of today we have published 5,904 questions and answers! It's very likely that no matter what your situation is, we have answered questions just like it or very similar. You should search our archives.

          Wael
          IslamicAnswers.com Editor

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