‘Umrah in Ramadaan is equivalent to Hajj.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased
with them) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to an Ansaari woman –
Ibn ‘Abbaas named her but I [the narrator] forgot her name
– “What kept you from going to Hajj with us?” She said: “We
have a camel and Abu So and so and his son – meaning her
husband and son – rode it and left a camel for us to use
for irrigation. He said: “When Ramadaan comes, do ‘umrah,
for ‘umrah in [Ramadaan] is equivalent to Hajj.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1782; Muslim, 1256.

This hadeeth points to the virtue of ‘umrah in Ramadaan and
indicates that it is equivalent in reward to Hajj. This is
a bounty and blessing of Allaah to His slaves, whereby
‘umrah becomes equivalent in reward to Hajj by combining it
with Ramadaan. This indicates that the reward for a good
deed is increased when done at a special time. Allaah is
Most Generous and Bountiful, and He bestows whatever He
will upon whomever He will however He will, and none can
overturn His rulings or put back His bounty.

‘Umrah is done by completing its rituals even if the
pilgrim does not stay in Makkah after that, but whomever
Allaah enables to stay in the vicinity of the Haram during
the month of Ramadaan or however much of the month he can
has been given a great blessing which cannot be appreciated
by anyone except the righteous who understand the value of
special times and places.

If a person is in the vicinity of the House of Allaah
during these blessed days, this has a great effect on his
energy and worship and makes him turn to Allaah completely
and turn away from this world, body and soul, so that he
can make the most of this time. It becomes easier for him
to do acts of worship and focus on charity, prayer, dhikr
and recitation of Qur’aan.

Concerning the virtue of praying in al-Masjid al-Haraam,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “One prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a
thousand prayers offered anywhere else, except al-Masjid
al-Haraam.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1190; Muslim, 1256.

The Muslim has to organize his time and make the most of
opportunities to do righteous deeds in this special place
at this special time.

It is only a few days that pass quickly, in which the
obedient and righteous can gain a great deal, and the
sinners and careless lose out. The Muslim should pray
taraaweeh behind the imam and not leave before him, so that
the reward of qiyaam al-layl will be recorded for him.
Whoever brings his family with him (for ‘umrah) has to take
care of them and keep checking on them. There are some
people who neglect their womenfolk and children – sons and
daughters alike – leaving them to play and go to the
markets and waste time in the streets and annoy the slaves
of Allaah – this causes a great deal of corruption.

This is a failure to undertake the duties of qiwaamah
(protector and maintainer of the family) and letting women
and children run the show – we ask Allaah to keep us safe
and sound. These people would be better off staying in
their own country, if only they knew.

A man should stop his womenfolk from doing voluntary tawaaf
all day long in Ramadaan, because of the evils that result
from that due to the overcrowding that occurs all day. I
advise the men themselves not to do a lot of tawaaf at
times when there is a lot of crowding, and leave room for
those who are doing tawaaf as part of ‘umrah. They should
keep themselves busy with prayer, reading Qur’aan, and
other kinds of worship.

See Ahaadeeth al-Siyaam by al-Fawzaan, p. 71

The Muslim woman should remember that her prayer in her
house is better than her prayer in the mosque, whether that
is in Makkah or elsewhere, because of the general meaning
of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him): “Do not prevent your womenfolk from going to
the mosques even though their houses are better for them.”
Narrated by Abu Dawood, 567.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: The Sunnah indicates that it is
better for a woman to pray in her house no matter where she
is, whether she is in Makkah or anywhere else. Hence the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Do not prevent the female slaves of Allaah from
(attending) the mosques of Allaah, although their houses
are better for them.” He said that in Madeenah even though
praying there is such a great and virtuous deed, but a
woman’s prayer in her house is more concealing for her and
farther removed from fitnah (temptation), so it is better
for her in her house.

See al-Fataawa al-Jaami’ah li’l-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, vol. 1,
p. 207.

The multiplied reward for prayer in congregation applies
only to men. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said to a woman: “I know that you like to pray
with me, but your prayer in your house is better for you
than your praying in the mosque of your people…” This
hadeeth was narrated by Ahmad (Musnad Baaqi al-Ansaar,
25842); classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh
al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, no. 337

But this does not mean that women should be prevented from
going to the mosques, as it says in the hadeeth of
‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar who said: I heard the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Do
not stop your womenfolk if they ask you for permission to
go (to the mosque).” Bilaal ibn ‘Abd-Allaah said, “By
Allaah, we will stop them!” ‘Abd-Allah turned to him and
spoke harsh words such as I [the narrator] had never heard
him use before, and said, “I tell you what the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said,
and you say, ‘By Allaah we will stop them’?!”

Narrated by Muslim, 667.

But for a woman to go to the mosque, certain conditions
must be met, as follows:

1-     She should be wearing full hijab

2-     She should not go out wearing perfume

3-     She should have her husband’s permission

And her going out should not involve anything else that is
haraam, such as being alone with a non-mahram driver in the
car, etc.

If a woman goes against any of the requirements mentioned,
then her husband or guardian has the right to stop her
going, in fact he is required to do so.

I asked our Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez about Taraaweeh and
whether there is any virtue in women praying Taraaweeh in
the mosque. He replied in the negative and said that the
ahaadeeth which speak of the virtue of a woman’s praying at
home are general in meaning and include taraaweeh and other
prayers. And Allaah knows best.

We ask Allaah to accept the worship of us all and to cause
our deeds to be in accordance with what He loves and what
pleases Him. May Allaah send blessings upon our Prophet
Muhammad.Amin.


            Fasting is a shield.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased
with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “"Fasting is a shield. So the
fasting person should avoid obscene speech and should not
behave foolishly and ignorantly, and if somebody fights
with him or insults him, he should tell him twice, ‘I am
fasting.’ By the One in Whose hand is my soul, the smell
that comes from the mouth of a fasting person is better in
the sight of Allah than the scent of musk. (Allaah says
about the fasting person), ‘He has given up his food, drink
and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me and I will
reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good
deeds is multiplied ten times.’”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1894; Muslim, 1151

This hadeeth indicates that the fasting person is required
to guard his fast by adopting a good attitude and avoiding
a bad one, so that fasting will produce the expected
results and thus he will earn the forgiveness that is
promised in return.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fasting does not
just mean giving up food and drink, rather fasting means
giving up idle speech and obscene conduct. If anyone
insults you or treats you in an ignorant manner, then say,
‘I am fasting, I am fasting.’”

And it was also narrated that he (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does not
give up false speech and acting in accordance with it and
acting in an ignorant manner, Allaah has no need of him
giving up his food and drink.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6057.

This hadeeth and those quoted above indicate that the
fasting person should be keen to ensure that his fast is
sound and free of the things mentioned.

The things mentioned are even worse when one is fasting,
hence they are mentioned here. The hadeeth also indicates
that the true Islamic fast is one in which all the
faculties fast. Fasting in the sense of abstaining from
food and drink is something that anyone can do, and it is
easy.

The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) – “fasting is a shield” – mean that it is
something that screens and protects you from what you fear.


What is meant is that fasting screens a person and protects
him from falling into sin which is the cause of punishment.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Fasting is a shield against the Fire like the shield
of any one of you in battle.” This clearly points to the
virtue of fasting.

The words translated here as “should avoid obscene speech”
(laa yarfath) may refer to obscene speech or to intercourse
and touching with desire. Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning):

“It is made lawful for you to have sexual relations
[al-rafth] with your wives on the night of As‑Sawm
(the fasts)”

[al-Baqarah 2:187]

Many of the scholars said that what is meant in this
hadeeth is obscene speech. And Allaah knows best.

The words “and do not behave foolishly” (laa yaskhab) refer
to yelling, arguing and raising one's voice, as ignorant
people do.

“… and ignorantly” means behaving in a manner that is the
opposite of patience and forbearance. This word (ignorance)
is usually used to refer to the opposite of knowledge.

“let him say ‘I am fasting’” means if someone argues with
him or tries to pick a fight or insults him, let him not
retaliate in kind, rather let him say, “I am fasting,” in
the hope that his opponent will desist because he realizes
that he will not fight back because he is fasting.

Should he say this out loud?

There are several points of view.

Some say that he should say it out loud, which is what
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
thought most likely to be correct.

And it was said that he should say it to himself.

And it was said that if he is observing an obligatory fast
he should say it out loud, and if he is observing a naafil
fast he should say it to himself.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: The correct view is that
he should say it out loud, as indicated by the hadeeth,
because the word used here in Arabic (fa yaqul – let him
say) refers to speaking out loud.

So the kind of speaking referred to here is speech that can
be heard, so if a person says out loud, “I am fasting” he
states his reason for not responding, and this is a more
effective rebuke to the one who tried to start a fight.

Manhaaj al-Sunnah, 5/197.

The fast that is truly accepted is the fast in which all
the faculties refrain from sin, when the tongue refrains
from lying and immoral talk, and the stomach refrains from
food and drink, and the private parts refrain from
obscenity and intimacy with women.

Fasting is like a school that teaches forbearance, patience
and sincerity. It promotes good attitudes and virtuous
words and actions. The fasting person does not behave in a
foolish manner, go to extremes or get angry; he does not
tell lies or utter false speech, he does not break his
promise or delay work, rather his speech is dhikr and his
silence is thought. The time of the fasting person is too
precious to be wasted in these things that doom one to Hell
and affect the reward of the fast. And Allaah knows best.

See Ahkaam al-Siyaam by al-Fawzaan, p. 51

O Allaah, accept this (worship) from us, for You are the
All-Hearing, All-Knowing, and accept our repentance for You
are the Acceptor of repentance, the Most Merciful.

Courtesy of Sheikh Muhammed Al-Munajjid.


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