Tom Facchine – Preparing for Ramadan #2
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss various issues related to Islam, including the importance of timing and the need for a strong legal system. They also touch on legal issues related to fasting and the importance of history and legal theory. The speakers stress the importance of understanding the essential aspect of planning, the importance of legal systems, and the need for a buffer day to be safe. They also discuss the use of local people's opinions and the importance of timing in relationships. The segment ends with a discussion of the importance of timing in relationships and the need for a decision.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah
Alhamdulillah
wa salatu salam ala
Nabina Muhammad Ali Abdullah Salah was good to sneeze on the on the on him that'd be very unfair Oh, no one fatten me that I limped into, was it an Ironman? Yeah, I mean, so then we can walk to La he would occur to everybody. Welcome to preparing for Ramadan. This is our second session, our previous session we focused mostly on motivation, the wisdom behind fasting, and how to prepare, both practically and spiritually. Today we're going to look, we're going to start looking at the fifth aspect of things. Most of the questions that I've gotten up to this point have mostly to do with issues of menstruation, and issues that are specific to women. So we're going to make a dedicated I
think, session to that in sha Allah to Allah and I will notify you well in advance before that come. So we can just tackle all of those issues at once.
So let's be,
I guess a word when it comes to our community. Here in Utica, New York, we have a very diverse community. So when we're talking about thick, we're talking about rules and regulations. That is something that we have to take into account. Right? If we had a community that was all people from Pakistan, or Burma, or Bosnia, we would just teach the Hanafy.
Opinion, right, because everybody would be Hanafi. Even though there's differences between Hana fees from Burma and Hana fees from Pakistan, and how to face from Bosnia, if we had only Somalis, then we would teach the chef at school, and how they talk about the rulings of Ramadan, and so on and so forth. But we don't live in a community that's homogenous, we live in a community.
We live in a community that is diverse. And so it requires a different approach. It requires an approach that is able to
develop our understanding and appreciation for the different schools of law. And what they allow, especially with the realization that most most of what you'll find in the schools of law is based off of the practice of the companions. A lot of people have a false assumption that, Oh, these are just the school's opinions, they're made hundreds of years after it's kind of like,
you know, added on later. And that's usually not true. It happens occasionally. But it's usually not true. Usually, the official schools of each, the official opinions, and positions of each school trace themselves back to the practice of one of the companions, at least.
So part of what we're going to be doing, when it comes to studying the how to fast, and the different issues around it is we're going to be talking about things from an ecumenical perspective, we're going to be talking about it from the perspective of all of the four schools to understand and appreciate what we can do what's normal, what's acceptable, and to better be able to define what's outside of that circle of what is normal. I'll give you this is a funny story that happened from very, very early on just just a couple of months ago. But from the very beginning of my time here, there was someone from Yemen, and this was the last day that happened. And he prayed that prayer at
one of the Burmese mysteries, right. And people from Yemen tend to be Shafi and people from Burma tend to be Hanafy. And so when he came back, the next time I saw him, he was very upset. And he said, You know, I prayed that he prayed with them, and I have no idea what they did. I don't even know if my eight prayer counts.
And so I said, Well, what did they do? And he described to me the method in which they prayed the prayer. And I said, Well, that's interesting. Let's go back to the books and let's look and let's find out and after just a little bit of research, they find that this particular practice of how the Burmese mesquite prayed that Eid prayer is traced back to two companions, are they for an Abu Musa Ashari. And so it's something that's completely acceptable, even if it's not the majority, or the way that the majority sees
It, it's something that shouldn't be tolerated. It's not something that should be called an innovation. It's not something that should be called wrong, it's not something that should be frowned upon, or these sorts of things, right. So being able to look into these things helps and being able to have some sort of literacy, right.
It's almost like inclusion and diversity training. But within most of them legal issues, to understand that, oh, in this particular place, they do it this way. And that's perfectly acceptable. It goes a long way to building community cohesion. And everything has its limits. But this is particularly important in thick. So without further ado, let's get into the chapter on fasting. So when we're talking about the rules of fasting,
we're talking about three main things.
The essential components of fasting, there's three of them. Here, the first has to do with issues relating to time. Okay, that means, when do you begin fasting? Talking about how do we know that the month of Ramadan has happened? How do we know that we end fasting meaning? How do we know that Ramadan has ended?
How do we know when to start fasting in the morning? When do we know when to break fast in the evening, and etc, basically, everything to do with issues of time. Okay, that's the first essential aspect of fasting and there's a whole cluster of issues around that theme. That's what we're going to try to cover today in sha Allah, we'll see how far we get. The second essential aspect of fasting is things to do with what you have to refrain from. Okay, we got in a little bit with that last class, some things are obvious food and drink and, you know, intimacy with your spouse's etc. But there's other things that are a little bit more controversial, or they're newer issues, or they're,
they're more ambiguous, what if I get a vaccine? I have my COVID vaccine appointment? What if I get vitamin B shots? What if I get this and that, right? Different types of medicine, thyroid medicine, et cetera, et cetera. So that's the second
essential part of there's a whole cluster of issues around what we refrain from. And that will be the second essential part. The third and last essential part of fascinate has to do with issues of your intention. Okay, and Mia, because we know that in Islam, nothing is worth anything without intention, at least not worth anything, when it counts in the afterlife. And so when do we have to make our intention, what counts as making our intention, et cetera, et cetera? All these sorts of issues are the third cluster of issues.
So those are the three main things that are areas that we're going to be looking at, probably one week, we'll take one at a time in Sharla. And then after that, there's other things that have to do with the RT calf and these sorts of things, but we'll get there later. Good. So how do we know? Because I promised we'd make it a little bit more like Abu Hanifa circles. How do we know that we have to fast Ramadan? Or do we have to fast some of them?
Someone came up to you and they're like, do I have to maybe your child or maybe somebody who
becomes Muslim?
Right?
Yes, we know that we have to rely what tells us that that we have to
Can anybody recall anything from the Koran or from the Sunnah, or is it something that
where do we get this from? Basically, sort of the Lakota right? Yeah. You have the livina Ave quotevalet camassia. kuchibhotla lithiumion. Public, Allah contactable. Right, Allah's power to Allah, He says,
prescribed for you uses the passive voice, good cyber brought up the second thing that we'll get to is that it is prescribed upon you fasting, just like it was prescribed upon the people before you, thus you might be pious. Very good. So our first piece of evidence is the poor. Okay, excellent. Second piece of evidence. This is what Cyrus said from it. This is from the sun also what number 097835 says, I don't know who you are, but you're both of you are correct. The sun, the Hadith of the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam that the pillars of Islam, Bonilla, Islam when it comes Islam is built upon five essential elements or pillars. And in those pillars he names so
On Ramadan or Siyam Ramadan fasting, Ramadan Oh my Shalonda shake family. Welcome. See now I have a friendly face, I'm not just looking at a number.
Okay, there's a third thing. Does anybody know what it is? So we have category one for N Category Two, the Sunna category three type of evidence
is
anybody guess?
History your close something related to history?
Your warm
Jews and Christians Oh get into a juicy topic there. And previous process is the study of previous prophets. So they offer us if there's nothing to contradict it, this is a juicy topic and legal theory, the handling method says yes, it is.
Well, chatroom and Maddalena delille
let me call it sharper ninja legal. Right we have this is about one of the poems where they
codify the the rules of humbly
legal theory. But anyway, forget that we don't even have to go there. There is consensus consensus, which is similar to history, but
maintains to the Companions and how they understood the religion. So we have the Quran we have the Sunnah and we have consensus of these three, which is the strongest piece of evidence
ah, this is related to your question sister masala, does there need to be consensus in this case?
If we answer my question, we'll answer your question of those three core an Sona consensus which is the strongest
evidence
core and
everybody agree.
Everybody says core and everybody says, masha Allah
you're all wrong.
In Islamic law, consensus is the strongest. What on earth? How is that possible? Because the consensus cannot occur upon anything except that either it's tied to the Koran or it's tied to the Sunnah. So whereas evidence from the Koran might have more than one valid interpretation.
Consensus implies evidence from the in this case, evidence from the Quran and consensus upon its interpretation.
So it's two in one.
You see how that works.
Because we could have something that's from the Quran,
Allah says cootie, barley camassia prescribed for you, does the verb form katiba imply obligation or recommendation or there could be an argument
that could be
linguistically or otherwise. But now we have consensus, we have absolute consensus that companions every single one of them understood the core and this way. So now we have core an consensus or consensus that is based upon core. So we have not just the evidence and where it comes from, but also the understanding of that evidence, which makes it the strongest.
Good.
So
now getting into some issues, okay.
There is consensus, by the way, that if the moon is visible?
Oh, good question shake family understanding as to the level of responsibility that is required from us that fasting is prescribed. How it's done is second issue, right? There are two discrete separate legal issues. Right. So the consensus the point of consensus is that it is an obligation.
Good. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, So Rowley wrote Yachty he will update all the rules. Yeah, TeeHee, the in Illuma aleykum, the ruler of provinces and I'm sad,
fast, when you see it, and break your fast when you see it. And if it's cloudy, or if it is hidden from you, then counted
literally what he said. So this is our first issue of contention, and a very hot topic when it comes to, especially in places like North America.
There's
consensus that the default basis of determining when Ramadan starts is to see the moon.
That is the default as the foundation. This is something the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said this is the practice of the companions. However, however, what do we do?
If
we can't see the moon
it is the
29th of Shaban.
Because every lunar month might be either 29 or 30 days. This is also a point of consensus. We go out to one of the mountains of the Adirondacks, we look towards the west, we're looking for the crescent moon.
We don't see it. It's cloudy. It's very cloudy in central New York.
What do we do?
Is tomorrow Ramadan? Or is it not?
How about calculating a scientifically opinion, one Syrah? Let's hear all the opinions?
opinion was calculating it scientifically.
What else should we do?
If not local than regional and so on.
So you mean to say if somebody else saw the moon
locally or regionally, then you follow them?
We're saying okay, that's a separate issue. We'll get there. I think that's the next issue or two issues later. What if there is nothing like that? Just your community. Okay. Nobody else has seen the moon. It was cloudy everywhere. The whole world it was cloudy.
If not complete 30 days opinion to
go 30 days and begin. That's it. Okay. That's opinion to say to people for opinion to anything else. Any other possibilities?
Can we fast a day? A buffer day to be safe?
System? Someone says no.
Okay. They have doubts Yama check. That's right.
Okay, very good. All these three opinions. They are classically
valid. They're valid opinions. They trace themselves back to the companions are the students of the companions, the vast majority, and three out of the four legal schools say, Count 30 days.
Okay, if the 29th is cloudy, you can't see the moon. Automatically note tomorrow's not Ramadan, wait an extra day. And then fast the following day after that.
Even Ackman said you fast the next day, you almost check the day of doubt.
And we have some of the tabby rain, such as Madonna, a few minutes Sofia, and even Suraj. They said, You calculate it scientifically.
If it's cloudy, that goes back to the tabby, right? So we see why this is important because some people they get very upset. I say these calculations are new and innovative matters. Oh, wait a second. It's not. Not so fast. If you go back into the books, you'll find this stuff and hey, seven full key.
Yes. So we have three valid opinions, classically, all narrated from the tampereen and the companions. And the majority said, you count 30 days of Shabbat and then fast the next day of Ramadan. Why is there a difference of opinion because there's a difference of opinion and how to understand
the Sunnah. Yes, the prophet This is tying into the first issue. first issue we said what's the strongest piece of evidence core answer not work consensus consensus is strongest. This issue will show us why every single
opinion in this issue uses the same piece of evidence. The profits of the audience that I'm said, fast if you see it, break your fast if you see it, and if it's cloudy, then count it felt the ruler literally he says then counted. What do you mean count it?
That's the source of the difference of opinion.
The majority of legal school said they that he meant count the rest of the days of Shaban finish them and then continue on to Ramadan.
The people who said that some of the tab
During that said scientific calculation, they mean, they said that he meant count or figure it out, scientifically or mathematically.
And even Achmed has his own interpretation of how to basically take from the same Hadith that it doesn't mean count to continue
the month of Shabbat but to count the next day as Ramadan.
So we see three valid opinions, even if one is the majority. And we should be okay with that in sha Allah time.
What do you do? This is a less controversial issue, what do you do if you nobody sees the moon the night before.
But then, in the daytime, you see the moon before during the day, right? So you can see the moon during the day, sometimes
the vast majority, except for just a couple of later scholars said that you don't count this. So seeing the moon has to occur the previous night, right? Either the night of the 29th or the night of the obviously the night of the theory
that's not so much of an issue for us these days. Okay, how many Now this gets into something that the shape family was kind of notifying us or
bringing to our attention?
How many people need to see
the moon in order for it to be counted? Okay, is it enough that just one person sees it? Right? You know, there's kind of these memes that go around my face. One of my favorite memes of all time is the Saudi Moon Moon authority is like this guy with a telescope and he's got a stick hanging a picture of a crescent moon
in front of the telescope. So it's a joke, you know, that says that not everybody that goes or claims to see the moon is a reliable as a reliable narrator right. So, when it comes to seeing the moon and then bearing witness saying that this is what I saw and having that be now what you're basing your entire practice and Ramadan upon, how many people have to see it, the scholar is actually separate these the two separate issues they have difference of opinion.
Depending on are we talking about the moon of Ramadan, or the moon for sure well, and the the day of Eid, when it comes to the day of Eid, the vast majority of scholars said that it has to be two has to be two people, to reliable people to see the moon. When it comes to the first month of Ramadan, there is a little bit more wiggle room, or there's a little bit more difference of opinion.
Even on the Shafi and even when they said
one single person is enough, if that person is reliable, Eva Malik. He said, It has to be two people. And Abu Hanifa. He split the difference. And he said that it depends on how cloudy it is. And it depends on how many people are around. He said if it's a clear night
and you're in a large city, then there has to be more than two people there has to be a large group of people having you know, must have seen it. However, if it were cloudy, or if you're out in the middle of nowhere and there's not a lot of people, then it's enough to just have one person
now moving on time, okay, we're doing pretty good inshallah we'll finish this part tonight.
Now we get to an issue that is a source of a lot of modern drama, which the CHE family kind of alluded to, right. So what if we have we have China, okay. Or Saudi Arabia? Let's say we have Saudi Arabia, and we have the United States.
Okay.
Does a moon sighting in one part of the world?
necessitate Ramadan for everybody else?
If the moon is seen and wrong in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia says we saw the moon is Ramadan.
Does that mean that automatically without having to go look for the moon is Ramadan in North America
and vice versa if we see it in North
America. Does that mean that the following day is Ramadan in Saudi Arabia? Let's hear let's hear some opinions about this
basically, does every single community have to go out and do its own sighting?
On one extreme, and on the other extreme, does every does a sighting anywhere in the world
mean
citing everywhere in the world?
Okay
so, if it's official, let's assume sister Mossad. Let's assume that it's official from Saudi Arabia, does that then bind Muslims in North America to Follow that moon sighting?
Say family brings up the the good practice. That's the answer of the Mufti. And that's correct. I mean, I mean, not to put an end to the discussion, I still want to hear other opinions. Right? Because we can have this is a beautiful point between fifth in theory and fifth in practice,
you can have an opinion in theory as to which is more correct.
But when you're giving a fat sweat, or you're attempting to apply this ruling,
in a particular community, you might go for an opinion that you do not think is the strongest for other interests that are backed up by this idea, such as creating harmony, creating unity, etc, etc. So that the shape family, you're correct, but that's a separate issue. That then tells us how to apply
our
whatever our opinion is. But let's remove the issue of application.
Yes, some follow global news site. That's correct.
And USA, there is no one definition of the radius of local Oh,
that brings us to
a nice juicy wrinkle in this whole discussion.
Is there is there in Saudi Arabia, a definitional one definition of the radius of local
if we say in the USA, there's no one definition of the radius of local.
I haven't heard from Sister Saira, you've been silent on this issue. So for New York, would Toronto be local due to proximity? Or would Texas be due? Yes. Yes. Good. I like that you're thinking along those lines?
That's a valid question.
Okay, for the sake of time, all of these answers are acceptable within classical
Syrah says same country. Two words right to the point New Jersey represent. Mashallah. Same country.
Maybe before local will be more restrictive. Ah, very good. Excellent. So, great job. You see how sticky this issue is? Right? It's got a lot of wrinkles to it. So the basic issue, the basic issue is fairly black and white. Does a sighting somewhere mean a sighting everywhere or no? That's the first issue.
The majority of scholars say yes, it does. Okay, we're talking about Abu Hanifa and achmad and one of the two narrated opinions from Manik I say that a sighting anywhere means a sighting everywhere.
Okay.
The secondary opinion of Matic
is nope, the opposite. Every single community has to do its own citing. Nobody follow anybody else. Okay, so we've got two extremes. Then we have Imam Shafi, who kind of introduces that both what's a middle ground but also introduce, I should say opens a can of worms, which is what people were starting to get into
as far as definitions of local and etc, even Mushaf a set
citing
does necessitate that other Muslims follow that citing but not all across the world only in what's called it tifab el methodic, which is like
if we can say if they follow the same region.
And then there's a whole issue of exactly what you all have found. How do we deficit? How do we define what is that same reason? Are we going to say, by horizon?
Like some of the classical scholars said, Whoever shares the same horizon,
then you any sighting within that area then binds everybody else. That's one opinion. Other people they make it political, like, like, Saira mentioned and sister Muslim knots referenced? Right?
What does that mean?
It depends on methodic.
Oh, like, like horizon, we're talking about, like, if you imagine the globe, imagine that we're here in Toronto or in New York. Okay. We look west, as far as we can. What's the furthest western point that we see?
Where does it land?
I don't know. Maybe it's buffalo. Maybe it's Michigan.
Right? Maybe it's less than that. Then that is kind of our horizon.
And so anybody who shares that same horizon, so it was kind of like cut up the Earth into longitudinal swaths.
Other scholars, they said it's by political Okay, so if you have a central authority,
Saudi Arabia, Morocco, whatever, then it's going to make
implicate everybody within that political authority to that sighting.
So we see that it's complicated. All of these issues are classically valid, or all of these opinions or classically valid opinions, you might have an opinion as to which one is stronger or which one is weaker, or which one is better. However, what the shape family said, is the perspective of the Mufti. Okay, we can talk about this issue, theoretically all day. But then we have to make a decision. And that decision has to satisfy other principles within the city, such as bringing the Muslims together, such as presenting united front, especially living in a land where we're the minority, right, there are other sorts of legitimate interests, according to the study, or that
Muslims have. And so this is an issue in which the application of this issue or the application of our opinion, we might end up applying opinion, applying an opinion that might not be the strongest opinion to us personally.
Due to local circumstances, and Allah subhanaw taala knows best.
In the morning, when do we start fasting?
At what point do we start fasting?
There are two classical opinions. One of them, however, is the vast majority. That's we start fasting at the beginning of February. Okay. Not what they call a vegetable. Our like there's if you go to Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, there's an A then before fetcher. That's kind of like preparation for fetcher. No, they're talking about the actual fetcher when the very first thread of whites light
cracks the horizon before well before the disk of the Sun
has broken the horizon.
Okay, this is the vast majority of scholars. However, there are a couple of companions, or a couple of companions who said that it is slightly later than that, that it is not the first thread of white, but once that thread starts to turn red, for our intents and purposes, you shouldn't be that risky, right? You should do it when your clock says that it's better. However, if you happen and I have met people who are very insistent upon other opinion, you can know that this was the practice of a couple of the companions for they thought and even Masaru.
And so, it is something that is not
never it's not completely out.
left field
an interesting opinion and I'll throw this to you guys, there's two more issues to cover before we're done for the night, Inshallah, this one I'll throw to you all
is the time of beginning are fast a subjective thing or an objective thing.
If I wake up,
and I look outside, I have a clearer view of the horizon.
And I see that black, completely, totally black, nothing. And I'm eating and I'm eating and I'm eating.
And then I go to the window, and then I see.
Or even then I look at my watch, or I look at my cell phone.
And I I learn that I had actually consumed something after Federer technically began, but before I was aware that it began
does my fast still count?
So the issue is, is my fasting or is the beginning of my fast and objective thing? Meaning that if Federer begins at 433
that means that anything that that I ate or drank after 433 If it was for 33, and three seconds,
if I ate something or drank something, and I didn't realize that it was already fetcher, my phone was out of battery, it died.
Does my fast count?
Or is it something subjective?
Meaning that it's depends on my knowledge of it becoming federal.
So fetcher objectively, was 433 I took my last sip of water at 434 at 435 I find my charger I plug it in and I realized that it's better now and now I stopped
let's hear che family has weighed in
okay, you have two people for the it's subjective.
Three people's subjective
nobody wants to say subjective.
For 33 We live and die by the clock these days.
Take away our smartphones and we all oversleep.
Your comments reflect the majority.
The majority of the jurist and legal schools have said that it is subjective. This is the school of the Hanafi school. And the sheriff a school and the Hanbali school. Say that it has to do with your knowledge of when it is fetching. So your fastest fine. You drank it for 34 Even ematic school says that no, this is an objective thing. So even if you didn't realize it, it doesn't change the fact that Federer started at 433 and you ate after it.
And they both disagree because of the understanding of the relevant versus what was brought up what cola was or who had to get away in a coma hypo of the other word of the Domina hadal as well You mean Alfetta? The majority.
They say that
what the word that Allah uses when it becomes clear to you? Yeah, Tobago and Aleko. They say this means subjectively.
Mathematics says no, that's not what it means. It means when it becomes clear, simply illustrating the fact that the first white thread of light is clear on the horizon. So we see again, how consensus is extremely important. We can have an eye of the Koran. We can have a Hadith from the Sunnah, and we can differ as to what its proper interpretation is, but if we have consensus upon its interpretation, or its understanding, then conversation is over.
Are you allowed last issue Are you allowed to eat and drink right up to the begin
measure four do you have to leave? A little bit of time?
So if edger is 433
at 432 and 59 seconds, are you allowed to drink or eat or swallow, let's say
or must you leave a little space? You stop at 430
Finish what's in your mouth? Okay? So you say that you're allowed to eat and drink right up until
it's better to stop a little earlier, Sire. Okay.
Anyone else? That's the last issue of the night
okay, so we see again, these two opinions, the majority say that, yes, you're allowed to eat and drink right up until Fudger. You do not need to leave anytime. However, it's a secondary opinion, with the Maliki's and also a secondary opinion with a Hamleys that it is not only better, but it is required
to stop a little bit early and to leave a little bit of time before the beginning of February.
Anyone have any questions that covers all the issues related to timing
these talks can be whatever you want them to be. I know that the rules are important to people and so I don't want to neglect
if you think that they're a little bit too dry and legalistic, we can maybe do an every other one. Or we can try to break it up a little bit longer.
The witnesses doesn't matter the gentleman presiding. I need to double check on that.
That's a good question. I would need to double check. I don't know off the top of my head
yes, there are a lot of rules. So the rules do need time. I mean
I'm open to suggestions.
Whatever we think is the most beneficial
we're definitely on pace to complete the rules before Ramadan starts. So if we're able to do one of the essential elements of fasting a week, we just did time today if we can do what we're fasting from next week, and issues of intention The following week, and then kind of
miscellany and include in that maybe the specific women's issues the week after that that will be inshallah plenty of time.
But I'm always open to suggestion you can send me a message either WhatsApp or email or otherwise
anything else?
Hamdulillah I mean,
it's helpful for me it's good review.
Okay, everyone have a good night in Sharla.
Sudan salamati from after