When i keep fasts, do i make the intention that i am doing VOLUNTARY FAST.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
When i
keep fasts, do i make the intention that i am doing VOLUNTARY FAST or MAKING UP
FARD FAST? I have missed many fasts and i have lost count.
Please
help me on this matter.
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errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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confidentiality.)
Answer:
Missed fasts
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Your
Question: When i keep fasts, do i make the intention that i am doing VOLUNTARY
FAST or MAKING UP FARD FAST?
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.1 Narrated by Umar bin Al Khattab
I heard Allah's Messenger (saws) saying,
"The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions, and every person will
get the reward according to what he has intended.”
To make an intention to observe a fast is an absolutely
obligatory condition of the worship of fasting; and besides if one has
obligatory fasts to make up, it would be best that the missed obligatory fasts
are made up first before one offers voluntary fasts.
Your
Question: I have missed many fasts and i have lost count.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 185:
185 Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an as a guide
to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and
wrong). So everyone of you who is
present (or witnesses) the month should spend it in fasting but if anyone
is ill or on a journey the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you He does
not want to put you to difficulties. (He
wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has
guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.
If one has in their past been so negligent in the
observance of their obligatory fasts that they have missed so many that they
have lost count…. then the absolute first thing one must do is immediately turn
back to their Lord Most Gracious in sincere Taubah for their severe negligence
and lapse of their obligatory duty, and make a solemn and sincere intention
that from this day forward, they will strive to observe every obligatory
fast. If the person is sincere in
seeking repentance, it is expected that they will find his Lord Merciful and
Forgiving.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:
(O Prophet) say: “O My
servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s
Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before
the scourge overtakes you; for then you
may get no help from anywhere.”
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:
Allah likes such good
people very much, who, if ever they
commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their
shortcomings. For who, but Allah,
can forgive sins? (And Allah
loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from
Allah, and with Gardens beneath which
canals flow, and they will reside
therein forever! How excellent is the
reward of those who do good deeds!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:
When those come to you
who believe in Our Signs, say:
"Peace be on you! Your Lord had
inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy.
Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his
conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
As a manifestation of their sincere repentance, the person
should then estimate the number of fasts they have missed over the years, and
strive their hardest to make them up by fasting at other times of the year…..if
one is indeed sincere in one’s repentance and the manifestation of one’s
repentance, it is expected that their Lord Most Gracious will not only forgive
them their negligence, but will reward them abundantly for their repentance.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan