Surah Yunus x:5-6

"It is He who made the sun
To be a shining glory
And the Moon to be a light
(Of beauty), and measured out
Stages for her; that you might
Know the number of years
And the count (of time).
Nowise did God create this
But in truth and righteousness.
(Thus) doth He explain His Signs
In detail, for those who understand.

"Verily, in the alternation
Of the Night and Day,
And in all that God
Hath created in the heavens
And the earth, are Signs
For those who fear Him"

Ramadhan Reflection #2: Hunger is the sultan of remedies

Indeed hunger is the sultan of remedies.
Place hunger in the soul -
Regard it not with such contempt!
Hunger makes all unpleasant things pleasant -
But without it, all pleasant things are rejected.

A man was eating bread made from bran.
Someone asked him, "How is it you have an appetite for this?"
He replied, "When hunger has been doubled through patience,
Barley bread becomes halva in my eyes." . . .

God has given hunger to His elect so that
They may become mighty lions.

Mathnavi V: 2832-35, 38
Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

Hunger, not sweetmeats, gives pleasure

Hunger gives pleasure, not fresh sweetmeats -
Hunger makes barley bread better than sugar. . . .
Pain renews old medicines and
lops off the branch of every indifference.
Pain is an alchemy that renovates -
where is indifference when pain intervenes?
Beware, do not sigh coldly in your indifference!
Seek pain! Seek pain, pain, pain!

Translation by William C. Chittick
"The Sufi Path of Love"
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

My soul's comfort, my spirit's treasure - Ghazal 207

All My Youth Returns

You are the comfort of my soul
in the season of sorrow.
You are the wealth of my spirit
in the heartbreak of loss.

The unimaginable,
The unknowable -
that is what you give my soul
when it moves in your direction.

By your grace
my eyes have looked upon eternity.
O King, how could this crumbling empire
ever take me from you?

The voice that sings your name
is sweeter than midnight sleep
more graceful than the song of a royal poet.

When deep in prayer
my faith is bound by the thought of you,
not the seven verses of faith.

You greet sinners with mercy,
You melt stone hearts with love.

If I were offered a kingdom,
And the world's riches were placed at my feet,
I would bow with my face low and say,
"This does not compare to His love!"

Union is the pure wine.
My life is the cup.
Without your wine
what use is this cup? I once had a thousand desires,
But in my one desire to know you
all else melted away.
The pure essence of your being
has taken over my heart and soul.
Now there is no second or third,
only the sound of your sweet cry.
Through your grace I have found
a treasure within myself.
I have found the truth of the Unseen world.
I have come upon the eternal ecstasy.
I have gone beyond the ravages of time.
I have become one with you!
Now my heart sings,
"I am the soul of the world."

From my first breath I have longed for Him -
This longing has become my life.
This longing has seen me grow old. . . .

But one mention of Shams-e Tabriz
and all my youth comes back to me.

Version by Jonathan Star
"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved"
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

You who are my soul's repose in the time of pain,
you who are my spirit's treasure in the bitterness of poverty,
That which imagination never conceived, reason and understanding never perceived,
has entered my soul from you; therefore to you alone I turn in worship.
Through your grace I gaze boldly upon eternal life; O king,
how should a perishing empire beguile me?
The melody of that person who brings me glad tidings of you,
even if it be in sleep, is better than all poets' songs to me.
In the genuflections of prayer your image, O king,
is as necessary and obligatory to me as the seven oft-repeated verses*.
When unbelievers sin, you are all compassion and intercession;
to me you are the chief and leader of the stonyhearted.
If everlasting bounty should offer all kingdoms and place before me every hidden treasure,
I would prostrate myself with all my soul and lay my face on the earth, I would say, "Out of all these, the love of a certain one for me!"
For me the time of union is eternal life, for in that moment no time contains me.
Life is a vessel, and in it union is a pure wine; without you, of what avail to me is the labour of the vessels?
Before this, twenty thousand desires were mine; in my passion for him, not one single aspiration has remained to me.
Through the succor of his grace, I have become secure from the Monarch of the Unseen saying to me, "Thou shalt not see me*."
The essence of the meaning of "He" my heart and soul has filled; he is - even though he said he is not - the third and the second to me*.
Union with him transported my spirit; my body paid not attention, though disengaged from the body he became visible to me.
I have become old in grief for him; but when you name Tabri

Translation by A.J. Arberry
Mystical Poems of Rumi 1
The University of Chicago Press 1968/1991

Footnotes from A.J. Arberry:

* "The seven oft-repeated verses" - Sura I of the Koran, to be recited in every prayer.
* "Thou shalt not see me" - as God said to Moses on Sinai, see Koran 7:139
* "...the third and the second..." - Rumi has realized the Muslim Unity of God, the Christian Trinity, and the Magian Duality.

VI.

O thou who art my soul's comfort in the season of sorrow,
O thou who art my spirit's treasure* in the bitterness* of dearth!*
That which the imagination has not conceived,* that which the understanding has not seen,
Visiteth my soul from thee, hence in worship I turn toward thee.*
By thy grace I keep fixed on eternity my amorous gaze, Except, O king, the pomps that perish lead me astray.
The favour* of that one, who brings glad tidings of thee,
Even without thy summons, is sweeter in mine ear that songs.
In the prostrations of prayer* thought of thee, O lord,
Is necessary and binding on me as the seven verses.*
To thee belongs mercy and intercession for the sin of infidels:
As regards me, thou art chief and principal of the stony- hearted.
If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms,
If a hidden treasure should set before me all that is*,
I would bend down with my soul, I would lay my face in the dust,
I would say, Of all these the love of such a one* for me!'
Eternal life, me thinks, is the time of union,
Because time, for me, hath no place there.
Life is the vessels*, union the clear draught in them;
Without thee what does the pain of the vessels* avail me?
I had twenty thousand desires ere this;
In passion for him not even (care of) my safety remained*.
By the help* of his grace I am become safe, because
The unseen king saith to me, Thou art the soul of the world*.'
The essence of the meaning of "He"* has filled my heart and soul;
"Au" cries the street-dog*, and neither have I third* or second".
The body, at the time of union with him, paid no regard to the spirit*;
Tho' incorporeal, he became visible unto me.
I aged with his affliction, but when Tabriz*
You name, all my youth comes back to me.

T.134.5, From the Tabriz Edition of the Divani Shamsi Tabriz
"Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz"
Edited and translated by Reynold A. Nicholson
Cambridge, At the University Press, 1898, 1952

Footnotes by Reynold Nicholson:

* "my spirit's treasure" "according to the Burhani Qati' this is the name of Qarun's treasure: it is said to be in perpetual motion under the ground.' Qarun (Korah) points to Mohammedans the moral of riches that grow in hell' and pride that goes before destruction. See Koran XXVIII. 76-81, with Sale's notes."

* "Bitterness" "like bala'ye nafye' in Gulshani Raz,' 402, the mortification of all desires, whether sensual or intellectual. True spirituality (to quote Juan de la Cruz) seeks in God the bitter more than the agreeable, prefers suffering to solace, would rather lack all good for God's sake than possess it, is better pleased with dryness and affliction than with sweet communications: knowing that in this it follows Christ and denies self, instead of peradventure seeking self in God, which is against Love.

* "dearth" "Mohammed said: Poverty is my pride, and again, Poverty is blackness of face (dishonor) in both worlds (see his own explanation of the inconsistency in Malcolm's History of Persia,' Vol. II. P. 268, note). The Sufis have given these sayings a mystical turn. "Dearth" becomes poverty of self', i.e., self-annihilation, and by sava'd'ol vajhe' they mean the darkness which is nothing but excess of light betokening the proximity of Being (cf. Golshani Raz,' 123 seq.). I tell you by the eternal Truth, that ye are not rightly poor while ye have a will to perform the will of God, or any desire of God and eternity; for the poor man is he who wills, knows, and desires nothing' (Eckhart, Deutsche Mystiker,' Vol. II. P. 281)."

* "which the imagination has not conceived" - "cf. 1 Corinthians, ch. Ii. 9: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

* "That which the imagination has not conceived, that which the understanding has not seen" "What eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, are quoted from an hadis, which is a mere translation of the passage in I. Corinthians."

* "hence in worship I turn toward thee" "the Moslem turns his face in prayer towards the Ka'ba, the mystic directly to God."

* "the favour" - " in the next line suggests the emendation nemat' (sweet voice, melody). Nemat,' however, does not seem to occur, and the change from naghmeh', as the word is commonly written in Persian, to nemat' is less easy.

* "in the prostrations of prayer" "cf. T. 231. 9a seq.

Unless I have the face of my heart towards thee,
I deem prayer unworthy to be reckoned as prayer.
If I turned my face to the qibla,' twas for love of thine;
Otherwise, I am weary both of prayer and qibla'.

* "the seven verses" " there are various interpretations of these words: the most probable is that which makes them refer to the seven verses of the opening Sura of the Kor'an."

* "If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms,
If a hidden treasure should set before me all that is"
"Perhaps it is better to regard this couplet as complete in itself, and translate:

If a never-ceasing bounty should offer kingdoms
And lay the universe before me, thou art still my hidden treasure.

* "Love of such a one" "the love of God."

* "Life is the vessels" "cf. T. 252.2).

Our celestial spirit is free to eternity,
Tho' for a short while we have the shape and figure of man.
Know that phenomenal forms are pitchers: with draughts of the Ideal,
Like a pitcher, we all are being filled and emptied continually.
The draught is not derived from the pitcher, it comes from another source;
Like the pitcher we are ignorant of the springs which replenish it."

* "pain of the vessels" "The tribulation which the soul suffers in the world." cf. (T. 203. 13).

Prize not at all life that has passed without love;
Love is the Water of Life: receive it in thy heart and soul."

* "not even (care of) my safety remained" "literally: not even an aman' (cry for quarter) remained to me, i.e. for love's sake I was prepared to sacrifice all. Prof. Bevan suggests that amini' here may be a plural of amniyat', object of desire. . ."

* "help" "this term is employed by Jalalu'ddin to denote the perpetual replenishment of the phenomenal world by a succession of emanations from the Absolute."

* "the soul of the world" "as God is all, and all is God, he who is absorbed in the divine essence becomes identical with it. Hence Anal Haq', I am God, of Mansur Hallaj and the sobhayanei', Praise be to me!, of Bayazid. And this is what our poet means when he says, e.g.:

I am the theft of rogues, I am the pain of the sick,
I am both cloud and rain, I have rained in the gardens.
(T. 258. 4)."

* "The essence of the meaning of He" "at first sight these words seem to defy the rules of grammar. Obviously the sense is: My soul and my heart are filled with the treasure of His meaning', and this can be obtained from the text only by treating the treasure of his meaning' as a compound adjective. In such formations "filled" is usually prefixed, but cf. Attar, Mantiqu'ttair, 525. . ."

* "Au" cries the street-dog" "a play on oo', He (God), and oo' or au', the sound of a dog's bark."

* "third" "alluding to the doctrine of the Trinity (see Kor'an IV. 169, with Sale's note, v. 77)."

* "second" "as in the Magian relegion."

* "paid no regard to the spirit" "during this life the body is conscious of the soul's superiority, but not in the divine presence, for then it is non-existent."

* "Tabriz" "The poet puns on the double meaning of Tabriz: (1) the city of that name, and (2) manifestation (from Arabic baraza'), with a reference to gasht aya'ni'."

Some Hadith on Fasting

From Malik's Muwatta Book 18 "On Fasting"

Section: Sighting the New Moon for Beginning and Ending the Fast of Ramadan

Book 18, Number 18.1.1:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once mentioned Ramadan and said, "Do not begin the fast until you see the new moon, and do not break the fast (at the end of Ramadan) until you see it. If the new moon is obscured from you, then work out (when it should be)."

Book 18, Number 18.1.2:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A month has twenty-nine days in it. Do not start the fast or break it until you see the new moon. If the new moon is obscured from you, then work out (when it should be)."

Book 18, Number 18.1.3:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Thawr ibn Zayd ad-Dili from Abdullah ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him pe ace, once mentioned Ramadan and said, "Do not start the fast or break it un til you see the new moon. If the new moon is obscured from you, then comple te a full thirty days."

Book 18, Number 18.1.4:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that once in the time of Uthman ibn Affan the new moon had been seen in the afternoon and Uthman did not break his fast until evening had come and the sun had set. Yahya said that he had heard Malik say that some one who sees the new moon of Ramadan when he is on his own should start the fast and not break it if he knows that that day is part of Ramadan. He added, "Some one who sees the new moon of Shawwal when he is on his own does not break the fast, because people suspect the reliability of someone among them who breaks the fast. Such people should say, when they sight the new moon, 'We have seen the new moon.' Whoever sees the new moon of Shawwal during the day should not break his fast but should continue fasting for the rest of that day. This is because it is really the new moon of the night that is coming ."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "If people are fasting on the day of Fitr thinking that it is still Ramadan and then definite evidence comes to them that the new moon of Ramadan had been seen one day before they began to fast and that they are now into the thirty-first day, then they should break the fast on that day at whatever time the news comes to them. However, they do not pray the id prayer if they hear the news after the sun has begu n to decline."

Section: Making the Intention to Fast Before Dawn

Book 18, Number 18.2.5:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "Only some one who makes the intention to fast before dawn (actually) fasts."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that A'isha and Hafsa, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, also said that. Section: Being Quick to Break the Fast Book 18, Number 18.3.6:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Hazim ibn Dinar from Sahl ibn Sad as Saidi that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "People will remain in good as long as they are quick to break the fast."

Book 18, Number 18.3.7:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Harmala al-Aslami from Said ibn al-Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "People will remain in good as long as they are quick to break the fast."

Book 18, Number 18.3.8:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Humayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman that Umar ibn al-Khattab and Uthman ibn Affan would pray maghrib when they saw the night darkening, before they broke their fast, and that was during Ramadan.

Section: Fasting When Junub in the Morning during Ramadan

Book 18, Number 18.4.9:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Mamar al-Ansari from Abu Yunus, the mawla of A'isha, from A'isha that she overheard a man standing at the door saying to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Messenger of Allah, I get up in the morning junub, in a state of major ritual impurity, and want to fast," and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I too get up in the morning junub and want to fast, so I do ghusl and fast." The man said to him, "You are not the same as us. Allah has forgiven you all your wrong actions that have gone before and those that have come after." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, got angry and said, "By Allah, I hope that I am the most fearful of you with respect to Allah and the most knowledgeable of you in how I have taqwa."

Book 18, Number 18.4.10:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd Rabbih ibn Said from Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham from A'isha and Umm Salama, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to get up in the morning junub from intercourse, not a dream, in Ramadan, and then he would fast."

Book 18, Number 18.4.11:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham that he heard Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham say, "My father and I were with Marwan ibn al Hakam at the time when he was amir of Madina, and someone mentioned to him that Abu Hurayra used to say, 'If someone begins the morning junub, he has broken the fast for that day.' Marwan said, 'I swear to you, Abdar-Rahman, you must go to the two umm al muminin, A'isha and Umm Salama, and ask them about it.' ''Abd ar-Rahman went to visit A'isha and I accompanied him. He greeted her and then said, 'Umm al-muminin, we were with Marwan ibn al Hakam and someone mentioned to him that Abu Hurayra used to say that if some one had begun the morning junub, he had broken the fast for that day.' A'isha said, 'It is not as Abu Hurayra says Abd ar-Rahman. Do you dislike what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to do?', and Abd ar-Rahman said, 'No, by Allah.' A'isha said, 'I bear witness that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to get up in the morning junub from intercourse, not a dream, and would then fast for that day.' "

He continued, "Then we went and visited Umm Salama, and Abd ar-Rahman asked her about the same matter and she said the same as A'isha had said. Then we went off until we came to Marwan ibn al-Hakam Abd ar-Rahman told him what they had both said and Marwan said, 'I swear to you, Abu Muhammad, you must use the mount which is at the door, and go to Abu Hurayra, who is on his land at al Aqiq, and tell him this.' So Abd ar-Rahman rode off, and I went with him, until we came to Abu Hurayra. Abd ar-Rahman talked with him for a while, and then mentioned the matter to him, and Abu Hurayra said, 'I don't know anything about it. I was just told that by someone.'"

Book 18, Number 18.4.12:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr, from Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman that A'isha and Umm Salama, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to get up in the morning junub from intercourse, not a dream, and would then fast."

Section: Permission for a Fasting Man to Kiss

Book 18, Number 18.5.13:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that a certain man kissed his wife while he was fasting in Ramadan. This made him very anxious, and so he sent his wife to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to ask him about that for him. She went in and saw Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned the matter to her, and Umm Salama told her that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to kiss while he was fasting. So she went back and told her husband that, but it only made him find fault all the more and he said, "We are not like the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah makes permissible for the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whatever He wishes."

His wife then went back to Umm Salama and found the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with her. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "What's the matter with this woman?", and Umm Salama told him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Didn't you tell her that I do that myself?" and she said, "I told her, and she went to her husband and told him, but it only made him find fault all the more and say, 'We are not like the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah makes permissible for His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whatever He wishes.' " The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, got angry and said, "By Allah, I am the one with the most taqwa of Allah of you all, and of you all the one who best knows His limits."

Book 18, Number 18.5.14:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, umm al-muminin, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to kiss certain of his wives when fasting," and then she laughed.

Book 18, Number 18.5.15:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Atika bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl, the wife of Umar ibn al-Khattab, used to kiss Umar ibn al-Khattab's head while he was fasting, and he did not tell her not to.

Book 18, Number 18.5.16:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'n-Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah that A'isha bint Talha told him that she was once with A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and her husband, who was fasting, came and visited her there. (He was Abdullah ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakras-Siddiq.) A'isha said to him, "What's stopping you from coming close to your wife and kissing her and joking with her?" He said, "Can I kiss her when I am fasting?" She said, "Yes."

Book 18, Number 18.5.17:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Abu Hurayra and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas used to say that someone who was fasting was allowed to kiss.

Section: Restraint in Kissing when Fasting

Book 18, Number 18.6.18:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would say, when she mentioned that the Messenger of Allah, used to kiss while fasting, "And who among you is more able to control himself than the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?" Yahya said that Malik said that Hisham ibn Urwa ibn az-Zubayr had said, "I do not think that kissing invites to good for people who are fasting."

Book 18, Number 18.6.19:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that Abdullah ibn Abbas was asked about people kissing while fasting and he said that he allowed it for old men but disapproved of it for young men.

Book 18, Number 18.6.20:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to forbid kissing and fondling for people who were fasting.

Section: Fasting while Travelling

Book 18, Number 18.7.21:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud from Abdullah ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, left for Makka in Ramadan during the year of the conquest, and fasted until he reached al-Kadid. He then broke the fast, and so everyone else did so as well. What people used to do was act according to whatever the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had done most recently.

Book 18, Number 18.7.22:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman from one of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered everyone to break the fast on the journey he made in the year of the conquest saying, "Be strong for your enemy," while the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, kept on fasting. Abu Bakr said that the one who related this to him said, "I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, pouring water over his head at al-Arj, either from thirst or from the heat. Then some one said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 'Messenger of Allah, a group of people kept on fasting when you did.' Then when the Messenger of Allah was at al-Kadid, he asked for a drinking-bowl and drank, and everyone broke the fast." --

Book 18, Number 18.7.23:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd at-Tawil that Anas ibn Malik said, "We once travelled with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in Ramadan, and those who were fasting did not find fault with those who were not, and those who were not fasting did not find fault with those who were." --

Book 18, Number 18.7.24:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that Hamza ibn Amr al-Aslami once said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Messenger of Allah, I am a man who fasts. Can I fast when travelling?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If you want you can fast, and if you want you can break the fast." --

Book 18, Number 18.7.25:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used not to fast while travelling. --

Book 18, Number 18.7.26:

Yahya related to me from Malik that Hisham ibn Urwa said, "My father, Urwa, used to travel in Ramadan, and we would travel with him, and he used to fast while we would break the fast, and he would not tell us to fast." Section: What to Do when Returning from a Journey in Ramadan or Intending to Travel in Ramadan --

Book 18, Number 18.8.27:

27 Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab, if he was travelling in Ramadan and knew that he would reach Madina at the begining of the day ,would do so fasting. Yahya said that Malik said, "Someone who is travelling and knows that he will be reaching his people in the first part of the day, and then dawn breaks before he gets there, should be fasting when he gets there." Malik said, "Someone who intends to go away (on a journey) in Ramadan, and then dawn breaks while he is still on his land before he has left, should fast that day." Malik said that a man who returns from a journey in Ramadan and is not fasting may have sexual intercourse with his wife if he wishes, if she is not fasting and she has just become pure after her menses.

Section: The Kaffara (Making Amends) for Breaking the Fast in Ramadan --

Book 18, Number 18.9.28:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Hunayd ibn Abd arRahman ibn Awf from Abu Hurayra that a man broke the fast in Ramadan and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered him to make kaffara by freeing a slave, or fasting two consecutive months, or feeding sixty poor people, and he said, "I can't do it." Someone brought a large basket of dates to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said, "Take this and give it away as sadaqa." He said, "Messenger of Allah, there is no-one more needy than I am." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, laughed until his eye-teeth appeared, and then he said, "Eat them." --

Book 18, Number 18.9.29:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ata ibn Abdullah al-Khurasani that Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "A bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, beating his breast and tearing out his hair and saying, 'I am destroyed.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Why is that?', and he said, 'I had intercourse with my wife while fasting in Ramadan.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked him, 'Are you able to free a slave?', and the man said, 'No.' Then he asked him, 'Are you able to give away a camel?', and the man replied, 'No.' He said, 'Sit own,' and someone brought a large basket of dates to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said to the man, 'Take this and give it away as sadaqa.' The man said, 'There is no one more needy than me,' and (the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace), said, 'Eat them, and fast one day for the day when you had intercourse.' " Malik said that Ata said that he had asked Said ibn al-Musayyab how many dates there were in that basket, and he said, "Between fifteen and twenty sas.'' Malik said, "I have heard people of knowledge saying that the kaffara specified by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for a man who has intercourse with his wife during the day in Ramadan is not due from someone who, on a day when he is making up the fast of Ramadan, breaks his fast by having intercourse with his wife, or whatever. He only has to make up for that day." Malik said, "This is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."

Section: Cupping a Man who is Fasting

Book 18, Number 18.10.30:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to be cupped while he was fasting. Nafi said, "He later stopped doing that, and would not be cupped when he was fasting until he had broken the fast." --

Book 18, Number 18.10.31:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Sad ibn Abi Waqqas and Abdullah ibn Umar used to be cupped while they were fasting. --

Book 18, Number 18.10.32:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father used to be cupped while he was fasting and he would not then break his fast. Hisham added, "I only ever saw him being cupped when he was fasting." Malik said, "Cupping is only disapproved of for some one who is fasting out of fear that he will become weak and if it were not for that, it would not be disapproved of. I do not think that a man who is cupped in Ramadan and does not break his fast, owes anything, and I do not say that he has to make up for the day on which he was cupped, because cupping is only disapproved of for someone fasting if his fast is endangered. I do not think that someone who is cupped, and is then well enough to keep the fast until evening, owes anything, nor does he have to make up for that day." Section: Fasting on the Day of Ashura ( the 10th of Muharram) --

ook 18, Number 18.11.33:p> Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The day of Ashura was a day the Quraysh used to fast in the jahiliyya, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used also to fast it during the jahiliyya. Then when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to Madina he fasted it and ordered that it be fasted. Then Ramadan was made obligatory, and that became the fard instead of Ashura, but whoever wanted to, fasted it, and whoever did not want to, did not fast it." --

Book 18, Number 18.11.34:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Humayd ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf heard Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan say from the mimbar on the day of Ashura in the year in which he made the hajj, "People of Madina, where are your learned men? I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say about this day, 'This is the day of Ashura, and fasting it has not been prescribed for you. I am fasting it, and whoever of you wants to fast it can do so, and whoever does not want to, does not have to.' " --

Book 18, Number 18.11.35:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab had sent (the following message) to al-Harith ibn Hisham, ''Tomorrow is the day of Ashura, so fast (it) and tell your family to fast (also)."

Section: Fasting the Days of Fitr and Adha and Fasting Continuously

Book 18, Number 18.12.36:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban from alAraj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade fasting on two days, the day of Fitr and the day of Adha.

Book 18, Number 18.12.37:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he used to hear the people of knowledge say,"There is no harm in fasting continuously as long as one breaks the fast on the days on which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade fasting, namely, the days of Mina, the day of Adha and the day of Fitr, according to what we have heard." Malik said, "This is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."

Section: The Prohibition against Fasting for Two Days or More without Breaking the Fast in between (Wisal)

Book 18, Number 18.13.38:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade fasting for two days or more without breaking the fast in between. They said, "But Messenger of Allah, you practise wisal." He replied, "I am not the same as you. I am fed and given to drink."

Book 18, Number 18.13.39:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Beware of wisal. Beware of wisal." They said, "But you practise wisal, Messenger of Allah." He replied, "I am not the same as you. My Lord feeds me and gives me to drink."

Section: The Fasting of Someone who Kills by Mistake or Pronounces the Dhihar Form of Divorce

Book 18, Number 18.14.40:

Yahya related to me, and I (myself) heard Malik say, "The best that I have heard about some one who has to fast for two consecutive months because of having killed someone by mistake or having pronounced the dhihar form of divorce, becoming very ill and having to break his fast, is that if he recovers from his illness and is strong enough to fast, he must not delay doing so. He continues his fast from where he left off. Similarly, a woman who has to fast because of having killed some one by mistake should not delay resuming her fast when she has become pure after her period. She continues her fast from where she left off. No one who, by the Book of Allah, has to fast for two consecutive months may break his fast except for a reason - illness or menstruation. He must not travel and break his fast." Malik said, "This is the best that I have heard about the matter."

Section: What a Sick Man Does when Fasting

Book 18, Number 18.15.41:

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What I have heard from the people of knowledge is that if a man succumbs to an illness which makes fasting very difficult for him and exhausts him and wears him out, he can break his fast. This is the same as with a sick man in the prayer, who finds standing to be too difficult and exhausting, (and Allah knows better than the slave that it is an excuse for him and that it really cannot be described). If the man is in such a condition he prays sitting, and the deen of Allah is ease. Allah has permitted a traveller to break the fast when travelling, and he has more strength for fasting than a sick man. Allah, the Exalted, says in His book, 'Whoever among you is ill or on a journey (must fast) a number of other days,' and Allah has thus permitted a traveller to break his fast when on a journey, and he is more capable of fasting than a sick man.

Section: The Vow to Fast, and Fasting for the Dead

Book 18, Number 18.16.42:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Said ibn al-Musayyab was asked whether a man who had vowed to fast a month could fast voluntarily, and Said said, "He should fulfil his vow before he does any voluntary fasting."

Malik said, "I have heard the same thing from Sulayman ibn Yasar."

Malik said, "If someone dies with an unfulfilled vow to free a slave or to fast or to give sadaqa or to give away a camel, and makes a bequest that his vow should be fulfilled from his estate, then the sadaqa or the gift of the camel are taken from one third of his estate. Preference is given to it over other bequests, except things of a similar nature, because by his vow it has become incumbent on him, and this is not the case with something he donates voluntarily. They (vows and voluntary donations) are settled from a limited one-third of his estate, and not from the whole of it, since if the dying man were free to dispose of all of his estate, he might delay settling what had become incumbent on him (i.e. his vows), so that when death came and the estate passed into the hands of his heirs, he would have bequeathed such things (i.e. his vows) that were not claimed by anyone (like debts). If that (i.e. to dispose freely of his property) were allowed him, he would delay these things (i.e. his vows) until when he was near death, he would designate them and they might take up all of his estate. He must not do that."

Book 18, Number 18.16.43:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Umar used to be asked, "an some one fast for some one else, or do the prayer for some one else?" and he would reply, "No one can fast or do the prayer for anyone else."

Section: Making Up Days Missed in Ramadan, and the Kaffara

Book 18, Number 18.17.44:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from his brother Khalid ibn Aslam that Umar ibn al-Khattab once broke thefast on a cloudy day thinking that evening had come and the sun had set. Then a man came to him and said, "Amir al-muminin, the sun has come out,'' and Umar said, "That's an easy matter. It was our deduction (ijtihad)." Malik said, "According to what we think, and Allah knows best, what he was referring to when he said, 'That's an easy matter' was making up the fast, and how slight the effort involved was and how easy it was. He was saying (in effect), 'We will fast another day in its place.' "

Book 18, Number 18.17.45:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "Someone who breaks the fast in Ramadan because he is ill or travelling should make up the days he has missed consecutively."

Book 18, Number 18.17.46:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibr Shihab that Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayra differed about making up days missed in Ramadan. One of them said that they were done separately and the other said that they were done consecutively. He did not know which one of them it was who said that they were done separately.

Book 18, Number 18.17.47:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "If some one makes himself vomit while he is fasting he has to make up a day, but if he cannot help vomiting he does not have to make up anything."

Book 18, Number 18.17.48:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he heard Said ibn al Musayyab being asked about making up days missed in Ramadan, and Said said, "What I like best is for days missed in Ramadan to be made up consecutively, and not separately."

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, about some one who made up the days he had missed in Ramadan separately, that he did not have to repeat them. (What he had done) was enough for him. It was, however, preferable, if he did them consecutively. Malik said, "Whoever eats or drinks thoughtlessly or forgetfully in Ramadan or during any other obligatory fast that he must do, has to fast another day in its place."

Book 18, Number 18.17.49:

Yahya related to me from Malik that Humayd ibn Oays al-Makki told him, "I was with Mujahid while he was performing tawaf around the Kaba, and a man came to him and asked whether the days (of fasting) for kaffara had to be fasted consecutively, or could they be split up. I said to him, 'Yes, they can be split up, if the person so wishes.' Mujahid said, 'He should not split them up, because in Ubayy ibn Kab's recitation they are referred to as three consecutive days.' "

Malik said, "What I like most is what Allah has specified in the Qur'an, that is, that they are fasted consecutively." Malik was asked about a woman who began the day fasting in Ramadan and though it was outside of the time of her period, fresh blood (i.e. not menstrual blood) flowed from her. She then waited until evening to see the same, but did not see anything.Then, on the next day in the morning she had another flow, though less than the first. Then, some days before her period, the flow stopped completely. Malik was asked what she should do about her fasting and prayer, and he said, "This blood is like menstrual blood. When she sees it she should break her fast, and then make up the days she has missed.

Then, when the blood has completely stopped, she should do ghusl and fast."

Malik was asked whether someone who became muslim on the last day of Ramadan had to make up all of Ramadan or whether he just had to make up the day when he became muslim, and he said, "He does not have to make up any of the days that have passed. He begins fasting from that day onwards. What I like most is that he makes up the day on which he became muslim."

Section: Making up for Voluntary Fasts (Broken)

Book 18, Number 18.18.50:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that A'isha and Hafsa, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began fasting voluntarily one morning and then food was given to them and they broke their fast with it. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came in. A'isha said, "Hafsa asked, anticipating me in speech - she took after her father Umar - 'Messenger of Allah, A'isha and I began the morning fasting voluntarily and then food was given us and we broke the fast with it.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Fast another day in its place.' "

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "Someone who eats or drinks out of neglect or forgetfulness during a voluntary fast does not have to repeat his fast, but he should continue fasting for the rest of the day in which he eats or drinks while voluntarily fasting, and not stop fasting. Someone to whom something unexpected happens which causes him to break his fast while he is fasting voluntarily does not have to repeat his fast if he has broken it for a reason, and not simply because he decided to break his fast. Just as I do not think that someone has to repeat a voluntary prayer if he has had to stop it because of some discharge which he could prevent and which meant that he had to repeat his wudu."

Malik said, "Once a man has begun doing any of the right actions (al-amal as-saliha) such as the prayer, the fast and the hajj, or similar right actions of a voluntary nature, he should not stop until he has completed it according to what the sunna for that action is. If he says the takbir he should not stop until he has prayed two rakas. If he is fasting he should not break his fast until he has completed that day's fast. If he goes into ihram he should not return until he has completed his hajj, and if he begins doing tawaf he should not stop doing so until he has gone around the Kaba seven times. He should not stop doing any of these actions once he has started them until he has completed them, except if something happens such as illness or some other matter by which a man is excused. This is because Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says in His Book, 'And eat and drink until the white thread becomes clear to you from the black thread of dawn, (and) then complete the fast until night-time,' (Sura 2 ayat 187), and so he must complete his fast as Allah has said. Allah, the Exalted, (also) says, 'And complete the hajj and the umra forAllah,' and so if a man were to go into ihram for a voluntary hajj having done his one obligatory hajj (on a previous occasion), he could not then stop doing his hajj having once begun it and leave ihram while in the middle of his hajj. Anyone that begins a voluntary act must complete it once he has begun doing it, just as an obligatory act must be completed . This is the best of what I have heard."

Section: The Fidya (Compensation) of a Man who Breaks the Fast in Ramadan from Weakness

Book 18, Number 18.19.51:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Anas ibn Malik used to pay fidya when he had grown old and could no longer manage to do the fast. Malik said, "I do not consider that to do so is obligatory, but what I like most is that a man does the fast when he is strong enough. Whoever pays compensation gives one mudd of food in place of every day, using the mudd of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

Book 18, Number 18.19.52:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Umar was asked about what a pregnant woman should do if the fast became difficult for her and she feared for her child, and he said, "She should break the fast and feed a poor man one mudd of wheat in place of every day, using the mudd of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

Malik said, "The people of knowledge consider that she has to make up for each day of the fast that she misses as Allah, the Exalted and Glorified, says, 'And whoever of you is sick or on a journey should fast an equal number of other days, ' and they consider her pregnancy and her concern for her child as a sickness."

Book 18, Number 18.19.53:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim that his father used to say, "If someone has to make up for days not fasted in Ramadan and does not do them before the next Ramadan comes although he is strong enough to do so, he should feed a poor man with a mudd of wheat for every day that he has missed, and he has to fast the days he owes as well."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the same thing from Said ibn Jubayr.

Section: Making Up For Days Not Fasted in Ramadan in General

Book 18, Number 18.20.54:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman that he heard A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "I used to have to make up days from Ramadan and not be able to do them until Shaban came."

Section: Fasting The "Day of Doubt"

Book 18, Number 18.21.55:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the people of knowledge telling people not to fast on the day in Shaban when there was doubt (about whether it was Shaban or Ramadan), if they intended by it the fast of Ramadan . They considered that whoever fasted on that day without having seen (the new moon) had to make up that day if it later became clear that it was part of Ramadan. They did not see any harm in voluntary fasting on that day.

Malik said, "This is what we do, and what I have seen the people of knowledge in our city doing."

Section: The Fast in General

Book 18, Number 18.22.56:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'n Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to fast for so long that we thought he would never stop fasting, and he would go without fasting for so long that we thought he would never fast again. I never saw the Messenge r of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, fast for a complete month except for Ramadan, and I never saw him do more fasting in any one month than he did in Shaban.'

Book 18, Number 18.22.57:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-A'raj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Fasting is a protection for you, so when you are fasting, do not behave obscenely or foolishly, and if any one argues with you or abuses you, say, 'I am fasting. I am fasting.'"

Book 18, Number 18.22.58:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "By the One in Whose hand my self is, the smell of the breath of a man fasting is better with Allah than the scent of musk.' He leaves his desires and his food and drink for My sake. Fasting is for Me and I reward it. Every good action is rewarded by ten times its kind, up to seven hundred times, except fasting, which is for Me, and I reward it.' "

Book 18, Number 18.22.59:

Yahya related to me from Malik from his paternal uncle Abu Suhayl ibn Malik from his father that Abu Hurayra said, "When Ramadan comes the gates of the Garden are opened and the gates of the Fire are locked, and the shayatin are chained."

Book 18, Number 18.22.60:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the people of knowledge did not disapprove of people fasting using tooth-sticks at any hour of the day in Ramadan, whether at the beginning or the end, nor had he heard any of the people of knowledge disapproving of or forbidding the practice.

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, about fasting for six days after breaking the fast at the end of Ramadan, that he had never seen any of the people of knowledge and fiqh fasting them. He said, "I have not heard that any of our predecessors used to do that, and the people of knowledge disapprove of it and they are afraid that it might become a bida and that common and ignorant people might join to Ramadan what does not belong to it, if they w ere to think that the people of knowledge had given permission for that to be done and were seen doing it. Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "I have never heard any of the people of knowledge and fiqh and those whom people take as an example forbidding fasting on the day of jumua. Fasting on it is good, and I have seen one of the people of knowledge fasting it, and it seemed to me that he was keen to do so."

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