“Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success, and remembers (glorifies) the name of his Lord and prays” Quran 87:14-15

Zakat-UL-FITR is part of the fast of Ramadan and is characterized by the following elements:

* It consists of approximately 5.5 pounds of rice, wheat, dates, or similar food items.
* It is not recommended to give the Zakat ul-Fitr in the form of money, clothes, or any other non-food items. However, the Hanafi School of Thought  allowes to give the Zakat ul-Fitr in monetary form (if one wishes to do so.)
* It must be given on the day of Eid, which is known as Eid ul-Fitr and signifies the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan. It can also be paid one or two days before Eid ul-Fitr.
* It cannot be given after the Eid prayer, unless one has a valid reason for such a delay.
* It should be given on behalf of every Muslim, whether male or female, adult or minor.

LESSON 4: Striving for Ihsaan (righteousness and sincerity) and staying away from riyaa’ (showing off)

Ihsaan means to worship Allah as if one seeks Him, and even though one does not see Him, He sees all. Hasan al-Basree said, “By Allah, in the last twenty years, I have not said a word or taken something with my hand or refrained to take something with my hand or stepped forth or stepped back, except that I have thought before I have done any action, ‘Does Allah love this action? Is Allah pleased with this action?’ So when one is fasting, one should gain this quality of watching oneself and also staying away from riyaa’ (showing off). That is why Allah said in a Hadith qudsi, “Fasting is for Me and I reward it.” (al-Bukharee) Allah singles out fasting from all other types of worship saying, “Fasting is for Me”, because no one knows whether you are fasting or not, except Allah. For example, when one is praying or giving charity or making tawaaf, one can be seen by the people, so one might do the action seeking the praise of the people. Sufyaan ath-Thawree used to spend the nights and the days crying and the people used to ask him, “Why do you cry, is it due to the fear of Allah? He said, ‘No.’ They said, “Is it due to the fear of the Hellfire?” He said, ‘No. It is not the fear of Hellfire that makes me cry, what makes me cry is that I have been worshiping Allah all these years and doing scholarly teaching, and I am not certain that my intentions are purely for Allah.’”

The last third of Ramadan is the time for the release from Hell-fire, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the Hadith reported by Salman Al-Farisi: “O people, a great and a blessed month is approaching you. In this month there is a night that is better than one thousand months. Allah has made fasting during its daytime obligatory and prayers at night commendable during this month. Whosoever will do a voluntary good deed during this month, it is as if he performed an obligatory good deed at another time and whosoever will perform an obligatory good deed, it is as if he performed seventy obligatory good deeds at another time. This is the month of patience and the reward of patience is Paradise. This is the month of kindness and charity. In this month the believer’s provision is enlarged. Anyone who will give food to a fasting person in this month, it will bring forgiveness for his sins, will save him from the hellfire and he shall have his reward without the person who is fed losing any of his reward….The first third of the month of Ramadan is the time for Rahmah (Mercy), the second third is for forgiveness, the third is for the release from Hellfire…”

The duties of the Muslim in this last third of Ramadan are to try his best to perfect his fasting, to avoid any shortcomings or sins that can harm his fasting, to offer more prayers, preferably in congregation, to advance in reading the Qur’an, making dhikr (remembrance of Allah), and helping others to be more committed to religion, to enter i`tikaf (seclusion) if it is possible for him/her, and to remember that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to give extra attention to the last ten days of Ramadan. He could hardly sleep, and his family used also to stay in vigilance with him. The Prophet’s generosity in this month and particularly in the last ten days was compared to a fast wind.

We should not miss to remind you and all Muslims to try to settle disputes. It is the best occasion to forgive one another and forget about all enmities and grudges. We should come out of Ramadan in a better shape, understanding, and moral behavior. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made it clear that “If any Muslim comes out of Ramadan without gaining forgiveness and goodness, he/she is a real loser.”

LESSON 3: Acquiring patience and strong will

Allah has mentioned patience more than seventy times in the Qur’an and has commanded patience in more than sixteen ways in His Book. So when one fasts, and gives up one’s food and drink, and one’s marital sexual relations for those hours, one learns restraint and patience. This Ummah needs man and women that are strong willed, who can stand upon the Sunnah and the Book of Allah and not waver in front of the enemies of Allah. We do not need emotional people, who just raise slogans and shout, but when the time comes to stand upon something firm, they cannot do so, they waver.

LESSON 2: Drawing closer to Allah

This is achieved by reciting and reflecting on Al-Qur’an during night and day, attending the taraweeh prayers, remembering Allah, sitting in circles of knowledge and, for those who can, making umrah. Also for those who can, making I`tikaaf (seclusion) in the last ten nights of Ramadan, so as to leave all worldly pursuits and seclude oneself in a mosque just thinking of Allah, so as to bring oneself closer to Allah (SWT). When one sins, one feels distant from Allah. That is why one might find it heard to read the Qur’an and come to the mosque. However, the obedient worshipper feels closer to Allah and wants to worship Allah more, because he is not shy from his sins.

LESSON 1: Gaining Taqwa

Allah legislated fasting for gaining taqwa, “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it has been prescribed upon those before you, so that you may attain taqwa.” (meaning of SoraatulBaqarah (2):183) Taqwa in this case means to make a shield between oneself and Allah’s anger and Hellfire. So we should ask ourselves, when we break our fasts, ‘Has this fasting day made us fear Allah more? Has it resulted that we want to protect ourselves from the hellfire or not?