Istiqbal al-Muslimeen li Ramadan
- Author died
- 1420 AH
- Editions
- Majallat al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmīyah
Istiqbal al-Muslimeen li Ramadan (The Muslims' Welcoming of Ramadan) is a treatise by the scholar and judge Atiyya Muhammad Salim (d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE) addressing the virtues of Ramadan, the history and legislative stages of fasting, and the spiritual etiquette required of Muslims during the month.
Context and Publication
The work was composed by Salim during his service as a judge at the Sharia Court in Medina and was published in the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah).
Overview and Key Themes
Welcoming the Month and Its Virtues
The treatise opens by describing the traditional eagerness with which early Muslims anticipated Ramadan, noting the supplication attributed to the Prophet ﷺ upon entering Rajab: اللهم بارك لنا في رجب وشعبان وبلغنا رمضان ("O Allah, bless us in Rajab and Sha'ban, and allow us to reach Ramadan"). Salim highlights the distinctive spiritual merits of Ramadan, citing traditions regarding the opening of the gates of Paradise, the closing of the gates of Hellfire, and the chaining of devils. He emphasizes the severity of neglecting this seasonal opportunity for divine pardon, referencing the narration in which the angel Jibril invoked distancing from Allah's mercy upon whoever witnesses Ramadan without obtaining forgiveness.
Legislative History of Fasting
Salim outlines the history of fasting across religious dispensations based on the Quranic verse كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ (Surah al-Baqarah: 183), discussing earlier forms of fasting such as the alternating fast of Dawud, Maryam's fast from speech, and Musa's forty-day fast before the divine communion and on the Day of Ashura in gratitude for deliverance from Pharaoh.
Within Islam, he details how fasting was legislated gradually: beginning with the recommendation to fast the Day of Ashura, moving to the initial non-obligatory stage of Ramadan where individuals could choose between fasting and feeding the poor ( وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ ), and ultimately culminating in its decisive obligation in the second year of the Hijrah with the revelation of فَمَنْ شَهِدَ مِنْكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ . He also contrasts the obligatory fast of Ramadan with supererogatory fasts (such as the Day of Arafah, the six days of Shawwal, and fasting on Mondays and Thursdays) and expiatory fasts.
Spiritual Wisdom and Etiquette
Salim critiques modern approaches that reduce the wisdom of fasting merely to physical health or social sympathy for the needy, arguing that while these benefits exist, the central objective defined by the Quran is cultivating piety (taqwa). He explains the hadith describing fasting as a protective shield ( الصوم جُنة ), warning that this shield is breached by falsehood and backbiting. The author underscores the necessary ethical discipline of the worshipper, noting that a fasting person is instructed to forgo retaliation against verbal aggression by saying إني صائم ("I am fasting"), and examines the hadith qudsi that singles out fasting for divine reward: إلا الصوم فإنه لي وأنا أجزي به ("Except fasting, for it is for Me and I shall reward it").
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