Nida al-Rayyan fi Fiqh al-Sawm wa Fadl Ramadan
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- Nida al-Rayyan fi Fiqh al-Sawm wa Fadl Ramadan
Nida al-Rayyan fi Fiqh al-Sawm wa Fadl Ramadan (The Call of al-Rayyan on the Jurisprudence of Fasting and the Virtue of Ramadan) is a two-volume work on the law, virtues, and spiritual dimensions of fasting by the Egyptian author Sayyid Husayn al-Affani.
Background and Structure
The author completed the text in Bani Affan at the beginning of Jumada al-Akhirah 1415 AH. Spanning 1,127 pages across two volumes, the book combines legal rulings, hadith commentary, spiritual exhortations, historical accounts, medical discussions, and literary excerpts related to fasting.
The work encompasses several major topics outlined by the author:
- The meaning, virtues, and spiritual fruits of fasting, along with historical models of devout fasters.
- The merits and blessings of the month of Ramadan.
- The manners and etiquettes (adab) of fasting.
- An examination of weak and fabricated hadiths concerning fasting.
- Detailed legal rulings on the jurisprudence of fasting (fiqh al-sawm), spiritual retreat (i'tikaf), Zakat al-Fitr, and the practices of Eid.
- Fasting as depicted in Arabic poetry.
Reception and Editions
The work includes introductory commendations and forewords by Abu Bakr Jabir al-Jaza'iri, Muhammad Safwat Nur al-Din (head of Jama'at Ansar al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah in Egypt), and Muhammad Abd al-Maqsud. In his foreword, dated 4 Ramadan 1417 AH in Medina, al-Jaza'iri praised the book for its exhaustive treatment of the obligatory and voluntary aspects of fasting and commended its literary style, advising students of knowledge to acquire and study it. Contemporary legal references and advisory bodies have cited it as a key resource for authentic hadiths on fasting and for documenting the practices of early Muslims during Ramadan.
The book has been distributed by Dar Majid Usayri in Jeddah, and a fifth edition was published in 1421 AH / 2000 CE by Maktabat Mu'adh ibn Jabal in Beni Suef.
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