Rad al-Ikhwan an Muhdathat Akhir Jumaa Ramadan
- Author died
- 1304 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah lil-Ṭibāʿah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ
Rad al-Ikhwan an Muhdathat Akhir Jumaa Ramadan (Deterring the Brethren from the Innovations of the Last Friday of Ramadan) is a legal treatise by the Indian scholar Abu al-Hasanat al-Lakhnawi (1264–1304 AH / 1848–1886 CE) dedicated to refuting ritual innovations practiced on the final Friday of Ramadan.
Context and Motivation
Al-Lakhnawi composed the work to defend the Prophetic tradition and warn against fabricated practices that had emerged surrounding the final Friday of Ramadan. The immediate impetus was a report from his student, Abu al-Tayyibat Ahmad Allah al-Sikandarpuri al-Hazarawi, who observed a widespread practice known as al-qada' al-umri (compensatory prayer for a lifetime of missed prayers) performed by laypeople and even some scholars. Al-Sikandarpuri presented al-Lakhnawi with passages from various books of sermons and litanies (awrad) encouraging this practice and urged him to write a dedicated treatise refuting it.
Content and Methodology
The treatise examines specific rituals introduced on the last Friday of Ramadan, notably the belief that performing a special prayer—such as four voluntary cycles (rak'ahs) in congregation or repeating the five daily prayers—serves as an expiation for all missed prayers across a person's entire lifetime or even for the missed prayers of their parents and ancestors. Al-Lakhnawi notes that variations of this practice had appeared in regions such as Khurasan and Yemen.
Al-Lakhnawi analyzes the underlying narrations used to justify the practice—such as the purported hadith claiming that whoever performs compensatory prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan expiates up to seventy years of missed prayers—and demonstrates their fabricated (mawdu') and baseless nature. He supports his critique by citing earlier authorities across legal schools who condemned the ritual, including Ali al-Qari, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, al-Shawkani, Shah Abd al-Aziz al-Dihlawi, and Muhammad al-Zurqani. Methodologically, he emphasizes that the inclusion of an unverified narration in secondary legal commentaries (kutub al-fiqh) does not establish its authenticity, distinguishing between the domain of jurists and the critical standards of hadith scholars.
Publication History
The work was first printed lithographically during the author's lifetime in Lucknow in 1303 AH / 1886 CE by al-Matba' al-Mustafa'i, as part of a compilation titled Majmu'at al-Rasa'il al-Khams (Collection of Five Treatises), spanning 13 pages. A second lithograph edition was issued in Lucknow in 1337 AH / 1918–1919 CE by al-Matba' al-Yusufi across 17 pages within the same collection. A modern critical edition prepared by Majd ibn Ahmad Makki was published in Beirut by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in 1420 AH / 1999 CE as part of the Liqa' al-Ashr al-Awakhir bi-al-Masjid al-Haram series.
Answer updated