In my country, the family celebrates the first day that their son or daughter fasts, by making food on that occasion and inviting the family to come and eat at the time of iftaar (breaking the fast). This event is called a “celebration of the first fast.” I would like to know the following:
1. What is the Islamic ruling on celebrating this event; is it permissible to attend if I am invited, and to eat this food?
2. What is your view on parties to celebrate the iftaar by inviting the people to come and have iftaar in a particular place?
3. In most of the mosques, the Qur’an is completed on the night of the twenty-seventh and sweets are handed out in the mosque; what is the Islamic ruling on that?
May Allah reward you with good for your efforts for His sake.
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
There is nothing
wrong, in sha Allah, with the family celebrating the first time a boy or
girl fasts, so long as it is limited to this occasion only, and will not
become something that is repeated. There is nothing wrong with expressing
happiness when the child reaches the age to observe this act of worship, or
to encourage him and help him understand that this is an important event in
his life. It is also a blessing for which thanks should be given to Allah.
Some of the scholars regard it as mustahabb to make food for every happy
occasion, and they specifically mentioned making food when a child completes
the Qur’an.
See the answer to
question no. 89705
Secondly:
If the reason for
meeting to have iftaar is to spread love and harmony among those who gather,
especially if they are relatives or if they are in a foreign land, and to
encourage them to uphold ties with one another and show compassion towards
one another, and to strengthen the bonds between Muslim families and their
children, or that is done to help feed people and give iftaar to those who
are fasting, and other valid purposes, then there is nothing wrong with it.
In fact it is something praiseworthy that should be encouraged according to
the purpose for which it is done, so long as it is not regarded as a Sunnah
and is not taken by the participants as a regular “eid” other than the Eids
prescribed in Islam, such that they gather on a particular day or in a
particular manner, thinking that doing so has a particular virtue in Islamic
terms.
Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
I announce in one
of the mosques that there will be an iftaar for everyone who wants to fast
every Thursday. What is the ruling on that?
He replied: There
is nothing wrong with making this announcement, because it is an
announcement that is calling to good and the aim of it is not to buy or
sell. What is haraam is to make announcements having to do with buying and
selling, or renting and hiring, which are purposes for which the mosques
were not built. As for calling people to good, feeding people and giving
charity, there is nothing wrong with that.
With regard to its
nature, and whether it is a gathering to perform a kind of worship, in fact
they did not announce a communal fast; rather they announced iftaar only, so
there is nothing wrong with that. And Allah knows best. End quote.
Thirdly:
The night of the
twenty seventh of Ramadan is one of the odd-numbered nights among the last
ten, on which Laylat al-Qadr may occur, according to the saheeh report
narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). But
Laylat al-Qadr is not necessarily on this particular night according to the
correct view; rather it may be on this night or on some other of the last
ten nights, although this night is the most likely of those nights.
Based on that, it
is not correct to be certain that it is always Laylat al-Qadr or to believe
that. But if a person increases his prayers or strives harder in that, on
the basis that it is the most likely of the last ten nights, there is
nothing wrong with that, in sha Allah. As for singling it out for completing
the Qur’an on that night, that is something that should not be done, lest it
be believed for certain that it is Laylat al-Qadr. We know of no basis for
doing that from the practice of the early generations.
With regard to
distributing sweets on that night, we do not know of any basis for that. It
seems that this is a kind of taking that night as an Eid. It is not
prescribed to single out that night for that purpose; rather it is not
prescribed to do that deliberately on that night or any of the other nights
on the basis of its virtue. However, if the purpose of giving out these
sweets is to be kind to small children and do something nice for them, it
should not be done only on that night; rather if it is done every time there
is a need for it, that is Islamically acceptable.
And Allah knows
best.
