Ramadan Fasting Times Fatwa: Clarifying the Issues -Mufti Abu Layth

that's right I thought I don't know who's going to be awake or not at this time but let's log on for a few moments bismillah and just shed some clarity just shed some clarity on something that I'd shared earlier on today so right bismillah alhamdulillah wa kafa or salat wa salam ala little mustafa warren

everybody latina woman be hotel method or be after al medina to follow about the salaam allahi al all animals and become people hope ramadan is going well awesome hope you keeping hydrated as some coconut water right there full of ice okay I thought look I leave him a Salaam folks I chill a fatwa earlier on today and I just wanted to kind of speak a little about that because I shared it

and ham to be light was well-received by many people but it got the the usual as you can imagine the kind of unnecessary hate that many people gave so I thought well you know how about a few minutes even if it's just a few minutes to kind of shed some clarity and take some maybe you might require some clarifications on that fatwa us well start for us I know salmon r'ragh so what is this but what all about well I've not actually said

anything controversial I would say that wouldn't my to my defense so if the table you know what every time I'm picking a drink of something I'm realizing the tables moving so I thought that might be shaking the screen a bit right so I mean just to get this footwork what are these is I've been asked by several people about those who are struggling with Ramadan especially in the UK and it could be worldwide but

especially I was asked primarily by most people in the UK several people reaching out to me same question some from Europe certain parts of Europe they had asked me that look we're struggling with this with the fast with dehydration which we just can't handle II what what can we do so I should a Fatah earlier on today saying that look for those people who are struggling and they feel and look I put in the keywords like they are

overburdened they are feeling overburdened by the fast then what they can do is they can forego I gave three options I said one they can forego them fast and make it up later on I did remind them that they have an obligation should they choose this option they are right they are obliged to make that fast up okay so I did bring that to their attention and that this is an obligation between them and Allah failing or not

failing that but let's say they are not seeking that those who feel that they do want to fast now so they don't want to defer the fast they want to make participate now in the month of ramadhan what can these people do so I highlighted that look for these people there's a choice of further assistance if they are struggling with the hours I said that on one there's two options one these are for people who are struggling look the key word struggling

and overburdened but they want to make up the fast not make up they want to complete the fast with people they want to participate in wrong in this Ramadan as it is so I said look they have two options that they can either take the rasa of eating up until sunrise as was practiced by certain companions of the Prophet wrote wrote in law and amongst them who they for Timonium on and several of the tavern I said that is a rough surf for them and then other than that those who to whom that is not

sufficient but they want to participate but they can't do the whole fast I said there is the fatwa that has been around for almost 150 years now popularized maybe people historically did say that too but this fatwa of that you can fast in accordance with the timings of the people of Makkah now that was something popularized by chef Muhammad Abdul and then became the fat12 countless scholars of al-azhar and this being the father of

many of the al-azhar team for almost you know we could say now over 120 years to 150 years that kind of time span and it continues to remain the the official fatwa of the time if thou sorry that is the official photo upload of Egypt the official photo of Egypt so now what is my point of highlighting these I want to come back to I'll come back this to some of these I'm not gonna make this too long but just to shed some

light you see this is to do with it is inconvenience the word this is to do with inability or incapacity to be able to complete something or Harwich the kind of suffering that somebody feels when doing something nobody disputes that to be a valid Allah in Islam nobody let me just clarify those people that jumped on my post and found issues with that have no no true acquaintance with the Quran none because if they did yes

for us hardships excellent shukran sometimes you know at this time of day well this time at night my mind's all over the place so this kind of hardship that people are facing now the the whole point here is that look removing hardships is a clear established principle within Islam that is not disputed in the slightest okay so just to get that point across so whenever we're looking at rulings in the shaadi are these three things that are

looked at okay there are when we're talking about the causes you have something called the three German art you have done careful manat and tactical a lot and Imam sort of he speaks about this very clearly in his book morphe apart which is the object objectives of the shaiiaja now that is Murat means I'll add the cause for a particular ruling to be put into effect so similarly when we look at the Quran Allah says that yoginah Haku Chuba alaikum o Seon the fasting has been made an obligation for you surah bakra comical tavallali

dynamically calm as it had been made obligatory for those who came before you now shocking to certain muslims who who think that fasting has been ordained so we can stop and feel hunger and thirst that's actually not what Allah says in the Quran explicitly he says why fasting has been ordained welcome to tap on in the hope that you may acquire topwe that is the purpose right that is the purpose right so

right so this is I'm not using my iPad today so this is slightly right so the purpose is taqwa how you can how you that you can obtain that wall so just to clarify it is not the purpose has never be to make people starve and and although that may be that the fact that people feel hunger and thirst is a byproduct you could say it's a side-effect of fasting it's not the purpose and goal of fasting the purpose

of fasting is that you attain takwa allah tala come to Tahoe right now this person why is my there you go it worked hamdulillah throw the troll anybody trolling i will block hamdulillah despite the difficulty there that was quite successfully blocked but coming back to this point look so la la

punta taco so allah himself is telling you why the fast has been attained then allah highlights famine Khanum income more even so whosoever was ill or is ill Oh alas suffering or is upon a journey traveling for I determine a yarmulke her then he may take a number of those days from another set of days meaning make up for it none of the scholars disagree that the reason here is ruffle Harwich nobody generally disagrees with that that it is

to remove hardship so if you are ill or if you're travelling to remove hardship you may complete that faster nobody disagrees on their Alea so the region manat the monarch is there a lad the course and the 10k firma not which is the selecting the course it is pretty much agreed upon that it is rougher hard at removing hardship that is clear nobody is disputing these two just to clarify but interestingly Allah goes on to say it doesn't stop thee he said if I

determine a young well i'll alladhina you take for now and what about those who are capable of fasting now note how allah says who are capable of fasting he doesn't say who are not capable of fasting now many people try to say that maybe allah mint here not capable but that's not what he says a little Edina UT who know not a little Edina lieth a phenomenal Saladin aut hakuna so it's upon those who are capable of fasting failure to enter our money scheme that let them give a fidya

and then Allah goes on to explain the shahru ramadana alladhi unzila fihi or on that this is a blessed month in which the Quran was revealed from Manchanda minkumu sh-shahra falyasumhu' so ever witnesses this month let them fast but then interestingly Allah brings our attention back you read the love will become a useful Allah wills for you and wishes for you ease well are you read to me and a lot does not wish hardship upon you so these are the clear words of Allah so when I said that this fatwa

this is for those people who are feeling that hardship and humbly laugh all of you people out there Facebook family Muslims by extension this great Omar all of you who can keep the fast despite the difficulty despite the challenges I applaud you and all of us we admire your strength and courage and Allah will reward you in death right

so somebody's sending me a message and it's blocking mine right so and Allah will reward you abundantly this is not to do with you you please stop showing off your achievements to the world stop this you know oh I can keep the fast of hamdulillah that's amazing you know it's awesome keep it up man that's brilliant but stop boasting stop being arrogant to those people who are finding difficulty and just understand that this world

doesn't revolve around you that you know this some people feel that oh because I can do it why can't other people do it well I'm sure there's many things in this world that other people are doing that you do not do and cannot do so it's not about like what it's not about you as a person yeah I came across a few comments of people saying oh well people in Africa cannot can keep the fast or people in Arabia can keep the fast well I'm not addressing people in Africa Arabia and people in Africa and Arabia

are not asking me and Islam is not just for Arabian Africans for the whole world so you need to get over this guilt-tripping sensation look by all means you guys that can keep the fast keep it it's awesome and handily lights an obligation those who can keep it in spite of the hardship Allah will reward you abundantly and I encourage you to do so I applaud and acknowledge and you know celebrate your achievement but I do

not like your arrogance in trying to impose that on things who are struggling that that is unacceptable that is not from Islam so putting that aside I want to give another a similar to you could find a similar case study if you like let's take shortening the prayers as an example now you look at the verse of the Quran why that bar up don't feel worthy that if you traveled Felisa alaikum jonathan and tough sorrow - Allah oh sorry the eruption fil ardi fell

Audrina highly common tough sorrow - Allah then there is no problem for you to shorten the pray in his tomb in his tomb and yes Tina come on latina Cafaro if you are afraid that there will be a fitna caused by the unbelievers yet almost everybody including the same you know I'm so proud loud and proud arrogant kind of people who including them including all the scholars of the world generally speaking everybody says it doesn't matter whether you fear of

fitna or not whether you are traveling in luxury you could be traveling in more comfort than you have at home I could be sitting in an air-conditioned vehicle or I could be sitting in a business plot or lounging in a business class lounge on an aeroplane right yet that doesn't and I could be more comfortable than I am at home yet these scholars will tell me entitled to shorten create so you can shoot in the Priya and you think well but didn't a lot they clearly said Ian hit them if you're afraid they'll tell however don't worry

don't worry he didn't mean that he said but lot clearly said while if Tommy yes Tina come on latina Kaoru if you are afraid that and they'll say yeah but he didn't mean it like that see simple okay but here he actually said well I little latina youth they own a home and upon those who are actually capable of it so they say yeah but here he doesn't mean this no it's it's amazing Allah ardently doesn't seem to mean anything he's saying but everything these people some of these people are saying is what Allah obviously is trying

to mean I mean there's these kind of things this is so my whole point of explaining this is that look keep your fast people that's amazing but just don't be arrogant towards people who are struggling don't impose your kind of piety on others don't say things like look in so and so in a hot country can keep the fast because it's different this is a masala of masala of tachikoma not of where you can fit this ruling and Amman shot me and many scholars explain you are the judge you yourself

it's your call right so it's absolutely your call it's not somebody else is cool to make just and many amounts recognize these in many rulings so you could say like let's take an example if people say something fell into your food let's say something fell into a pot of food and it was impure now how much food do you have to remove and throw away let's just say people would say yeah when it's your call you to remove the surrounding or whatever is similarly you're you're traveling in a sir

distance or you're ill how ill am I to miss something it's my call if I'm feeling ill let's say I've woken up I've got diarrhea or I don't know I've got severe headache migraine and I think look you know what I am too ill I'm gonna miss this fast on too ill to go to work on too ill to read prayers on their time I'm gonna combine them it's nobody's job to say to me yes but this did you know this this this children in China too are disabled we're still doing this for example still going to work that's not what the person is asking and

a lot is this is not a con global competition this is individual worship that Allah has set for individuals it is your duty between you and our lights not for anybody else so just to clarify that I wanted to you can't guilt trip people let them make their call I'm not saying people people it's an individual responsibility let people be responsible towards Allah don't force them if somebody said and this thing about the UK the difference here is that one it's extraordinary hours 18 to 20 hours of

daylight is extraordinary to heat in this country is abnormal almost it's unusual we're not accustomed to you know people they say well people who grew up in a desert well they've grown up in a desert they've always the custom to something it's not the same as people who live in let's say cold climates that suddenly feel the heat to them they will become overwhelmed by the heat that they feeling because even though you can compare that to the Sahara Desert and it's nothing but to those people it's a hell of a lot just as cold you could

switch it you see cold to those people to people in colder countries they would figure this cold is nothing in hot countries they're freezing when they feel a bit of cold so it's not about like saying ha you know ha you guys already putting on drum we've still got t-shirts on hahaha it's not about that this is an individual cool so I just wanted to clarify that this but wha of al-ahzar on that they gave a few people have asked me to shed clarity on that I'll do that and then I'll wrap this up this photo of al-azhar which can be found on the tablet if

they're a mystery website so you can go there and just read the fat one right you can contact the the dam lifter you can ask them for all the evidences they you want okay and they will provide them to you that's the job now you can google you know I had people on here saying Oh share the research I was trying to research this I couldn't find anything I thought well that obviously shows your inability to research because this is such a well-known issue you just have to go to the double if that our mystery website you just have to Google this in Arabic it is that you find this but that shows

that you you're incompetent to do so so okay this fatwa is based on certain factors one they've said that look they've taken night and day as a whole and split it down the middle and said that would be a perfect equilibrium a perfect balance let's just say hypothetically twelve hours day twelve hours night now in order for one of these the day or night to have been definitely or clearly compromised what would you say and they've said well whether it's day or night this is my

understanding of the efforts of the reasoning behind the fatwa that if half of that entity was compromised then it would be a clear compromise so half of that being six hours which leads to eighteen hours in total so if eighteen hours day or eighteen hours night would be a complete a clear disruption of this balance of this equilibrium that's what I'm finding from this fatwa okay now so just to kind of so that's the reasoning they said behind it now in that case what you do they've said that you can follow

the timing of a different region now many of them chose I believe chef Mohammad apt or definitely today you'll find the that are left out mystery who usually often refer people to talk Peter onomatopoeia timing of people of Makkah why maka because one you could say that Makkah well this is arbitrary anyway so since we've got to choose a country why not choose one that was the beginning and center of Islam unanimously throughout the globe it's the center where all Muslims the focal point of our

prayer three it's also a it's very balanced it has very balanced equilibrium so the time variations throughout the year do not vary as much due to its proximity its closeness to the equator so based on these factors one could say well look based on all of these factors let's go with Makkah some countries in Europe do who do take this fatwa or which do take this fatwa do not go with Makkah they tend to they're closer to countries like Turkey so they tend to go with Turkey timings some countries go with Morocco timings

or I don't know some other countries but that's entirely their choice it is an arbitrary kind of decision so if you take the timing of the people of Makkah how would you do it there is some flexibility so those people have said well you can either close the fast with your timing and then you have a choice you can either count the hours that the people of Makkah would keep so if they're keeping a 14 hour fast you can fast for 14 hours or they said you could open it with their time so let's say they happen to be opening the fast at

6:20 you open it at 6:20 p.m. as an example so you could do it like that some people have said that you could open and close with their timing so you just take their calendar and go with it so there is some flexibility I would probably if I what if people have my suggestion they've said what would you suggest suggest I probably said that it whatever makes things easier for them I would probably just go probably just with their timetable so therefore and the math leap that's how I would do it if or I would advise just for simplicity

if people were going to take that route okay so I just want to clarify this people are saying where is this in the Quran and Sunnah it is a well in the Quran the verses I've mentioned that you read a lot of equipment you saw Allah wants ease for you a little if the opponent of idiot autonomy scheme that these things are clear just as when you guys see these people who are asking this question when they say about shortening the pray I would ask them where does it say in the Quran and Sunnah these conditions of shortening the pray that you apply where does it

say 48 miles or or the distance needs to be this much or you need to it doesn't say any way there isn't a single hadith that teaches that not of the Prophet you could say that some of the Companions said when we traveled between this distance we shorten the prayer but some of the Companions said we traveled for one mile and shorten the prayer some said three miles and shorten the prayer if 'no taymiyah brings all of this another scholars he brings in his money in his much more Fatah WA in his Rasul much more thomas i other on a maverick even hasn't brings this show can he brings this other scholars discussed that many of the Sahaba how do you shorten prayers so what we have today of

saying 48 miles 36 miles 50 miles this it's no way in the Quran it's no way in the Sunnah but yes scholars came up with this so similarly when you you what we can't have double standards we can't be like for all other rulings it's ok scholars have devised methods and here's a method but know that method must be explicitly mentioned in the Quran so it doesn't work quite like that ok and and like I mentioned it's actually more emphatically mentioned the Quran so Allah says Allah won't cease for you when he mentions fasting

he says and those who are capable of fasting yet don't but when it comes to shortening the prayer Allah actually mentions explicitly if you fear fitna from the unbelievers but today and he mentions explicitly if you hit on to interrupt and fil ardi if you hit on to the earth meaning trotting along but today you could be in an aeroplane you could be in the utmost luxury you could fear nothing you could be entirely safe more luxurious more comfortable more safe than you are you could be surrounded by security then you are at home let's say but yet still these very

same scholars will not object to you shortening your prayer so so let's have some consistency and my whole point is look this is a month people this is a month of Rama this is a month of compassion a month of love please keep that spirit okay this isn't you know some people saying oh he's saying this fatwa because he must be an agent of mi5 I've never heard something more absurd in my life I mean I don't know what the mi5 or the government's would be getting out of

trying to vary the time of if bar for Muslims I seriously don't know what's gonna happen of thinking is going on there but look people this is not about you and me I have actually look I alhamdulillah generally with the exception of maybe one or two occasions throughout my lifetime where I felt like couldn't I almost always kept my fast as a person I've actually traveled I've lived years in very hot countries okay I'm not like some of these just keyboard warriors coming on here I've actually lived in the Middle East for years I

lived in Pakistan in the scorching heat for years okay I memorized the Quran they I study the Sharia I studied the Sunna I kept my fasts in those heat in that heat wasn't that I was like oh you know oh I don't want to fast I kept my fasts but I can understand that looked living here I can understand that wow that it can actually get to people why because the lifestyle isn't accustomed to that you see each person is judged according to their own lifestyle here and the lifestyle is different people are not in scorching

heat so all of a sudden it gets warm so to these people to people here in the UK it becomes hot yes if you're comparing it to the Sahara Desert it's not that hot but this is not the Sahara Desert it's usually freezing in the UK it's usually raining then on top of that the owl is become incredibly long 18 to 20 hours and the worst thing is not food it's water so if you're somebody who's very used to hydrating drinking a lot of water you will face that challenge I the

other day I was dying with thirst Alya I was literally dying with this I and I've spent like I've said Ramadan in some very hot countries and I don't remember that you know suffering from that kind of thirst back and that was just the other day because it's maybe because my routine I've started to drink a lot more water regularly now the sudden withdrawal from water makes it very difficult for the body if you're accustomed to a lot of water so what I'm saying is go easy on your fellow brethren in faith okay don't kind of

like look like if somebody by me is struggling it's not for me to put them down and say oh you know what's wrong with you this is it try and have compassion remember that back to basics project that I spoke up try and understand look even if I can do it but I have today live everybody is different you know okay somebody could have their back could be hurting and then they can't pray for some reason call say hey well there's a a crippled person or a handicapped person that prays and who what the hell's wrong with you you can't you see it's not your call to make so that's all I wanted to say I want to share some

clarity right people see that's what I mean about hydrating I've had to write you I think I should wrap that up that was awesome when we face a lot harder than a little heat and right I'm all these but we have to strive a little look I'm not saying look listen well this survey ya seen has asked a question when we face a lot they will be heat look what we face a lot we don't know how that's going to be but we know Allah has put us here on this earth and

we are too fast and that is a private worship between let's say the individual and Allah I'm not saying there won't be challenges there will be challenges I'm facing these challenges you're facing these challenges I respect your admin I admire your kind of courage and your determination but look look let me let me let me share a story with you yeah look from the time of the Prophet some of our lives alone the prophets of Allah sallam was

witnessed a prayer yes so some of the Companions sorry in this particular incident he didn't witness this break people came to him and told him about a companion leading the pray for them and this companion masha'Allah had beautiful recitation and he would go on and he would read and he would love it beautiful recitation from an amazing Sahabi or the elan what more could one ask for that is amazing yeah right so but but he for some people that they got

fed up that he was taking way too long for them so they went to the Prophet and they said youngsil allah they said that you know and not to be rude of them but they were just workers they were your regular you could whether you want to say working class or your regular people they said look we've got heard to get to we've got work to do we can't be sitting around standing behind him reading all this recitation now think about it that's an amazing sahabi with beauty beautiful and outstanding recitation of the Quran yet

the Prophet called him and he said Yamaha he said my on a Fatah no matter are you somebody who's seeking fitna and he said look when one of you either hidaka masala if one of you leads the print let him be mindful of who of a naive the weak person behind him Annamarie Elmo Sofia the the ill person nor the traveler not everybody is in your shoes so I applaud your courage your determination to want to endure these

fasts I asked a lot to not only double triple quadruple to multiply many fold your reward I for one am i participate in being a celebrant of this joy in seeing your determination but I would ask you to kindly refrain from imposing your threshold on others who are struggling let them make their own call right that's their choice it's between them and Allah it's not for you to impose on others that's all I wanted to say right guys I've I've not actually

somebody asking about the more it I've not actually read that I've heard several of somebody's asked map and Lama Javed Ahmed army the subs way of explaining Islam many of his things are amazingly explained I can't obviously depends what we're talking about right people the rubicon mango clip I shared that was hilarious I couldn't stop laughing some people got so worked up and said oh my god you're mocking Islam seriously man people need to chill out man I really you know what when I see things like that I actually think to myself damn

these people must live miserable lives and I suppose that's like wow like this is the least of the concerns like they they must be really truly sad human beings I ask Allah to gift us all with an abundant sense of humor army right folks that was some guidance on the fatwa have an awesome Ramadan but if this is for people who are struggling I shared that because I don't want to withhold knowledge from people who need it okay

guys stay with some stay in touch stay blessed that's what I'm talking about all right shall I take very good care of yourselves and we'll speak soon Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah - I love but a cat