Bismillah

A useful reminder from Sh. GF Haddad which was posted on his Yahoo Group last year (2007):

As-Salamu `alaykum wa-rahmatullah:

`Eid Mubarak to the readers and all Muslims, Taqabbala Allahu minna wa-minkum. May Allah Most High grant us His forgiveness and good pleasure on this blessed occasion and at all times, and enfold the Umma of His Beloved with His blessing and acceptance. As they say in Brunei, Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Zakat al-Fitr:

The Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, made zakat al-fitr a categorical obligation (fard) as narrated from more than one Companion in the Sahihayn and Sunan.

A famous but unestablished hadith is also related from the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace: "The fast of the month of Ramadan is suspended between heaven and earth and is not raised up except by zakat al-fitr."

Narrated [1] from Jarir al-Bajali by Ibn Shahin (who said this was "a single-chained hadith with a good chain" in Fada'il Ramadan as stated by al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur and al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib wal-Tarhib) and Ibn Sasra in his Amali Hadithiyya (as stated by al-Suyuti in his Jami` al-Saghir) and [2] from Anas by al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad and Ibn `Asakir in Tarikh Dimashq (both as stated by al-Suyuti in al-Jami` al-Kabir).

Ibn al-Jawzi in his `Ilal considered it a forgery but al-Ahdab in Zawa'id Tarikh Baghdad (6:608-610) showed that the first chain was veryweak and the second merely weak.

Pre-`Eid night nafl:

It is also desirable to spend part of the night before `Eid in du`a, supererogatory prayer, and dhikr, due to what is related from the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace:

1. "Whoever stands in prayer on the two nights before the two `Eids expecting reward, his heart shall not die the day all hearts die." Narrated from Abu Umama by Ibn Majah in his Sunan and from `Ubada ibn al-Samit by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat. Also narrated as a saying of Abu al-Darda' by al-Shafi`i in al-Umm and al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan and Shu`ab al-Iman. Ibn al-Mulaqqin in al-Badr al-Munir (5:37) quotes al-Daraqutni's verdict that the preserved version is that it is a saying of Makhul but cites al-Shafi`i's narration of it as a saying of Abu Umama. Al-Busiri in Misbah al-Zujaja declared it strong as a Prophetic saying because of the collective weight of its chains, while Ibn al-Jawzi in his `Ilal and Ibn al-Mulaqqin urge caution as to its positive attribution to the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace.

2. "Whoever gives life to the Five Nights, Paradise is obligatory for him." Narrated from Mu`adh by Abu al-Qasim al-Asbahani in his Tarhib. Al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan (3:319 & 6087), Shu`ab al-Iman (3:341 & 3711), and Ma`rifat al-Sunan wal-Aathaar (3:67) narrated from al-Shafi`i (cf. al-Umm 1:231): "It has reached us that du`a is answered on five nights: the night before Jumu`a, the night before Ad-ha, the night before Fitr, the night before the first of Rajab, and the night of mid-Sha`ban." Al-Khallal in his monograph on the immense merits of Rajab narrated the same from the Tabi`i Khalid ibn Ma`dan as mentioned by Ibn al-Mulaqqin, who also cited al-Khatib's narration in Ghunyat al-Multamis fi Idah al-Multabis from our liegelord `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz's instruction to his governor `Adi ibn Artat to emphasize "the first night of Rajab, the night of mid-Sha`ban, the night before Fitr, and the night before Nahr [=Ad-ha]."

Ibn al-Mulaqqin also mentioned al-Shafi`i's narration from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad that on the night before `Eid the pious people of Madina would go to the Prophetic mosque and make much du`a there.

Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Ghumari wrote in Ghayat al-Ihsan fi Fadli Zakat al-Fitr wa-Fadli Ramadan (p. 62): "The Ulema differed whether it is desirable to give life to those two nights (Fitr and Ad-ha) in a group or not. Two positions are related from Imam Ahmad: No, because it is not related from the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, or his Companions; Yes, because `Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn al-Aswad practiced it, and he is among the Tabi`in. As for the minimum definition of 'giving life': al-Nawawi in al-Adhkar said the Ulema differed. The preponderant view is that such does not take place except through most of the night, but it was also said that it takes place in an hour."

Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions.

Was-Salam,
GF Haddad