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? 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
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 12:57:38 +0000
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