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Is it obligatory to invite neighbours to iftar

Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam Aleikum !

My question is :-To invite friends and neighbours to Iftar, is it a must ? If so, in which Ayah has it been emphasized ?


Shukran 

 

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Answer:

 

Is it obligatory to invite neighbours to iftar

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

It is neither necessary nor considered obligatory in Islam to invite friends and neighbors to Iftar; but if one does so of one’s own free will and choice, he will have his due reward from Allah Subhanah according to the intention behind his invitation.

 

There is a general encouragement in the guidance of the Messenger of Allah (saws) for the one’s who have been blessed with abundance by their Lord to share their food and provisions with those who do not have enough.

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1992 Narrated by Zayd ibn Khalid

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, 'He who gives one who has been fasting something with which to break his fast, or who equips a fighter (fighting in Allah’s Cause), will have a reward equivalent to theirs.’

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1965 Narrated by Salman al-Farisi

Allah's Messenger (saws) said in a sermon which he delivered to them on the last day of Sha'ban, "A great month, a blessed month, a month containing a night which is better than a thousand months has approached you people. Allah has appointed the observance of fasting during it as an obligatory duty, and the passing of its night in prayer as a voluntary practice. If someone draws near to Allah during it with some good act he will be like one who fulfils an obligatory duty in another month, and he who fulfils an obligatory duty in it will be like one who fulfils seventy obligatory duties in another month. It is the month of endurance and the reward of endurance is Paradise. It is the month of sharing with others, and a month in which the believer's provision is increased. If someone gives one who has been fasting something with which to break his fast it will provide forgiveness of his sins and save him from Hell, and he will have a reward equal to his without his reward being diminished in any respect." We remarked to Allah's Messenger (saws) that not all of us have the means to give one who had been fasting something with which to break his fast. He (saws) replied, "Allah gives this reward to him who gives one who has been fasting some milk mixed with water, or a date, or a drink of water with which to break his fast. Anyone who gives a full meal to one who has been fasting will be given a drink from my tank (Hawd) by Allah and will not thirst till he enters Paradise. It is a month whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness, and whose end is freedom from Hell. If anyone makes things easy for his slave during it, Allah will forgive him and free him from Hell."

 

The time when providing food (not necessarily Iftar but also at other times) becomes absolutely obligatory is when one knows that one’s neighbor and family is desperately poor and hungry!

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.45 Narrated by Abu Shuraih

The Prophet (saws) said, "By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe!" It was asked, "Who is that, O Messenger of Allah?" He (saws) said, "That person whose neighbor does not feel safe from his evil." and in another narration the wordings are; “that person who sleeps with a bellyful and his neighbor sleeps hungry.”

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

 

Burhan

 


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