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:
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.
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
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!
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