Ramadan Conference Call Q&A Audio Will be Posted!

Alhamdulillah, we had a very successful conference call with nearly a full house of callers. The greater success will occur not in the number of people listening, but we hope inshallah in the number of people paying heed to the beautiful advice given. Mashallah, it was one of the most beneficial Ramadan Q&A with a great emphasis on unity and communal harmony.

We are sorry that because of time constraints, not all questions could be answered. We will try to have the Shayookh answer some additional questions as their schedule permits. The following questions were answered after an inspirational 30 minutes of talk from the two Shayookh. As you can see many of these questions are very controversial and have plagued our community in the West for ages. Of course, the answers will not solve these matters, but we hope they will help the healing process:

Question 1
If the most prominent Muslim organization in the city follows the moon calculations should you follow the community or stick to the sunnah of moon sighting? How do we reconcile between maintaining the unity of our communities and trying to follow the sunnah?

Question 2
If a sister is pregnant during Ramadan and is unable to fast, and then by the time the next Ramadan comes she is nursing, how is she to make up her fasts? Or sisters who have pregnancies close together and miss Ramadan for a few years in a row? Does she have to make all these years up or is there a kaffarah like feeding a poor person?

Question 3
What should you do if you are celebrating Eid in a different community that did not fast or celebrate Eid on the same day as the community you were in when you started fasting?

Question 4
I have always been of the opinion that zakatul fitr should be in food. But with most masjids here in the West taking zakatul fitr in money (and more and more REFUSING to take it in food) a smaller group of brothers have been burdened with distributing it in food every year. They will often receive hundreds or pounds or rice and other similar food goods taking for granted that someone (just a few brothers) will distribute it while they spend the time with their families.

The poor in this country often have food stamps and other types of gov't assistance and often want money and not food. We were barely able to get rid of the zakatul fitr. I can only imagine that others – charged with distributing the zakat – were stuck with hundreds of pounds of rice AFTER the salatul Eid.

My question is: what is the validity of the opinion that zakatul fitr can be distributed in money (or otherwise) and (b) can we start to distribute the zakaatul fitr before the night before Eid?

Question 5
I have a once in while opportunity at work where I will have to travel Mon-Thurs for the next 8 weeks. Ramadan will fall within the time frame of my travel. I understand the ability of combining prayers and breaking my fast while traveling, but wanted to see what is best during Ramadan.

Is it ok to fast during these travel periods since I will be traveling by plane and it is a short flight (2 hours) and within the same time zone. Alhamdullah there is a masjid close by so I will be able to pray taraweeh so I won't be sacrificing my Ramadan by my job.

My conscious is telling me to refuse this opportunity since it falls within Ramadan, yet if I stay back I will still have similar work load without travel.

What do I do for my prayers as I will be a musafeer Mon-Thurs and it will be tough at times to make salat at its time.

Question 6
What is preferred to pray for taraweeh, 8 rakat or 20? How do we deal with people who create division in masaajid over this issue (on both sides)?

Question 7
Is it legitimate to pray witr the way that is traditionally done in Pakistani masaajid: They pray 3 rakat together with tashahhud after the 2^nd the same way as is done in Maghrib. Then in the 3^rd rak'ah the imam recites fatihah and a surah out loud, then makes takbeer and everyone raises their hands and then make qunoot silently. Is this way of praying a sunnah or a bid'ah?

Question 8
Everybody says to stop eating approx. 10 mins before fajr adhan. However, one is recommended to delay sehri as much as possible. Therefore when should one stop eating in the morning?

Also, Regarding iftar time, should we use the time in the calenders or visually check when the sun has set (i.e. sun has descended below the horizon) from our standpoint.

Related Posts:

• Preparing for Ramadan – New Yasir Qadhi Audio
• Ramadhaan 101
• OPEN THREAD: Ramadan… the “Little” Deeds that Count