Zakatul-Fitr:

Zakatul-Fitr is one of the things that the Prophet mandated upon all Muslims. Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah made Zakatul-Fitr, one Saa’ (almost 3kg.) of dates or one Saa’ of barley, obligatory on the Muslims, slave and free, male and female, young and old. He ordered that it should be given before people go out to the ‘Eid Prayer.” [Al-Bukhari]

Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri : “During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah we used to pay one Saa' of dried dates or of barley, or of cheese, or of raisins.” [Al-Bukhari]

Ibn ‘Abbaas explained the wisdom behind paying Zakatul-Fitr when he said: “The Messenger of Allah made Zakatul-Fitr obligatory as a means of purifying the fasting person from idle talk and foul language, and to feed the poor. Whoever pays it before the prayer, it is an accepted Zakah, and whoever pays it after the prayer, it is just a kind of charity.” [Abu Daawood]

Other acts of worship during Ramadan:

During Ramadan, the Prophet would continue performing the same acts of worship he used to perform before its arrival, and would actually increase, like in the case of the optional night prayers. The following are more acts of worship he used to perform:

The recitation of Quran and spending in charity: The evidence for this is the narration of Ibn ‘Abbaas in which he stated: “The Prophet was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadan when Jibreel met him. Jibreel used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Quran, and when he met him, he would be more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (i.e. in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds).” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] This narration proves that he used to reach the highest level of generosity during Ramadan. He did not only offer charity in the form of money, but rather he offered his time, knowledge, conveyed all that would benefit the people and guided them to the correct path, strove to help people fulfill their needs and sacrificed himself for the sake of spreading the religion of Allah and making it supreme.

Ibn al-Muneer said: “Ibn ‘Abbaas resembled the Prophet with the uncontrollable wind, because this type of wind is the one that Allah sends with rain and it spreads the rain on all the lands, fertile and non-fertile and benefits it all. Likewise, the benefit of the Prophet overwhelmed all people.”

Abu Hurayrah reported: “The Messenger of Allah used to review the Quran with Jibreel once every year during the month of Ramadan, but on the year he died, he reviewed it twice. He used to perform I’tikaaf every year in the month of Ramadan for ten days, and when it was the year of his death, he stayed in I’tikaaf for twenty days.” [Al-Bukhari]

Jihaad: The Messenger of Allah went out during the month of Ramadan to fight Jihaad on more than one occasion when the need arose, like in the case of the battle of Badr and the Conquest of Makkah.

When reflecting on the practice of the Messenger of Allah in worshipping one notices the following:

·      His continual performance of virtuous deeds.
·      Increasing his worship during the month of Ramadan over the rest of the months of the year.
·      The feelings of mercy he harbored towards his nation, as he was always keen to guide and instruct them to that which benefits them the most.
·      His practical implementation of the commands of Allah.
·      Not neglecting his duties due to fasting, were he used to pray all night and wake his family to pray. Moreover, he fought two major battles during this month as we mentioned.

We ask Allah to enable us all to follow into his footsteps and exert our utmost during this blessed month.