By Zainab Mondal
“Leena, are you going to fast tomorrow?” asked Mrs. Noor.
“Yes, in shaa Allah!” cried Leena.
“Then, why don’t you say the fasting dua I taught you?” asked her mother.
Leena sighed and said, “Bisaw mi ghadin nawaitu. I intend fasting tomorrow.”
Her mother said happily, “Wow! Masha Allah! That was great!”
Her father had just come home. “Whoohoo! assalaam u’alaykum, Dad! I’m gonna fast tomorrow and . . . I mean, inshaAllah!”
Her little sister, Jannah, was eating and playing with the toy trains.
Leena’s father took his shoes off, got his slippers, and made his way to the bathroom.
Leena went to her room.
“Okay.” Leena said nervously. “So now, I’m going to make a to-do list.” So she made her own to-do list.
Then her mother came into the room. “Leena?” Her mother called. “You need to sleep early if you want to wake up for suhoor.”
Jannah was already asleep.
When Leena heard her mother say suhoor, she jumped out of the chair and tiptoed to bathroom. Leena always makes wudhu before going to bed. Our dear Prophet Muhammad (saws) always made wudhu before going to bed.
Leena was in a deep sleep. She dreamed of all kinds of food. Her Mom came over and nudged her gently. Leena’s eyes were burning, but she knew what she had to do. She was all ready for suhoor.
Leena went downstairs. She ate a cheese sandwich and some honey tea for suhoor. Mommy and Dad ate toast with butter and had coffee. With the clinking of the dishes, Jannah woke up from sleep. She joined in. She had a cup of warm milk.
Leena looked so tired. But she was seven. It is becoming compulsory for Leena to read salah. She knew if Jannah joined salah, then she would only say nonsense words. And she was correct. Jannah did say nonsense words while reading salah so they all became confused. Leena’s mother put Jannah to bed. At last they could read their salah correctly.
Leena was falling asleep, but, she managed to read salah. She couldn’t read Quran because of her sleepiness.
After making the du’a, everyone went off to sleep for a couple of hours. At 7:00 a.m. the alarm went off. Leena woke up from sleep.
She put on her school uniform and came down for breakfast. “Ooops! No breakfast! I’m fasting today!”
Leena’s dad had already gone to work.
Then she was just about to go and brush her teeth. “Leena?” her mother called. “Where are you going, dear?” Leena looked to the bathroom door. “I’m gonna brush my teeth.”
Mrs. Noor giggled and said it is better not to brush our teeth while fasting but it is recommended to use miswaak.
“Oh dear! You’ll be late for madrasah!” cried her mother. Leena went to get her school bag. She gently got her Quran, opened the door, and walked to madrasah.
Jannah said, alamalaykum, Leena.” Leena answered Jannah’s salaam and walked to madrasah. Once she reached there she opened her Quran. While reading, she was not paying attention because she kept thinking of pizza.
The teacher looked at Leena for a while, and then began to speak to her. “Leena, are you reading or thinking?” Then she held the pointer near Leena and Leena was frightened when she saw the pointer near her so to get her mind off of pizza, she said, Auzu billaahi minash shaytaanir rajeem. (I seek refuge in Allah from the hands of the rejected one.)
After Leena said the ta’awuz, she felt a lot better. She could read Surah Tawbah correctly now. She also didn’t make mistakes when reading the Hadiths, Duas, and many other things.
Then it was time to read Dhuhr Salah. Soon it was time to go back home. While she was walking home, she passed the streets and a lake. Her feet were aching. Mommy was at home, probably feeding Jannah her favorite meal— macaroni and cheese. Leena became sad and her tummy started to growl.
Why was she worried? She was almost home! She stepped inside, untied her shoelaces, put the Quran on the shelf, and plopped down on the sofa.
“Mommy?” No one answered. She was just too tired. She moaned. Then she went upstairs to Jannah’s room. Jannah was asleep.
Leena walked into her room and closed her eyes. She too was fast asleep.
When Leena woke up she ran downstairs.
Jannah was drinking chocolate milk and Mommy was making iftar. “As salam u’alaykum, Leena. Where were you? I didn’t see you stepping into the house,” Mrs. Noor said gently.
“Well, I was so tired, I went to bed.”
Her mother understood.
Then Leena went to her room to draw a picture. She saw her sister eating jelly beans and watching her draw. By mistake Jannah dropped a pink jelly bean. Leena looked at the jelly bean. Pink is her favorite color. Leena quickly grabbed that jelly bean and ate it. When it went down her throat, she remembered and started to cry. “Oh dear! I’m fasting!”
She ran downstairs and told mommy what had happened. “It’s all right! You didn’t break your fast! You ate it by mistake, right?”
Leena replied “Yes, by mistake.” Then Leena went to her room and play a game on the computer.
Leena’s father came home from work. “As salaam u’alaykum everybody!” Everybody went downstairs for iftar. They heard the adhaan from the adhaan clock. Leena broke her fast with dates, water, samosas, and crackers. Then they all went to the mosque for taraweeh. Leena and her mother read salah and Jannah was fast asleep.
When they came home they were so tired. Leena felt so happy that she had been successful in fasting the entire day.
Leena looked forward to fasting the next day.She said, “Bisawmi ghadin nawaitu. I intend fasting tomorrow.”
The End
Word Meanings:
Suhoor: A meal before fajr salah that we eat to get strength to fast
Wudhu: A small bath that’s called “ablution” in English
Fardh: A compulsory act
Quran: Last and complete revelation from Allah (swt)
Madrasah: An Islamic school.
Zainab Mondal loves books. This is the first book she’s made online. She’s now eight years old. Zainab’s parents are from India and the family is currently residing in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
Jazakallah kheir, very interesting story, wish our kids could follow the footsteps and learn our deen to the extreme, slowly but sure. Our alimighty will guide all our kids ameen. Mashaallah
Thank you, Zainab, for this very interesting look at a child’s first fast. I am going to fast for the first time this year and will remember your story when I do so…Jazak Allah Khairan and Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakathahu, Arman.
🙂 maashaa Allah for your wrtiting skills little Zainab!!! the story was so lively, that every child and adult would love to read it atleast twice. May Allah gift you with great writing skills like our beloved sister Yasmin Mogahed, aameen!
Dear readers,
Can any one or at least publisher of this article can help me with the authenticity of the “Bisawmi ghadin nawaitu ….” dua (in which kitab it that and narrated by whom?), I would like to follow if it is authentic, because I was told this dua is not from authentic hadees, if it is not it is our duty to mention it in the article that, so that no spreads a wrong message or paves a way for any bidah.
Please help
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu
Following is a quick summary in English, while the attachments give the complete article in Urdu.
In Islam, all the deeds of virtue raise the rank of the Muslim. The deeds of virtue have already been prescribed by the Shariah and they remains virtuous as long as they are performed according to the authentic methods. So, if a person thinks that he can increase the rewards of a certain deed by adding certain conditions or appendices to it, he will clearly be mistaken, regardless of whoever he is. It is commonly observed that people do this mistake.
One of the most important things is the month of Ramadhan which is abundantly bountiful with rewards and virtue. The Shariah has given numerous virtues of it as can be studied in authentic traditions. However, some unfortunate people think that they can increase these virtues by using their logic and ideas, although the only one who can increase or decrease virtues is Allaah.
One of the things associated with Ramadhan that has been falsely deemed as virtuous by these people is the saying of the statement of the intention of fasting. This has been portrayed as part of Shariah and is gaining popularity. The statement is given as:
وبصوم غد نويت من شهر رمضان
Translation: I have intended for tomorrow’s fast from the month of Ramadhan.
These words are not found in any authentic or even weak hadeeth. In fact they are fabricated, and a simple analysis can show them to be false. In this statement, the Arabic word غد has been used which means “tomorrow”. This words appears in the Quraan 5 times, in 2 meanings. The 1st meaning is of “The Day of Judgement” and it is used 2 times in this meaning, e.g.:
Translation: Ah! they will know tomorrow (Day of Judgement), who is the liar, the insolent one! (The Moon: 26)
The 2nd meaning of the word غد is of “tomorrow” and it is used 3 times in this meaning in the Quraan, e.g.:
Translation: Verily, Allaah! With Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allaah is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things). (Luqmaan: 34)
With these two meanings in mind, we now evaluate the words of the statement again:
Translation: I have intended for tomorrow’s fast from the month of Ramadhan.
It either means that I intend to fast on the Day of Judgement or I intend to fast tomorrow. Both of these meanings don’t make sense, because no one would want to be thirsty and hungry on the unimaginably hard Day of Judgement, and one does not intend to fast tomorrow while he is eating the Sahoor meal to fast today. This would mean that although he is eating now, he is intending to fast the next day. Furthermore, on the last day of Ramadhan, this statement would mean that he is intending to fast the day of Eid!
Saying intention aloud for a deed itself is not correct. The attachment below gives the views of two prominent scholars regarding it, one from Imam Burhan-ud-deen Marghinani Al-Hanafi and the other one from Imam Ibn-al-Qayyim.
Wa Alaykum As-Salam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu, ALLAH AZZA WAJAL, reward you tremendously for a very clean and simple & authentic explanation. ALLAH AZZA WAJAL bless you more beneficial knowledge, aameeen. Was salatu was salaam ala mun, laaa nabiyya bada. Thank you so much. ahsanknf@gmail.com
JazakAllahu Khair for all the duas. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala accept all our duas..Ameen..
Subhan allah 🙂 What a wonderful story! in shaa allah, your story will benefit many other children and Allah will bless you with the amazing ability to keep writing to inspire others 🙂
Masheallah great story!!!!! How does an 8 year old write like THAT mashallah!
Masheallah great story!!!!! How does an 8 year old write like THAT 🙂
Mashallah Tabarakallah. Can you write MORE story like this?