What's For Iftar?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

The fast is there to inculcate taqwa (Godfearingness).

لَـٰكِنِ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا رَبَّهُمْ لَهُمْ غُرَفٌ مِّن فَوْقِهَا غُرَفٌ مَّبْنِيَّةٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۖ وَعْدَ اللَّـهِ ۖ لَا يُخْلِفُ اللَّـهُ الْمِيعَادَ ﴿٢٠

But those who have feared their Lord - for them are chambers, above them chambers built high, beneath which rivers flow. [This is] the promise of Allah. Allah does not fail in [His] promise. (20)

[Qur'an Az-Zumar 39:20]

Taqwa can only come about through obeying Allah. Allah has set the legal limits of fast--i.e. from Fajr (dawn) to Maghrib (sunset). No more, no less. Therefore, one should be avid and enthusiastic to break one's fast. If we eat after Fajr, even if it is one minute after Fajr enters, there is no fasting for that day. If we delay iftar (breaking fast,) it will not legally invalidate the fast but morally it is not in keeping with the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Like all other matters in our worship, we want to obey Allah as perfectly as we can. So, we start the fast when He commands us to start, and we stop the fast when He commands us to stop. In the starting of the fast, there is obedience in Allah and in the stopping it, there is obedience in Allah. So what we are avid and enthusiastic about breaking fast is obeying Allah concerning the limits of the fast.

When we break our fasts with dates and water, we should be conscious of the significance of dates and water in the time of Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. These two things were essentially what The Prophet, Allah and bless him and grant him peace, and his companions would eat normally. This is a great sunnah and a great secret for the fasting in the month of Ramadhan. So, we should not get into a habit of preparing a lavish meal. The point behind fasting is turning away from the attachment of these appetites. So, what we eat for dinner or supper, this is optimally what we should take for iftar.

When we physically emulate the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, even though there is benefit in of itself, it is done because in his conduct is the secret of lofty moral behavior for human being. When we break our fast with dates and water, that should remind us that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, ate dates and water as his normal meals in Ramadhan. So we should strive to have normal meals unless you are entertaining guests, then you will entertain them like the way you normally would.

In emulating the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, this is where we get the spiritual assistance during the course of the day that causes us to think about Allah and to endure the inconvenience of fasting for His sake only. We are not distracted with thinking about the special Ramadhan food and that everything has to be perfect as if your fast is sustained by the thought of the lavish meal that you are going to eat at the end of the day. There is less spiritual assistance in doing this. This person is not taking advantage of the moments of Ramadhan. Whereas the one who makes the food an act of gratitude and his fasting during the course of the day is there to occupy himself with Allah. He is not thinking about food when he is fasting. He is not looking forward to food but he is looking forward to the provision of Allah. So, it does not matter how many courses are laid on the table, or if the food has too much salt or too little sugar. He is grateful to Allah nonetheless, even if it is only dates and water. The food that he sees becomes a means of his turning to Allah, not his fasting becomes a means of his turning to the food.

إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْقَانِتَاتِ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالصَّادِقَاتِ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّابِرَاتِ وَالْخَاشِعِينَ وَالْخَاشِعَاتِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقَاتِ وَالصَّائِمِينَ وَالصَّائِمَاتِ وَالْحَافِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَالْحَافِظَاتِ وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّـهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّـهُ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا ﴿٣٥

Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (35)

[Qur'an Al-Ahzab 33:31]

May Allah forgive us and rain us with His Mercy in this blessed month. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam