Iftari

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Iftar table in the holy shrine of Imam Rida (a)

Ifṭārī is a meal with which a fasting person breaks his or her fast. According to hadiths from Ahl al-Bayt (a), the reward of giving a fast-breaking meal is equal to that of fasting. Hadiths recommend giving such meal to those who fast. Giving iftari is a tradition practiced by Muslims during the Ramadan month. There are different practices and etiquettes for giving iftari in different countries.

Virtue

Iftari is a meal with which a fasting person breaks his or her fast. According to hadiths, it is very virtuous and rewarding to give iftari to fasting people.[1] A case in point is a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that say, he who gives iftari has a reward equal to that of the fasting person.[2] Moreover, in a hadith known as al-Sha'baniyya Sermon, the Prophet (s) asserts that the reward of giving iftari to a fasting believer is equal to that of emancipating a slave and it will result in the forgiveness of sins.[3]

Iftari Services

Giving iftari is a ritual commonly practiced by Muslims around the world with various etiquettes and ceremonies. In Muslim countries, rulers and people spread cloths for having iftari meals.[4] During the Fatimid era (297-567/909-1172), there was a place in Egypt in which food and confectionery were distributed among people at the time of iftar.

During the Buyid dynasty (322-448/933-1056), assemblies were held in nights of the Ramadan month in Baghdad in which more than one thousand people had iftari.[5] In his report of a trip to Damascus, Ibn al-Battuta, a seventh/thirteenth century tourist, talks about rulers, judges, and senior figures who invited large groups of people to their iftari cloths such that no one had iftari alon during the nights of Ramadan.[6] Furthermore, the practice of giving iftari was common during the Safavid and Qajar eras. According to 'Abd Allah al-Mustawfi, in the Qajar period, most often it was the noblemen who gave iftari, and those who could not afford to give a full iftari gave dates as charity among fasting people in the mosque.[7]

Simple Iftari

During the Islamic Republic of Iran, simple iftari cloths are spread in holy sites such as the Shrine of Imam al-Rida (a), the Shrine of Fatima al-Ma'suma (a), and some mosques.[8] Moreover, in religious sites of other countries such as the shrines of Imam al-Husayn (a) and Imam 'Ali (a) in Iraq[9] as well as Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabi in Arabia,[10] simple iftari cloths are spread. Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has recommended that simple iftari cloths be spread for fasting people.

Common Meals

According to hadiths, it is recommended to break one’s fast with a date or tepid water.[11] It is believed that breaking the fast with a date is highly rewarding.[12]

In Iran and Arabic countries, it is also common to break the fast with confectioneries such as zulbia (jalebi), bamia (tulumba), knafa, and qatifa.[13]

See Also

Notes

  1. ↑ See: Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 68-69.
  2. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 68.
  3. ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā (a), vol. 1, p. 296.
  4. ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī vol. 2, p. 291.
  5. ↑ Thaʿālibī, Yatīmat al-dahr, vol. 3, p. 230.
  6. ↑ Ibn Baṭūṭa, al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa, vol. 1, p. 120-121.
  7. ↑ Mustawfī, Sharḥ-i zindigānī-yi man, vol. 1, p. 330.
  8. ↑ Simple iftari (Persian).
  9. ↑ Iftar in the shrine of Imam Ali (a) and Imam Husayn (a) + photo (Persian).
  10. ↑ Iftar services in Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabi + video (Persian).
  11. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 152-153; Abū Dāwūd, Sunan Abū Dāwūd, vol. 2, p. 764.
  12. ↑ Shahrībāf, Ṭihrān-i qadīm, vol. 3, p. 291; Wakīliyan, Ramaḍān dar farhang-i mardum, vol. 1, p. 79.
  13. ↑ ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Ramaḍān, p. 65-73.

References


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