The Ramadaan of Hazrat Mol Yahya Saheb
by Hazrat Sheikh Zakariyya (Rahmatullah alayhi)
My late father had a fixed programme and routine for Ramadan. The programme changed annually according to prevailing circumstances. I cannot remember any of his travels in Ramadan while resident in Gangoh. I have already said that in the last Ramadan of the life of Hazrat Gangohi in 1322 A.H my late father led the taraweeh salaah in Gangoh at the instruction of Hazrat himself.
That was the year when for the first time since having memorised the Quran, he sat down on the 29th Sha’baan to recite 1-1/4 paras from the Quran as preparation for taraweeh out of fear for Hazrat Gangohi and out of fear for making a mistake. After the first day of recitation, the fear left him and thereafter he never again had to make ‘daur’.
I have-already mentioned repeatedly that my father was so addicted to Quranic recitations by heart, that he did the manual work of running a bookshop, taking out books, making parcels, addressing them, while all the time reciting Quran.
During his stay in Saharanpur, I do not remember him having performed taraweeh in any other place, except for the year 1332 A.H when the mosque of the old Darul Talabah was being erected. On the erection of my late Shaikh, Maulana Saharanpuri, my father was the first person to recite the Quran from the mehrab of this mosque in 1332 A.H.
During his stay in Saharanpur, my father’s routine was that he spend most of his time in the Masjid of the shoemakers next to the house of Hakeem Yaqoob Saheb. This was apart from the time he used to spend in teaching. It was here that he performed iftar without any special preference for anything special. Of course, if there were some dates and zam-zam available, these were given preference over all other things. (At the iftar table of Hazrat Maulana Khaleel Ahmad Saheb great importance was given to having dates and zam-zam for iftar. Any dates and zam-zam brought to him by Hajis, as presents were stored away in tins and in bottles. In those days there was not this free availability of dates and zam-zam as is the case in our times when Allah made travel so fast and easy.
Eid-ul-Adha Sunnats
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To wake up early in the morning.
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To clean one’s teeth with a Miswak.
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To make Ghusul.
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To wear one’s best available clothes.
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To use itr.
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NOT to eat anything before the Eid Salaah.
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To recite Takbir of Tashriq in a audible voice while walking to the Eid Salaah.
Qurbani Meat
It was the habit of Hazrath Sheikh Zakariyya (ra) to eat & relish the meat of qurbani for the 3 days of sacrifice. Hazrath used to eat the meat for breakfast, lunch and supper.
Despite the fact that Hazrath was a tea lover, he used to get soup made of qurbani meat cooked, and he used to have this for breakfast.
Method & Duas of Qurbani
- The animal that is going to be sacrificed should be fed and given water.
- The knife that is going to be used should be sharpened beforehand, and not in front of the animal.
- The animal should be laid down on its left side at the place of slaughter, face pointing towards the Qibla. دعاء should be read before slaughtering the animal.
- Animal should be slaughtered quickly with a sharp knife. When slaughtering, cut all 4 veins in the throat or atleast 3 veins should be cut with 3 strokes of the knife. Don't cut any more than 3 strokes which will cause unnecessary pain to the animal.
- As soon as the animal is cold, you should start skinning the animal. Do not skin the animal when it still has life, it should be completely dead before skining.
- NOTE: age of animal: camel should be 5 yrs old, ox, bull, buffalo should be 2 yrs old and sheep, lamb, goat should be 1 yr old. The animal should be a healthy animal with no defects.
Dua before and after slaughtering:
اِنِّى وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِيْ فَطَرَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ حَنِيْفًا وَّمَا اَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِيْنَ اِنَّ صَلاَتِيْ وَنُسُكِيْ وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِيْ للهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمِيْنَ لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَه وَبِذَلِكَ اُمِرْتَ وَاَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ اَللَّهُمَّ مِنْكَ وَلَكَ
Trans: “For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth. And never shall I give partners to Allah. Verily my worship and my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Allah! this sacrifice is from you and is for you”.
