Ifṭār
Definition
Iftar is the moment of breaking the fast at sunset — marked by the Prophet ﷺ with a specific supplication and the practice of breaking it promptly with dates or water before any other food. Al-Ghazali highlights the spiritual significance of iftar: it is the moment that validates the entire day's fast, the arrival of a promise. He cites the prophetic hadith that the fasting person has two moments of joy — one at iftar, one at meeting Allah. The Muslim who savours the spiritual dimension of iftar — the gratitude, the relief, the sense of having honoured a covenant with Allah — has already begun to access the deeper levels of what fasting offers.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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