It’s probably a phrase you’ve heard many times with little more than a moment’s thought. But if any one was anxious about the appropriateness of uttering “Ramadan Kareem” during this holy month, rest assured that it’s absolutely not forbidden.
Jordan’s Iftaa’ department has deemed that there’s nothing wrong with uttering the phrase, which roughly translated means “a generous Ramadan”, during the holy month, and that no Islamic rule forbids it.
The clarification was made in a statement seen by Al-Ghad newspaper this week. There had apparently been some confusion over whether using the phrase was Beda'ah, or something invented from beyond Islam – some had feared that describing Ramadan as Kareem, or generous, gave the attributes to the month rather than God who placed the blessings in it.
The statement by the Iftaa Department said that describing Ramadan to be honourable does not in fact attribute the quality to the month. Rather, the word comes from the fact that God gives his worshippers blessings during the month. It’s thus acceptable to call the thing by the name of its reason or cause.
The ruling could be seen as an example of synecdoche, in which a part of something is taken to stand for its whole, or vice versa.
On Twitter, observers aired their relief at the news that Ramadan Kareem was permissible – although their responses may not have been entirely sincere.
الحمدلله... موضوع يقلقني من سنين
— Zaydoun زياد الدعيج (@zaydoun) 5 June 2016
الإفتاء: لا مانع من قول رمضان كريمhttps://t.co/FN7gsWZtuT via @AlghadNews
Thank God, I was worried about this for years.
المحترم اللي سأل دائرة الإفتاء عن جواز قول #رمضان_كريم شو كان بتهيأله؟
— Mohammed Hussainy (@MohamedHussainy) 5 June 2016
The respectful guy who asked the iftaa’ department about the allowance of saying “#RamadanKareem”, what were you thinking?
الإفتاء: لا مانع من قول "رمضان كريم"
— خالد قاسم (@khaled_qasem77) 4 June 2016
والله وشكرا على هالفتوة الخرافية
The iftaa’: It is OK to say Ramadan Kareem
I swear by God, thanks a lot for such a great fatwa.
