Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Primarily, there is nothing wrong with wishing one another well at the start of or during Ramadan with the phrase Ramadan Mubarak or Ramadan Kareem,’ as such greetings are part of customs, and permissibility is the original rule governing such things.
In his response to the question, the prominent Saudi Islamic lecturer and author, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, states:
There is nothing wrong with felicitating one another well at the beginning of the month of Ramadan.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to tell his Companions the good news of the onset of Ramadan, and he used to urge them to make the most of it.
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There has come to you Ramadan, a blessed month. Allah has made it obligatory on you to fast (this month). During it, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are locked, and the devils are chained up. In it there is a night that is better than a thousand months, and whoever is deprived of its goodness is deprived indeed.” (An-Nasa’i)
It has become clear now that felicitations during Ramadan are not considered an innovation or bidah because they are part of the custom of people and the act itself is based on the original rule of permissibility.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.