Child born out of wedlock has no sin upon him

Question: Does Islam look with disfavor upon a child born of fornication or adultery – an illegitimate child? I heard that there is a hadîth to the effect that such a child is disfavored? Is this true?

 Answered by: Sheikh al-Sharif Hatim al-Awni

An indisputable tenet of our Islamic faith is that no person will share in the sin of another unless that person was directly involved in encouraging or assisting the other person to commit the sin.

 Allah says: “That no soul shall bear the burden of another and that a person shall have nothing but what he strives for” [Sûrah al-Najm: 38-39]

 Allah says: “On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It shall have the good that it earns, and against it shall be the ill that it earns.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 286]

 He also says “They were a people who have gone before. They shall have the fruits of what they earned and you shall have the fruits of what you earn, and you will not be asked about what they used to do.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 134 and 141]

 For this reason, it is authentically related that `A’ishah said regarding the child born of adultery: “He shares in nothing of the sin of his parents, for Allah says ‘no soul shall bear the burden of another’.” [Musannaf `Abd al-Razzâq (13860,13861) and Musannaf Ibn `Abî Shaybah (12543)]

 It is also authentically related from Ibn `Abbâs that upon hearing someone say ‘The child of adultery is the worst of the three parties’, that he severely condemned the statement and said: “If he were the worst of the three parties, then the punishment of his mother would not be postponed until after he is born.” [Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Tamhîd (24/135-136) and al-Istidhkâr (23/175)]

 Ibn `Abbâs also said: “He is the best of the three parties.” [Musannaf `Abd al-Razzâq (13863)]

 The statement “The child of adultery is the worst of the three parties” is a hadîth. However, it is extremely weak, as stated by Ibn al-Jawzî in al-`Ilal al-Mutanâhiyah (1282-1283).

 As for the hadîth: “The child of illicit sexual intercourse shall not enter Paradise”, I am aware of no authentic chain of transmission for it. All of its lines of transmission are defective. This is in spite of some scholars declaring it to be an authentic hadîth, like Ibn Hibbân [Sahîh Ibn Hibbân (3383,3384)] and al-Albâni [Silsilah al-Ahâdîth al-Sahîhah (673)]

 Ibn al-Jawzî declared the hadîth to be a fabrication [al-Mawdû`ât (1561-1566)] Al-Dâraqûtnî ruled that the hadîth is inconsistent. Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalânî declared it to be weak. A thorough discussion about the matter would be lengthy.

 Scholars agree that if even if the hadîth were to be construed as authentic, it is not to be taken on its apparent meaning, because it contradicts the indisputable tenet of our faith that no soul shall bear the sin of another. Those who accepted the hadîth have offered numerous possible interpretations for it.

 Possibly the best of these interpretations is the one suggested by al-Tahâwî in Bayân Mushkil al-Ahâdîth (2/372-373)] he points out that the phrase “child of illicit sexual intercourse” refers to someone who commits illicit sexual intercourse so often and so habitually as to have the action attributed to him.

 Al-Tahâwî points out that this is an established convention of the Arabic language. People who are consumed with their worldly affairs are called “children of the world” and a traveler is referred to in Arabic “a child of the road”. Al-Tahâwî then cites certain verses of classical poetry as linguistic evidence for this usage of the phrase “child of illicit sexual intercourse” (walad al-zanyah).

 And Allah knows best.

 ------------------------

 Question: If a man and a woman commit adultery and a child is born as a result, is that child cursed?

 Answered by: Sheikh `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî, former Professor at al-Imâm University

 The idea that an innocent child would be cursed is diametrically opposed to Islamic teachings.

Allah says: “No soul shall bear the burden of another.” [Sûrah al-Najm: 38]

 Each child is born innocent and guiltless. How could Allah curse a child who has done nothing wrong? The child had nothing to do with what his father or mother did. The sin is entirely that of the parents. There is no sin whatsoever on the child. The child may not be called a “bastard”. He may not even be referred to as “illegitimate” with the intention to derogate him.

Source: en.islamtoday.net

A brief history on Sufism and the life of Imam Junaid Al-Baghdadi

An unbiased view of the history of Sufism and how it evolved. The speaker, Dr. Muhammad Musa Al-Shareef also relates the life of a great scholar and Imam, Junaid ibn Muhammad Abu al-Qasim al-Khazzaz al-Baghdadi (830-910 AD)

 

Some important points from the video..

 The first phase of Sufism (at the beginning of third century A.H.) was praised by most early scholars. They also praised those early Sufis who were influential in the first phase and those who followed in their footsteps. Those early Sufis were highly regarded by scholars such as Ibn Taimiyyah, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Imam Adh-Dzahabi and Imam ibn Kathir and many others.

 They praised those Sufis as they were at the height of asceticism, piousness, devoutness, righteousness and they adhered to the Qur'an and Sunnah. They stuck to the pure Islamic principles.

 The most famous figure in the first phase of Sufism was AlJunied. One of the greatest achievements of Imam Junaid al-Baghdadi was that he set rules for religious practices and made them constrained by the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad's traditions(Sunnah).

 For example, Aljunied was asked about those who reject religious obligations; these people belonged to the Batiniyyah sect. The Batiniyyah sect caused Muslims much harm as they were disbelievers in the guise of Muslims. They claimed that after attaining a high rank of religiousness, asceticism, piety, remembrance of God and prayer, they would not have to fulfill all religious obligations believing they had drawn close enough to God. And this is a famous sect, that is why some Orientalist scholars and others found some aspects in common between Sufism and Brahmanism as Brahmans claim that one can give up religious duties after attaining a high level of piety. Anyway, al-Junaid commented on that with an excellent saying. He said,"Yes they have reached a "state", but only one which leads to the Hell-Fire!" because one who believes as such, is a disbeliever as the Muslim scholars had also unanimously agreed upon, because rejecting religious obligations has nothing to do with Islam at all! As Allah Almighty says,{"Worship your Lord till certainty(death) comes.."}.

 The early teachings of Al-Junied refuted the claims of those Batiniyyahs who belonged to the third phase of Sufism where the principles of Batiniyyah, Shiism and Sufism became interrelated, namely in the tenth century A.H. and after, and this is a peril to Muslims.

Those adopting these views(teaching and spreading them) probably did not mean harm to Muslims but the reality is that some infidels manipulated Sufis and Shiism to harm Muslims and thus many Sufi teachings thereafter cannot be understood unless we are aware of the issue of Batiniyyah and its influences on some aspects of Sufism.

And so Aljunied's greatest achivement was cutting off the ideas of Batini infidels and making Sufi practices constrained by and tied to the Qur'an and Sunnah and we're thankful for that rahimahullaahu ta'ala.

Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taimiyyah rahimahullaah said (mentioned two extreme views regarding Sufism)

 1) that there exist religious learned scholars who would undervalue all Sufi worshipers and consider them all ignorant and deluded

 2) that there exist Sufis who disregarded Islamic Law and knowledge thinking that Islamic Law and knowledge stood in their way to God.

 And he said that the correct position is that whatever with regards to Sufism that was based on the Qur'an and Sunnah was true and whatever that contradicted the Qur'an and Sunnah is false. This indeed a golden saying!

 Dr Muhammad Musa then recalled that he once met Shaykh Abdul Azeez ibn Baz and told him that there was an attack on everything that was related to Sufism and Sufis and he asked the Shaykh whether we were to regard them as Ibn Taimiyyah had done. And Shaykh ibn Baz repeated his answer twice or thrice,"This is also my view, this is also my view!" (That he adopted the view of ibn Taimiyyah on Sufism.)

He meant that Sufis were a Muslim sect, some of whom were good, some were evil; some devout and ascetic and some deluded making innovations in Islam and he added that one should adopt the sound religious views of the Sufis and give up their false ones.

 And this applies to all Islamic sects, not only Sufis. This was a fair stance by the late Shaykh Abdul Azeez ibn Baz rahimahullah following the views of Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taimiyyah.

And Allah Almighty knows best.

Virtues of Reading Soorah Al-Mulk every night, reflecting upon its lessons and acting in accordance with its rulings.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A soorah from the Qur’aan containing thirty verses will intercede for a man so that he will be forgiven. It is the soorah Tabaarak Alathi bi yadihi’l-mulk [i.e., Soorat al-Mulk].”

 [Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2891; Abu Dawood, 1400; Ibn Maajah, 3786.]

Al-Tirmidhi said, this is a hasan hadeeth. It was classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah in Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 22/277, and by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah, 3053.

What is meant is that a person should read it every night, act in accordance with the rulings contained in it, and believe in the information mentioned in it. 

It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood said: Whoever reads Tabaarak allaahi bi yadihi’l-mulk [i.e., Soorat al-Mulk] every night, Allaah will protect him from the torment of the grave. At the time of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) we used to call it al-maani’ah (that which protects).

In the Book of Allaah it is a soorah which, whoever recites it every night has done very well. [Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, 6/179; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, 1475.]

The scholars of the Standing Committee said: On this basis there is the hope that whoever believes in this soorah and reads it regularly, seeking the pleasure of Allaah, learning the lessons contained in it and acting in accordance with the rulings contained therein, it will intercede for him [in the Hereafter]. [Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 4/334, 335] And Allaah knows best. [source: islamqa.info]