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]

 

Istikharah prayer does not require any dream or feeling afterwards

Question: I have a big decision to make, and I have been offering the istikhârah prayer before going to bed every night now for a week, but my istikhârah prayer is not being answered. My question is: After a person prays istikhârah how, are we supposed to know if the thing is good for us or not? Aren't we supposed to see a dream or get a feeling about the situation?

Answered by: the Fatwa Department Research Committee - chaired by Sheikh `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî (islamtoday.net)

It is Sunnah to offer the istikhârah prayer whenever we have a major decision in life. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If one of you thinks to embark upon something, he should pray two units of prayer aside from the obligatory prayer..." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî]

It is not necessary for the person who offers the istikhârah prayer to get any indication afterwards. Istikhârah is about asking Allah to intervene directly in our affair. This is clear from what we say in the supplication for istikhârah:

((...O Allah! If you know this affair to be best for me in my religion, my livelihood, and in the final outcome (or: in my immediate life and my future one), then decree it for me and facilitate it for me and then bless me in it. And if You know this affair to be worse for me in my religion, my livelihood, and in the final outcome (or: in my immediate life and my future one), then turn it away from me and turn me away from it and decree for me what is good, wherever it may be, and then cause me to be contented with it.))

If we look carefully at the supplication we are offering to Allah, we are asking Him to make what we are asking happen for us if it is good for us and to prevent it from happening if it is bad for us. This does not necessitate that we will have a dream, feeling, or other inward indication. However, if we develop a strong feeling for or against something after praying istikhârah, we may choose to act upon that feeling.

Also, contrary to popular belief, sleeping after the istikhârah prayer is neither required nor recommended. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the prayer.

And Allah knows best.

Gratitude: A Way of Life

Problems are part and parcel of our everyday life and usually, what we'd expect to hear from an advice when facing a problem is to have patience. This verse, however, teaches us to show gratitude even in times of difficulty or even calamity. There is so much emphasis in the conditional phrase to show that demonstrating gratitude even once, in the smallest of forms when we face such challenges in life is so rewarded. (refer to video for a better context in sha Allah)

{And make mention when Musa said to his nation, “Make mention of Allah’s favor upon you when He rescued you from the lineage of Fir’awn, they were blackening your faces (e.g. they were humiliating you), and they were slaughtering your sons and allowing your women to live. In that there was a HUGE test that was especially from your Master. And remember when your Master proclaimed, “Even if you are a little grateful at one time, I will certainly increase for you over and over again..."} [Ibrahim 14:(6-7)]

 

Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem

After calling Himself the Master, He gives Himself two descriptions, in the next ayah:الرحمن الرحيم The most common translation of this ayah is, “The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.”

In contemporary context, such a translation almost fails its purpose as those English words are seldom used in normal speech and literature, let alone being properly understood. Fundamentally, the translation is accurate as the Arabic refers to Mercy, however both ar-Rahman and ar-Raheem are derivatives of Mercy. This is why one needs to understand properly why they are different.

Generally speaking, when synonyms are used in the same sentence in Arabic, they are intended to join their unique qualities. Similarly, it's the case here. Both those words have Rahmah in their roots. Rahmah means mercy in Arabic, and has also been used as ‘womb’ of the mother. This is from the Arab idea of mercy in the womb of the mother, where the foetus has no worries and all its needs are taken care of by the mother; hence the child is under the mercy of the mother, from every angle. However, since they are used together, they bring their own qualities to this ayah.

Ar-Rahman has three features in its linguistic structure and meaning: 

1. By definition, it is something extreme. The addition of the ‘aan’ at the end is a hyperbole, as it turns the mercy into something unimaginable, extreme; Allah is extremely, unfathomably merciful. 

2. This structure also implies that this is something happening in the present. For example, you see someone donating money to someone who is needy, and you call this person a generous person. This is happening in the present and the person’s generosity is manifesting itself right now, so the implication of your description is different than when you describe that person to your friend. In the latter case, you may still call that person generous, but it doesn’t guarantee that the person is being generous right now. This linguistic feature is not common in the English language, but in Arabic, it is indicated by the structure, as is the case with ar-Rahman; Allah is being merciful right now.

3. The third unique feature of this structure is transience, which means something that is not permanent. This is also shared by other Arabic words that sound the same, such as hungry (جوعان), thirsty (عطشان), angry, and what is common in these words is that they are all temporary, they are present and then something takes them away; food takes away hunger, drink takes away thirst. And this feature implies that this mercy of Allah is temporary and something will take it away.

Based on that, we understand that Allah is ar-Rahman and that means that He is extremely merciful to us right now, but He could stop being merciful to us (if we disobey Him).

As for ar-Raheem, it brings two other unique linguistic features to the ayah:

1. It implies permanence. So Allah is ar-Raheem and perpetually merciful, always merciful, constantly merciful, endlessly merciful, and His mercy is always going to be there. 

2. Secondly, it is not necessarily happening right now. That is, Allah is always merciful and His mercy is perpetual, but He may not be merciful to us at this moment.

This in reality complements the meaning of ar-Rahman. This is because in this ayah, Allah is describing His mercy completely, and while in other places of the Quran, we may find that a certain type of mercy is referred to e.g. in surah ar-Rahman, Allah mentions blessings that are extremely useful, present right now, but temporary, and so He refers to His mercy by calling Himself ar-Rahman.

So in this surah Allah gives us a complete definition of His mercy, “He is unfathomably, extremely merciful right now, and is perpetually merciful, but while His mercy is always going to be available, it may not necessarily be bestowed upon us in the present and may be taken away from us if He wills.”

 As a side-note, we are recommended to begin our activities with the basmalah, and in it we seek Allah’s mercy, keeping in mind the meanings of the two descriptions.  

Another benefit of this verse is in the order that the two words are mentioned, the present is mentioned first and then the future. To understand that, imagine if you needed money to pay your rent, and someone came to you to discuss about an interesting investment opportunity with future returns. You wouldn’t pay attention to this discussion as you are concerned with the present state, and need help in the present. Once your present worries are settled, you start worrying about the future. 

Since, ar-Rahman deals with the present, it is what we would need first, what we would need right now, and so it is mentioned first. Once our present worries are taken care of, we start to worry about the future, and then ar-Raheem takes care of our future worries. Allah created us and knows best what we need and how and when we need it. This verse is a clear indication of that. In light of this, we learn how elaborate the description of Allah is, even though it is only manifested in two words.

Az-Zamakhshari once said, “that of ar-Rahman and ar-Raheem, the former is like the huge towering waves of the ocean, and the latter is like the calm sea. And one cannot imagine both together, and they cannot imagine those two names at the same time, they are beyond our imagination.” This is the mistake made by people who try to define Allah’s mercy without accounting for all those meanings, and that leads them to fallacious conclusions and doubts: ‘Why is there violence in the world if Allah is Merciful?’ or ‘Allah is extremely Merciful and will excuse us all for all our mistakes.’ To claim to fully understand Allah’s mercy is to err, that is beyond our capacity. We can only praise Allah at just the limited amount of knowledge that He has given us about His mercy through those two words and their linguistic miracle.

Ibn Abbas, radi Allahu anhuma, described ar-Rahman as being for all the creatures in the universe, but ar-Raheem is only for the believers. Which means that perpetual mercy and reward in the afterlife is only for the believers, even though everyone and everything is able to make use of Allah’s blessings in this world. Also note, that if Allah left out either one of ar-Rahman or ar-Raheem, there would be chaos in the world with either the lack of the common blessings or that or accountability.

Excerpt from tafsir notes of ustadh Nouman Ali Khan on Soorah Al-Fatihah link - http://ia601200.us.archive.org/8/items/Linguisticmiracle.comTafsirNotes-Bayyinah.tvnoumanAliKhan/1-SurahAlFatihatheOpening-linguisticmiracle.pdf

Once upon a Friday (Jumu'ah)

It was a typical sunny Friday morning in the tropical city of Singapore. Ramlee was already up by 9 a.m. getting ready for Friday prayers. He’s a little more eager to go for prayers on that particular day as it would be the first time he would be going with his close elder cousin from Malaysia who came over a few days before and stayed at his house as they were both having their term break from tertiary studies.

 “Hey, wake up Afdlin, it’s already 9!” nudged Ramlee.

 “Yeah yeah, I’m already up. Just let me finish this last part of this nice dream I’m having..” with his eyes barely opened.

 “Oh, c’mon!” said Ramlee, and pushed Afdlin off his mattress.

 “Woii!” cried out Afdlin finally awake.

 After Afdlin got ready, they had a sumptuous brunch prepared by Ramlee’s mom and soon after they both set off to the nearby mosque. It was about half an hour before the call for prayer, when they reached the main hall of the mosque and it was already half-filled.

 Ramlee went about his usual manner as he reached the main hall. He saw two empty spots in the middle of an already filled area and suggested to Afdlin to go there. However, Afdlin declined saying,

 “Nah, we’ll just take one of the empty spaces behind this filled row of congregation.”

 Ramlee was a little hesitant but decided to agree with Afdlin’s suggestion after seeing two other people who had hurriedly stepped over some people in order to get to the two available spots. He then immediately sat down. He noticed his cousin, Afdlin starting to pray two units of prayer. He remained seated wondering what type of prayer his cousin was performing. He had noticed before, people performing at least two units of prayers similarly but never had the chance to ask about it.

 Up till that day, Ramlee had mostly performed Friday prayers without much knowledge and had merely followed as how he had observed the common actions of the congregation. He had only started going for Friday prayers when he was in Sec. 3 as most of his close Muslim friends would, leaving school a little earlier than usual with the permission of the school. He does have basic knowledge on how to perform solat though but that’s about it.

 The call for prayer finally came, and the Friday sermon started. In the middle of the sermon, Ramlee’s phone vibrated. There was a text message from his mom and it read,

 “Ibu: Lee, Ayah said he’s taking a half day off today and we’ll all go shopping at Orchard Rd. later after Friday prayers. So make sure the both of you come back ASAP.”

 Excited, Ramlee nudged Afdlin showing him the message. Afdlin only took a glance and went back to focus on the khutbah. Ramlee thought that Afdlin’s standoffish actions were a little weird.

The sermon finally reached its end where the Imam would start reading the general supplications. As the congragation started to raise their hands for the supplications, to Ramlee’s surprise, Afdlin didn’t raise his hands but only said “Aameen” instead.

 Ramlee’s curiousity grew and he decided to ask Afdlin about all that he had observed after the Friday prayers.

 As they headed back home, Ramlee began to ask,

 “Eh, can I ask you something?”

 “Yeah shoot!” Afdlin replied.

 “I observed some things as we went about our Friday prayers. Firstly, why didn’t you want to get to the empty spots as I suggested? Secondly, what type of prayers did you perform before sitting down? Thirdly, why didn’t you seem to bother when I showed you the SMS during the sermon? And the most weird of all, why didn’t you raise your hands while everyone else were raising theirs while supplicating?!”

 “Ma sha Allah.. good observation skills my dear cousin! Haha..” said Afdlin.

 “Haha..Nah, I’ve actually noticed these things from time to time but haven’t had the chance to ask anyone about it..”

 “I see, ok, as you may have already known, whatever we do in our Ibaadah, we must do it according to how our dear Prophet sallallaahu’alayhi wassalam had taught us. He is the practical reference for all Muslims. The Qur’an is the theory and the Prophet (peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) is our guide in all the practical matters in religion.

 About your first question, the reason is that the Prophet sallallaahu’alayhi wasallam had prohibited people from stepping over others who have sat in the mosque.[1] True, there were two empty spots but seeing that there was no way to get there other than to step over some people or separate between two, I suggested for us to seat at the empty spaces readily available instead.

 Secondly, the Messenger sallaallaahu’alayhi wassalam had recommended us to pray at least two units of prayer before sitting down in the mosque.[2]

 Thirdly, the Prophet sallallaahu’alayhi wassallam had prohibited us to engage in idle speech during the khutbah and to pay full attention to the contents of the sermon.[3]

 And lastly, I understand that most people raise their hands while supplicating, in fact, almost everyone, but I’m merely following one of the sunnahs of our dear Prophet sallallaahu’alayhi wassalam.[4] I’ll show you the references to the things I’ve said later ok!?"

 "Hmm, okay, I see I see.. but why do so many people or probably most do it differently than some of the things you have said?" Ramlee continued to ask.

 "I'm not really sure, they probably have their own reasons or their references. Why don't you ask them instead? Now let’s get back home.. Pak Long is on his way to fetch us!” was Afdlins' reply.

 "Yeah, can't wait to show you around Orchard Rd. Thanks for explaining!” Ramlee smiled as they both rushed back to Ramlee’s home.

 References:

 islamqa.info
 islamweb.net
 onislam.net

 [1] – Abu Dawood (1118) and Ibn Maajah (1115) narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Busr (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: A man came and started stepping over the people one Friday when the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was delivering the khutbah, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to him: “Sit down, for you have annoyed (people).” [Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.]

 Al-Bukhaari (883) and Muslim (657) narrated that Salmaan al-Faarisi said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever does ghusl on Friday, purifies himself as much as he can, uses (hair) oil or perfumes himself with the perfume of his house, then goes out (for the Jumu‘ah prayer) and does not separate between two (persons sitting together in the mosque), then prays as much as is decreed for him, then remains silent whilst the imam is speaking, his sins between the present and the last Friday will be forgiven for him.”

 [2] - Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah said: "Sulayk Al-Ghatafaani came on Friday when the Messenger of Allaah was delivering the Khutbah. When he (Sulayk) sat down, the Prophet said to him: "O Sulayk, stand up and observe two Rak’ahs and make them short." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

 Abu Qataadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When one of you enters the mosque, let him not sit down until he has prayed two rak‘ahs.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1167; Muslim, 714]

 An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The scholars are unanimously agreed that it is mustahabb to greet the mosque, and it is makrooh to sit down without greeting it with no excuse, because of the hadeeth of Abu Qataadah which clearly states that that is not allowed. [End quote from al-Majmoo‘, 3/544]

 [3] - It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If you say to your companion when the imam is preaching on Friday, ‘Be quiet and listen,’ you have engaged in idle talk.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 892; Muslim, 851]

 This prohibition also applies to responding to a question about Islam, let alone any other kind of speech that has to do with worldly matters.

 It was narrated that Abu’l-Darda’ said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sat on the minbar and addressed the people, and he recited a verse. Ubayy ibn Ka’b was next to me, so I said to him: “O Ubayy, when was this verse revealed?” But he refused to speak to me, so I asked him again and he refused to speak to me, until the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came down (from the minbar). Then Ubayy said to me: “You have gained nothing from your Jumu’ah except idle talk.” When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had finished (the prayer), I went to him and told him (what had happened). He said: “Ubayy was right. When you hear your imam speaking, then keep quiet and listen attentively until he has finished.” [Narrated by Ahmad, 20780; Ibn Maajah, 1111; classed as saheeh by al-Busayri and al-Albaani in Tamaam al-Mannah, p. 338.]

 This indicates that it is obligatory to remain silent and listen attentively, and that it is forbidden to speak while the imam is delivering the khutbah on Friday.

 Ibn ‘Abd al-Baarr said:

 There is no dispute among the fuqaha’ of all regions that it is obligatory to remain silent and listen attentively to the khutbah, for those who hear it. [Al-Istidhkaar, 5/43.]

 [4] - Muslim (874) and Abu Dawood (1104) narrated that ‘Umaarah ibn Ru’aybah saw Bishr ibn Marwaan on the minbar raising his hands (Abu Dawood added: when he was making du’aa’ on Friday), and he said: “May Allaah make these two hands ugly. I saw the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) doing no more than this with his hand,” and he gestured with his forefinger.

 Al-Nawawi said:

 This indicates that the Sunnah is not to raise the hands during the khutbah, This is the view of Maalik and our companions and others.

 In Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi it says:

 This hadeeth indicates that it is makrooh to raise the hands on the minbar when making du’aa’. As it is not prescribed for the khateeb to raise his hands, the members of the congregation are like him because they follow his lead.

 Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:

 What is the ruling on raising one's hands when the imam is delivering the khutbah on Friday? He replied:

 Raising the hands when the imam is delivering the khutbah on Friday is not prescribed in sharee’ah. The Sahaabah denounced Bishr ibn Marwaan when he raised his hands during the Friday khutbah. But an exception is made in the case of prayers for rain (istisqaa’), because it is proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) raised his hands when praying to Allaah for rain during the Friday khutbah, and the people raised their hands with him. But apart from that one should not raise one's hands when making du’aa’ during the Friday khutbah. [Fataawa Arkaan al-Islam, p. 392.]

 And Allaah Almighty knows best.

Responsibility in Knowledge and Da’wa

‘Alî b. Abî Tâlib – Allah be pleased with him – said: Narrate to people what they can understand; do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved? Quoted by Al-Bukhârî, Al-Sahîh, Chapter about a person preferring some people with certain knowledge to the exclusion of others.

Ibn Hajr said in Fath Al-Bârî, “[In this narration] there is evidence that ambiguous knowledge should not be mentioned amongst the general public.”

Shaykh Muhammad b. Sâlih Al-‘Uthaymîn – Allah have mercy on him – explained this very important and often misunderstood point beautifully. After mentioning the narration of ‘Alî, he states: It is therefore an aspect of wisdom in da’wah (calling others to Allah) that you should not surprise people with things they are not able to comprehend. Rather, you should call them in stages, bit by bit until their minds settle…”

He goes on to say: “[The statement of ‘Alî] ‘Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved?’ is a rhetorical question, posed as a criticism of such behavior. It means: by narrating to people things they cannot understand do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved? This is because in such cases when you say, “Allah said, and His Messenger said” they will say you have lied if their minds cannot comprehend what you are saying. Here, they are not disbelieving Allah and His Messenger, but they are disbelieving you because of this speech that you have attributed to Allah and His Messenger. Thus they will end up disbelieving Allah and His Messenger – not directly – but by way of the one who transmits this knowledge (i.e. you).

Now if it is said: Should we stop telling people things they cannot understand even if they need to know?

The answer is: No, we do not leave this knowledge altogether, but we should tell them in a way that they will be able to understand. This is done by telling them stage by stage, bit by bit until they can accept the speech we want them to know and they can feel comfortable with it. We do not abandon knowledge that people cannot understand and just say ‘this is something they will reject or dislike so we will not speak about it.’

The same is the case with acting upon a Sunnah that people are not used to and which they might find objectionable. We should act by this Sunnah, but only after informing people about it, such that they will be able to accept it and feel comfortable about it.

We learn from this narration (of ‘Alî) that it is important to employ wisdom in calling to Allah, and that it is incumbent upon anyone who calls to Allah to consider the level of understanding of those he is inviting, and that he should put everyone in their proper place. [Majmû’ Fatâwâ Ibn ‘Uthaymîn Vol.10 p140.]

I'm a Muslim and I'm having a hard time to pray

I've decided to do my own transcript (there's already one, which inspired me to do this) of this video which I feel is a really important topic to focus on and for all of us to ponder upon, as it revolves around the topic of Solaat, the 5 obligatory daily prayers for Muslims.

 Something, which many have taken lightly about its importance in our lives as Muslims. Check out the video, just over 6 mins long.

 
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Questioner: "Hi can you give me advice? I'm a new Muslim but I can't seem to pray 5 times a day. It's been a year now but does God really care if I pray 5 times as long as I'm doing good?" 

Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan answered: "Two things here. There are actually two different statements which are two different problems in the question.

 The FIRST problem is, I can't pray 5 times a day. I can't do it. Now, I don't believe you. Whoever said I can't do it, I don't believe you. You know why? Because I believe Allah. Now, I didn't say I believe in Allah, I said I believe Allah. There's a difference, right? I believe in Allah means I believe Allah exists, I believe in Him. But when I say I believe Allah, it means I believe what He says.

He says, subhaanahu wata'aala: {Laa yukallifulLahu nafsan illaa wus'ahaa..} [Al-Baqarah 2:286]

Allah will not burden anyone unless they are able to carry that burden. That's what Allah said. Allah said He does not burden anyone with any responsibility, unless they are capable of living up to that burden. This is what He said. 

You're saying you are not able to live up to a responsibility that Allah gave you, isn't that true? You're saying I can't pray 5 times, it's too much! And Allah is saying yes you can!

So I have a choice in believing you and believing Allah, and perhaps if you didn't realize this maybe you're lying to yourself..Maybe you've convinced yourself because of your laziness, because of your lack of will, that you don't want to pray 5 times. I can't judge you, I don't know what the problem is, but the problem maybe you're ashamed to pray in front of non-Muslims. People can take 15 minute cigarette breaks at work. They can take a break and just go hang out do whatever, you can't pray 5 times a day? Subhanallah.

 I mean in this part of the world, you know, I used to work in New York City, I would see Muslims praying all over the place. In the middle of 5th Avenue, on the curb, the guy is making solaah cos it's time. Or you know, in the university, you open the copy machine room in the library and there's like three guys praying right there. Muslims will pray, if it's time, we're gonna pray, that's it! So there's no excuses.

 So that's the first thing, Allah said you can. So if Allah gave this burden upon you and He did in fact, then you can. Convince yourself of that. And rely on Allah and He'll make it easy for you. 

 The SECOND question is, does He really care? Does He even care if I pray or not? Now this question is actually more about does He need my prayer or not?

 You're forgetting that the prayer isn't for Allah. It's for you. It's not for Allah. If all the people in the world, all they did in their life was pray to Allah, it would not make Him any richer. And it wouldn't add to His Kingdom cos He owns all of Kingdom. And if no one mentioned Allah, ever again, it doesn't diminish His Dominion, His Kingdom, His Glory, in any way. 

 He doesn't need us. We need Him.. We need Him. 

 So the question is, do you feel like you need to pray? Do you feel like that's a need in your life? And if it's not, and you feel you're free of, you know, begging Allah for His help, turning to Allah and submitting before His commandments, then that's a serious problem with your faith.

It has become weak and this question only came up because you've been distanced from Allah for so long, that shaitan can come to you and say, "Yeah I know you used to feel bad about not praying, let's just get rid of that bad feeling, and replace it with, Well why do I have to pray anyway?". That's the next phase of that disease. 

 The first part was at least, it was diagnosed, but at least you had some bad feeling, guilt was still there, that's a gift from Allah. When that guilt even goes away, and you say,"Aaah, Allah doesn't need my prayer, it's all good. So long as I'm doing good. And that's the last part that I wanna talk about, this so long as you're doing good part.

 Who defines what's good? There are two kinds of good in this world, please remember this ok? There're two kinds of good.

 1) There's ethical good. I'm good to my neighbour, I'm honest at work, I'm nice to people, I don't steal, I don't cheat, you know. These are ethics. Basic ethics, right.. I tell the truth, I'm honest, I pay my taxes, bla bla bla, these are ethical truths.

 2) Then there are religious goods. I go to Hajj, I give zakaat, I pray 5 times a day, I fast in the month of Ramadhan. These aren't ethical realities, these are religious goods.Good deeds that are religious and good deeds that are ethical, moral in nature.

 What happens a lot of times with Muslims, and non-Muslims, especially it happens with Muslims.. Is that we make a distinction between these two things. So in the Muslim world, you find people that are morally good. They're nice to their family, they take care of their kids, they're responsible in their household, they're nice to their neighbours, they're honest at work.. Good people. But guess what? No religion. I don't need religion to be good, that's what they say.

 And on the other extreme, you have people that pray, go to hajj, give zakaah, have a long beard, dress in a very religious garment, and yet, terrible to their family, cheating people in business.. Highly immoral and unethical.

 So what has happened is, we have seperated the two dimensions of goodness. Moral goodness (Ethical goodness) and Religious goodness.

 What Allah does in the Qur'an is, fuses them together, in that aayah, there's one aayah, it's called aayaatul birr. [Refer to soorah Al-Baqarah 2:177] Aayah of goodness. What does it mean to be good. If you study that aayah, it's a combination of two things. It's a combination of ethical principles, like fulfilling your promises; being patient, perseverence and also religious goodness; establishing prayer, giving the zakaah. So it's a combination of both of those things in one place. 

 So if you think you are in a position to define what good is, most likely you're sticking to moral goodness. And you're undermining religious goodness, like the rituals that Allah taught us.

 But what Allah wants is for us to have both at the same time. This is when a person is truly good. Otherwise, you're not really good. You have defined goodness for yourself, and you've rejected Allah's definition of it.

 But we turn to Allah for guidance because we can't define things for ourselves, we want Him to define for us. Insha Allahu Ta'aala.

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 {وَأَنَا اخْتَرْتُكَ فَاسْتَمِعْ لِمَا يُوحَى - إِنَّنِى أَنَا اللَّهُ لا إِلَـهَ إِلا أَنَاْ فَاعْبُدْنِى وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَوةَ لِذِكْرِى} 

{And I have chosen you. So listen to that which will be revealed (to you). Verily, I am Allah! There is no God but Me, so worship Me, and perform Salah for My remembrance.''} [Taa-Haa 20: (13-14)]

the Prophet (peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) said,

((The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If it is sound, then the rest of his deeds will be sound. And if it is bad, then the rest of his deeds will be bad."))

[Recorded by al-Tabarani. According to al-Albani, it is sahih. Al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami, vol.1, p. 503.]

Excerpt from Fahd Al-Kandari's 'Traveling with the Quran'

Sheikh Fahad interviews a young blind boy on his life as he grew up memorizing the Quran. What the Sheikh did not expect was that the Boy would end up teaching him and over a Million others a valuable lesson in how we should treat this invaluable book, The Quran.

The Life of Sultaan Muhammad al-Faatih

‎"The Sultan entered the city on horse-back, he dismounted, lay prostate, praising God. Then he entered Aghia Sophia Church and granted the people of Constantinople safety and insured protecting them and their possessions and religious freedom. Sultan Mohammad Al-Fatih let them practice their rituals, but he turned half the Churches of Constantinople into mosques. As a matter of fact, what Sultan Mohammad did was nothing compared to what the European kings had done on conquering Muslims' lands. They even destroyed all the mosques in Andalusia, killed all its Muslim believers be them men or women, young or old, and burned many Islamic books!.. the attitude of Sultan Muhammad astounded the European historians who had always been fanatic and malicious. They could not believe the Sultan was forgiving, fair and tolerant towards the Christians."