Friday, 16 August 2013
The Innovation of Loneliness
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Friday, 12 July 2013
Not Fasting Due To Illness
 |
Sūrat Al-Baqarah 2:184
|
A translation of this fatwā from Naseem Al-Sham:
Question:
What is the value of the kaffārah[1] for the person who has been prevented from fasting by
his doctor for health reasons? How does he carry it out, when and to whom?
Answer (Imam
Muḥammad Tawfīq Ramaḍān):
Whoever has to break his
fast due to illness and it is hoped that he will recover, all he has to
do is make them up when he is able.
Whoever has to break his fast
due to an illness[2]
from which he is not expected to recover has to donate the equivalent of
approximately half a kilogramme of
rice[3]
for each missed day,[4]
and when we say rice we mean the rice itself, not its monetary value.
[1]
(tn): The word should actually be fidyah, which means redemption, while kaffārah is expiation. Please see this fatwā and this
article. Someone who misses fasts due to illness has not committed any sin,
and thus fidyah should be regarded as an alternative means of
worshipping one’s Lord.
[2]
(tn): ‘those who are ill (N: the illness that permits not fasting being
that which fasting would worsen, delay recovery from, or cause one considerable
harm with; the same dispensation applying to someone who needs to take medicine
during the day that breaks the fast and that he cannot delay taking until
night.’ [Reliance of the Traveller (Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publication,
1999), section i1.3(1), p.279]
[3]
(tn): i.e. half a litre of food, which should be the staple crop of the
country. Please see Reliance, section i1.33, p.290. According to Muʿjam Lughat al-Fuqahāʾ (Beirut: Dār Al-Nafāʾis, 1431/2010), s.v. Mudd, one mudd
is equivalent to 0.543 kg, to be precise.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Combining Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ when ʿIshāʾ is Late
 |
| Evening Twilight |
Question:
My
family and I live in Europe and the adhān for ʿIshāʾ is very late,
around quarter past eleven. We’re very tired by that time and especially the
children, who have to sleep early in order to wake up and get ready for school.
It is permissible for us to combine the ʿIshāʾ prayer with the Maghrib prayer when
the first prayer comes in,[1]
which is at about ten minutes to nine? Or, do we have to wait for the ʿIshāʾ prayer, and if it is the case that we have to wait until ʿIshāʾ, it is permissible for the children, especially those who are
under 14, to combine their prayers and sleep, and especially the ones who are
used to sleeping early, i.e. before half past nine? Please let us know, and may
Allah reward you.
Praise be
to Allah, and He suffices, and peace be upon His Chosen Messenger.
To proceed:
Jamʿ al-taqdīm is not permissible unless one is travelling,
and it is possible for the difference between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ to be an hour and a half for people
whose red horizon[2]
never disappears, and this applies to every adult.[3]
[1] (tn): known as jam’ al-taqdīm, which would also apply to praying al-Ẓuhr and al-ʿAsr during the time for al-Ẓuhr. Jamʿ al-taʾkhīr, on the other hand, refers to delaying the first prayer and combining
it with the second prayer during the second prayer’s time.
[2] (tn): Ar. al-shafaq al-aḥmar, i.e. evening twilight, during which time there is red in the sky. Please see http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/sunset/,
which is also the source for the image above. What the sheikh is saying, may Allah preserve him, is that it is not permissible to combine prayers merely because the second prayer is late. If there is indeed no disappearance of the redness in the sky, one can wait an hour and a half and then prayʿIshāʾ.
[3] (tn): Ar. bāligh, which, in the Revealed Law, is anyone who has
reached puberty, indicated by a wet dream in the case of boys and menstruation
or pregnancy in the case of girls. If none of these occur, then the child is
deemed legally responsible (mukallaf) once he or she turns 15 lunar
years of age. Please see Reliance of the Traveller (Beltsville,
Maryland: Amana Publications, 1999), section k13.8, p. 411-412, which is in the Book of Trade.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
The Legal Ruling for the Tarāwīḥ Prayer
Question:
What is the legal ruling
for the Tarāwīḥ prayer?
Answer (from Sheikh Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī):
Aḥmad, Ibn Ḥibbān and
Al-Ḥākim have related, and the latter declared it authentic (ṣaḥīḥ),
from the ḥadīth of Abū Dharr, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, said, “Prayer is the best of matters, so whoever is
able to do a great deal of it let him do a great deal.”[1]
This clearly means
that whenever a Muslim does a lot of supererogatory (nāfilah) prayers he
gets more reward for doing so, and the Tarāwīḥ prayer is supererogatory.
Therefore, whoever forbids someone praying from doing more than eight or ten or
twenty [rakʿa] has gone against the speech of the Messenger of Allah.
Indeed, he has declared it mistaken!
Indeed the debate
that gets worse and worse in some masājid, regarding this issue, only exists
for the sake of exalting one’s ego and defending one’s position, and whoever
has devoted his attention to seeking Allah’s pleasure will never delve into
this debate in the slightest. Let the person praying know that he is in charge
of himself, and thus, if he wants to pray Tarāwīḥ as four, or eight, or twenty
or more…then it is supererogatory, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, has said, “Prayer is the best of matters, so whoever is able to do a great deal of
it let him do a great deal.”
[Translated from Maʿ Al-Nās: Mashūrāt wa
Fatāwā (Damascus: Dār Al-Fikr, 1423/2002),
v. 1, p. 37]
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Taking Remuneration for Being an Imām
Question:
As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa Raḥmatullāhi wa Barakātuh. Is it permissible for one to take material
remuneration (a monetary amount) in exchange for leading people in the Tarāwīḥ prayer? May Allah reward you a
thousand times over and grant you a long life.
Answer
(Imam Rushdī Salīm al-Qalam):
Praise be
to Allah, and He suffices, and peace be upon His Chosen Messenger.
To proceed:
A wage in
exchange for the prayer is not permissible but in exchange for one’s time, one’s
travelling,[1]
one’s devoting all their attention to a specific place and one’s remaining
there, then there is no harm in it, especially if there are donations.[2] When people leave off
these actions[3]
the fuqahāʾ have given the fatwā that it is permissible due to
necessity.[4]
[2] (tn): i.e. the congregation donates
money to compensate the imām, and thus the masjid itself incurs no additional expense
[3] (tn): i.e. donating
[4] (tn): because there would then be
the risk of no communal prayer
More Fatawa on Ramadan and Fasting
More Fatawa on Ramadan and Fasting
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Claims about the Unseen
And Picturing One’s shaykh
 |
| Sūrat Al-Zumar 39:3 |
Question:
1. We have
an imam of the masjid who says that on Laylat al-Qadr, Muḥammad, may
blessings and peace be upon him, came to the masjid and gave the greeting of
peace (salām) to the people, and that Jibrīl, peace be upon him, also
came to the masjid and gave the greeting of peace to the people. What is your
opinion regarding these statements?
2. Is it permissible
to pray behind someone who says that whoever does not picture[1]
the shaykh[2]
during his wird[3]
will be cut off from divine illuminations?
Answer
(from Sheikh Wahbah Al-Zuḥaylī):
1. These
claims and allegations are false. It is not lawful to make them, repeat them or
believe in them. Lies like these are akin to lying against the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, against the Revelation[4]
and against Jibrīl, and the matter therein is spiritual;[5]
no one has knowledge of it besides Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
2. This
statement is false and is also not lawful in the Revealed Law. It is not
permissible to picture a shaykh or anyone else whenever one is in
prayer,[6]
because a condition of the prayer is to be sincerely devoted to Allah, Mighty
and Majestic, and the texts of the Qurʾān show the opposite of this, such as
the Exalted One’s statement regarding idol-worshippers: “And those who take
protectors besides Him – ‘We only worship them so that they may bring us closer
to Allah’…” [Sūrat Al-Zumar 39:3] This kind of picturing is closer to
idolatry,[7]
and we seek refuge in Allah the Exalted.
[Translated
from Fatāwā Muʿāṣirah (Damascus: Dār Al-Fikr,
1427/2006), p.67-68]
Related Posts: A Beautiful Interview with Sheikh Ramadan Al-Bouti (Part 2)
[1] (tn): Ar. takhayyul, i.e. to picture him in
one’s mind
[2] (tn): i.e. the leader of a Ṣūfī ṭarīqah
[3] (tn): a set of daily supplications and
invocations, which in this case would be prescribed by the shaykh. For a general example, please see A Daily Wird.
[4] (tn): Ar. waḥī, which includes the Qurʾān
and the Sunnah
[5] (tn): Ar. rūḥānī, i.e. immaterial and thus
not something that can be witnessed and verified
[6] (tn): and the same applies to supplicating to
Allah and invoking Him
[7] (tn): Ar. shirk
Friday, 28 June 2013
Windmills vs. Fracking
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| White Throated Needletail (Photo by Steve Duffield) |
Assalaam alaykum,
Please have a read of these two blog posts; one discusses the ongoing oppression and tribulations that are bring wrought by the wind industry while the other deals with the Leftist opposition to fracking, which again shows that Leftist/socialist policies are narcissistic at core, serving their aims to exalt their own egos as opposed to being derived from any sincere intention for the welfare of others. This is a theme that has been discussed before on this blog.
1. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100223770/this-bird-rare-enough-for-you-greenies/
Wassalaam,
Mahdi
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Authentic Narrations regarding the 15th of Shaʿbān
Question:
Is there
anything affirmed in the Revealed Law that indicates that it is recommended to
supplicate (duʿāʾ) and fast the middle day of Shaʿbān, or fast the day
following the night of the Isrāʾ wa Al-Miʿrāj on the 27th of Rajab?
Answer
(from Sheikh Wahbah Az-Zuḥaylī):
There is
nothing affirmed in the Revealed Law that indicates that one should spend the
night of the middle day of Shaʿbān in group supplication, nor is there any
specified prayer (ṣalāh) therein. Likewise, there is nothing affirmed
regarding it being recommended to fast the middle day of Shaʿbān, or the day of
the Isrāʾ wa al-Miʿrāj due to the difference of opinion amongst the ʿulamāʾ regarding its exact date. Amongst
the things that are rejected is the supplication that is frequently used on the
middle day of Shaʿbān, for it contains that which
transgresses the bounds of the Revealed Law when, in the supplication, it is
said, “Allah erases whatever He wills or endorses it. The Master Copy of the
Book is with Him” [Sūrat Ar-Raʿd
13:39], because the foundations of things are never erased or reaffirmed and
thus differ with what is written on the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ).[1]
The ḥadīth that has been related by Ibn Mājah on the
authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with
him, in which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “If
it is the night of the middle day of Shaʿbān, then stand during its night and fast during its day,
for indeed Allah, Blessed and Exalted, descends therein upon the setting of the
sun to the lowest sky, and says, “Is there anyone seeking forgiveness that I
can forgive? Is there anyone seeking provision that I can provide for? Is there
anyone suffering that I can relieve? Is there anyone such-and-such? Is there
anyone such-and-such?” until the crack of dawn” is not authentic (ṣaḥīḥ).
The only
thing that has been authentically narrated from the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, is regarding the virtue of the entire month of Shaʿbān, without distinguishing one night over another,
and this is why he would fast a lot during this month. Also, it is unlawful to
fast in the second half of Shaʿbān
unless one has fasts to make up or those days coincide with one’s normal fasts.[2]
[Translated
from Fatāwā Muʿāṣirah (Damascus: Dār Al-Fikr,
1427/2006), p.36-37]
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Hikma 182
With Sheikh Muhammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, may Allah have mercy on him
تسبق أنوار الحكماء أقوالهم
فحيثما صار التنوير وصل التعبير
Courtesy of the Naseem Al Sham Channel.
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
The Creation of Man and Evolution Theory
By Sheikh Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, may Allah have mercy on him, from his book Kubrā Al-Yaqīniyyāt Al-Kawniyyah
Alhamdulilah, the full section is now available in English and can be read and downloaded from the English Naseem Al-Sham site. Please scroll to the bottom to access the PDF version.
And with Allah alone is every success.
UPDATE: This translation is now available here.
And with Allah alone is every success.
UPDATE: This translation is now available here.
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