Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Education of the household

Delivered by Sister Maisha Kareem

I seek refuge in Allah from the rejected Shaitan. In the name of Allah the most Merciful most Kind. All praises are due to Allah the lord of the universe, the most Merciful most Kind. Master of the day of judgement. You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help. Guide us along the straight path. The path of those whom You have favoured and not the path of those who earned your anger and went astray. Ameen

Allah says in the Quran: O mankind protect yourself and your family from a fire whose fuel is mankind and stones. (sura Tahrim: 6). In this ayat Allah is telling us that it is not only enough to safeguard ones own imaan, rather the leading figure of the house will also be asked about the imaan of the household. This should be enough incentive for us to look at the religious needs of our loved ones. How we can provide the right form of education for our children and nurture them in the manner which will please our lord Allah? In the hadith the prophet ( peace be upon him says) that only 3 actions will benefit a person after he dies (1) an ongoing sadaqa, (2) knowledge that he has left behind, (3) and pious children who will pray for him.

The 3rd point of the hadith is concerning pious children. You can only expect to have pious children if you bring them up right by giving them the proper education. If you have not given them the right Islamic education then don’t expect them to pray for you. So in this hadith indirectly the Prophet peace be upon him is telling the parents that it is in your interest to give your children a good Islamic education.

Below are some instrumental forms of education taken from the teachings of our liege-lord Muhammad may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

1) Education through establishing habits. This can be done when only two factors are observed. Through (a) virtuous Islamic knowledge and (b) righteous environment

Example of virtuous Islamic knowledge
The Prophet peace be upon him says “a father has not given his child anything better than teaching him politeness. (Tirmidhi)

Example of righteous environment
The Prophet Peace be upon him said “Every child is born on the fitra (innate intrinsic nature), there his parents make him into a Christian a Jew or a Zoroastrian (fire-worshipper). (Bukhari)

In this hadith the Prophet is trying to allude to the fact that in order to give the children a good Islamic education, first and foremost the Parents need to sort them selves out because everything the parents do or say has a direct influence on the child. Here again it should be reminded that giving the children good Islamic education is in the interest of the parents. How? First of all, the parents would need to rectify themselves and secondly good children will pray for them after their death.

Another Example of righteous environment: See what type of friends the child has.
In the hadith the prophet peace be upon him says, the example of a good friend is like the example of an ‘attaar (a person who sells perfume) even though he does not use any perfume but he still will be perfumed by just staying there. And the example of a bad friend is that of a blacksmith, even if he does not do anything some of the bad odour will come unto him. (Bukhari)

One rotten apple spoils all the apples.

2) Education through admonition

(a) Rather than punishing the child, it is better to point out his mistakes in ways it will not hurt his ego or feelings, through advices and exhortation.

Example 1. Through using sympathy and love. As in the case of Luqman (as) who made his son understand by using a very sweet and loving tone (yaa bunayya) O my small child. Allah says in the Quran in narrating Luqman’s story “And as Luqman said to his son whilst admonishing him, O my son, do not associate others with Allah. Surely associating others with Allah is indeed a grave injustice. (Sura Luqman: verse 13)

(b) When they do something wrong to teach them by telling them a story from the Quran and Hadith, such as if the child is jealous then the story of sayyiduna Yusuf (alayhis salaam) and his brothers can be mentioned and the consequence of jealousy.

(c) To teach them by correcting the mistake by acting it out by yourself. The Prophet peace be upon him once led the prayer whilst on the mimbar so that others can see him praying and learn by watching. (Bukhari)

(d) Admonition through seizing the chance. Once the Sahaba backbited about a person, the Prophet did not say anything to them, but then they passed by a dead donkey and he said back biting is worse than eating the flesh of this carcass.

3) Education through observation

It is very necessary for parents to observe the belief, psychological and moral formulation of the child. As mentioned in the ayat: O mankind protect yourself and your family from a fire whose fuel is mankind and stones. (sura Tahrim: 6). How can it be possible to save your family from the fire of hell if you do not observe them.

This is why the Prophet said in a hadith: every one of you is a Shepard and everyone will be asked about his flock, the women is guardian over her husband’s house and responsible for her subjects, the man over his wife and the person over his own self. (bukhari)

Where the role of the father is instrumental and he is the bread winner, we find in this hadith the mother has a responsibility as well and that is to be responsible over her husband’s affairs including a good moral upbringing of the children. As the cliché says the first social institute towards building a harmonious society is the family which is the corner stone of society and the mothers lap is the first school.

The prophet taught few sahaba’s through observation. Umar ibn abi salama says: I was a boy in the lap of the Prophet and my hand used to move around everywhere in the dish whilst eating food, so the Prophet said, “O child mention Allah’s name eat with your right hand and eat from the nearest place to you. (Bukhari, Muslim) This is a prime example of education through observation.

Wa sallallahu ala ashrifil anbiya wal mursalin, wa ala aalihi wa ashabihi ajma’in wa man tabi’ahum ila yawmiddin

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Question from fiqh salat session 1

6/05/2006

Q1. It says that women should not have a gap between their feet. But this causes loss of balance. What are we supposed to do? (I have been told that a little gap may be kept).

A1. There is nothing wrong with keeping a little gap

Q2. Whats tasmiya? (Women’s prayer, point 8, pg7)

A2. Tasmiya is another name for bismillah

Q3. Is it sinful to talk/do worldly things whilst the azaan is being narrated?

A3. It definitely is makruh to talk during azan. There is a difference of opinion concerning if it is wajib or not to listen and respond to the azan. It is mandub to stop doing all actions during azan time. This is obviously when stopping these actions does not inconvenient others or brings you some kind of loss.

Q4. Sometimes in eid prayer, there are two jamats, is this not makruh?

A4. It is not makruh to have more than one eid jamat. It is makruh only for normal salat in the mosque where the jamat has already taken place. This is the hanafi position.

Q5. Is it a bid’ah to kiss the quran after you’ve finished reciting it? Is it a bid’ah to kiss the prayer mat after completion of the prayer?

A5. These actions are not endorsed by the quran and sunna therefore if they are done out of love, they should not be done with the intention of a valid ibaada. Making them into an ibada will relegate them to the position of a bid’ah. Allah knows best

Q6. When you are unsure of whether you have made a mistake or not, should you do sajada sahw?

A6. If this happens very rarely then you should start the prayer again, if this happens frequently then you should do sajda sahw

Q7. You said about eating whilst in the state of hunger before salat, but what if you haven’t got much time left for salat?

A7. Its not haram to pray in the state of hunger. What I mean by hunger is that your body starts shaking due to intense hunger. In any case if the time is short then you can pray before eating.

Q8. If you are on a long train journey and time for prayer is running out but space is very limited – how do you pray?

A8. You can pray in your seat, it is better to be facing the ka’ba when you start the prayer.

Q9. What is the difference between nafal and halki nafal?

A9. Halki nafal (salat khafifa) are a set of nafals which carry additional merit and are normally shorter than other nafals.

Q10. If weetr is your last prayer then why pray halky nafal?

A10. You should make witr the last prayer, however praying the short nafals carry extra merits therefore they should also be prayed.

Q11. How much time should you leave between tahajjud prayer and your fajar prayer?

A11. One sixth of the night. If you were to make the night into six parts from isha till fajar. The first half will be for sleeping, the next third for tahajjud and the remaining sixth will be for going back to sleep before waking up for fajar.

Q12. Salatul witr. Point 5 Musthab to send salutation on the Prophet (saw), how do you send salutation on the prophet (saw) or is it included in the dua?

A12. After the dua of qunut salutation should normally be said like what we read after the tashhud in the last sitting of any prayer.

Q13. Can women do ikamah?

A13. Only amongst women, however it is better not to.

Q14. Is it qada to read isha salah after midnite? Is it makruh tanzihi or makruh tahrimi?

A14. It does not become qada after midnight. You can pray isha anytime before fajar however it is mustahab to pray it before one third of the night ends, after that it is makruh tanzihi.

Q15. Does the dua need to be in Arabic? Will it affect the response?

A15. In the prayer itself such as in ruku or sujud, it has to be in Arabic or the prayer will break. As far as outside of prayer is concerned then it can be said in any language, it will not affect the response for the response depends on your sincerity and not language and rhetoric.

Q16. If verbal intention is said before namaz but the wrong thing is said e.g. instead of isha you say maghrib, but go to takbir then realise the mistake, should you break the salat and start again or continue?

A16. You should not break the prayer as the verbal intention is not fard or wajib, as long as you know in your heart what you are praying its ok.

Q17. If the azan for asr has been called in a mosque, can you pray dhur in the mosque afterwards (due to difference of times between hanafi and shafir etc?

A17. Yes you can.

Q18. For sajda tilaawat is there a time limit for reciting the ayah to making the sajdah?
A18. If the sajda ayat has been prayed in the prayer it has to be immediately done however outside of prayer there is not time limit.

Q19. Sometimes in prayer, my sleeves move up and some of my wrist is exposed. What should I do in this situation? (note: this is a female case)

A19. You should take it down immediately; your prayer will be ok.

Q20. Is it sinful to pray namaz in the opposite direction?

A20. If it is done purposely, then yes it is sinful and you will need to do qada of your prayer, if it is done by mistake then inshallah there will be no reproach.

Q21. On a journey, are we allowed to read namaz sitting down?

A21. If you are not able to stand up for example in a train then you may do so sitting down

Q22. ‘Prevention before cure’ When someone ignorant sees us doing ‘eye thing’ they will think that it is part of ibaada so shouldn’t we be avoiding it even if your intention is pure?

A22. Very good point, yes it should be avoided in public as not to confuse the people, a better way of doing it is to educate people, however that will take a long time. Thank you for the valuable suggestion.

Note: all questions relating to female congregation prayer has not been answered as we will deal with them in depth in the next fiqh session.

And Allah knows best.

Aswers for tahara and usul al-fiqh test paper

Please see below for test paper: http://mansys.blogspot.com/2006/04/tahara-and-usul-al-fiqh-test.html

1. D
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. C

7. There are seven legal rulings in Hanafi fiqh, they are Fard, Wajib, Mandub, Mubah, Makruh Tanzihi, Makruh Tahrimi and Haram.
They differ from the rest of the schools of fiqh in the sense that the rest of the schools don’t have more than five legal rulings, they don’t have Wajib and Makruh Tahrimi.

9. Maa Mutlaq is water which is pure and can be used to purify.
Maa Mustamal is water which is pure but has lost the quality of purifying
They are both similar in the sense that both of them are pure, different in the sense that the former can be used for purifying whilst the latter can’t
Maa Najis is polluted water. It is the complete opposite of Maa Mutalaq and has nothing in common. It is similar to Maa Mustamal in the sense that both of them cannot be used for purification purposes. It is different in the sense that Maa Mustamal is pure and clean whilst this one is not.

10. Adab of Wudu

To sit in a high place
To face the qibla
To do the wudu independently without anyone’s help

11. In the state of major pollution you cannot

a. Read the Quran
b. Touch the Quran
c. Do Tawaf of the Kaba
d. Go into the Masjid without a valid reason
e. Pray Salaat

12. Sleep in its self is not a canceller of Wudu. Wudu breaks only if you lose control over your mind and body. This happens in the state of deep sleep. However if the sleep is light, then it does not break the wudu as long as the person is not lying down.

13. Tayammum can be practiced:
a. In the absence of water,
b. Or if someone is not able to use water because of illness.

14. 3 Days

15. Ghusl is Mandub:

c. For the one who has just majored (baligh)
d. After washing a corpse

16. Hamada cannot do tayammum because he is the wali (next of kin). He has the full right to make everyone repeat the janaza prayer if they have started without his permission, therefore the question of Hamada missing the janaza prayer does not even raise.

17. Seven days will be counted as hayd and seven days will be irregular bleeding. In the days of irregular bleeding she will have to do the wudu for every prayer time.

18. They will respond to Nizar by saying that every form of ibadat is haram unless the contrary is proven. Since this form of ibadaat cannot be proven to be a valid worship therefore it is haraam.

19. Nadia will be able to eat chocolate because everything in halal until proven to be haram. There is no mention of chocolates in the quran and sunna therefore it will be halal providing the ingredients are hala.

20. Hisham’s wudu will be broken because Hisham is sure that he entered the bathroom. Since normally people relieve themselves in the bathroom on this basis Hisham’s wudu will be broken.

21. Hiba is not obliged to do the full wudu again because she is still in the state of wudu

22. Nurhan and her friends can drink out of these glasses provided the glasses are washed properly. This is because impurity does not permeate into impermeable objects.

23. Shayma can teach, according to the opinion of Imam Tahawi, by breaking up the ayats into little portions. In this way it does not come under the category of qiraat. She is allowed to read all other types of Islamic literature being careful that at the same time she does not touch the verses of the quran if they do come in these books.

24. Shahrur’s wudu will be broken because letting out wind was not a problem for him.

25. Hanadi is allowed to take a bath in the pond providing the pond is big and he bathes away form the place where the najasat is.

Extension paper

1. Hamdi should start his prayer again, he does not need to do wudu again

2. Ibtisaam can do wudu with the same water again, because the condition for the water to become used is that she is using it with the intention of worship.

3. Naguib will not be branded as a kafir because sexual intercourse with ones wife during her menses is not haram because of a primary prohibition but because of a secondary prohibition i.e. menstruation.

4. The water that emanated from the fingers of the Prophet is the most blessed, even more than zamzam.

5. Zaid should pray when he finds water of soil and not before that






Monday, May 08, 2006

Questions from fiqh al-tahara lessons

Q.1. If I have normal menstruation for 10 days, but one I get it for 9 days, do I pray on the 10th day

A.1. The Ulama have written that in this situation the woman should pray on the 10th day in case she has really come out of her menstruation. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Q.2. what if you have an illness of clear discharge all the time, would you have to 2 perform a new wudu each time?

A.2. If the illness is such that it comes under the category of the excused then wudu should be done only once for every prayer time.
If the illness is not that serious then wudu should be done each time the discharge leaves the body.
Condition for qualifying to be from the excused: If discharge continues for one full salat time (the whole time and not the time that it takes to pray only), in the sense that after doing a fresh wudu you can’t stay five minutes but the wudu breaks again. To remain an excused the illness should be found once in every salat time hereafter.

Q.3. A woman has irregular bleeding, e.g. 2 months. When her regular cycle is 10 days, when should she resume to read her prayers.

A.3. The answer to this question in its simplest form is that the woman will observe the first 10 days as menstruation, the next 15 days will be counted as istihaada (irregular vaginal bleeding) and the next 10 days will be counted as menstruation. (Every 15 days between two bleeding will be counted as istihaada period.)


Q.4. When I first started, regular days of menstruation was 5 days. Then, due to some problem my menstruation became irregular. Then it became regular again for a couple of months, then irregular again. What should she do? What is her average?

A.4. The question is a bit vague. If the menstruation started with 5 days and then became irregular. Then there are two possibilities. If the irregular bleeding did not exceed 10 days then the extra days will also be counted as hayd. E.g. if the menstruation started with 5 days but then extended to 9 days, then all 9 days will be counted as hayd.
If the irregular bleeding exceeded 10 days then from the 6th day onwards everything will be counted as istihaada. E.g. if the menstruation started with 5 days and extended to 14 days then the extra 9 days will be counted as istihaada.

Q.5. if exceeding the 40 days in which you’re supposed to trim, cut (etc) the under arm hair and below the naval hair, what are the punishment and is it a major sin?

A.5. Its makruh and is against the fitra

Q.6. when discharge leaves a woman’s body does this need fresh wudu?

A.6. Yes the wudu breaks and a fresh wudu is needed

Prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings on him) in Taif

O Allah, I complain to you of my weakness of strenght,
And my lack of strategy
And how insignificant I have become in the eyes of people
O most merciful of those who show mercy
You are the lord of those who have no power
And you are my lord
Who are you going to leave me to?
To some distant person who will be like fire to me
Or to some enemy that you give him power over me
If you have no anger towards me then I have no objections
But your protection is easier for me
I seek refuge in the light of your countenance
By it even the darkness has been illuminated
And the affairs of this world and the hereafter have been taken care of
I seek refuge that your wrath should descend on me
Or your displeasure falls on me
For you is the reproach until you are content
There is no strength and power except from you…Ameen

Prayer of a child

Allama Iqbal

My hopes and wishes come upon My lips from inside my heart. Oh Allah! My life should be Like a lamp, never to go dark.
Let the darkness of the world Disappear with my presence. Let every place become bright With my shining existence.
Just as the flower stands with others, Increasing the garden’s beauty, Let my life stand with knowledge And dignify my community.
My life should be built around Those who seek the light, Just as the moth loves the glowing lamp In the darkness of the night.
Oh Allah! Make me strive Constantly to educate my mind, With the light of knowledge That you gave me the power to find.
I want to dedicate my life to those Who are in need of special care. The old, the young, the ill, the hungry, I want to be fair.
Oh Allah! You gave us choices! Protect us from sins, Lead us to the path of righteousness, Help us to do good things.

Urdu lyrics

lab pe aatii hai duaa banake tamannaa merii zindagii shammaa kii surat ho Khudaayaa merii
ho mere dam se yuuN hii mere watan kii ziinat jis tarah phuul se hotii hai chaman kii ziinat
zindagii ho merii parawaane kii surat yaa rab ilm kii shammaa se ho mujhako mohabbat yaa rab
ho meraa kaam Gariibon kii himaayat karanaa dardmandon se zaiifon se mohabbat karanaa
mere allaah buraaii se bachaanaa mujhako nek jo raah ho us raah pe chalaanaa mujhako