Lessons from the Encounter Between the Prophet Moosaa and al-Khadir

Posted Sep 23, 2009 by Aboo Thaabit with No Comments

Part two

6) The permissibility of informing others about things that are part of human nature – such as fatigue, hunger or thirst – so long as it is truthful and is not done out of displeasure or annoyance. This is understood from Moosaa saying, “Truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this journey of ours.”

7) The recommendation that one’s attendant be clever, perceptive and intelligent, so as to carry out the instructions given to him.

8 ) The recommendation of one feeding his attendant from his own food, as well as the two of them eating together. The implication from Moosaa saying “bring us our lunch” is that they ate together, due to him using the word “our.” Read more

Replying to the person who sneezes [by saying yarhamakAllah] is it Fardh 'ayn or Fardh kifaayah?

Posted Sep 21, 2009 by Aboo Thaabit with No Comments

On the auhtority of Aboo Hurairah – may Allah be pleased with him – [he said] that the Messenger of Allah said:

The rights of a muslim upon his fellow muslim are five. Replying the salaam, visiting the sick, following the funeral and replying to the person who sneezes [by saying yarhamakAllah] [Reported by Bukhaaree, Kitaabal-Janaa-iz no. 1240 and Muslim, Kitaab al-Salaam no. 21626]

Explaining this hadeeth Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymeen – may Allah have mercy upon him – said:

If the person who sneezes [remembers to] praise[s] Allah then is it Fardh ‘ayn [meaning obligatory upon every person] or is it Fardh kifaayah [meaning obligatory on the muslim community only as a whole] to reply to such a person [by saying may Allah have mercy upon you]? Meaning is it sufficient for one person in the muslim community to reply to a sneezing person or is it obligatory upon every single person who hears the sneezing person to reply?

[And the answer is] Some of the scholars have mentioned this to be fardh kifaayah, so if we were a group of people and one amongst us sneezed, then it would be sufficient for one person amongst us to reply to this individual.

Whilst others [from amongst the scholars] have said, rather replying to the sneezing person is fardh ‘ayn upon every person that hears the sneezing person, because the Prophet said it is the right upon every person that hears him sneeze to reply by saying yarhamakAllah [may Allah have mercy upon you] so what is evident is that it is fardh ‘ayn. So based upon this, [we say] that everyone that hears a person sneeze it is obligatory upon him to say yarhamakAllah and the sneezing person replies by saying yahdeekum-ul-Allahu wa yuslih baalakum [may Allah guide you and make your affairs good] and it is sufficient for him to say this to one person if he makes the intention for the whole group.

If a person sneezes and does not praise Allah, do we remind him? [to praise Allah]

Posted Sep 21, 2009 by Aboo Thaabit with 2 Comments

Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymeen – may Allah have mercy upon him – said:

If a person sneezes and does not praise Allah, do not say to him ‘yarhamakAllah’ [may Allah have mercy upon you] as a punishment for him because he didnt say alhamdulilah, meaning the fact that he left off praising Allah it caused him to be denied this du’aa of mercy. But then [the question might arise] do we remind such a person [to praise Allah]?

The answer: It is possible that the person did not say alhamdulilah out of disrespect [towards Allah] or it is also possible that the person left it due to forgetfullness. So if it is due to the latter [i.e out of forgetfullness] then such a person is to be reminded but if it is due to the fact that this person is being disrespectful then he is not to be reminded. However, how does one know wether the person in question left it [praising Allah] due to forgetfullness or out of disrespect? Understanding the hadith on its apparent meaning [the hadith wherein which the Prophet mentions]

…and [he] praises Allah…

[So what can be understood from this is] If the person does not praise Allah do not say may Allah have mercy upon you similarly do not remind him [of that].

Sneezing

Posted Sep 21, 2009 by Aboo Thaabit with No Comments

Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymeen – may Allah have mercy upon him – said regarding this issue:

You say ‘yarhamakAllah’ [may Allah have mercy upon you] up to three times. Meaning if a person sneezes then praises Allah [by saying alhamdulilah] then you say may Allah have mercy upon you, if he sneezes again and says alhamdulilah you say may Allah have mercy upon you, and if he sneezes a third time and praises Allah then you say may Allah have mercy upon you. But if he sneezes a fourth time and praises Allah then you say ‘aafaakAllah [may Allah cure you] verily you are ill. You make du’aa for good health on his behalf and you make it clear to him that he is ill so that he does not say [or think]  why did you not say may Allah have mercy upon you, like you did before? So you say may Allah cure you and then you mention to him that he is ill.

Ramadhaan and the Qur'aan

Posted Sep 03, 2009 by Aboo Thaabit with No Comments

Lets turn our attention to the Qur’aan this blessed month.

شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ

“The month of Ramadhaan is that in which the Quran was revealed…”

Uthmaan bin ‘Affaan – may Allah be pleased with him – used to finish the entire Qur’aan in one raka’ah during Ramadhaan.

Imaam Aboo Haneefah – may Allah have mercy upon him – was asked how often do you finish the Qur’aan? He replied, do you mean [that which I complete] on a monthly basis or a daily basis? The man replied on a daily basis, Imaam Aboo Haneefah said do you mean [that which I complete] during the day or the night? The man said during the day, Imaam Aboo Haneefah said do you mean [that which I complete] reading from the mus-haf or in my Salah?

Imaam Maalik bin Anas – may Allah have mercy upon him – used to teach the people hadeeth narrating it to them inside the Prophet’s Masjid, when the month of Ramadhaan came he used to stop his lessons, take out his mus-haf and turn towards the Qiblah telling the people this is the month of the Qur’aan.

It has been authentically reported that Imaam Shaafi’i – may Allah have mercy upon him – used to finish the Qur’aan 60 times during the blessed month of Ramadhaan. That is twice a day.

Similarly has been reported regarding his student Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal – may Allah have mercy upon him -

It was narrated that Ibraaheem al-Nakha’i said: al-Aswad used to complete the Qur’aan in Ramadaan every two nights

Qataadah used to complete the Qur’aan in seven days, and when Ramadaan came, he would complete it every three days. When the last ten days came, he would complete it every night.

As for the prohobition of reciting the [entire] Qur’aan in less then three days then Imaam Ibn Rajab says in his book Lata’if al-Ma’arif

The forbiddance of completing recitation of the Quran in less than 3 days applies to this being made a regular practice, but as for favoured times such as Ramadan, esp. the nights in which Laylat al-Qadr is sought, or favoured places such as Makkah for the visitor, it is recommended to increase reciting the Quran to avail the time and place. This is the view of Ahmad, Ishaq & other Imams, and the practice of others indicates this too.

Lessons from the Encounter Between the Prophet Moosaa and al-Khadir

Posted Sep 02, 2009 by Aboo Thaabit with 2 Comments

In Soorah al-Kahf, from verse 60 through verse 82, a story is told of an encounter between the Prophet Moosaa and al-Khadir, as well as the events which transpired in the time they spent together.

The scholar ‘Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Naasir as-Sa‘dee explained these verses in his Tafseer and he supplemented his explanation by listing 38 lessons derived from that encounter.

This splendid and remarkable story contains many lessons, rulings and principles. We will draw attention to some of them with the assistance of Allaah. Read more