Jurispudence Made Easy
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Author(s): Ayatullah Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani
Translator(s): Najim al-Khafaji
Publisher(s): Imam Ali Foundation
Category: General
Topic Tags: Fiqh Islamic Laws fatwa Miscellaneous information:nbsp;Jurisprudence Made Easy
English translation of al Fatawa al-Muyyessarah
By Ayatullah Ali al-Hussaini as-Seestani
Translated by Najim al-Khafaji
Published in 1998, London, England: Imam Ali Foundation.
Featured Category: Muslim Practices
al Fatawa al-Muyyessarah The book is in the form of questions and answers based on fatwa of Ayatullah Al-Seestani, on the verses of Jurisprudence, that includes the matters of worship, financial transactions and man's personal status such as matrimonial matter
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate the Merciful
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds,
and peace be with the best of His creation,
Mohammad and his pure progeny.
This book, Al-Fatawa Al-Muyessarah (Jurisprudence Made Easy), has been written in accordance with our fatawa (edicts). This has been found to be so by a group of trusted people. Thus, whoever, among the faithful, acts upon the edicts contained therein shall be acquitted of their religious obligation. Inshallah (Allah willing)
Sealed
Ali al-Hussaini as-Seestani
25th Thil Hijjah, 1416H.
Religious edicts shown between these [ ] brackets are to be followed as a matter of ihtiyat wujubi (obligatory precaution). Thus, you have the choice of either acting upon them or following another Mujtahid (Jurist: a cleric who has studied sufficiently and achieved the level of competence necessary to interpret shari’a law), taking into account the most erudite among them.
In undertaking the translation of this book, al-Fatawal Muyessarah (Jurisprudence Made Easy), I did
my best to convey the meaning to the English reader in standard English from a pattern of Arabic that is predominantly juridical. I hope I have succeeded in this task. I also hope that this translation may help, in some measure, to make this subject accessible to people, interested in Islamic jurisprudence and in religion, among those who are unable to read and/or understand Arabic.
However, I decided to use the same Arabic terminology - appearing in italic letters - that is, in the main, common to the subject matter, such as halal and haraam (licit and illicit) with their equivalent in English, as a first reference. I have done so to ensure consistency, for the majority of these terms denote specific meanings on which the mukallaf (the person obligated to observe the precepts of religion) rely in acting upon the fatwa (religious edict). Thereafter, I have confined the use to the Arabic term.
To further guide the reader through the maze of this broadly technical terminology, I listed the words and phrases, with their English definitions, in alphabetical order under the “Glossary”. It is noteworthy that the glossary is solely my contribution and does not constitute a section of the book. Where I opted for the English dictum rather than the Arabic, I found it necessary, at certain instances, to put the Arabic words between brackets after the English, such as “free of impurities”: mutlaq. This has been done to reinforce the translated word or phrase and remove any ambiguity; you
may not find these in the Glossary.
Where I thought the meaning of the text would be enhanced or rendered more understandable, I put the additional words, which do not constitute part of the original text, between these ( ) brackets.
The use of masculine pronouns, such as he, his, him, and himself, refers to both the sexes, where applicable.
For the translation of Qur’anic verses, I used “Holy Qur’an”, translated by M.H. Shakir, published by Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an Inc. P.O. Box 1115, Elmhurst, New York 11373, U.S.A, although I have made some modifications as I deemed fit. For the benefit of those who would wish to trace the Qur’anic quotations, I have put the numbers of the sura (chapter) first and the ayah (verse) second between these ( ) brackets at the end of the quotation.
Notwithstanding, whatever knowledge and effort put in such work, it remains far from perfect, for perfection is the exclusive preserve of Allah, the Most High. I, therefore, urge the readers to write in, should they find it necessary to raise any point or make any remarks insofar as the translation goes.
In the end, I pray to the Almighty, to forgive me any inadvertent mistake or error of judgement I may have made in the course of the translation. I pray to Him to make this work of mine a step towards attaining His approval and that He accepts it favourably and makes it of use. Amen.
Najim al-Khafaji, B.A.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful
I have pleasure in making available to the English reader my Book, al-Fatawa al-Muyyessarah - Jurisprudence Made Easy, which has also been translated to few other languages. I am glad to say that the Arabic Edition has now been published few times. This is indicative of the need for books of jurisprudence, which is a quite technical subject, in a form of language that is down to earth. This being so as to make the subject matter more accessible to the readers, irrespective of their backgrounds.
I am confident that this novel approach to dealing with the subject will bear fruit, not least in contributing to the spread of religious knowledge among vast sections of the society, especially the up-and-coming generation, who has been starved of gaining any meaningful knowledge of the precepts of religion, because of the way the education system has been geared.
I would like to thank Imam Ali Foundation, London for financing the translation and publishing of the book. I should also thank Mr. Najim al-Khafaji for the efforts he put in translating the book.
Since presenting to the reader a simplified version of jurisprudence and issues of religious connotations is the first attempt of its kind, I should be very grateful for any feedback from you.
In the end, I pray to the Almighty to bestow success upon us for that which pleases Him. For all the mercies vouchsafe us, we are truly grateful to Allah.
Abdul Hadi Mohammad Taqi al-Hakim
Rabi’uth-Thani 1418 H. (August, 1997 C.E.)
“.. Oh my
Lord! Expand my breast for me, Make my affair easy to me, Loosen the knot from my tongue, and (that) they may understand my word”. (20/25-28).
May praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and benediction be with our Prophet, Mohammad and his Pure Progeny.
In writing this book, I tried to use a style that is simple and familiar. My aim has been to disentangle the complexity of the jurisdical text, making it readily accessible to those who need to be acquainted with and act upon it among the laity.
I have sought to employ a method that aims at encouraging the reader to want to know more about the injunctions of religion. In so doing, I confined myself to discussing those matters of religious dictates that are more important to the mukkalaf (Compos mentis: The person obligated to observe the precepts of religion). For further in-depth details, the reader may consult the books of Islamic jurisprudence and manuals of religious practice.
Every now and then, I have also tried to make the link in the reader’s mind between the science of jurisprudence and that of ethics (akhlaq), and between his actions and the spirit of those actions.
The book has been divided into three main sections. The first deals with acts of worship (ibadaat), making prayer the main axis, for “It is the pillar of religion. If it was accepted, other deeds of the mukallaf would be accepted. If it was rejected, the other deeds would be rejected”.
After the
Dialogue on Taqleed (the following, by a lay person of a learned scholar, Mujtahid, in matters of religious practice), the structure of the discussion required me to deal with that which renders the body najis (ceremonially unclean). This has been so for the simple reason that no prayer can be performed without the person performing it being tahir (ceremonially clean). Thus, najis as well as tahir things are discussed, leading to the discussion of prayer itself.
To complete the circle of purity of the heart, the mind and personal hygiene the mukallaf should have when having audience with his Creator in prayer, I have discussed other acts of worship, such as fasting and hajj (pilgrimage to Mekkah).
Section two of the book is dedicated to financial transactions, such as buying and selling, agencies, hiring, companies and others.
Section three deals with man’s personal status, such as matrimonial matters, votive offering (nadhr), covenants, oaths, etc. Discussed in this section too are matters of al amr bil ma’rouf wan nahi anil munkar (enjoining what is good and forbidding what is wrong) and two dialogues on general themes.
According to this plan, the book shall feature the following dialogues:
Taqleed, Najis and Tahir things, Janabah (the state of being najis after a sexual act that may or may not lead to ejaculation), Haydh (menstruation), Wudhu (an act of ablution that is required before the performance of certain acts of worship), Ghusl (obligatory ceremonial bathing that is required after certain acts or occurrences), Tayamum (Dry ablution, i.e. using dust
instead of water, as in the cases of wudhu and ghusl when, for specific reasons, these acts are not possible), Jabirah (splint), Prayer, in two parts, Fasting, Hajj, Zakat (the poor rate: A legally prescribed tax), Khums (a type of religious levy, equivalent to one fifth of taxable income), Trade, Slaughtering and Hunting, Marriage, Divorce, Votive Offering, Oath, and Covenant, Making a Will, Inheritance, Waqf (religious endowment), Enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil, and the two all-round dialogues, covering matters ranging from women issues, reproduction, medical, ethical, science and technology, entertainment to donating human organs.
This edition of the book has been the subject of checking and scrutiny by the Office of Grand Ayatullah as-Sayyid as-Seestani in Holy Najaf to ensure that the contents conform to his edicts. Where necessary modifications have been made to ensure compliance.
I hope that I have succeeded in what I set out to do. I thank all those who lent me their support in the process of writing this book.
Finally, I pray to Allah, the Most High, to make me amongst those,
“..given his book in his right hand, these shall read their book..” (17/71),
make my work pure in His way on,
“The day on which property will not avail, nor sons, except him who comes to Allah with a heart free (of evil)”. (26/88, 89).
“..Oh Lord! do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake..”. (2/286).
“..Oh Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the
eventual course”. (2/285).
May praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The Author
Ada’: On time: when prayer, or any other act of worship is performed on its appointed time. (See qadha’).
Adhan: The call for prayer.
Al’amr bil ma’rouf wan nahi anil munkar: Enjoining what is good and forbdding what is evil.
Aqiqah: A sacrificial offering on the seventh day of the newly born child.
(a.s.): An acronym for “Alaihis salaam”: May peace be with him.
Asr: Afternoon prayer.
Aya: (Lit. a sign): verse, or unit, of the Holy Qur’an.
Ayas of Sajdah: The four Qur’anic Verses in the Chapters: Iqra’, an-Najm, as-Sajdah, and Fussilat; it is obligatory to prostrate oneself on hearing them recited.
Ba’adaz zawaal: After the disc of the sun descends towards the West from its emith (noon). (See zawaal)
Basmalah: An acronym for “Bismillahir Rahman ar Rahim”: In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Batil: Null, void, invalid or unlawful, e.g.A contract becomes batil when it does not satisfy the divine practical laws of Islam.
Dhuhr: Noon, or lunchtime, prayer.
Dhikr: Remembrance: The utterances during the third ruku’ and fourth of a prayer.
Eid: Festivities marking the end of the fasting season, or festivities of the sacrifice after hajj.
Farsakh: A unit of distance, equivalent to approx. 5.5 kilometer.
Fatwa: Religious edict, or legal opinion.
Fidya: Redemption (from certain religious obligations by a material donation or ritual act).
Fiqh: Jurisprudence.
Ghusl: Obligatory bathing that is required after certain acts or occurrences.
Hadith: Prophetic tradition: sayings and actions of Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.)
Hady: Sacrificial offering, as part of hajj rituals.
Hajj: The pilgrimage to Mekkah
undertaken according to the prescribed ritual during the month of Thil Hijja:
Hajjatul Islam: A Muslim’s maiden pilgrimage to Mekkah, that is obligatory when you can afford the journey.
Halal: Lawful for use, consumption, or to act upon.
Haraam/Muharram: Unlawful or forbidden for use, consumption, or to act upon.
Harakaat: Diacritical marks, such as shaddah, maddah, tanween, hamzatul wasl or qat’, appearing above the Arabic characters or below them that denote and aid the proper pronunciation of the words, both independently and in relation to other words in the sentence.
Haydh: Menstruation.
Heddet-tarakhus: The point at the periphery of a town where, for example, adhan could be heard. This concerns distances to determine whether prayer should be said tamam or qasr.
Ibadaat: Acts of worship.
Ijarah: Hire, rent, lease etc.
Ihram: The special two-piece seamless attire worn by pilgrims. Also, the state of consecration during which the pilgrim should refrain from certain acts, such as not combing, not shaving, and observing sexual continence.
Ihtiyat: Precaution: a level of legal judgement.
Ihtiyat wujubi: Obligatory precaution that must be followed.
Ijtihad: (lit. exertion) - the process of arriving at judgements on points of religious law using reason and the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh).
Inshallah: God willing.
Iqamah: A shortened form of adhan, heralding the inauguration of prayer.
Isha: Evening prayer.
Istihadhah: Undue menses.
Istihalah: Transformation.
Istikharah: The process of asking Allah for proper guidance in certain matters you are unable to decide on, through, for example, consulting the verses of the Holy Qur’an.
Jabirah: (lit. splint): a generic name used for any form of dressing any part of the body
as a result of injury or illness.
Jamarat: Places of the three stone pillars representing the devil, at Mina. (See rami)
Janabah: The state of being ceremonially unclean, especially after a sexual act that may or may not lead to ejaculation.
Kaffarah: Atonement, or expiation: making repayment for some failure to act, harm done to others, etc.
Khums: A type of religious levy, equivalent to one fifth of taxable income.
Kurr: A unit of volume, equivalent to 384 litres.
Madhalim: Material or moral restitution or compensation to people you have wronged.
Maghrib: Sunset prayer.
Maghsoub: Usurped.
Mahaarim: One’s immediate relatives - according to a certain classification detailed in Shari’a law.
Makrouh: Abominable act.
Manasikul Hajj: Pilgrimage rituals.
Marji’: (lit. reference point for emulation, or religious authority) - A jurist who, by virtue of whose knowledge and probity, is qualified to be followed in all points of religious practice and law by the generality of Shia Muslims.
Meeta: Animal carcass.
Mujtahid: A jurist who has studied sufficiently and achieved the level of competence necessary to interpret shari’a law (see Ijtihad).
Mu’amalaat: Transactions.
Mubah: Permissible.
Mukallaf: Comopos mentis (The person obligated to observe the precepts of religion).
Musafir: Traveller.
Mustahab: A voluntary, and meritorious, act of worship. (See wajib - obligatory).
Najasah: A legal term for an impurity of any kind.
Najis: Impure: some things are inherently najis, others can become najis through contact with an inherently najis substances.
Nifas: Bleeding that occurs after childbirth, miscarriage, or abortion.
Niyyah: Intention to designate the prayer, or any other act of worship, one is performing, in that its sole purpose is to seek proximity to, and pleasure
of Allah.
Niyyah of qurbal mutlaqah: The intention for prayer, or any other act of worship, made with a view to seeking nearness to Allah, i.e. without designating whether it is ada’ or qadha’.
Qadha’: When prayer, or any other act of worship, is performed at a later time. (See ada’).
Qasr: A shortened form of prayer: A concession for a musafir (traveller) to perform a two-raka’a prayer instead of the full four-raka’a one. (See tamam)
Qiblah: The direction, of the Ka’ba, one must face while praying.
Qiyam: Standing upright during prayer.
Qunoot: The raising of both hands for supplication in prayer.
Raka’a, ruku’: The bowing position in prayer.
Rami: Symbolically stoning of the devil, using seven pebbles or small stones at Jamarat on Eid day, the 11th and the 12th of Thil Hijjah; part of hajj rituals. (See Jamarat).
(s.a.w.) An acronym for “Sallal lahu alaihi wa alihi wasallam”: May peace be with him, i.e. the Prophet, and his pure progeny.
Sadaqa: Almsgiving.
Sajdatay-as-Sahu: The two compensatory prostrations in lieu of any commissions or omissions in prayer due to forgetfulness.
Salah/t: Prayer.
Salatul ayaat: Prayer for signs, or natural phenomena.
Salatul ihtiyat: Precautionary prayer.
Salatul lail: Optional night prayer.
Sawm: Fasting.
Sa’y: Seven laps of brisk walking between the mounds of Safa and Marwah - an obligatory part of hajj rituals.
Shari’a: Percepts of the divine law.
Shari’i: Islamic or legal.
Subh: Dawn prayer.
Sujood: Prostration.
Sunnah: Model practices, customs, and traditions of The Prophet (s.a.w).
Surah: A chapter, or part, of the Holy Qur’an.
Taharah: Ritual purification.
Tahir: The state of ritual purity, the opposite of najis.
Takbiratul Ihram: The utterance, at the start
of prayer, of “Allahu Akbar”: God is Great.
Talbiyah: The utterance of: Labbayka Allahuma Labayk, Labbayka La Sharika Laka Labbayk, Innal Hamda Wani’mata Laka Wal Mulk, La Sharika Laka Labbayk. (Here I am! at Your service, O Lord! Here I am! at Your service, You have no partner. Here I am! at Your service. All the praise is Yours, so is the bounty, and to You belongs the dominion; there is no partner to You. Here I am! at Your service).
Tamam: A full four-raka’a prayer. (See qasr).
Taqiyyah: Dissimulation about one’s beliefs in order to protect oneself, family, or property from harm.
Taqleed: The following, by a lay person, of a learned jurist (Mujtahid) in matters of religious practice.
Taqseer: Cutting one’s hair, clipping one’s moustache or beard, or cutting off the nails - hajj rituals that heralds the exit from the state of ihram
Tawaf: Circumambulation - walking seven times around the Ka’ba.
Tawafun Nisa’: (lit., women’s circumambulation) - an integral part of hajj devotion, after which and its prayer, sexual relations between man and wife return to normal.
Tayamum: (lit. intending or proposing to do a thing). Dry ablution, i.e. using dust instead of water, as in the cases of wudhu and ghusl when, for specific reasons, these acts are not possible).
Thawab: Reward from Allah in return for good deeds.
Ulema: Scholars or doctors of religion.
Umma: Islamic community.
Umrah: Lesser hajj, or visitation that can be performed at any time, except on the days of hajj in the month of Thil Hijjah.
Umrah Tamattu’: A visitation ritual that
is obligatory before performing hajj.
Urf: Generally accepted practice, custom, or usage.
Wajib: An obligatory act of worship. (See mustahab - a voluntary act).
Wajibun aini: Individual duty: The obligation that falls on every adult Muslim.
Wajibun kifa’i: A collective obligation imposed on the Muslim community. Yet, if any member of the community discharges it, the remaining members would be ubsolved of the responsibility.
Waqf: Religious endowment, or charity.
Wudhu: An act of ablution that is required before the performance of certain actions.
Wuquf: Devotional stay at Arafat, Mash’ar and Mina as part of hajj rituals.
Zakat: The poor rate: purification of wealth by payment of annual welfare due.
Zawaal: The zenith of the sun, just before it declines towards the West.
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Today, I have completed my fifteenth birthday. When I awoke, I had no idea what was in store for me. A day of surprises, conceit, and apprehension that was, nevertheless, tampered with joy, love, and enjoyment of discovery. A day that heralded the closing of one chapter of my life and the beginning of another.
As usual, I woke up early. No sooner had I finished my morning routine between my waking up and sitting to have my breakfast, I saw a different expression on my father’s face. Something made me guess that a matter of a kind that concerns me he needed to address.
His eyes were wide open as if they were gazing in a vacuum. His tight lips indicated that he was about to say something of
great importance. His fingers were tapping rhythmically on the dining table. It seemed that his heart was filled with great tidings so much so that it could overflow.
As I sat on the opposite side of the table, he took the initiative, with a glow of joy filling his eyes, and said:
Oh my son! Today, you have rolled up a phase of your life and are on the threshold of a new one. In the eye of Islamic law, you have become a fully-fledged man capable of being obligated to observe the dictates of religion. On this day, Allah, the Exalted, has bestowed upon you the favour of showing to you that which you should obey and that which you should shun.
Until yesterday you were, in the eye of Islamic law, a child. Thus, you were left alone. As of today, everything has changed. You are a man like other men. You are capable of behaving responsibly. That is why Allah has addressed you.
that you have been chosen for a certain task. This is so because what you have achieved sets you in a different league from your peers.
Do you not feel a sense of achievement and self-confidence for the special treatment accorded to you by your head teacher? Would this not fill you with zeal to carry out the task? This may be the case with a head teacher. How would you react if it was someone occupying a higher position within the hierarchy of the borough, the chief inspector, or the minister for education, and so on?
As my father was giving me examples of people in higher positions of responsibility, what he was aiming at started to sink in. The moment he mentioned Allah’s address to me and His obligating me to observe His commands and avoid acts that He forbade, the fact dawned on me.
that He charged me with? And what are His commands that He addressed me with?
Whatever things or acts you are discouraged from doing are of the muharramat, such as drinking alcohol, adultery, theft, spending unwisely, lying, etc.
Any meritorious act that you are encouraged to do to seek closeness to Allah, though not by way of obligation, is of the mustahabat, such as almsgiving, cleanliness, good manners, helping needy people - not necessarily materially, attending congregational prayer, wearing perfume, etc.
Any act that is good to avoid and shun, though not by way of obligation, with the intention of seeking proximity to Allah is of the makrouhat, such as delaying the time of getting married - for both man and woman, asking for exorbitant dowries, and declining to lend money to a needy person, even though you can afford it, etc.
As for the acts you have free choice in doing or leaving are of mubahat, such as eating, drinking, sleep, travel, and tourism, etc.
haraam (forbidden act) so that I refrain from doing it? How would I know?
With a smile, my father intervened. He then cast a glance of mercy and compassion over me. He was about to say something, but pondered for a short while.
During that time utter silence prevailed. I could not fathom what was going through the mind of my father. I could, however, witness a sort of cloud over his forehead that was descending to cover the rest of his face, reaching out to his lips that opened up with a somewhat feeble voice full of graciousness and affection.
You will find what you are looking for in those books. You shall find out that this discipline is a vast one. Hundreds of books and volumes have been written. The ulema (scholars or doctors of religion) did not leave any matter undiscussed or unscrutinized in such depth that you rarely find in other human disciplines.
two main topics: Ibadaat (acts of worship) and mu’aamalat (transactions).
Full of zeal and interest, I hurried to the library in the hope that I could come across the books of Islamic jurisprudence. As soon as I saw them, a kind of joy overwhelmed me.
I could not wait to get home. With a sense of achievement, I hurriedly opened the book and started reading it. A feeling of bewilderment crept into my mind. This was translated into facial expression of astonishment, turning into excruciating pain. I found myself reading a lot but understanding nothing of substance. How could I handle this unfamiliar perplexity?
A kind of pride crept into me. I said to myself, “I am going to try again”. Maybe I will understand something. I could imagine that the time was hardly passing. A sort of sluggishness prevailed. My chest was sinking down under some sort of burden, making it unbearable. Yet, I persisted. I read and reread but to no avail. Clouds of disappointment turned into melancholy.
It is time for confession. I read a lot, but did not understand anything worth mentioning. I came across a kind of terminology that was not familiar to
me. I could still see floating before my eyes phrases and sentences that seem confined to a certain discipline that I was not aware of. Also, I came across sentences couched in terms I did not know; sentences that discuss matters alien to my everyday life, I do not know why they were mentioned at all. Other linguistic structures appeared so fragmented, deep, and complex that I was left perplexed as to their true meaning.
I wondered if I would ever be able to know what Allah had decreed halal (permissible), so that I could act upon it or what He had decreed haraam, so that I could refrain from doing it!
Thereupon, I lift my head toward the heavens with a twinkle in my eyes, and murmured: O Lord! I know you charged me with a duty. But, I do not know the detail.
O Lord! How am going to know the bounds of what You have ordered me to do, so that I can do it? O Lord! Help me to understand what I read. O Lord! Make the books of jurisprudence spell out what they wanted to state so that I can act upon what they are trying to tell me.
I waited for my father at the dining table in the evening. At the beginning, I looked haggard with tired and rather bewildered eyes. However, this was later turned into silvery shine that combined agony with the determination of forging ahead. No sooner had we sat down , my heart
began beating quickly, my cheeks turned pink, and the heat started exuding from the tips of my ears. I succumbed to a feeling of embarrassment, shyness, perplexity, confusion and hesitation. I started saying to myself words that denote inability to understand written material.
However, I plucked my courage determined to admit my weakness and said to my father:
My conservative upbringing and shyness stood between me and asking my father critical questions concerning the transitional period from boyhood to adulthood. I did not realize that puberty could be identified not necessarily by age alone, until… and there I intervened:
First: Completion of fifteen lunar calendar years of age.
Second: Ejaculation through sexual intercourse, or seminal discharge while awake or asleep.
Third: The presence of pubic hair, of the rough type, similar to head hair.
hair?
Inaugurating the Dialogue on Taqleed, my father said:
Taqleed is the following, by a lay person, of a Jurist in matters of religious practice. Thus, you apply the Jurist’s legal opinion (fatwa). It is as if you have put the responsibility squarely on the Jurist’s shoulders, in that he will stand accountable before Allah insofar as your compliance with his fatwa is concerned.
He prescribed for you certain acts you should do and others you should not do. However, where to draw the line is not so clear-cut. That said, you may be able to know some of His commands and prohibitions, depending on your upbringing and environment at large.
As you may know, Islamic shari’a law has covered all aspects of your life. Thus, it has stipulated for each aspect a number of rulings. How are you going to know the demarcations of these rulings while you go about your life? How would you know what is halal to act upon it and what is haraam to shun it?
I wonder, do you have to resort for every incidence, be it minor or major, to the legal proof to be able to deduce a legal judgement?
However, let us assume that you were able to ascertain the veracity of the transmitters of any legal text and that you were able
to understand the meaning of the terminology used. Do you think that you would be able to discern the multifaceted and complex science of jurisprudence? And would you be able to arrive at what you need to understand?
Let us take an example. Let it be from the realm of medicine. Should you fall ill, God forbids, what would you do?
Since you spare no effort in looking for an experienced doctor in his field of specialization, you will need
to look for the most knowledgeable amongst the jurists to follow. This is so because you need his expertise to explain to you religious matters and show you how to act upon them as he sees fit.
You may ask a committed Muslim who is known to be of impeccable character, trustworthy, just, knowledgeable and expert in knowing the scientific level of people in a particular discipline.
Popularity of the jurist which sets him in a different league from his peers, so much so that this leads to certainty as regards his juridical prowess and knowledge, is another avenue.
fully-fledged man. I now know something about taqleed. What else should I do?
I joined my father in numerating many other examples:
aware of it, what should I do?
I could see a broad smile on the face of my father; he sat straight
and the spark in his eyes was suggesting that we would begin a lively discussion.
Material things, such as najis things, i.e. tangible matters.
Immaterial things that are contingent on certain actions; if done, you need to perform wudhu, ghusl, or tayamum to remove the impurity. These are things like janabah, haydh, istihadha (Undue menses), touching a dead body, etc.
However, before prayer, we need to know najis things. Also, we need to know the purifying agents to ensure the purity of the body from that which may have defiled it.
We can then stop over certain occurrences, such as going to the toilet, breaking wind, sleep, etc. that require wudhu or tayamum.
We may then resume the conversation on things such as janabah, haydh, nifas (bleeding that occurs after childbirth, miscarriage, or abortion), etc. that require ghusl or tayamum.
Thus, eliminating from our way all that which may forestall our effort to seek nearness to Allah through prayer. This may make us taste the joy of standing before God, and chanting His Glory and Praise. That we may draw solace and peace of mind from being in His audience, and singing His love and praise.
After those topics, we may turn to fasting, hajj, etc.
My father started the dialogue with
determination, saying:
Everything is tahir, until it becomes najis or contaminated, except..
We may describe an animal as having an ethereal soul, if, when slaughtered, blood gushes out from its body because of the presence of arteries.
As for the animal that has no ethereal soul, the blood seeps out gently when it is killed, such as fish. This is because it has no arteries.
Any animal that perishes without being slaughtered according to Islamic shari’a law.
ghusl before they are executed according to Islamic penal code.
Human semen and the semen of an animal with an ethereal soul, even of the kind whose meat can be consumed.
Human blood and the blood of animals with ethereal souls.
All parts of a wild dog’s body whether alive or dead.
All parts of a pig’s body whether alive or dead.
Alcohol [and beer].
The unbelievers, whether alive or dead, excluding Christians, Jews, and Magians.
The sweat of animals that feed on human excrement.
These ten things are all inherently najis. Their najasah (impurity) will render other objects najis by any means of contact, if there is dampness.
and claws. Are they tahir?
If you consider what I talked to you about, you could have answered this question yourself. You may recall our discussion earlier about animals that have arteries which cause blood to gush out when they are slaughtered.
The serene twinkle in the eyes of my father, I noticed at the start of this conversation, has reappeared. He glanced at me and added:
As you may remember, when we started this dialogue, I spoke to you of a general principle that could have an impact on your life. I will conclude it with more basic principles of equal importance.
Principle number one: Everything is tahir. If, however, you become doubtful whether it is still the case, you should rule out your doubt, i.e. it remains tahir.
Principle number two: Any thing that was najis, and you are not sure whether you made it tahir, remains najis.
Principle number three: Anything you do not
have prior knowledge as to its state, i.e. being tahir or najis, it should now be considered tahir.
Principle number four: Anything you are in doubt as to its being najis or not, as a result of coming into contact with some najis thing, you should not carry out any investigation, be it simple or not, to ensure it was tahir. You should assume that it is tahir.
Before my father came to attend this session, I had been meditating. I was trying to find applications to the theoretical information, I gleaned from the Dialogue on Najis Things, in my daily life. In so doing, I might be able to rectify my misconception of najasah. I was eager to know from today’s session how purity is restored to things after they have been contaminated.
No sooner had my father arrived, I started by asking him:
tainted if they meet with najasah. I wonder how lost purity is restored to these things?
Water is of two kinds: pure and diluted.
Moreover, pure water is of two types: immunized (mu’tasim) and that which is not immunized.
attributes is affected by the pollutant.
Well water.
Running water, such as that of rivers, tributaries, streams, and springs.
Rainfall.
These are the immunized waters.
Moreover, when “abundant water” is connected to “little water”, the latter can be regarded as abundant whereby it remains immunized as long as it is fed from an abundant source of water. To give you some examples, your
domestic storage tank that is normally connected to water mains supply becomes abundant; likewise, if you placed a bowl or a saucepan under the running water of a sink tap, the water in it becomes abundant, and so on. That is, as long as the water remains running.
rain pours on such najis objects once to render them tahir?
Cutlery that became najis through contamination with alcohol should be washed three times so that they become tahir again.
Objects that became najis through contamination by nursing babies should be rendered tahir by soaking the affected parts with water; there will be no need for wringing the garments, for example.
Utensils licked or lapped by dogs should first be scrubbed with soil or dust. They should then be washed with water twice. If, however, dog’s saliva falls in such utensils, or they meet any part of the dog’s body, [they should be wiped with soil first, then washed with water three times].
Garments contaminated with urine should be washed with running water once. They should be washed twice if the water used was that of
taps, kurr, or little water; they should also be wrung. As for garments that became najis through other means, they should be washed with either little water and wrung or with abundant water without the need for wringing.
Restoring the purity of the body, that became najis by urine, should be done following the way outlined in the preceding paragraph. However, if the water was little, you should separate the water used for purification from the body as is customary.
If the interiors of utensils have become najis as a result of any source of najasah, other than those of alcohol, dogs, licking by a pig, death of a rodent, they should be washed three times with little water, or [three times too] with abundant water, running water, or rain water.
The Second purifying agent is the sun.
things that are not covered are trees and their leaves, plantations, and fruits before they are picked, etc.].
The Third purifying agent is the removal of najasah from certain parts of the human body, and those of animals, that have become contaminated.
In other words, as soon as the blood is removed they become tahir, i.e. there is no need to use water.
chicken, or the mouth of a cat, the beak and the mouth should become tahir again.
The Fourth purifying agent is earth:
Whatever comes under the definition of earth, such as stones, sand, soil, flooring with bricks or cement - not tarmac, has a purifying quality. It is, however, conditional that the earth should be [dry] and tahir.
The Fifth purifying agent is the state of belonging or affiliation.
become tahir. The same goes for the grandfather, grandmother, mother, and their young babies, after they have embraced Islam. This should be the case regarding the young child, as long as it is under the guardianship of those who converted to Islam. That is, the child should not be in the company of an unbeliever.
Also, if alcohol turns into vinegar it becomes tahir. As a result the bottle or glass that contains it becomes tahir too.
The dead body becomes tahir, when it undergoes three types of ghusl. As a result the hands and clothes of the person conducting the ghusl become tahir, and so does the bench on which the body was laid for washing.
If a najis garment was washed with little water, for instance, it would become tahir, and so would the hands that did the washing.
The Sixth purifying agent is Islam.
Accordingly, all parts of his body become tahir.
The Seventh purifying agent is the absence of a Muslim who is adult or a discerning youth.
Suppose the shirt
of your brother was najis. He does not know whether it was najis or not. However, you may know it is the case, irrespective of whether or not he was a practising Muslim. Your brother has gone away and returned. To the best of your knowledge, your brother has rendered his shirt tahir, in which case, you should assume that the shirt be tahir, without the need to ask him.
The Eighth purifying agent is transfer.
The Ninth purifying agent is istihala (transformation).
The Tenth purifying agent is the blood trapped inside the carcass of animals slaughtered according to Islamic law.
The Eleventh purifying agent is the change of alcohol into vinegar because, while in the process of fermentation, it turns najis. If it turns into vinegar, it becomes tahir.
The Twelfth purifying agent is weaning the animal that developed a habit of eating human excrement. This is because the meat of such an animal becomes haraam to consume, so does drinking its milk. Its urine, dung, or droppings,
and sweat become najis too.
Unusually, my father was present before me for today’s session. When I joined in, at first my father did not notice my arrival. He was quiet and in a reflective far away mood.
As soon as he became aware of my presence, he said:
In the Dialogue on Najis Things, we discussed impurities that strip the human body and other things off their natural purity.
In the Dialogue on Ritual Purity (Taharah), we talked about the purifying agents that restore to our bodies and those of other things their usurped purity.
You may recall, we said that najis things are material things that are transient occurrences eminating either from the body itself or from outside sources.
There are, however, other intangibles that, if they occur, render the body impure. It would, therefore, require that which could reinstate its lost goodness.
There are two types: Major and minor.
Major occurrences comprise janabah, haydh, nifas, major istihadha, touching a dead body, and death itself.
Minor occurrences cover urine, excrement, breaking wind, sleep, minor istihadha, etc.
Major occurrences are purified by ghusl or wiped off by tayamum.
Minor occurrences can be removed by
wudhu or tayamum. Our future dialogues shall cover these aspects one by one. This time, however, we will discuss janabah.
I said to my father.
perform prayer, or do tawaf (Circumambulation - turning seven times around the Ka’ba) for hajj. That is, prayer and tawaf cannot be deemed valid without the ghusl. As for how to do ghusl, this I’ll explain to you in the Dialogue on Ghusl.
However, certain acts become unlawful if you are in a state of janabah, such as:
Touching the writing of the Holy Qur’an.
Touching the Name of the Almighty, i.e. the Arabic name, Allah [and other names and adjectives attributed to Him, such as “al-Khaliq” - The Creator].
Recitation of the four verses of “as-Sajdah” in Chapters “Iqr’a, an-Najm, as-Sajdah, and Fussilat” of the Holy Qur’an.
Entering mosques and/or staying in them, taking anything out or putting anything in them [albeit from the outside or when passing by]. It is permissible, however, for a person in a state of janabah to pass through, such as entering from one door and making an exit from another, except in the case of the Grand Mosque at Mekkah and the Holy Mosque of the Prophet at Medina. [The same rule applies in the case of the holy shrines of the Infallibles].
shall be no embarrassment in matters of religion”.
My father took his seat. I could notice a broad smile on his face that led me to assume that he was bent on something unusual.
Before today, I did not know what haydh is, although I remember I hearing the word before. What had interested me in the subject was that I hear women whisper about it, with noticeable embarrassment, as if there was something shameful in the word. However, I do not hide a secret if I say that as soon as I was faced with a real situation of the subject being discussed in the open, a kind of shaming started to creep into me. I do not know why I was gripped with embarrassment. I resigned to the fact that if haydh was indeed so humbling a matter to talk about, how my father is going
to discuss it with me?
Yet, aren’t we discussing matters of Islamic law? Surely, this topic should be within the remit of Islamic jurisprudence. So, why should we feel embarrassed to talk about it? Is it not mentioned in the Holy Qur’an? Didn’t the Prophet (s.a.w.) and the Imams (a.s.) talk about it to their companions. And after all, why should we feel a sense of shaming to talk about a subject whose rules we must know in order to follow?
My self-examination was short-lived as my father resumed his talk.
to see blood again, say after nine days?
For the blood to be termed as menstrual blood, it should be red or black in colour, warm, and could pour out profusely.
When the woman is sure the blood continues for three uninterrupted days and over.
less, but exceeds the duration of her normal period?
is irregular, how should they differentiate the period blood from other kinds of bleeding?
No prayers should be performed, be they obligatory or voluntary.
She is not required to perform any prayer instead of the ones she missed while she had the period.
It is not permissible for her to fast.
She must fast instead of the days she missed while she had the period during Ramadhan.
Tawaf during hajj, be it obligatory or voluntary is not in order.
She
cannot be declared divorced while still having her period, except in certain situations.
It is haraam to have sexual intercourse with a woman who is having a period. It is permissible, however, after the bleeding had stopped. However, it is permissible before performing ghusl [and after washing the vagina].
It is haraam for her to embark on any act of worship, in the same way as certain acts are not permissible for a person who is in a state of janabah. This, as you may recall, was discussed in detail in the (Dialogue on Janabah).
When her period is over, she should perform ghusl in order to be able to perform prayer. This, I will explain to you in the (Dialogue on Ghusl).
I’ll talk to you today about nifas.
The second category is that of women, who have regular monthly periods of a duration of, say, five days, and whose bleeding goes beyond ten days.
is the ruling in their case?
The third category is that of women, with no regular monthly periods and no specified number of days, whose bleeding exceeds ten days.
do you, though, describe the intervening tahir period?
are read or heard), admission to The Holy Mosques in Mekkah and Medina - albeit by way of passing through them, entering and staying in other mosques and leaving anything inside. You may refer to the Dialogue on Haydh.
My father took his seat. He gave the title of istihadha to today’s session. No sooner had he finished uttering the word, it dawned on me that the word has a ring about it that reminded me of haydh. Thus, I concluded they might be related and that the subject could concern women. That is, a kind of bleeding is involved.
I asked my father:
is not that resulting from bursting open the virginal membrane, especially at the time of her wedding?
That said, istihadha is of three types: A major one that I have just talked about, a medium one in which the piece of cotton could be soaked, but not more, and a minor one where the blood may soil the piece of cotton, but not to the saturation point, because it is little.
and bleeding resumed before or during Asr prayer, she must have another ghusl for it]. However, if the interval between any two appearances of blood was long enough to perform two or more prayers, it is permissible without the need for a new ghusl.
This applies to major istihadha. In a medium istihadha, she must do wudhu for each prayer [and ghusl once a day before the first wudhu].
must change them, if it was possible] and take extra precaution against blood coming out for the period from the ghusl to the end of prayer, provided that such a precaution does not entail any harm to her wellbeing.
A woman in a state of istihadha must become tahir, for prayer, as soon as the bleeding stops by way of wudhu, if istihadha was minor or medium, and through ghusl, if it was major.
It is not permissible for a woman in a state of istihadha to touch the writing of the Holy Qur’an. It is permissible, however, to do so after she becomes tahir.
In the case of divorce, it is permissible to pronounce a woman, in a state of istihadha, divorced.
Certain prohibitions, such as sexual intercourse, entering, staying in, and leaving something inside mosques, and reciting the ayas of sajdah, that are imposed on a woman in haydh do not apply to a woman in istihadha.
Fasting of a woman in a state of minor or medium istihadha is acceptable, even though she may not be able to observe wudhu or ghusl for prayer. As for a woman with a major istihadha, a number of jurists maintain that the acceptability of her fasting is dependent on her doing ghusl the night before and the ghusls during the day of fasting. However, it is most evident that this should not
invalidate her fasting.
I was tense, apprehensive, and agitated when my father started the discussion on the topic of death. He approached the subject with due care and serenity that was expressed in his look and the intonation of his voice.
This seemingly unusual way of starting the discussion and the somewhat death charged atmosphere scared me, causing my heartbeat to go faster with a shiver down my spine. Finally, the drops of sweat that gathered on my forehead gave my true feeling away.
When my father noticed the signs of fear in my eyes and on my face, he asked me:
It was a terrifying fear that I admitted to today, for I have never witnessed a person dying. I did not know how I would face the experience of someone dying before my eyes. Before today, when I witnessed a funeral procession, a state of melancholy would force me to turn away.
I said it for a second time to reinforce my state of mind.
is there after death to be afraid of? My father explained.
He added: Are you scared of a person who just moments before death was like you; he used to eat, drink, laugh, cry, go for a stroll, have dreams, sleep etc. Then surrendered to death which does not spare anyone.
Why not be more realistic and admit that you are afraid of death more than you are of the dead?
Haven’t you asked yourself where all those bygone nations and their generations have gone.
“The day when their abodes became graveyards and their wealth inherited; the day they could no longer respond to a call nor hear anyone who bemoaned them”. ”How many of the gardens and fountains they have left! And cornfields and noble places! And goodly things wherein they rejoiced; thus (it was), and We gave them as a heritage to another people.” (44/25-28).
And where have those you know gone when they passed away?
Where are your ancestors? “They exchanged the face of the earth for its depth, vastness for a very limited space, light for darkness, and parting with their loved ones to solitude”.
He then reminded me of the words of Imam Ali (a.s.) at the hour of his death, “Yesterday, I was your companion. Today, I am an example to be pondered. Tomorrow, I shall leave you. Take your lesson from the state I am in - my quietness, pacifity, my eyes can hardly turn in their sockets, and my limbs can hardly move. This is clearer to
you than words of advice”.
My father also talked of the Imam’s words when he warned of the fire of hell, “Let it be known, this delicate flesh cannot stand the hell fire. So, have mercy on yourselves as you have experienced the trials and tribulations of this life. Have you experienced agony of a prick of a thorn, a stumble that bleeds the foot, and the unbearable sweltering heat? Just imagine how much worse it will be, if one is thrown into two layers of fire, lying on stone and taking Satan for a companion!”.
It is time you should fear the aftermath of death, not merely death itself,
”On the day when you shall see it, every nursing woman shall quit in confusion what she suckled, and every pregnant woman shall lay down her burden, and you shall see men intoxicated, and they shall not be intoxicated but the chastisement of Allah will be severe.” (22/2).
”On the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good and what it has done of evil, it shall wish that between it and that (evil) there was a long duration of time; and Allah makes you to be cautious of (retribution from) Himself and Allah is Compassionate to the servants.” (3/28)
Let it be that the person who is in their last throws or who has just died serve as a reminder for you that your turn shall come. It should not be a terrifying experience.
A momentary silence prevailed
that gave me the chance to reconsider my position. However, it did not last long, for my father cut short my contemplation, saying:
prepare the body for burial quickly, unless you suspect the person is not really dead.
Once using lotus leaves (sidr) added to water.
The second ghusl using water with camphor added to it.
The third ghusl using pure water.
[Provided ghusl be sequential], i.e. washing the head and neck first, then the right part of the body, then
the left part. Furthermore, the water used should be tahir, not najis, ownerless (mubah), not maghsoub (usurped), free from impurities (mutlaq), not mixed; the lotus leaves and camphor should also be ownerless.
seven points?
The loin cloth [that should cover the area of the body between the umbilicus and the knees]
The shirt [which should cover the area of the body between the shoulders and the middle of legs].
The covering cloth, that should cover the whole body [and should be long enough so that you can tie it at both ends].
both in form and content. It consists of five takbirat (the utterance of “Allahu Akbar”, Allah is Great); it involves no recitation from the Holy Qur’an, no bowing, no prostration, no tashahhud (the middle of a prayer, said sitting, where testament of the unity of God and the prophethood of Mohammad is uttered), and no tasleem (the concluding part, of a prayer, said sitting, where saluting the Prophet, oneself and the good servants of the Creator, and the two angels takes place). Basically, the person who leads the prayer and those taking part in it invoke mercy for the dead person after the first takbirah. As for the rest four takbirat, you could offer a number of supplications, praying for peace to be with the Prophet and his Pure Progeny, praying for the well-being of the faithful, and praising God Almighty.
Yes, the following are the salient points:
There must be niyyah (intention - to designate the prayer one is performing, or any other act of worship, and that the sole purpose of the act is to seek nearness to Allah). In this case, the name of the deceased must be specified.
Performing the prayer in a standing position so long as one possibly can.
The prayer must be performed after the dead body has been washed, embalmed, and shrouded.
On performing the prayer, one should face the qibla, if one is free to do so.
The dead body should be lying in front of the person who is conducting the prayer.
The head of the dead person should be on the right hand side of the person conducting the prayer and his legs to his left.
The dead body should rest on its back.
There must be no barrier between the dead body and the person conducting the prayer, such as a screen or a wall. There is no harm, however, if the body is in a coffin, or shielded by another dead body.
There must not be a great distance between the station of the person conducting the prayer and the dead body; the same goes for the height, i.e. one must not be much higher than the other. However, there is no harm in separation, if the rows of those saying the prayer were solid, or if there was one prayer for more than one soul.
Permission must
be obtained from the next of kin of the deceased to say the prayer.
The burial be so secured that carnivorous animals, should they be present, would not encroach upon the sanctity of the body.
The burial ensures no spread of bad smell, from the body, that might be a source of discomfort to other people.
Upon entombing the corpse, it should be placed on its right hand side, ensuring that the face should be set in the direction of the qibla.
The plot of land must be ownerless, not maghsoub; not reserved by way of endowment to any private quarter, such as schools and Hussainyyas. Due care should be accorded to the upkeep of the place or adjacent buildings, [even if it does not pose any damage or hindrance to the place].
Extra care must be accorded to the sanctity of the corpse, in that, places, such as rubbish tips should be avoided as places for burial.
The corpse of a Muslim must not
be buried in the graveyards of the infidels.
Perform ghusl before embarking on prayer, for example.
It is haraam for a person in a state of uncleanness to touch the writing of
the Holy Qur’an, or do other things that are forbidden to a person in a state of janabah.
There are also other matters that follow on from a death of a person that you need to know about.
Today, I’ll talk to you about wudhu, ghusl and tayamum”, said my father. I murmured, “We are, therefore, at the threshold of the first purifying agent which renders the body tahir, after it has been stripped of its purity by an
occurance of some kind”. I soon started recalling some examples of what happens to the body to render it unclean. I then started asking myself why I should cleanse my body with wudhu. However, since my father was present, I said I would rather ask him.
The water must be tahir to cleanse the parts of your body that are normally washed and wiped during wudhu. It is sufficient for the water to be abundant for it to render them tahir as a result of performing wudhu, if the water was abundant (mu’tasim).
The water and the place where you perform the wudhu, must be ownerless and not usurped.
The reason why the place must be free is that if the water was confined to the usurped place, wudhu would not become obligatory. You must perform tayamum instead. However, should you choose not to comply, you shall be deemed sinful. Your wudhu, though, will be in order.
have made your intention, to perform this act of worship to seek proximity to Allah, you should start thus:
Wash your face from the forehead, i.e. from the hairline to the chin vertically and that which falls within the expanse of your hand between the thumb and the small finger horizontally. [Noting that, you should do the washing from the top to the bottom of the face, without the need to soak thick (beard) hair].
Wash your arms from the elbow to the finger tips, starting with the right arm. The manner of washing should be from the elbow down to the finger tips.
Wipe with your right hand (while it is still wet) the front of your hair, preferably with the palm of the hand, starting from the top to the hairline excluding the forehead.
Wipe your feet with your hands from the toes to the ankle. Use your right hand to stroke the right foot and the left hand to stroke the left foot, while both hands are still wet with the original water of wudhu. That is, you are not allowed to use new water. [It is not allowed to start with your left foot before your right foot].
You must also observe the following when performing your wudhu:
feet.
The ablution act should be carried out uninterrupted. In an emergency, however, such as running out of water or due to forgetfulness, you should continue the process while the previous parts washed or wiped are still wet. Otherwise, the wudhu shall not be in order. It is worth mentioning, though, that wudhu can be deemed valid even though all the parts of the body, that were washed, become dry as a result of wind, hot weather, or drying up, provided that in the process of wudhu uninterrupted washing was observed.
You must do it yourself as long as you are able to do so.
There must not be any barrier masking the body skin from wudhu water, such as paint, glue, or nail polish.
There must be a reason that could make using water detrimental to one’s health. In such a case, you should perform tayamum instead of wudhu.
wudhu be invalidated?
My father added that it was worth discussing some general rules to wrap up the topic of wudhu.
For example?
I do not divulge a secret if I said that I love water. It is a subject close to my heart for it reminds me of happy memories. When I was a child, I used to play with my mother, spraying her with water. I did the same thing with my play mates. And since I know that water is a source for personal hygiene as well as for physical cleaning, this particular dialogue earned added importance.
My father said to me that ghusl is of two kinds: the first is by submerging the whole body in water, and the second is done sequentially.
right hand side including the part of the neck that is connected to it and the adjoining area of the left hand side. The third in the order of washing must be the left hand side, in exactly the same manner.
However, it is permissible to wash the whole of the body at one go, i.e. without dividing it into two parts, after you have washed your head and neck.
However, ghusl is different from wudhu in two ways.
It is not necessary to start washing the parts of the body from top to bottom, as is the case in wudhu.
In ghusl, you do not need to observe the unbroken chain of washing, i.e. from start to finish without stopping. For example, you may wash your head and neck, then the rest of your body after a while, so much so that this may result in the parts that were washed becoming dry. You cannot do this when performing wudhu. There is an added bonus for ghusl of janabah, in that it makes up for wudhu.
make one niyyah, exclusive for ghusl of janabah, or you make niyyah for both. [Indeed, as far as ghusl of Juma is concerned, you should make niyyah for it, albeit in general terms, as no other ghusl can make up for it].
However, here are some more tips:
Make sure you have removed every trace of semen from your body before you embark on performing ghusl.
You should urinate to extract any traces that were left inside the tract of the penis before you do the ghusl.
You should remove all barriers, sticking to the body, that may hinder the immediate contact of water with the parts of the body, such as paint or glue. If the barriers prove difficult to remove, you should perform tayamum. And if they happen to be present in the parts of the body that you usually wash (or wipe) for wudhu, [you should carry out both the ghusl and tayamum].
If, after washing any part of your body, you become doubtful as to whether you washed it, you need not worry, i.e. there shall be no need for you to start afresh.
However, if, while you were washing the rest of your body,
you grew doubtful whether you washed your head and neck properly, [you have to start again by washing the suspected unwashed part].
a. Ghusl of Juma. It is a strongly recommended mustahab type of ghusl. Its span of time starts from sunrise till sunset. It is advisable, though, to do it before zawal.
b. Ghusl of Ihraam.
c. Ghusl of the first two days of the two big feasts (eids). The time during which these ghusls should be done is from sunrise till sunset. Yet, it is advisable that they are done before the prayer of Eid.
d. Ghusl of the eighth and ninth of Thil Hajja. It is advisable that the ghusl on the ninth should be carried out at zawal time.
e. Ghusl recommended during the month of Ramadhan nights: The first, the seventeenth, the nineteenth, the twenty first, and the twenty third.
f. Ghusl of Istikhara (The process of asking Allah for proper guidance in certain matters you are unable to decide on, through, for example, consulting the verses of the Holy Qur’an).
g. Ghusl of the prayer for rainfall (Istisqa’).
h. Ghusl of entering Mekkah.
i. Ghusl of paying
respect to the Holy Ka’ba.
j. Ghusl of entering the Mosque of the Prophet.
If carried out, these kinds of ghusl can make up for wudhu. There are more. Some of these ghusls can compensate for wudhu, and some cannot. The yardstick of which ghusls can make up for wudhu and which cannot lies in the fact that since the first group of ghusls have strongly been recommended, through evidence handed down by tradition, they became mustahab. The second group of ghusls contains those ones that are not unequivocally proven to be strongly recommended to be part of the tradition, and they are carried out only with the aim of doing good deeds and earning reward (thawab).
You must also do the ghusl again, even if the semen was discharged in a situation different from the one just described.
When my father said he would talk today about tayamum, the word rang a bell, which is no wonder, for I have come across it when I recite the Holy Qur’an, or listen to it recited. I have been brought up to recite and learn as
much of the Qur’an as possible. It has become a daily routine. When I do so, I feel peace of mind, serene heart, and refreshed memory.
Reciting the Holy Qur’an is not an end in itself. But a means to understanding the Creator’s injunctions. It should be a way of refining one’s character, learning how to conduct oneself within the family and in society at large. Reciting the Holy Book should be a source of knowledge and a means to becoming firm in belief.
Despite the discovery of the familiarity of the word of tayamum, I remembered neither the verse it was in nor the name of the chapter. So, the first thing I did was to ask my father about the verse.
“..and if you were sick, or on a journey, or one of you passed stool, or you have touched (had a sexual intercourse with) women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth, then wipe your faces and your hands; surely Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving” . (4/43).
As you may have noticed the verse outlined when, with what, and how we perform tayamum. Let’s then discuss them one by one.
ghusl or wudhu.
When there is sufficient water, but there may be a barrier to fetching, or using it, such as you may have a disability, or your using the water could entail a sinful act - using a maghsoub utensil for example - or you may fear for your safety, honour, or possessions.
When there may be a possibility that using water for ghusl or wudhu might deplete your supply of water, so much so that there may not be sufficient quantity of water to quench one’s thirst, including members of your family, relatives, and even one’s livestock.
When there is not ample time to conduct ghusl and say an obligatory prayer in full and on time.
When obtaining water could lead to putting oneself in an untenable situation.
When water has changed in both colour and property to the extent that you find yourself in real in a state of revulsion when using it.
When your responsibility is to use the limited quantity of water to remove the najasah from the mosque.
When you fear you become sick as a result of using water for ghusl or wudhu, or using water could complicate your ill health. However, this should be the case when the matter does not come under the subject of wiping (mas’h) over a jabirah (lit. splint: a generic name used for any form of dressing any part of the body after injury or illness), especially when there is a risk of worsening the state of
the injury or ailment if the dressing is removed, and the part of the body is not among that which is covered by the ruling concerning the wiping on jabirah.
As he was talking he started by taking off his ring. He then hit the bare earth with [both] the palms of his hands once. With both the palms of his hands, he wiped his forehead, between the hair line, and the top of the nose including the eyebrows. When he reached the top of his nose, he stopped, and removed his hands. Then he wiped the back of his right hand with the palm of his left hand from the forearm to the fingertips. He did the same thing to wipe the back of his left hand, using the palm of his right hand.
“..Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty..” (4/185)
Yes:
You must have a valid reason for not using water for ghusl and/or wudhu, as has been explained earlier on.
You must make niyyah, seeking closeness to Allah.
That which is used for taymum must be tahir, [clean], not usurped, and not mixed with other substances, such as ash, unless the mixture was greatly diluted.
[That which is used for taymum must leave traces in your hands. Thus, it is not permissible to use smooth stone with no dust covering it].
[Wiping of the forehead should be done from top to bottom].
You must not do taymum unless you have exhausted every possible alternative before the time of prayer or any other act of worship that has a prescribed time for performing it.
You must do taymum yourself so long as you can do it.
The whole process of taymum should be carried out without breaking the sequence of wiping.
There must not be any barrier between the part of the body that is being wiped and that part of it that is doing the wiping.
You must wipe your forehead before your right hand and your right hand before your left hand.
What should I do?
Yesterday, you mentioned ‘jabirah’, but postponed talking about it till today.
jabirah on any part of my body?
The outer part of jabirah must be tahir. You need not worry if the inner part of jabirah, that is close to the body, was najis.
[The jabirah itself must not be usurped].
The size of jabirah must be confined to that which is generally accepted as commensurate to the size of wound or injury.
and wipe the jabirah itself.
go about it?
We have reached the topic of prayer. It has been related from the Prophet (s.a.w.), “Prayer is the buttress of religion. If it is accepted, by Allah, the Most High, every other good deed by the faithful is accepted. And if it is rejected, every other good deed is rejected”.
Prayer is an audience with the Creator, convened at prescribed daily times. Allah has outlined the times at which prayers are said and the manner which they must be conducted. During this audience you be fully absorbed in the experience. You talk to Him and invoke His Mercy. You come out of this encounter with clear conscience and serene heart. It is quite natural that you may feel the presence of Allah while you say your prayer.
It is no wonder that Imam Ali (a.s.) used to remove the arrows embedded in his body in battle while fully engrossed in the spirit of worship, for it used to help him take his mind away from pain.
When Imam, Zainul Aabideen (a.s.) used to do wudhu his face would turn pale. And when members of his family asked why he looked so haggard, his reply was, “Don’t you know in whose presence I am going to
be?”. When he started prayer, it sent shivers down his spine. And when asked why he was shivering, he replied, “I want to have audience with my Lord and implore Him. That is why I tremble”.
The story of Imam al-Kadhim’s (a.s.) worship is a model for all devout Muslims. When the Caliph Harun ar-Rashid ordered him to be imprisoned in his dungeons, the Imam passed most of his time in worship, giving thanks to Allah for answering his prayer and availing himself of that golden opportunity.
Above all, payer is a manifestation of inner feeling that we all belong to Allah, the Most High, who has overall control over everything. And when you utter the phrase, “Allahu Akbar” at the start of every prayer, all material things should become insignificant because you are in the presence of the Lord of the universe who controls every aspect of it. He is greater than everything. As you recite the Chapter of “al-Fatiha”, you say, “You do we worship, and You do we ask for help”. Thus, you rid yourself of dependency on any mortal.
With that exquisite feeling of submission to Him, you enrich your spirit five times a day. And if you want more spiritual upliftment, you may perform mustahab prayer.
are not the only wajib prayers. There are more:
Prayer for ayaat (signs, or natural occurrences). (Please refer to the Second Dialogue on Prayer).
Tawaf payer that pilgrims say during umra and hajj. (Please refer to the Dialogue on Hajj)
Prayer for the souls of the dead. (Please refer to the Dialogue on Death Related Matters).
Any compulsory prayer not said by the father who had passed away. [It is incumbent on his eldest son to say it on his behalf]. (Please refer to the Second Dialogue on Prayer).
Any prayer that becomes compulsory because of hire (ijarah), oath, votive offering, or any other reason.
However, the five daily prayers should have the following:
a. The time of prayer.
b. The Qiblah.
c. The Place where prayer is said.
d. The clothes of the person saying the prayer.
e. The taharah necessary to saying prayer.
It should be noted, though, that these five prerequisites should be present in other types of prayer, except for the time of prayer, as will be explained in detail later on, inshallah.
Now, I am going to discuss each of these points in detail.
long as each of which takes.
The time of Maghrib and Isha starts from sunset and lasts till midnight. The first part is confined to Maghrib and the latter part to Isha in as long as each of which takes .
[You should not start Maghrib prayer until the dusk, appearing in the East, disappears from the sky].
When saying any prayer, it is important to observe the appointed time of each prayer before you set out to say it.
should I do?
If the deviation from the direction of the qiblah is less than 45 degrees to right or left, your prayer is in order. If, however, the degree of tilt was greater than that, or you said your prayer facing the opposite direction, and there was still time to repeat the prayer, you should do so. Should the time of prayer elapse, you need not repeat the prayer.
Among what is considered maghsoub are possessions, such as property and furniture, that although taxable, yet khums tax on them was withheld. I shall discuss in some detail matters pertaining to khums in another session. I just want to remind you against complacency and indifference when it comes to paying religious dues.
The spot
where you do prostration must be tahir not najis.
However, there are few more points concerning the place where you say your prayer:
a. It is not permissible, during prayer and otherwise, to turn your back on the graves of the Infallibles (a.s.), especially when the act entails insularity.
b. [Both the prayers of a man and a woman would not be in order, if they were very close to one another and standing side by side, or the woman was slightly ahead]; the distance between the two positions where they say prayer should not be less than ten yards, if there is no barrier, such as a wall, separating the two.
c. Prayer is mustahab at mosques, and the most honoured ones are the Grand Holy Mosque at Mekkah, and the mosque of the Prophet (s.a.w.) at Medinah. Prayer is also recommended at the holy shrines of the Infallibles (a.s.).
d. It is strongly recommended that women choose the most secure (sitr) place, even within the boundaries of their own home.
a. The clothes must be tahir and [not maghsoub]. However, what is worn during prayer should have been
acquired lawfully. This, though, only applies to that which covers the private parts. Also, we should take into consideration that there is a difference between what is acceptable for a man to cover himself with and a woman. For example, in a man’s case, garments, such as a pair of knee-length shorts, would suffice. Whereas for a woman, wearing such a garment would not do, for she is required to cover her body during prayer.
b. It should not be a part of an animal, such as the skin of an unslaughtered animal even if it is not sufficient by itself to cover one’s private parts].
c. Products made from carnivorous animals are not allowed to be worn during prayer, even if they were of these which could cover the private parts. [And other products made from animals, whose meat
is not permissible to consume].
d. Pure silk garments must not be worn by men during prayer. As for women, wearing silk clothes is allowed.
e. Pure, or adulterated, gold jewellery is not allowed for men. However, there is no harm in wearing fake jewellery.
I still have two more things on the clothes worn during prayer. It is obligatory to cover the private parts, i.e. the penis, testicles, and posterior.
Women have to cover their entire body including hair, but excluding the face, hands - to the wrists, and feet - to the ankles during prayer. They should do this even when they are alone.
These are the preliminary steps of prayer. Prayer itself comprises a number of parts and duties. They are, niyyah, takbiratul ihram, standing, recitation of some chapters of the Holy Qur’an, dhikr (remembrance), ruku’, sujood (prostration), tashahhud, tasleem. The order, as
well as continuance, of all these series of acts and utterances should be paramount, as you shall find out later on.
And now to answer your question, I have this to say: Reciting adhan and iqamah in daily prayers is a strongly mustahab act. So, you shall be rewarded if you stick to reciting them prior to your daily prayer.
Allahu Akbar (God is Great) - four times and each of the following phrases twice:
Ashhadu Alla Illaha Illal Lah (I bear witness that there is no god but Allah).
Ashhadu Anna Mohammadar Rasoulul Lah (I bear witness that Mohammad is the Messenger of Allah).
Hayya Alas Salah (Hasten to prayer)
Hayya Alal Falah (Hasten to success)
Hayya Ala Khairil Amal (Hasten to the best of good deeds)
Allahu Akar
La Illaha Illal Lah (There is no god but Allah)
Allahu Akbar
Ashhadu Alla Illaha Illal Lah
Ashhadu Anna Mohammadar Rasoulul Lah
Hayya Alas Salah
Hayya Alal Falah
Hayya
Ala Khairil Amal
Qad Qametis Salah (prayer is being offered)
Allahu Akbar
And
La Illaha Illal Lah (once)
The second fundamental part of prayer is takbiratul Ihram.
Fatiha).
The third fundamental part of prayer is the recitation.
After takbiratul ihram, you recite Surat (Chapter) of al-Fatiha [and another full chapter after it]. The recitation must be carried out correctly. You must also not forget to recite the Basmalah (an acronym for Bismillahir Rahman ar Rahim: In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful) at the beginning of every chapter, except for Chapter of Tawbah.
hurry.
the Arabic words, both individually and within the context of other words; when you stop on a word, you must always pronounce it with an ending tone (sukoon), i.e. you should ignore the accent on the last letter, be it fatha, kasrah, dhamma, etc. Conversely, you must pronounce the words with their full harakat (diacritical marks, such as shaddah, maddah, tanween, hamzatul wasl or hamzatul qat’, appearing above the characters or below them that denote and aid the proper pronunciation of the words, both independently and in relation to other words in the sentence), usually found in the print of the Holy Qur’an.
In a word, you should master the rules of correct recitation, in the same way, you are required to do when reciting the verses of the Holy Qur’an, such as idgham (amalgamation or doubling of certain letters - after noon sakinah), qalqalah (resonating the sound of such letters as, qaf, taa’, baa’, jeem, daal, especially when you are stopping on them). Some of these can be found at the end of the words of (Ahad, Assamad, Yelid, Youled in Chapter of al-Ikhlas).
qat’, it is the one that should be pronounced very clearly. The way this type of hamza is pronounced is not determined by its proximity to other words. Examples of such a hamza are found in the words of (Iyyaka and An’amta) in the same Chapter.
And if I may add, to ensure that your recitation and other utterances during prayer are perfect, you should seek the help of those who have mastered prayer to enlighten you. This may sound somewhat stringent; yet you must endeavour to acquire the ability to guarantee that your prayer is correct.
The fourth fundamental is qiyaam (standing upright).
Although this is self-explanatory, yet it is the only part or unit of prayer that carries a double message. It could be a rukn as in the case of uttering takbiratul ihram and the qiyaam immediately before ruku. Thus, it qualifies for the characteristics of and is governed by the rules of any other rukn. Or it could be a compulsory act (wajibat), not a rukn, such as the standing while reciting the two chapters or tasbihat, or standing up from a bowing position. Rules of wajibat should, therefore, apply.
The fifth fundamental is ruku.
to God) three times each.
You should then stand upright, saying as you do the movement (Sami’llahu Limen Hamidah: May God accept the words of those who praise Him), after which you prostrate.
The sixth fundamental is sujood.
You must do two prostrations (sujoods) in each ruku.
You should not use grains such as wheat and barley for sujood, nor wool, tar, glass, and crystal. The best object you can perform sujood on is the earth taken from land of Karbala, Iraq where Imam Hussain (a.s.) is buried.
the permissible things for sujood, you may use tar or bitumen. If not, you may prostrate on anything you deem possible, such as the garment you are wearing or your hand. If your well-being was threatened, you may act according to that which would be conducive to preserving yourself.
Moreover, do not forget to observe the requirement of symmetry and level of the places where you rest your forehead, your knees, and the toes of both feet, i.e. none should be higher than the other by the depth of a fist, i.e. with four folded fingers (about ten cm.). [Nor should the level of the spots where you stand and prostrate be].
I was not able to do so?
The seventh fundamental part of prayer is tashahhud.
Tashahhud is compulsory to say after the second sujood of the second ruku of every prayer and after the last ruku of maghrib, dhuhr, asr and Isha prayers
The eighth fundamental is tasleem.
Saying tasleem is mandatory in the last ruku of every prayer. It is said immediately after tashahhud, while you are still in your sitting position.
wa Ala Ibadil Lahis Saliheen: May peace be with us and the good among Allah’s servants. Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatul Lahi wa Barakatuh:May peace, mercy, and blessings of the Almighty be with you).
When prayer is stripped of any of its fundamental units, such as niyyah, takbiratul ihram, ruku, and sujood, it can no longer be valid.
Whatever spoils ablution, such as breaking wind, is bound to nullify prayer, [even if it happens, unintentionally or out of necessity, after the last sujood].
The head or the torso should not be turned away fully from the qiblah.
although it is maqrouh.
Deliberate laughing nullifies prayer.
[Deliberate weeping or crying for worldly matters invalidates prayer]. Weeping for any matter relating to the Hereafter is in order.
Intentional speech, albeit pronouncing a single letter, other than utterances pertaining to prayer itself, renders prayer invalid. The only exception here is the response to a salutation, which is compulsory, by repeating that salutation.
Doing anything that spoils the movements or utterances of prayer, such as rocking or swaying, invalidates prayer.
Eating or drinking during prayer is not allowed, even if this does not spoil the acts and utterances of prayer.
[Deliberate crossing of one’s hands, over the abdomen, while standing in prayer, in situations other than taqiyyah (dissimulation about one’s religious beliefs in order to protect oneself, family or property from harm)].
Deliberate utterance of the word “Amen”, after the imam has finished reciting “Al-Fatiha” [or the person who is praying alone says it after he has recited it], if there was no case for taqiyyah.
I should also, explain to you another important aspect concerning prayer, i.e. doubt about the proper execution of its acts and/or utterances.
However, I should outline to you general principles you may observe, should you harbour any doubt about the proper execution of prayer.
not worry; the prayer shall be in order.
Say, when you perform subh prayer, you frequently get mixed up as to the number of ruku you have done. You need not act on this suspicion and therefore render your prayer in order. Or suppose you have a habit of mistaking the number of sujood, e.g. whether you did one sujood or two. You should assume that prayer is in order.
first ruku for example?
If the doubt arises as to whether the ruku was the third or the fourth, no matter at what stage the doubt took place, you should assume that it is the fourth. You should, therefore, carry on with the prayer and after you have finished it, you either do two ruku from a sitting position or one ruku from a standing position. This is called salatul ihtiyat (precautionary prayer).
If the doubt arises as to whether the ruku was the fourth or the fifth, after having placed your forehead on the sujood spot for the second sujood, albeit before starting the utterance, you should assume that it is the fourth ruku. You should, therefore, carry on with your prayer; after you have finished it, you should perform sajdatay-as-sahu (two compensatory prostrations in lieu of any commision or omission in prayer due to forgetfulness).
If the doubt arises as to whether the ruku was the first or the second,
at the time of executing the second sujood, you should assume that it is the third ruku. You should, therefore, carry on with your prayer, doing the fourth ruku. Once you finish prayer, you should perform salatul ihtiyat [in this case, it should be one ruku from a standing position].
The way to say salatul ihtiyat is by starting with takbiratul ihram, then recitation of the Chapter of al-Fatiha [in a lowered voice]. There shall be no need to recite a second chapter. The subsequent movements and utterances would be bowing for ruku, sujood, tashahhud, and tasleem. That is, if the choice was for salatul ihtiyat to be said from a standing position. If it was for it to be said from a sitting position, there must be a second ruku before you do tashahhud and tasleem.
to a crouching position, and do a second sujood in exactly the same way. After you have finished the second sujood, you should do tashahhud and tasleem.
It should be noted, however, that sujood-as-sahu is a means of making up for other lapses that could happen during prayer. These are:
a. [When you inadvertantly speak, while you are praying].
b. [When you inadvertently utter any sentence of tasleem prematurely, i.e. while the prayer is still in progress].
c. Should you forget to say tashahhud, it is preferable that you say it first before you do sajdatay-as-sahu.
d. [If, after you have finished your prayer, doubt arises about omitting any act or utterance, or unnecessarily comissioning something, you should perform sajdatay-as-sahu]. It is also advisable that you perform sajdatay-as-sahu, if you have forgotten one of any two sujoods in your prayer. That is, after you do the sujood in lieu. You can also resort to doing sajdatay-as-sahu, if you have suspected that you were in a standing position instead of a sitting one. To sum up, it is advisable that you perform sajdatay-as-sahu if you realized that you either omitted and/or comitted any deed or saying during prayer.
e. You can perform sajdatay-as-sahu as many times as need be.
was to observe him while he was saying it). He agreed. The following is a description of what he did:
He first performed ablution (wudhu). After reciting adhan and iqamah, he set his face towards the qiblah, raised both his hands and put them close to his ears and, in a raised voice, uttered (Allahu Akbar).
He then started reciting the Chapter of al-Fatiha and followed it by the Chapter of al-Ikhlas. Immediately after he finished reciting the second chapter, he bowed, by placing both his hands on his knees, and said while in that posture (Subhana rabiyal adheemi wa bihamdih), and as he was going back to an upright position, he said (Sami’allahu limen hamidah: May God accept the words of that who chants His praise). From the standing position, he went down for prostration. After he placed his forehead on the sujood spot, he said (Subhan rabiyal ‘ala wa bihamdih). Upon raising his head, he went back to a sitting position and said (Astaghfirul lahi wa atoobu ilaih: I seek forgiveness from God and declare my repentance in His presence). No sooner had he uttered these words, he went for a second sujood, after which he went back to a sitting position, uttering the same phrase while he was sitting. Thereafter, he stood upright again.
When he stood upright for the second time, he repeated the recitation of the two chapters, and before bowing, he raised both his hands for qunoot and recited (Rabij’alni muqeemas salati wa min thurayyati, rabbana wa
taqabbal du’a. Rabanagh fir lee wa liwalidaya wa lilmu’mineen yawma yaqumul hisaab: My Lord! make me, and my offspring, keep up prayer, O our Lord! and accept my prayer. O our Lord! grant me protection, my parents, and the believers on the day when the reckoning shall come to pass).
On completing the supplication, he went for the bowing position for the second time now, repeated the same utterances while bowing (ruku). On raising his head, the two sujoods then followed in exactly the same way in the first ruku. As soon as he completed the second sujood, and in a sitting position, with his hands resting on his thighs, he pronounced tashahhud by saying (Ashhadu alla illaha illal lah, wahdahu la shareeka lah, wa ashhadu anna Mohamman abduhu wa rasuluh. Allahumma salli ala Mohammadiu wa aali Mohammad: I bear witness that there is no god but God, and that Mohammad is His servant and messenger. May God’s peace be with Mohammad and his Pure Progeny).
My father then stood up for the third ruku. In his upright and still position, and in a lowered voice, he recited (Subhanal lahi, wal hamdu lillahi, wala illaha illal lahu, wal lahu akbar: Glory be to God, praise be to God, there is no god but God, and Allah is great); he recited these phrases three times. He then did ruku and sujood, and stood up for the fourth ruku, which he did in exactly the same way as the third one.
On going back to
the sitting position after he performed the second sujood, he uttered tashahhud and tasleem (Assalamu alaika ayyuhan nabiyu wa rahmatul lahi wa barakatuh. Assalamu alaina wa ‘ala ibadil lahis saliheen. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatul lahi wa barakatuh: May God’s peace and blessings be with you, O Prophet! May peace be with us and the good among God’s servants. May peace be with you).
It is worth noting, though, that I observed my father while he was praying dhuhr and asr, which are a four-ruku prayers. He said both in the same way he said isha prayer. The only difference, however, was that he recited both the chapters in a lowered voice, except for basmalah. In maghrib prayer, he concluded it at the end of the third ruku, by uttering tashahhud and tasleem after he completed the second sujood. As for subh prayer, he concluded the prayer at the end of the second ruku, for subh is a two-ruku prayer.
Having observed how my father goes about conducting prayer, I have noticed few points I would like to share with you:
He is very keen on saying prayers at their prescribed times. In this regard, he used to cite the hadith (saying or tradition) from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “The precedence of the onset of the time of a prayer, over saying it at the end of that time, is similar to the precedence of the Hereafter over this world”.
At times, he used to say asr prayer immediately after dhuhr.
He often does the same when it comes to isha prayer which he says immediately after maghrib. When I asked him as to why he used to do that, he said you have the choice of saying these prayers either consecutively or separately.
“Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers”. (23/1)
He made a habit of paying great attention to the proper execution of all actions and utterances of prayer, be it a pause, a stillness of posture, or the sequence and continuance of movements and utterances.
My father did his best in executing the recitation of the two chapters of the Holy Qur’an during prayer, by giving due attention to the proper pronunciation of the letters in a word and the word itself in relation to other words in the particular verses. He treated other utterances in the same way.
I have also noticed that he used to perform special prayers either before the time of the five daily prayers or after he had finished. When I asked him as to what they mean, he told me that those were voluntary prayers that are mustahab to offer.
Among other meritorious acts of worship he used to do after prayer, is asking God’s forgiveness for himself, his parents, his relatives, and the brethren. Also, he often uses his rosary beads to chant the
praise of the Almighty in a particular way, in that he chants (Allahu Akbar) thirty four times, (Alhamdu Lillah), and (Subhanal Lah) thirty three times each. He told me it is called Tasbihuz Zahra’ (Praising of the Lord as used to be carried out by the daughter of Prophet Mohammad, Fatima az-Zahra’ ‘a.s.’).
While we were still on the subject of prayer, in this part two of the dialogue, I wanted to test my memory as to the information I had acquired.
So, before my father resumed the talk, I asked him if I could say isha prayer by doing two rukus only.
purpose of travel, i.e. if you change your mind and abort your journey, say half way, you should perform your prayer in full. That is, if the distance covered in both directions was less than forty four kilometres. If, however, the distance of the outgoing journey and the return one was more than the stipulated minimum, you should say your prayer qasr.
The aim behind the travel must be legitimate, i.e. not aiming at committing a haraam act, such as stealing, or the travel was unauthorized, as in the case of a wife embarking on a trip without the permission of her husband. Travel for fun, such as going on a hunting expedition, does not yield qasr prayer.
Travellers who do not intend to stop at their home town, those who do not intend to stay a minimum of ten days, and those who remain undecided as to the length of their stay for a period of thirty days qualify for qasr prayer.
prayer in full.
the more thawab there will be for them.
lightly behind, the one who leads the prayer. If, however, there are more than two, the rest must stand behind the imam without a barrier such as a wall separating them from the imam. The place where the prayer is conducted should be even. The imam’s position should not be higher than the position of those following him in prayer. The gap between the imam and the rest of the congregation must not be great. Nor should the gap separating the worshippers, standing side by side in prayer.
was uttering the tasbihat in either the third or fourth ruku’?
When women take part in a congregational prayer with men, they must occupy the rear lines, or to the side, but with a barrier, such as a screen.
The minimum content of the first sermon is to praise Allah [in
Arabic]. He could remind the worshippers to be fearful of God. He, then, should recite a short chapter from the Holy Qur’an. After that, he should sit for a moment and stand for the second sermon to glorify the Lord, and pray for God’s blessings to be with Mohammad (s.a.w.) and his Pure Progeny (a.s.). It is advisable that he should ask God’s forgiveness for the believers.
-. Yes, it should be held when the time for dhuhr prayer becomes due. There must be five people present, including the imam, provided that the imam meets the requirements for an imam of congregational prayer (salatul jamaa’a) discussed earlier.
If Juma Prayer was held in a place, that satisfies the conditions of holding it, by the Infallible Imam or his deputy, it is incumbent on all men, living within a radius of approximately eleven kilometres, of that town to attend it. Those who are exempt from attending are men who cannot do so because of severe weather conditions, sickness, old age, blindness, or because they are travelling.
If it was held by any other person, attending it does not become compulsory; and it is permissible to perform dhuhr prayer instead.
If the worshipper performed Juma prayer, that satisfied the conditions, there shall be no need for him to say dhuhr prayer, because Juma prayer makes up for it.
There remain two important issues to which I must draw your attention:
matter of choice, i.e. the mukallaf is free to perform it or say dhuhr prayer. Here I must hasten to add that performing Juma prayer is more preferable.
to compensate for those prayers you were sure you missed. As for those prayers you were in doubt whether or not you missed, you should ignore.
If, however, you were sure that you did not say Subh prayer for some time, yet you were undecided as to whether the period you missed out on this prayer was one month or forty days, you should assume that it is one month not forty days you should cater for.
incumbent on the eldest son to make amends for any mandatory prayers] his father did not fulfil in his lifetime, provided that the eldest son was not minor at the time of his father’s death, and that he was not denied the inheritance of the father. The son, however, could hire someone else to make up for the outstanding prayers.
second time, you should recite al-Fatiha and another chapter, then go for bowing and so on until you complete five ruku. After the fifth ruku, you should go for the two sujoods, precisely as you do in your daily prayer. Standing up for the second ruku, you should do the same number of bowings as you did in the first ruku. Having completed the tenth bowing, you have to perform the two sujoods, then say tashahhud and tasleem.
It is preferable to say it during the last third of night, closer
to the time of dawn. It consists of eight ruku’. It should be said in two-ruku segments, in exactly the same way you say subh prayer. After you have completed the eighth ruku’, you say shafi’ prayer of two ruku, followed by watr which consists of one ruku. Thus, the total will be eleven ruku’.
While supplication is being performed, it is mustahab to weep for fear of God. You may ask forgiveness for forty of your fellow devout Muslims, by their names. You may say, seventy times, “Astaghfirul Laha Rabbi, wa Atoubu Ilaih: I seek God’s forgiveness and repent to Him”, seven times, “Hatha Maqaamul ‘A’ithi Bika Minan Nar: This is the place of your bondsman who seeks refuge with You from Hellfire”, three hundred times, “Al Afu: Pardon me”. Having completed the supplication, you should do ruku, sujood, tashahhud, and tasleem in the same way you go about these acts in your daily prayer.
You may confine the prayer to shafi’ and watr, even the latter alone, especially when there is not enough time.
lail, take to salatul lail, take to salatul lail”. The Prophet (s.a.w.) was also quoted as saying, “Performance of a two-ruku prayer at the middle of night is closer to my heart than this world and all that is in it”.
It consists of two ruku’. In the first ruku’, after suratul Fatiha, Ayatul (verse of) Kursi could be recited [up to the words of The Sublime, “Wahum Fiha Khalidoon: and they are in it (Fire) for eternity”]. In the second ruku’, you may recite, after al-Fatiha, suratul Qadr, ten times. On completion of tashahhud and tasleem, you may say, (Allahuma Salli Ala Mohamdadiw Wa’ali Mohammad: May peace be with Mohammad and his Pure Progeny; O Lord make the reward (of this prayer) go to (the name of the deceased). There is, however, another format of this prayer. You may consult jurisprudence books if you so wish.
the believers “. (21/87,88).
In the second ruku’, after al-Fatiha, you may recite, (Wa indahu mafatihul ghaib etc.: And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasure - none know them but He; and He knows what is in the land and the sea; and there falls not a leaf but He knows it, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a clear book”. (6/59).
You, then, raise your hands in supplication and say, (Allahumma Inni As’aluka Bimafatihil Ghaybil Lati La Ya’lamuha, Illa Ant, An Tussaliya Ala Mohammadinw Wa’ali Mohammad: O God! I ask You with the keys of the unseen, that no one save You know, to bestow peace on Mohammad and his Pure Progeny; then make your request. You carry on saying, “Allahumma Anta Waliyyu Ni’mati, Wal Qadiru Ala Talibati, Ta’lamu Hajati, Fa’asaluka Bihaqi Mohammadiw Wa’alihi Alaihi Wa Alaihimus Salam Lamma Qadhaytaha Lee: O God! You are the Bestower of my boon; You alone are capable of granting my wish; You know my need. So, I pray to You by the right of Mohammad and his Pure Progeny, may peace be with them, to answer my prayer and facilitate my need. You should then state precisely what you want.
It consists of two ruku’. In the first ruku, after al-Fatiha, you could recite surutut Tawhid thirty times. In the second, after al-Fatiha, you may recite Al-Qadr thirty times. On completion
of the prayer, you may give something in alms.
It comprises two ruku. Should you think that you are in dire straits, say this prayer. In the first ruku’, you should read, after al-Fatiha and al-Ikhlas, the first three verses of al-Fath, (Chapter No. 48), thirty times. In the second ruku’, you should recite al-Fatiha, al-Ikhlas, and al-Inshirah (Chapter No. 94)
My father commenced his words on the subject of the month of Ramadhan in a husky trembling voice; the glow in his eyes told of an inner awe for this month. It is no wonder because it brings to mind all that which is good, exquisite, beautiful, blissful, merciful, and forgiving.
To reinforce these concepts, he transported me to the time of the Prophet (s.a.w.), precisely to his famous sermon welcoming the approach of the fasting season, “O people! This is the month of God coming to you with mercy, blessing, and forgiveness; in the sight of Allah, it is the most superior month; its days, nights, and hours are the best. In this month you are the guests of God, enjoying His hospitality. You have been rendered among those who have won His grace. Your every breath shall be deemed utterances of glory to His Name, your sleep a form of worship. Your deeds shall be accepted, your prayers answered. So, with sincerity and pure hearts, pray to your Creator to grant you success in fasting this month and reciting His Book. The
wretched is he who is denied the Almighty’s forgiveness during this august month.
O men and women! During this month, the gates of everlasting bliss are ajar; so beseech your Lord not to close them off to you. The gates of the Fire are closed; so entreat Him not to open them for you. The devils are in fetters; so implore Him not set them free lest they should lead you astray”.
After he related this part of the sermon, he drew my attention to what I should be doing during this month stressing certain parts of the sermon. He went on quoting the Prophet (s.a.w.), “O people! He who provides a meal to a devout Muslim, at the end of his long day fast, during this month, his reward from God shall be as great as that for emancipating a slave, and he can be rest assured of the forgiveness of his past sins”.
Someone interjected, “O Prophet of God! Not all of us can afford to provide food for fasting people”. He retorted, “Fear God, even with half a date. Feed them, for the sake of God, albeit with a sip of water, because the Almighty grants those a full reward who have done a small deed, if he could not afford to do more.
O people! he who strives, during this month, to deal gently and politely with people, shall be guaranteed passage to paradise, on the Day when many a foot slips (leading to hell). Those who minimize the burden
of those in their employ (mulkul yameen), The Lord shall make their reckoning easy. He who checks his transgression, Allah shall withhold His wrath from him on the Day of Judgement. Whoever shuns his kinsmen, Allah shall deny him His mercy on the Day of Reckoning. He who recites just one verse of the Holy Qur’an, during this month, Allah shall grant him the reward of having recited the whole Book in other months”.
No sooner had my father finished relating those segments of the Prophet’s sermon, he criticised the behaviour of some fasting Muslims who mistakenly believe that fasting is abstaining from food and drink per se. To refute such belief, he quoted Imam Ali (a.s.) as saying, “There is many a fasting man who yields nothing from his fast other than thirst. And how many a worshipper whose night prayer gains him nothing but stress”.
He related another hadith from Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.), “ When you fast, make sure that your hearing, seeing, hair, skin, and all your faculties refrain (from that which is incompatible with fasting). The Imam was also reported as saying, “Fasting should not be confined to abstaining from food and drink. You should restrain your tongues from telling lies, cast your eyes away from that which Allah has ordained not to be looked at. Do not engage in conflict. Do not envy each other. Do not backbite, swear at or curse one another. Avoid giving false testimony. Be like one who is anticipating to move to
the next world, counting in the process your days, waiting for that which God Almighty has promised you, and always taking stock of your deeds in anticipation of having audience with Him. Take to God-inspired peace of mind and dignified bearing; take to submissiveness and humility - the submissiveness of a slave, fearing his master”.
My father told me a story that took place at the time of the Prophet (s.a.w.). The Prophet (s.a.w.) heard a woman calling her maid names. He called for food to be served to her. She said that she was fasting. He said to her, “Why are you fasting when you have just called your maid names? Fasting is not simply abstaining from food and drink. It is a means of refraining from committing sins by word and deed. How scarce genuine fasting is and how abundant hunger”.
the following:
You have sighted it yourself.
The testimony of two men of impeccable character, provided that you do not have any knowledge of instances that they may be wrong, and that you do not dispute their testimony.
The lapse of thirty days on the month of Sha’ban, thus reaching certitude that Sha’ban has come to an end and that Ramadhan shall commence.
When the news of the birth of the moon of Ramadhan becomes commonplace that you are sure of the sighting.
As for women, they should be fasting, provided that they are not in a state of
haydh or nifas, for they are not required to fast. They must, though, make up for the days of fasting they missed out at a later date.
1 and 2. Deliberate eating and drinking, be it little or much.
long as you did it inadvertently, your fast should be in order.
[Deliberately telling lies to Allah, or His Messenger (s.a.w.), or the Infallible Imams (a.s.)].
Deliberate sexual intercourse.
All kinds of masturbation.
Deliberate staying in a state of janabah until dawn. If a person had a sexual intercourse that rendered them in a state of janabah, they should do ghusl before the onset of fajr (dawn), so that they are tahir to embark on fast.
Suppose I was asleep during the day, and dreamed having a sexual intercourse precipitating ejaculation. What should I do?
[Deliberate inhaling of air laden with thick smoke or dust].
Deliberate throwing up.
a. Should a fasting person remain in a state of janabah on purpose until the onset of dawn, they should abstain during the day [Let their abstention be in a form of alqurbal mutlaqah, i.e. without specifying that this abstention is for the obligation of fast of Ramadhan or out of courtesy thereof].
b. In the case of lying to Allah, His Messenger, or inhaling thick smoke or dust, [they should abstain from eating or drinking for the rest of the day in compliance with the lawful injunction is either to carry out the obligation of fast or to abstain, i.e. from eating and drinking out of respect].
c. For nullifying one’s fast due to committing any of the other acts, [they should abstain for the rest of the day out of respect for the lawful injunction].
In addition, one has to make up for the days that have been
rendered invalid and pay an expiation. This could take the form of either emancipating a slave, feeding sixty poor people, or fasting two consecutive months for each day of fasting that had been rendered null. This is so, irrespective of whether rendering fast invalid was by something lawful (halal), such as drinking water, or unlawful (haraam), such as drinking alcohol or masturbation.
food for each day that you missed.
Having said that, I must remind you of the following:
It is not permissible to fast on either the first day of Eidul Fitr or the first day of Eidul Adh’ha, be it qadha or for any other purpose.
[The eldest son of the deceased should make up for any period of fast that his father had missed out during his lifetime for a valid reason. So too are the periods of fast the father did not do, even though he was able to do so. This can, however, be done by the son, if he was not a minor at the time of his father’s death nor was denied his inheritance].
There are certain categories of people who are allowed not to fast:
a. The elderly, who cannot fast, or fasting could cause them aggravation or difficulty. In this case they should resort to fidya, by donating 750 gm of wheat, which is preferable, for every day they did not fast. They are, though, not required to do qadha.
b. The expectant mother, who is approaching the date of delivery, and who feels that fasting could entail danger to her wellbeing or that of her baby. In this case, she should make up for the days missed later.
c. The nursing mother, who is experiencing a lack of milk, and whose fast could harm her or her baby, [provided that she was the only source of her boy’s suckling]. Conversely, it is not permissible for her
not to fast. If, however, it was permissible for her not to fast, she must make up for the days she missed.
However, it is incumbent on both, the nursing mother and expectant mother to make amends by donating 750 gm of food for every day they did not fast.
It has been related that fasting in the following days and occasions is highly rewarding:
a. Three days in each month, preferably the first and last Thursday of the month and the first Wednesday of the last ten days of it.
b. The anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and the day he was summoned to declare his Prophethood.
c. The Day of al-Ghadeer (Celebrating the appointment, by the Prophet ‘s.a.w.’, of Imam Ali ‘a.s.’ as his successor).
d. The 25th day of Thil Qi’dah.
e. The 24th day of Thil Hijjah.
f. The whole, or part, of Rajab.
g. The entirety, or part thereof, of Sha’ban.
And last, but not least, my father narrated to me this tradition from Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.), “In order that your fast be fully accepted, you should give zakat”, meaning zakatul fitra (a specified type of religious dues paid by the worshippers when they complete the fasting
of Ramadhan).
My father added that it is incumbent on every adult who is sane and has provisions for the entire year to set aside zakatul fitra for himself and his dependants, be they members of his immediate family or others, and be they children or adults, including those guests who arrive on the eve of Eid [or after it has set in].
The amount of zakatul fitra, per head, is three kg. of wheat, barley, dates, raisins, other foodstuffs, or their value in money. It has to be set aside on the eve of Eid, or on the day of Eid [before prayer, for those who performed it], and up to zawaal for those who did not say the Eid prayer. This should be paid to the poor and the needy, who are eligible to receive income support from monetary tax (zakatul maal). (See Dialogue on Zakat).
It is to be noted, however, that the zakat of those who are not of a Hashimite descent is not halal for the Hashimites.
Zakatul Fitra should not be given to one’s dependants, such as father, mother, wife, and offspring.
My father spoke of his experience of his first pilgrimage in a way akin to someone who had remembered a true love. I could see his true feeling in the twinkle of his eyes, the smile on his face, and the reverence of his words.
When I told him what I had noticed of his state, when he recalled that experience, he said to me:
Yes, son,
“Haven’t you recited the words of The Sublime,
“And when We made the House a pilgrimage for men and a (place of) security..”. (2/125).
And His words, quoting His Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.),
“O our Lord! surely I have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductive of fruit near Thy Sacred House, our Lord! that they may keep up prayer; therefore make the hearts of some people yearn towards them and provide them with fruits; haply they may be grateful”. (14/37).
My heart longs for that Sacred House.
My father cast his eyes down and, in a soft and melodious voice, recited poetry in praise of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and remembrance of the Holy places he had visited on his first pilgrimage. Raising his eyes, and addressing me, he said, “My maiden hajj left an indelible mark in my heart, the memory of which is rekindled every year, especially, at the time of hajj. I always pray to the Almighty to grace me with the favour of making the trip to Mekkah time and again.
There I interjected and asked him:
“.. and pilgrimage is incumbent on men for the sake of Allah, (on) every one who is able to undertake the journey to it..” (3/97).
Any number of pilgrimages made after the first one is mustahab.
the story of your first pilgrimage, which is so close to your heart?
No sooner had I uttered the word “Labbayk”, shivers went down my spine. I was in a serene state of mind that was triggered by a kind of devotion I never experienced before. It was an experience of fear and submission to the Creator.
The other acts you are forbidden from, once you enter the state of consecration are: a) looking into the mirror for dressing, b) protecting oneself against the sun [and rain], c) covering one’s head, d) wearing sewn clothes and socks, and e) some other acts, as detailed in the books of jurisprudence.
tawaf, I said a two-ruku’ prayer behind the station of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.).
I then went for Sa’y (seven laps of brisk walking between the mounds of Safa and Marwah - an obligatory part of hajj rituals), starting from Safa.
On completing the seventh lap, I made taqseer, by cutting some of my hair. By this act, I completed the Umrah of Hajj. Thereafter, I took off my ihram and waited for the 8th day of Thil Hijja “Yawmut Tarwiyah - Lit. satisfying thirst or giving attention, i.e. when Ibrahim (a.s.) gave attention to the vision wherein he was instructed to sacrifice his son Ismael”. On that day, I wore my ihram, in Mekkah this time, after making niyyah for hajj, said the talbiyah, and headed for Arafat, aboard an open top vehicle. I had to do wuquf (devotional stay at Arafat, Mash’ar and Mina as part of hajj rituals). This was performed at the start of noon of the 9th of Thil Hijja till sunset.
Leaving Arafat, after sunset, I set out for “Muzdalifa” and stayed overnight, for I had to be there at the sunrise of the 10th of Thil Hijja. After sunrise, I set out for “Mina”. With me were stones I gathered during my stay at Muzdalifa. In Mina, I had to perform three types of obligations:
Throwing seven stones successively at Jamarah of al-Aqabah (Pl. Jamarat: Places of the three stone slabs representing the devil, at Mina).
Slaughtering sacrificial offering at Mina.
Shaving my head at Mina.
On completing
these acts, I came out of the state of ihram, whereby I could do certain acts that were forbidden to me before, except seeking lawful pleasure with women, wearing perfume, [and hunting]. Thereafter, I headed for Mekkah for the second time to do tawaf of hajj, say tawaf prayer, and do sa’y between Safa and Marwah, in exactly the same way I did, on my arrival at Mekkah. Having completed that, I performed tawafun nisa’ (lit. women’s circumambulation: an integral part of hajj devotion, after which and its prayer, sexual relations between man and wife returns to normal).
I, then, returned to Mina to stay the overnight of the 11th and the 12th of Thil Hijja till the afternoon of the 12th. On each of these two days, I performed the ritual of throwing stones at the three Jamarat, the first, the one in the middle, and al-Aqaba, in this order.
Come midday of the twelfth of Thil Hijja, while still at Mina, I said Dhuhr prayer and left for Mekkah. Thus, I performed all the prescribed duties of hajj.
Despite the crowds and sweltering heat, which took their toll on me, I ensured that I executed all the obligations called for correctly. Hajj is a solemn occasion for seeking closeness to Allah Almighty through prayer, devotion and sincere rectitude.
Afterwards, I left Mekkah for Madina where I paid homage to the holy shrine of Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.) and the tombs of Fatima az-Zahra’ and Imams al-Hassan, Ali bin al-Hussain,
Mohammad al-Baqir, and Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) at al-Baqi’ cemetery.
I, also, visited historic mosques, the tomb of al-Hamza, the Prophet’s uncle, and other sacred sites around Madina.
This, in short, was the story of my first pilgrimage. When the time comes that you can afford the journey to Mekkah after you have paid zakat and khums that render your property and other worldly possessions pure, I’ll explain to you, in some detail, every step you should take. May Providence grace you with making pilgrimage to His House.
Zakat is one of the five pillars on which Islam is built. It is among the obligations of faith. Because of this it has been described by a Prophetic hadith: Prayer may not be accepted from the worshipper who withholds zakat.
When the verse,
“Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse and purify them thereby..”, (9/104),
the Prophet (s.a.w.) ordered his messengers to go out and break the news, “Allah, the Most High, has decreed that you pay zakat as He has decreed the daily
prayers”. When it was the first anniversary of the injunction, he sent his messengers to make it known to the people, “Take the portion of zakat out of your property, that your prayer may be accepted”. He, then, sent out the taxmen to collect zakat from those who were required by Islamic law to pay it.
My father continued relating to me evidence from tradition on the importance of paying zakat. He said: Once the Prophet (s.a.w.) was in the mosque, he started calling some five co-worshippers by their names and ordered them to leave, adding: do not say prayer here so long as you withhold zakat money.
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was quoted as saying, “On the Day of Judgement, Allah, the Exalted, shall resurrect some of the dead from their graves, with their hands glued to their necks so much so that they cannot move them an iota. Shepherded by the angels, they will be taunted: These were the ones who withheld a meagre portion of abundant bounty (they were favoured with). These are the ones who withheld the right of God to be taken from their property.
Moreover, during my recitation of the Holy Qur’an, I frequently come across many a verse where zakat has been equated with prayer. This indicates the lofty place of zakat in Islamic legislation.
When I asked my father about the rationale behind stipulating payment of zakat, he answered me with a hadith from Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Zakat has been imposed as a measure of trying
the rich and a source of subsidy for the poor. And if people paid zakat due on their property, there won’t be any needy or poor Muslims. What you see of want, poverty, and hunger are the result of the rich not fulfilling their obligations. It is worthy of God, the Glorified, to hold back His mercy from those who withheld His right in His property (that was entrusted to them).
Silver and gold coins.
Crops, such as wheat, barley, dates, and raisins.
Camel, cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats.
[Revenue from trade].
The quantity of gold should not be less than mithqal sairafi (of coins and bullion - a unit of weight, equivalent to 4.608 gm). The percentage due is 2.5% . For every three mithqals increase thereafter, the same percentage must be paid.
As for silver, the quantity should not be less than one hundred and five mithqals; the percentage due is 2.5%. For every twenty one mithqals thereafter, the same percentage should be paid.
Eleven months should pass, leading to the twelfth month, while it is still in one’s ownership.
Silver and gold should be of the minted type used as a means of monetary
exchange.
The ability of the owner of these metals to use them freely all year round. Thus, no zakat is due on property over which you have no control, such as lost property, for a generally accepted length of time.
Adulthood and soundness in mind of the owner, for no zakat shall be due on such coins owned by a minor or a mentally handicapped person.
The second category of zakat is that which is due on such crops as wheat, barley, dates, and raisins. The minimum weight taxable of any of these crops, when it is dry, shall be three hundred sa’ (a cubic measure equivalent to approximately 847 kgs). The amount of zakat deductible is according to the following criteria:
a. If the land cultivated with these crops is irrigated by either rain or river water, that does not call for great effort, the zakat shall be 10%.
b. If it is irrigated by hand, a pump, or the like, zakat payable shall be 5%.
c. If the source of irrigation varies, i.e. using both the ways mentioned in (a) and (b), payment of zakat shall be at the rate of 7.5%, unless either way of irrigation was used sparingly. In this case, the rate shall be charged in line with the predominant way applied.
ownership thereof at a later date, no zakat shall be due.
The third category of property that is liable for zakat is that comprising sheep, goats, cattle, camels, and buffaloes. The criteria for payment of zakat on these types of livestock are the following:
Insofar as camels are concerned, a minimum number of five camels would warrant one sheep of zakat. For every five extra camels thereafter, and up to and including twenty five, the rate is one sheep for every five camels, i.e. if you have twenty five camels, five sheep is the number that should be given in zakat. However, if you own twenty six camels, the zakat due shall be one two-year-old she-camel; thirty six would warrant one three-year-old she-camel.
There are, though, other bench mark numbers; this is not the time to go into detail about them.
As for sheep, the minimum, on which zakat is due, is forty. One sheep should be given away in zakat for that number of sheep. Two sheep for a hundred and twenty one, three sheep for two hundred and one, four for three hundred and one; any number of sheep exceeding four hundred the rate is one sheep for every one hundred of them, without a ceiling.
In
respect of cattle and buffaloes, the minimum that is taxable is thirty of either. Zakat payable on that number is a calf, that has just entered the second year of its life. If the number was forty, zakat due shall be one two-year-old she-cow/buffalo.
However, zakat shall not be due on any minimum number stipulated for camel, cattle, and sheep. That is, if the number exceeds the minimum, there shall be no zakat until the number has reached the new minimum.
Such livestock must be of the kind that graze in the fields. Should it need to be fed by supplements, even during part of the year, there shall be no zakat. [It is not of a consequence if the animals are used for work, such as tilling the fields or carrying water and the like. Zakat must be taken out, even if they were used a good part of the year].
The owner, or his guardian, should have the right of disposal over his livestock throughout the year. If any was stolen, for a considerable period of time then returned, no zakat shall be due.
A minimum of eleven months, leading to the twelfth month, should have elapsed under the ownership of the same person, before any zakat becomes due.
The fourth category [of property where zakat becomes payable is revenue from trading]. It is the capital used, for buying and selling, by a person with the aim of making a profit.
The rate of zakat deductible is 2.5% when all the
following conditions are met:
The owner should have attained adulthood and be sound in mind.
The property should attain the minimum outlined in silver and gold monetary means of exchange.
The lapse of one (tax) year on it, in kind, from the date it was intended for trading and making profit.
The intention to make profit should remain constant during the entire year. In other words, if you appropriate some of the money you set aside for the purpose of trading, or spend part of it on buying provisions during that year, no zakat shall be due.
The right of having free hand in the capital throughout the entire year.
The aim behind the working capital should be economic activity, i.e. not tying it up.
“Alms are only for the poor, the needy, the officials (appointed) over them, those whose hearts are made to incline (to truth), the (ransoming of ) captives, those in debt, in the way of Allah, and the wayfarer; an ordinance from Allah; and Allah is Knowing, Wise). (9/60).
members of their family, and do not have work whereby they can earn a living. The poor, however, are worse off.
It is to be noted, however, that the owner has no right of disposing with zakat money to this category. It is the prerogative of the Imam (a.s.), or his deputy.
longer be available, or who may feel embarrassed to borrow money in order to make the return journey home. [Also it is not possible for such a person to sell, or lease, some of their possessions in their home country to finance their return journey]. They can be allotted this part of zakat, provided that their travel was not for committing any sinful act.
Those, who fall within any of these categories do not qualify for receiving any money thereof, unless they are believers [they should not be among those who abandon prayers, drink intoxicants, or who openly commit that which is forbidden]. They should not be among those who dispose of the money in sinful acts, [to ensure that paying them is not a source of temptation, encouraging them to go the wrong way, even though they may not dispose of zakat money in disgraceful actions].
Those, who are among the taxpayer’s dependants, such as his wife, do not qualify for zakat money. Those of a Hashimite pedigree are not eligible to receive zakat money from non-Hashimites; they can receive it from their fellow Hashimites only.
Clutching a copy of the Holy Qur’an, my father went into the room where we usually conduct these dialogues. His expression suggested reverence and serenity. No sooner had he sat, he bent and kissed The Book, lifting it with both his hands and giving it to me.
Receiving it with both hands, I was overwhelmed by a sense of dignity and sublimity. My father then
asked me to open The Qur’an and recite some verses, starting with part ten.
“And know that whatever thing you gain, a fifth of it is for Allah, the Messenger, the near of kin, the orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer, if you believe in Allah and in that which We revealed to Our servant, on the day of distinction, the day on which the two parties met; and Allah has power over all things”. (8/41).
My father interrupted me, saying:
I could hear him murmur, as though he was talking to himself, “And know that whatever thing you gain, a fifth of it is for Allah…”. He raised his head and addressed me. Do you know that khums is wajib?
He stood up and gave me a volume of a book entitled, “Al-Wasa’il”, The Means. The author is Mohammad bin al-Hassan al-Hur al-Aamili. He asked me to open the book and read from the chapter of “al-Khums”.
Among the traditions, I read was one related on the authority of Imran bin Mousa. He was quoted as saying, “In the audience of Imam Mousa bin Ja’far - al-Kadhim (a.s.), I recited the verse of Khums. He retorted, “Whatever
was Allah’s is His Apostle’s; and whatever was the Apostle’s is ours”. He, the Imam, added, “By Allah Almighty! if Allah has made the believers’ sustenance easily available with, say, five Dirhams, they should set aside one Dirham, that is Allah’s share, and take ownership of four pure (halal) ones”.
I also read a hadith transmitted on the authority of Mohammad bin al-Hassan al-Ash’ari, “Some of our companions wrote to Abu Ja’far ath-Thani, al-Jawad (a.s.): Could you tell us about khums? Is it deductible from all types of earnings, be they little or plenty, and how? He wrote in his own handwriting: Khums is (deductible from income) after allowing for one’s provisions”.
Whatever Muslims take in war booty, movable and immovable property, from the unbelievers they lawfully engage in war.
What is owned, of metals, by way of mining, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, sulphur, etc. Also, crude oil and coal, after deducting production and processing cost, provided that the quantity extracted and ready for marketing is not less than the equivalent value of fifteen mithqal sairafi
of gold coins or more.
Treasures, provided that their value is not less than the equivalent of fifteen mithqal sairafi of gold and one hundred and five mithqals of silver, excluding excavation costs.
What has been extracted from the sea or big rivers by way of diving, such as pearls and corals, provided that the value thereby is not less than the equivalent of one gold Dinar (equivalent to 4.25 gm).
Some types of licit money mixed with illicit money.
Annual profits acquired through trade, industry, agriculture, presents, any other means of income, including wages and salaries and…..
I interjected, “Does this mean that profits made by bussinessmen should be liable for khums tax?”
a. His capital.
b. Any costs incurred in the process of conducting the business, i.e. transport, electricity, telephone, rent, storage, taxes and the like.
c. All personal outgoings, i.e. expenditure on food, drink, clothes, house, furniture, transport, medical treatment, and other similar expenses, including paying debt, buying presents, travelling, that are considered within one’s normal lifestyle, but not bordering on the lavish side. Having allowed for all such expenses, he should set aside 20% on the net profit
and pay it in khums.
30,000 - 20,000 = 10,000 on which khums should be paid thus:
10,000 @ 20% = 2,000 Dinars
of your tax year, you should carry out an inventory control of all excess goods and provisions, and set aside its fifth, either in kind or the value thereof.
This is the case too with everything the devout Muslim assumes ownership of from sources, that do not pay khums, by way of business or for free. Thus, the recipient has the right of disposal over such property. The same goes for the property, of a person who
does not pay khums, if he has been given free hand, but without ownership; the benefit would be the recipient’s and the sin shall be on the person who withheld the khums, if he was at fault.
My father paused for a while. I took the opportunity to ask him a question.
case of many people nowadays?
goods every year?
another person’s name. Thus, the latter has the right of disposal over the land. Should the original buyer pay the khums due on it now, or postpone payment until it is officially registered in his name?
The Hashimites here mean the descendants, from the father side, of Hashim, the grandfather of the Noble Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.).
It is to be noted, however, that [it is not permissible to give khums money to one’s own dependants, such as father, mother, wife, and offspring]; it is not permissible, too, to give it to him who shall spend it in haraam avenues; [what is of consequence is that giving
such money away should not lead to aiding the recipient to commit a sin, although he might not spend it in a haraam act. It is also not permissible to give khums money to those who forsake prayer, consume intoxicants, and flagrantly flout religious injunctions].
If you want to take to trade for a profession, get a clear picture of your religion.
With these words, my father inaugurated today’s dialogue and carried on, quoting Imam Ja’far bin Mohammad as-Sadiq as saying:
Whomsoever wants to make a living out of trading, must be conversant with matters of religion, so that they can draw the line between halal and haraam. Whoever entered into the arena of trade without acquiring an insight into religious knowledge, could easily fall into the trap of judicial error (shubuhat).
Many people may experience problems because of being either unaware of it, or choosing to ignore it; thus, committing error of judgement.
Since I am still not able to outline the relationship between fiqh (jurisprudence or religious knowledge) and trade, I asked my father:
It is, therefore, quite natural that, in order for The Lawgiver to apply His economic principles, He to devise a number of parameters to permit or
forbid certain economic activities at times, and make difficult or easy certain avenues at other times.
The Lawgiver, thus, obligates the mukallaf to earn a living to maintain himself and his dependants, such as wife, children, and parents.
In so doing, The Legislator does not leave the door open for the bread winner to practise any work he chooses, for there are many economic activities that are forbidden.
Selling dogs, except hunting dogs, is haraam.
Selling pigs is haraam.
Selling the carcasses of animals which have not been pausfully slaughtered, including their meat and leather, is haraam.
Dealing with usurped property is haraam.
Selling gambling tools and equipments and instruments of forbidden amusement, such as violin, is haraam.
Cheating is haraam.
Usury is haraam.
Commercial monopoly is haraam. For example the monopoly of staple food, and all that which goes into preparing it - fuel, salt, oil, etc. Hoarding such goods, while denying the public sale at reasonable prices, in anticipation of higher prices, is haraam.
Bribing the judiciary to pass right or wrong judgements is haraam.
Playing in gambling tools, such as chess, dominos, backgammon, and betting on them is haraam; even playing chess and backgammon [and the like] without betting is haraam.
False bidding, i.e. with the aim of enticing others to buy merchandise at a rigged price, is haraam [even if it was free from malice].
Dealing with stolen property or buying what has been procured with gambling money is haraam, etc.
some economic activities that the Lawgiver deem detestable. Shying away from such activities is not binding for the mukallaf; it is, therefore, makrouh not haraam.
Exchanging (selling) gold for gold or silver for silver, without a profit is makrouh; doing so for a profit, is haraam.
Borrowing money from a fledgling wealthy person is makrouh.
It is makrouh too to take slaughtering animals for a profession, so is cupping (hijamah), and vending shrouds.
Makrouh still are some dealings and methods pertaining to commercial activity.
Swearing (by God) in haggling over a price, even if it is with good intention and truthfulness. As for false swearing, it is haraam.
Makrouh, too, is making exorbitant profit.
Asking for a discount, after the sale has been concluded.
It is makrouh to sell goods in a dimly lit place, where defective goods may go undetected.
Touting for business by the vendor, and fault finding by the buyer.
Lending the believer money without interest.
Buying real estate.
Offering money to someone with the aim of setting them up in business with an agreed profit sharing formula.
There are some dealings and methods
that are highly praised, such as charging all customers the same price for goods, and saving preferential prices for the poor. Thus, the vendor should not discriminate against the customer who drives a hard bargain.
It is mustabab, too, for the vendor to accept revocation of the sale of goods (or services), should the buyer change his mind. Thus, the latter should be refunded.
It is mustahab to accept the shortfall (naqis) and give away the gain (rajih).
Flexibility in pricing is called for.
It is also mustahab to keep a business facility open.
It is recommended to vigorously seek work and go about one’s business to earn a living for oneself and dependants.
It is mustahab to be charitable and magnanimous in selling, and making an effort to seek out good quality merchandise for selling.
Searching for work, albeit away from home (ightirab) and getting up early to report for it is mustahab.
Finally, there is a type of business activity that is neither loved nor hated by the Lawgiver. One is free to pursue or leave, as is the case of many business activities prevalent nowadays.
Furthermore, Islam has devised an array of conditions that should be fulfilled. Some are applicable to the merchandise itself, and sale agreement; others concern vendor and buyer.
The knowledge of the quantity, weight, number, area, etc., as the case may be, of what is being sold.
The ability to deliver what has been sold. One cannot sell fish
in the river, i.e. that has not been caught, or a flying bird. It is feasible, though, if the buyer is himself able to take delivery of that which has been sold, such as a runaway animal.
Knowledge, in general terms, of particular attributes, of the thing sold, such as colour, taste, good or inferior quality that may lead to a variation in price.
The thing sold should be free from any third party rights. It is permissible to sell a pawned item without the permission of the original owner; likewise, it is not permissible to sell an endowment, unless it is no longer viable in serving the public interest, or it was becoming unviable.
In certain cases, the thing sold should be the capital asset itself, i.e. a house, a book, an instrument, not the benefit/usage thereof.
That said, my father added: Suppose certain commodities in a given country are only sold by weight, you should not attempt to sell them differently, say, by piece and so on. This is so as not to mislead the buyer.
There are, though, conditions that should be present in the transaction, e.g. you should not attach strings that were not present at the time of concluding the deal.
To
further illustrate this, you are not allowed to make the sale of your car conditional upon, for example, a baby boy being born to you and your wife. Rather, an amended sale contract must be entered into, if the baby boy was born.
valid.
If the buyer and seller were still at the scene where the transaction took place or they were together on the road, either of them may opt out; otherwise the sale cannot be revoked.
If either party of the sale transaction was swindled, they can abrogate the sale. For example, if the seller, unwittingly, sold the goods for much less than the market price, he has the right to retract the sale. By the same token, the buyer could
repeal the purchase and get his money back, if he found out that he paid an exorbitant price for it.
Should the buyer find out that the goods he has purchased do not fit the description and the specifications the seller has claimed were present, or they do not tally with what he had already seen by way of specimen or otherwise, he has the right to return the goods and get a refund.
If both parties to the sale contract stipulate that either can cancel the deal within a prescribed period of time, they can cancel it within that time limit.
If any party to the sale transaction pledged to act in an agreed way and later reneged, or if the buyer requested certain properties to be present in the goods, that he found lacking when taking delivery of the goods, he has the right to repeal the sale contract.
Should the buyer discover that the goods he had bought were faulty or imperfect, he has the right to return the goods and get a refund.
If the buyer finds out that the goods he has taken delivery of do not belong to the person he bought them from, but to another person, who does not agree to them being sold, he has the right to return the goods and consider the transaction null and void.
If the seller was not able to deliver the goods to the buyer in time, the latter can cancel the deal and
deem it null.
If the sale entails that the thing exchanged is an animal, the buyer has the right to return it to the seller within three days and get a refund. And should the price be an animal, the seller has the right to return the animal within three days of the date of the transaction and get his goods back.
If the vendor talks up his goods, to more than their real worth, in order to impress the buyer to buy them, the latter has the right to return the goods and get a refund, should it appear that the vendor was not honest.
If a sale transaction is entered into, pending receipt of the price of the goods and this was not forthcoming within three days of the agreement, the vendor has the right to cancel the sale. This is so when the vendor gives the buyer time to come up with the money without specifying the period. If, however, no time was granted, he has the right to cancel the sale.
Should the time of delay be put at any period beyond three days, he should fulfil his promise until the lapse of the appointed period of time.
subject to alteration either by extension or shortening. It should not be ambiguous. The agreement shall be deemed unsound if, for instance, it was stipulated that the value of the goods be settled at the time of harvest, in that there is no specific time for the harvest.
“.. and Allah has allowed trading and forbidden usury..” (2/275)
in it?
The goods bought and sold should be of the kind that is weighed or measured (for capacity), such as wheat, barley, rice, lentils, fruit, gold, and silver.
The two items should be of the same kind.
Should the deal concluded be on credit, would it still be considered a usury one, taking into account the two conditions in question?
[No, such a deal could be deemed a usury one, even if the two conditions were not present, i.e. in two other instances:
a. The two items exchanged should be of the kind that is weighed or measured, but not of the same kind, such as exchanging one hundred kg. of rice for a hundred kg. of wheat with a deferred payment, say, for a month.
b. The two types of produce could not be of the kind that is weighed or measured, but of the same category, and that the excess is in kind, such as exchanging ten walnuts for fifteen for a month delay in payment].
an extra number of units, such as exchanging thirty metres of cloth for forty for cash, and thirty eggs for forty.
dairy produce, be it milk, cheese, or yoghurt. This is because the original produce and all that is processed from it is [always] deemed one kind.
There is, though, another type of usury. It is the one that emanates from taking a loan.
The company or partnership contract could take different forms. It could be a
promissory company where the stakes in it are jointly owned. Any partner has the right to dissolve the company and seek to take their share, provided this does not entail any substantial financial loss or damage to the other partners. If this was the case, the other party or parties shall have no right of disposal over the joint ownership of capital. As for profit and loss, they should be apportioned on a par with the respective share of each partner.
silent partnership (mudharabah).
claim that the worker’s share of the profit is, say, one in every one thousand; for his part, the worker may claim that his share is what is generally accepted in the trade.
his property, or the like, or offered his services for work. What are the conditions of ijarah (hire) that should be fulfilled, so that it becomes valid?
That which should be taken into account insofar as the landlord and the tenant are concerned is adulthood, reason, free will, and neither should be legally incompetent; However, the ijarah of the bankrupt himself shall be in order.
As for the property to be rented or leased out, it should be: a) of a physical being; b) that the tenant has viewed it, or has the knowledge thereof by way of description; and c) that the landlord be in a position to hand it over to the tenant. Indeed, it suffices that the tenant can move into the property and make use of it for the purpose he intended, with it being intact. Such use must, though, be halal; for example, renting a property for the sale of alcoholic drink, and other illicit economic activity, for that matter, shall be deemed null.
restricts the use of the property rented to the sole use of the tenant. Would it be all right for the tenant to sublet the property?
However, ijarah shall not be valid, unless a duration for the rent is fixed.
However, if the landlord said to the tenant, “I rent you this shop of mine for this month in return for fifty Dinars, and should you decide to stay beyond the agreed duration, a new rent shall be fixed”, the ijarah for the first month shall be in order, whereas that for the remaining period shall be unsound.
This is so, if the transaction was reached under the banner of
ijarah. However, it could be handled according to other areas of dealings, the details of which we are not concerned with right now.
money, or premium?
Some of which is an agreement between the landlord and the tenant, stipulating that the landlord receives a specified sum of money in return for giving the right of use of the property after the lapse of the duration of lease, for an annual premium or that which is equivalent to the annual rent that is generally accepted.
If the deal is so concluded, the tenant shall have the right to keep possession of the property, after the completion of the duration of ijarah in exchange for the agreed sum. He also has the right to sublet the property to a third party for an agreed premium. It is not necessary for him to obtain the permission of the landlord.
Yes, the party who gives the gift should be adult, sane, intent on giving the present of his own accord, not coerced, and should not be legally incompetent. If this was the case, the gift given shall be valid. The same goes for a gift made by a terminally ill person. After his death, it can be granted, but by a ratio not exceeding the third. If, however, more was decided to be given away, the approval of the heirs must be sought.
Giving away a gift is a kind of contractual obligation. It requires an offer and acceptance. However, it suffices to carry out
by word or deed. It also requires taking possession, by the recipient, of the thing given by way of gift, if it was not already in his possession.
Should there be no indication as to the owner’s identity, making it difficult to trace them, you may keep the find for your self.
If the object found bears an identification of the owner, and it is less than Dirham Shar’i (12.6 chickpeas of minted silver, i.e. 2.419 gms) in value, you should not trace the owner. [However, you cannot keep it for yourself either. Rather, you give it away to the poor
by way of charity].
about the claimant is not sufficient to give away the article found.
The usurper should return to the victim all that was unlawfully taken away from them.
the usurper should be made to compensate the owner pro rata. This should be the case, if the usurper did not reach a settlement with the owner of the land to keep possession temporarily for a rent or for free.
Nonfungible things, or that which cannot be replaced (qeemi). It is that which has no exact attributes, such as cattle and sheep. The owner must be compensated the value of this type of livestock at the time they were killed.
Fungible (or replaceable things). This is the type of, say, produce that the usurper can pay back in kind, such as wheat and barley, provided that the compensated amount equates with the seized one in weight and quality.
the first usurper.
Giving sadaqah is rated among the most meritorious deeds. Tradition abounds with narrations, encouraging
the faithful to do it very often, so long as they can afford it. Giving sadaqah may contribute to alleviating sickness, driving away tribulations, increasing sustenance, repaying debt, and it is an all round enrichment to one’s means.
However, notwithstanding all these merits, looking after one’s family and kin remains a superior deed. And giving sadaqah to a needy relative who shows enmity towards you is more commendable than giving it to another relative who does not. Far superior still is lending money.
This discussion on “slaughter” completely changed my views. The word slaughter sounded cruel and I did no realize that Islamic teachings showed such consideration to animals.
My father said:
It is makrouh to carry out the slaughtering of an animal in the sight of other animals of the same kind. It is also makrouh for the person who has reared the animal to kill it with his own hands.
Among makrouh acts too is skinning the animal while its soul has not yet parted with its body.
To substantiate what he has said, my father quoted the Prophet (s.a.w.) as saying, “Allah, the Most High, has ordained the performance of good deeds in every thing. If you intend to kill an animal, let it be a quick death; if you intend to slaughter an animal, let it be done kindly: sharpen your blade, and put the animal at ease”.
Slaughtering camels is
unique, in that you should let the tool of slaughtering, be it a knife or a spear pierce the upper part of the chest, of the animal, where it meets the neck.
Now that you know how to slaughter animals, you should get to know the conditions that should be fulfilled to ensure that the meat of the slaughtered animal is halal to consume. These are:
The person who carries out the killing must be Muslim, irrespective whether it is a man, a woman, or a boy capable of rational action. The meat of an animal slaughtered by the unbeliever [and even the people of the book, although they might utter the basmallah] is not halal.
The tool with which the slaughtering is carried out should be made of iron. If this is not available, you can use any other tool made of any other metal, glass, or sharpened stone that is capable of cutting the four tracts.
it will be rendered haraam.
These are the conditions that should be met when slaughtering animals. However, if we were not sure that the animal we slaughtered was alive, it is imperative, besides, to monitor the killed animal for any signs of life, such as a movement in the tail, a twinkle in the eye, or a twitch. This is
to ensure that it is halal to eat.
However, if all the conditions already discussed were met when slaughtering the animal, we can say that such an animal is slaughtered, according to Islamic shari’a law.
Insofar as meat is concerned, animals are of three
types:
Some whose meat you can eat, such as sheep, cow, and goat. Meat of the second category cannot be consumed, such as lion, tiger, fox, eagle, and some subterranean animals. Meat of the third category of animals is inherently najis, such as dog and pig.
A sacrifice can be made of any animal whose meat is edible. Once it is sacrificed its meat becomes halal to eat. It cannot be carried out on animals that are najis, which cannot be rendered tahir, such as dog and pig.
More than that, if the meat came into the hands of a Muslim vendor from an unbeliever, and there was a possibility that the latter slaughtered it, you should also assume it to be halal. That is, unless you are satisfied to the contrary.
However, if you know that the Muslim bought it from an unbeliever
without making sure it was ceremonially slaughtered, and there is a possibility that it was, you may assume it is tahir. Yet, you are not permitted to eat the meat. The same ruling applies to all that which is taken directly from an unbeliever.
the qiblah, that b) the utterance was made, and that c) the rest of the conditions were fulfilled, the meat of the animal, slaughtered in this way, is halal.
consume, you should not eat them, unless you were satisfied that the fish were caught while they were alive, irrespective of the method of catching, such as in a net or from a fish farm.
Among these are:
The hunter, including the discerning boy, must be Muslim, as outlined in the conditions of slaughtering already discussed.
He should be intent on hunting; that is, if he was to
shoot and kill an animal by mistake, the kill is not halal to eat. Nor is the use of any part of its carcass.
Before using the hunting weapon or at the moment of firing, the hunter should utter, “Allahu Akbar”, or “Bismillah”, or “Alhamdu Lillah”.
The hunter must rush to his kill to slaughter it. Had he found it dead, then it is halal. If, however, there was not enough time to do the slaughtering, it would still be halal. Coversely, if the hunter got to the place where the animal fell, and there was enough time to slaughter it, but did not hasten to kill it until it was dead, it will not be halal.
In hunting with a rifle, the aim should be to shoot the animal and ensure that the bullet penetrates the body, so much so that the cause of its death be the actual shooting and penetration.
*. What if the wild animal, whose meat is halal to eat, was hunted and captured by a dog?
a. The dog should have been trained for hunting and in obeying instructions.
b. The dog should be sent to carry the task out by its owner, i.e. not of its own accord.
c. The handler, or owner, of the dog must be Muslim.
d. When the dog is set forth, the handler must utter the name of Allah, as previously explained.
e. The cause of death of the
captured animal must be due to the wounds inflicted by the hunting dog, and not due to strangulation, or exhausting it through chasing.
f. The handler, or owner, of the dog must rush to the animal to slaughter it, should there be ample time to do so. If, however, he found it dead or at the brink of death and there was not sufficient time to perform the slaughtering, it is halal. If there was ample time to slaughter it, but he hesitated until it perished, it shall not be halal.
eat and others whose meat is not:
Among land animals, that are halal to eat, are: chicken, sheep, cow, camel, horse, mule, gazelle, donkey, antelope, wild cow, and zebra.
It is makrouh, though, not haraam to eat meat of domestic horse, mule, and donkey.
It is haraam to eat meat of carnivorous animals, that have claws, such as lion and fox.
It is haraam to eat the meat of rabbit, elephant, bear, monkey, jerboa, mouse, snake, hedgehog, and crawling animals and insects.
Going back to the classification of animals that can or cannot be eaten, I feel that the subject shall not be complete without discussing marine animals.
You can eat all species of fish, provided that they have scales.
It is haraam, however, to eat dead floating ones.
Among marine animals and amphibians that are haraam to eat are cat fish, tortoise, frog, and lobster.
Among birds, that are halal to eat, are pigeon of all species, sparrow, swallow, pheasant, nightingale, ostrich, peacock, etc.
[It is haraam to eat meat of crow, of all kinds; so are wasps and other flying insects, apart from locust].
Haraam too is the meat of all birds of prey, i.e. that have talons, such as falcon, hawk, and eagle. So is the meat of any bird that, during flying, glides more than flaps its wings.
among those birds whose meat is halal to eat. Among the indicators that may identify it as being halal is that it should have one, or more, of three organs - a craw, a spur, or a gizzard.
Blood, dung, reproductive organs, placenta, glands of all kinds, testicles, bone marrow, gall bladder, spleen, bladder, eyes, [and the two nerves extending from the neck alongside the spine to the tail].
Those are the parts of animal carcasses that should be avoided. As for birds, blood and droppings are haraam, [beside those parts of animal carcasses mentioned earlier, if they were present].
With a smile, my father said:
Concerning the first part of the question, yes there are things that are haraam to consume, especially two things:
“O you who believe! intoxicants and games of chance and (sacrificing to) stones set up and (dividing by) arrows are only an uncleanness, the Satan’s work; shun it therefore that you may be successful”. (5/90).
Also, a tradition from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has it, “Alcohol is
the mother of wickedness and the spearhead of every evil deed …”.
It is forbidden to eat on a table on which intoxicants are served; [rather, sharing such a table is haraam].
As for the second part of your question, mustahab acts pertaining to eating and drinking are numerous; however here are some of them:
Washing both hands before and after eating, and ensuring that they are dried.
Uttering the basmalah once you start eating.
Eating in small morsels.
Food must be thoroughly chewed.
Prolonging meal time.
Starting and concluding the meal with salt.
Washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating.
Do not eat while you are still full.
Do not eat very hot food.
Do not blow, or exhale, in food or drink.
Try not to skin fruits that are intended to be eaten with their skin.
Finish eating what you have started.
Do not attempt to look people in the face while they are eating.
The host should start before the guests and finish after they have finished.
Do not drink water with fatty food.
Eat from the plate, or place, nearer to you, i.e. not from those placed in front of other people.
Do not over eat.
Using the right hand, for those who are not left-handed, in eating.
Our neighbour, Hussain has invited us to attend the wedding party of his son, Ali. It will take
place at five o’clock in the afternoon of this coming Friday. We shall be with them on this happy occasion.
“And I do not declare myself innocent, most surely (man’s) self is wont to command (him to do) evil, except such as my Lord has had mercy on, surely my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful”, declares The Almighty. (12/53).
I must admit that the moment my father started talking about man’s sexual urge, I felt embarrassed. Young people at my age feel constrained when it comes to discussing these matters, although we need to discuss them.
When my father saw me blush, he remarked:
man must get married.
For such unsettling experience, Ali preferred to face the problem head on and approach his father, expressing an interest in marriage, and acting upon the Prophetic saying, “He who gets married shall safeguard half of his religion; so he must fear Allah in the remaining half”.
Furthermore, marriage is one of the acts that are loved by God Almighty,
“And one of His signs is that He created mates for you from yourselves that you may find rest in them, and He instilled in you love and compassion for one another; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect”. (30/21).
“O people! be careful of (your duty to) your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind) and spread, from these two, many men and women ..”. (4/1).
Traditions extolling the virtue and merit of marriage abound. The Prophet (s.a.w.) was quoted as saying, “Get married and encourage (your
sons and daughters) to marry”. It has also been narrated from Imam Mohammad al-Baqir (a.s.) thus, “There has not been created any institution in Islam which is more favoured and dearer to Allah than wedlock”. And Imam Mousa al-Kadhim (a.s.) had this to say, “Three (types) of people shall find refuge in the shade of the Creator’s Throne on the Day of Judgement where there shall be no shade but His: A man who took it upon himself to set up his brother in matrimony, a person who did his brethren a service, and a third who did not breach the trust placed in him by others”.
There are more such hadiths that, beside urging men and women to get married, stress the revulsion for staying celibate.
mustahab to ask for small dowries, and it is makrouh to demand a big dowry. The Prophet (s.a.w) said, “The best among the women of my umma (Islamic community) are those who have brighter faces and smaller dowries”.
It is worth noting, however, that our Prophet (s.a.w.) gave his daughter, Fatima in marriage to Imam Ali (a.s.) for a small dowry - a coat of arms.
“And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves; if they are needy, Allah will make them free from want out of His grace; and Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing”. (24/32).
In a commentary on this verse, Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Whomsoever steered clear of the road of matrimony for fear of bearing the extra burden of starting a family, he has thought badly of Allah, for He said, “Allah will make them free from want out of His grace”.
is not new.
Soon it was time for my father and I to go to Ali’s wedding party.
The atmosphere was full of joy and happiness; people were clad in beautiful clothes, and bouquets of flowers adorned the tables.
An alim was there to conduct the marriage ceremony. There was a dignified silence, only to be broken by his voice of addressing the bride, on the other side of a screen. He was asking for her agreement to
act as her proxy in entering into the marriage contract. After reciting few verses from the Holy Qur’an and narrating Prophetic hadiths, appropriate to the occasion, he said to the bride, “Do you agree, O Fatima! that I represent you and declare you wife of Ali, son of Mohammad for a dowry of five hundred Dirhams? If you agree, say: You be my attorney”. With a faint voice, revealing some diffidence, Fatima replied: You be my attorney.
No sooner had she uttered the sentence, the sound of cheering erupted. The smiles of people were everywhere.
The alim then approached Ali and announced, “I wed you Fatima, daughter of Ahmed for a dowry of five hundred Dirhams in cash”. Thereupon, Ali responded, “I Accepted the marriage”.
This is the case in a permanent marriage.
marriage are fixed. As for the duration, it should not exceed the age of either party to the marriage contract.
In common with permanent marriage, man and woman can enter into the marriage contract themselves or through proxies. If both decide to enter into the contract themselves, the form of words used by the woman should be, “I give you myself in marriage for (x days, months, years) for a dowry of (x dirhams)”. The man should respond immediately, i.e. without hesitation or pause, “I accepted the marriage”.
However, there are conditions attached to the marriage contract:
The verbal proposition of marriage and its acceptance. That is, it is not sufficient for both parties to agree the marriage, be it permanent or fixed-term; nor would the written contract alone be sufficient to consummate the marriage.
The intent to consummate the marriage, be it by the man or wife, if they have performed the contract rite themselves, or their representative.
The wholehearted agreement of man and wife.
Explicitly identifying both the man
and the woman to be wed. Thus, the contract shall not be valid, if, for example, a man said to another, “I give you one of my daughters in marriage”.
[Performing the verbal formula of contract in Arabic, where possible].
The person who conducts the marriage ceremony should be [adult] and sane.
If all these conditions are met, the marriage contract shall be valid and both its parties shall be man and wife with immediate effect.
However, you should know that the validity of the marriage of a sane adult virgin woman is subject to the permission of her father or paternal grandfather [even if she was independent].
grandmother.
Daughter and his son’s daughters.
Sister, her daughters and their daughters.
Brother’s daughters and their daughters.
Paternal and maternal aunts.
Mother-in-laws and their paternal and maternal grandmothers, that is even the marriage was not consummated.
Step daughter of a marriage that was consummated.
Step mother and step grandmother.
Daughter-in-law and the wife of a grandson.
Sister-in-law, at the lifetime of his wife, for it is forbidden to marry two sisters at the same time.
Nursing mother and her daughters by birth and otherwise, who are forbidden to him because of lineage, since the principle of prohibition is one.
It is also forbidden for the natural father of the suckling infant to marry the natural daughters of the nursing mother [and the daughters of the man whose milk they shared, be they blood related or by way of suckling]. It is to be noted, however, that not every type of breast feeding necessarily leads to prohibition of marriage. Some of the parameters that render breast feeding a source of forbidding marriage are as follows:
a. The suckling must be administered directly from the breast of the woman, i.e. it is not of a consequence, if the woman’s milk was fed to the baby by a feeding bottle.
b. The suckling child should be less than two years old. Breast feeding a child over two years old is irrelevant.
c. The suckling should contribute to the child’s flesh building and bone strengthening. If, however, this is unclear, breast feeding of a “full day and night”
or “fifteen suckling sessions” would be considered to have contributed to breast feeding. If the matter can not be resolved, by applying these limits, ihtiyat should be observed.
It is to be noted, though, that in applying the time limit of “one full day and night”, no other source of feeding, apart from the woman’s milk, must be given during that time. Should the child be prevented from breast feeding for part of the time, or was given milk from another woman or other food, the principle would not apply. [It is important that the suckling child is hungry from the outset, so that he takes its fill, and is contented by its feeding].
The fifteen sessions of breast feeding, should form an uniterupted sequence by one woman. Each suckling session should be complete, in that the baby should take its fill.
There are more rules regarding breast feeding detailed in jurisprudence books.
“Your wives are a tilth for you, so go into your tilth when you like, and do good beforehand for yourselves …” (2/223)
A man can lawfully have sexual intercourse with his wife. That is, she must not prevent him from doing so, except where there is a valid reason preventing that. It is forbidden for the wife of a permanent marriage to go out without her husband’s permission.
A husband should provide
maintenance for his wife, by permanent marriage, be it food, clothes, or accommodation commensurate to his income and lifestyle.
He is not permitted to refrain from having sex with his wife for more than four months, unless she allows it, or there is a valid reason that could entail harm or an untenable situation. This prohibition is even more rigorous, if the wife is young.
There are, however, other rules that are designed to uphold the moral code:
It is forbidden, for any man or woman, who are not married to each other, to look or touch one another with sexual desire and satisfaction; this also applies to children. It is also haraam for people of the same sex, to do this to one another, if they are men, women, or children.
Apart from husband and wife, it is forbidden to look at the private parts of other people, male and female [including discerning children].
It is forbidden for a man to look at the body and hair of a woman to whom he is not married. It is permissible, though, to look at her face and hands, provided that the manner of looking does not arouse sexual desire. Likewise, the woman is not allowed to look
at a man to whom she is not married, except for his head, hands, and feet, provided that this does not arouse sexual desire.
The woman must cover her hair and body because they are forbidden to be exposed to the gazes of men [including the boy who is capable of rational action, if such exposure could arouse his sexual desire]. The face and hands are excluded from this restriction, provided she was sure of not committing a sinful act, and that exposing such parts of the body is done with the aim of enticing men into malicious looking.
If a man was committed to marrying a particular woman, he is permitted to look at those parts of her body such as face, hair, neck, hands, wrists, and legs, but without sexual desire.
A male physician is permitted to look and touch a patient woman’s body, if the treatment calls for it. This is so, if
the woman was forced to seek treatment with a male physician, because he was more capable of administering better treatment than a female physician. Conversely, she should seek treatment with a woman doctor.
Allah Almighty hates divorce. Traditions discouraging divorce abound. It has been narrated from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), “There is nothing more hateful to Allah, the Exalted, than divorce”. The Imam (a.s.) was also quoted as saying, “Marry and do not divorce your wives, for divorce causes the Throne to rock”.
The party who is filing for divorce must be adult, sane, and have free will. That is, a divorce coming from a boy, the insane, or one who is under duress is invalid.
The intent, by either or both parties, to go their own separate ways. That is, the divorce shall not be in order when it is done in jest, inadvertently, or by someone who
is not able to discern what it means to divorce one’s partner.
The husband may utter the following, “My wife - mentioning her name - is hereby divorced”. If she is present, he could say to her, “You are divorced”. If there is a proxy acting on behalf of the husband, he could say, “The wife of my mandator - stating her name - is hereby divorced”. There and then, divorce becomes a reality.
However, divorce cannot be carried out, unless the wife is free from haydh or nifas, except for a wife in a marriage that was not consummated, a pregnant woman, and some cases of absent husbands. The husband is not permitted to divorce his wife, who was tahir of haydh, after having a sexual intercourse with her; he should wait until she had her next haydh and become tahir thereof. Only then can he divorce her.
In a temporary marriage there shall be no divorce. Instead, the expiration of the agreed duration of marriage heralds the end of the relationship. If separation is sought before
the end of the duration of marriage, the husband can grant the wife the remaining period by saying, “I grant you the remaining period”.
The validity of granting the remaining period does not warrant the presence of witnesses, nor does it require the woman to be tahir from a haydh or nifas.
A divorced wife who has not attained menopause, after the marriage was consummated, should observe a waiting period from the date the divorce was pronounced, not from the date the news of the divorce was broken to her.
The waiting period for a non-pregnant woman is three menstrual periods. The duration between the divorcee and menstruation is considered one period, irrespective of whether it was short.
a menopausal age, not pregnant, and her marriage was consummated, the waiting period is [two menstrual periods], for the woman who still has a period, and forty five days for her whose period has stopped due to illness or any other reason.
As for divorce, which is the prerogative of the husband, it is of two kinds - irrevocable and revocable.
In an irrevocable divorce, the husband may not return to his divorced wife, without a new marriage contract.
In a revocable one, the husband may return to his wife without the need of a new contract or dowry, so long as she was still in her waiting period.
Of the types of irrevocable divorce is (khal’ie), i.e. at the instance of the wife, who must pay a compensation to the husband. It is the case of a wife who is unhappy with her husband, so much so that she resorts to threatening that she will not grant him his matrimonial rights. This khali’e divorce can come about when the wife is determined to end the marriage. She can address the husband thus, “I absolve you of paying my dowry, provided that you part company with me”. The husband can reply, in Arabic and in the presence of two witnesses of unblemished character, “My wife, -stating her name- is divorced in return for the compensation she offered”, or “X is divorced in return for - x - amount”.
being the only wife for instance, you may choose not to mention her name.
Should he choose not comply, and it was not feasible to force him to do so, the Marji’ could pronounce her divorced.
A friend of mine complained to me that his mother favoured his younger brother over him. I asked him, “In what way?”. He said, “By making a sacrificial offering, as a token of thanksgiving to The Almighty for His grace in restoring the health of my ill brother”. I said to him, “Did you ask her why?”. He replied, “Yes, she said to me that making a vow for the speedy recovery of my brother does not mean she favoured him over me. She also said that my parents had already slaughtered a sheep for me, by way of aqiqah (meaning will follow) when I was only seven days old and that they sacrificed an udhhiyah (meaning will follow) for me”.
There I stopped him because the words aqiqah and udhhiyah did not make any sense to me. I promised him to resume talking about it after I had asked my father.
It has been related from the Prophet (s.a.w.) that he uttered adhan in the ears of Imam Hassan and
Imam Hussain (a.s.) when they were born and offered a sacrificial animal on the seventh day after their birth.
Those of us whose parents could not afford aqiqah at the time, may do so themselves.
To vow means that you commit yourself to doing a particular thing, or forsake a particular deed or word, for the sake of Allah, the Most High.
Fulfilling a vow is not always viable, unless certain criteria are met.
There shall be no obligation to fulfil the vow.
The person making the vow must be adult, sane, intent on carrying out the vow, have free choice and access to that which is related to his vow.
That which is vowed should be identifiable and affordable.
should fast three consecutive days.
If someone made a pledge to Allah Almighty to do something or refrain from committing a certain action, he must fulfil that pledge.
It is worth noting, though, that the same conditions, I explained earlier, which apply in the case of a vow, apply in the case of a pledge.
fulfil it, what shall be the ruling?
Insofar as oath is concerned, it should be fulfilled. If it was intentionally broken, the kaffarah shall be either emancipating one slave, or feeding or clothing ten poor people. In the event of inability to come up with any of these, fasting three days in a row should suffice.
Central to the oath is the wording, i.e. it should be linked to the Name of Allah, such as “By Allah, or I swear by the Almighty, I shall do this or that”. The action, or otherwise, resulting from fulfilling the oath ought to be acceptable and affordable; it should also be lawful from a religious standpoint. It should still be sound, if he swore for a worldly gain. The person making the oath should be adult, sane, exercising free will, and clear in his mind as to the consequences of the action.
An Oath shall not become binding on the son, if his father banned him from doing certain things. Neither shall
it become binding on the wife, if she flagrantly disobeyed the orders of her husband.
If either makes an oath without the permission of either the father or the husband, they can undo the oath.
As for false oath, it is forbidden; it could be among grave sins, unless it is made out of necessity.
My father started today’s session with a hadith from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq, “Leaving a will is a (religious) duty; the Prophet (s.a.w.) had done so, and so should Muslims”.
After all, isn’t death inevitable?
“Every soul shall taste of death …” (3/185).
try to evade the inevitable?
We have to be practical and get ready for that which will befall us all, whether we lived a long or a short life.
I was writing what he dictated to me. It reads thus:
”O Lord! Originator of the heavens and the earth, the Only Source of knowledge of the unseen and the seen, the All-compassionate, the All-merciful. O Lord! I bear witness that there is no god but You, that You have no associates, and that Mohammad is your servant and messenger. That paradise, hell, resurrection, reckoning, destiny, and justice are true. That religion is as You described, Islam as You made plain, the word as You narrated, The Qur’an as You stated. That You are God - The Glaring Truth.
May Allah reward Mohammad with the best recompense. May He bless Mohammad and his Progeny and grant them peace.
O Lord! You are my refuge at times of fear, my ally at times of trouble, and the Giver of my boon. My God and the God of my ancestors! Do not make me rely on my soul, for if You do, it will tempt me to incline to that which
is evil, and allure me to abandon that which is good. Make my loneliness in the grave friendlier. And make me a pledge that I return to You with the best outcome”.
After this introduction, the person can state his will.
However, it is important to note that there are certain conditions that should be met by the person making the will. These are, they should be adult, sane, of a full legal age, hence the will of the incompetent (safeeh) shall not be in order. Nor shall be the will of a person who was coerced into making the requirement in the will. The will of the boy who is under ten
years of age, provided the provisions of his will were in the sphere of what is good and for the benefit of his immediate family and relatives.
At the time of making the will, the testator should not be resigned to taking his own life. In such a case, his instructions as to his estate shall, for example, be limited to that which relates to matters and expenses arising from his funeral and his children who are under-age.
The executor cannot appoint another person to carry out the will. He could, however, authorize a trustworthy person to handle any particular matter of the will, if the testator did not specify that the executor should attend to that particular matter himself.
avenue?
That is, if the deceased did not specify that it should be taken out from his share of one third, in which case it must be taken out of it.
The remainder must be divided into three shares.
One third must be set aside to meet the provisions made by the testator and two thirds for his inheritors.
estate.
However, making a will is mustahab as long as death was imminent, in which case attending to certain things as a matter of priority becomes wajib; among these are the following:
As for a) the debt whose date of repayment was not due, b) that which was due but was not yet demanded by the creditors to pay, or c) that which he did not have the means to pay back, he should make a will to that effect before witnesses, if it was not common knowledge.
Releasing deposits in his safekeeping to their owners, notifying the owners, or making a provision to return them.
Settling unpaid khums, zakat, and madhalim (Material or moral restitution, or reparation, to people you have wronged), if you were liable and could afford payment.
Hiring a person, for money paid from his own property, to say obligatory prayers or perform hajj on his behalf. Even if he was not financially able to hire someone, and a volunteer came forward to carry such obligations out for him, making a provision in the will to this effect becomes wajib. In certain cases, however, informing
a trusted person, such as the eldest son, to cater for meeting his obligations vis-a-vis prayer and hajj would suffice.
From inheritance perspective, relatives fall into three categories.
The First Group
The deceased’s parents, their offspring, and the third generation. However, by the offspring I mean the genealogical ones. In the presence of such offspring, they take precedence over the paternal and maternal grandchildren, i.e. the latter do not inherit anything.
The Second Group
The deceased’s brothers and sisters; in their absence, their offspring, paternal and maternal grandfathers and grandmothers should be given their share of the inheritance. If the brother had offspring and grandchildren, the nearest to the deceased shall have precedence in the inheritance over the more remote relative.
The Third Group
Paternal and maternal uncles and aunts, and in their absence, their offspring shall have a right in the
inheritance, according to the principle of the nearest blood relative comes first.
“Allah enjoins you concerning your children: The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females”. (4/11).
died and left behind a son and a daughter. How should their inheritance be divided between them?
all females, the estate shall be divided equally between them. If the heirs were of both the sexes, the criterion of two shares for the male and one share for the female must be upheld. That is, if they all were traced to the same parents, or they were his half brothers from his father’s side. If, however, they were half brothers from his mother’s side, they shall receive equal shares irrespective of their number.
She can, though, receive a share of the value of, not the corporeal, property left by her deceased husband, such as plantation and trees. She also gets her share after the property has been properly valued. The rest of the inheritors shall not have the right of disposal over any part
of the estate that may yield a share to the wife, except with her approval.
Although there are other rules governing inheritance, detailed in jurisprudence books, I should, however, mention few other points in this regard:
an agreement with the rest of the heirs. The same goes for other kinds of weapons, such as dagger and gun].
The murderer shall not inherit the murdered, if the murder was premeditated. Should the killing be accidental, inheritance should be upheld.
A Muslim can inherit a non-Muslim; the latter does not inherit the Muslim.
I started today’s session by asking my father about certain phenomenon I often notice in mosques, holy shrines, and some buildings and amenities. It is to do with the phrase “waqf, or endowment”, I see inscribed or written on the buildings themselves or on pieces of furniture therein, and sometimes on copies of the Holy Qur’an. What does this phrase mean?
The person creating the endowment could appoint a trustee to carry out the affairs of the endowment trust according to the deed of waqf.
However,
there are general rules that should be satisfied to make a waqf viable:
is, on the expiration of the specified period his property or capital should revert to his ownership.
And if the owner said to the beneficiary, “I grant you abode in my property during your lifetime”. Then the owner died. What shall be the position of the heirs?
as the person who made the endowment had intended. Only then can it be spent on maintaining another mosque.
I reckon now that you have attained an adequate and diverse level of knowledge of your religion, thanks to the journey we made together into the complex world of jurisprudence. It could be said that you now know the demarcations of right and wrong, halal and haraam, wajib and mustahab. Therefore, the time has come to act upon the injunction of God Almighty,
“And among you there should be a group who invite to good and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and these it is that shall be successful”. (3/104).
Beside the clear
injunction contained in the Qur’anic verse I have just recited, it has been reported that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “My umma ‘Islamic community’ shall be in good condition they enjoin that which is good, forbid that which is wrong, and co-operate in righteousness. If they hesitate, they shall be denied bliss, be dealt high-handedly with each other, and will have no helper on the earth, nor in the heavens!”.
In this regard too, Imam Ali (a.s.) has been quoted as saying, “Do not abandon the obligation of enjoining right and forbidding wrong. If you do, your bad folk shall reign supreme over you, and then you will implore God’s grace, yet your prayer would not be answered”.
And finally, probably you are aware of the Prophetic hadith, “You, all, are charged with the responsibility and should, therefore, take care of those who are in your charge”.
of this obligation is the exclusive domain of the clergy? It is the duty of every one of us, irrespective of our backgrounds.
The person exercising the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil must be aware of what is good and what is bad, albeit in a general manner.
The probability that his advice shall be heeded. Conversely, there is no point in trying to guide those who you know will not take your advice. Having said that, [it becomes obligatory at times that you show indignation at their flagrant commissioning of evil deeds and turning away from that which is good].
The wrongdoer, or the one turning away from good, must be intent on committing the act. In the event, however, of even a glimpse of hope that they may ameliorate
their stance, they must be counselled accordingly.
Should they abandon the action, or show remorse after they had done it, this is a sufficient confirmation that they are no longer bent on habitually committing evil deeds. You are, therefore, not required to tell them off, or urge them as the case may be.
The person committing the sin or turning away from what is virtuous should not be unmindful of the nature of their action, in that they are not aware what they are doing contravenes the sublime injunctions of religion. Otherwise, giving them advice is not compulsory.
The person giving the counsel should not fear the consequences of his word or deed, be
it to his person, honour, property, or fellow Muslims. Conversely, championing the obligation can be waived, except if the thing enjoined or forbidden falls within those grave matters in the eye of the Divine Lawgiver. In those circumstances, striking the right balance, between the expected action and the core injunction, becomes paramount. Accordingly, the obligation may or may not be discharged.
The next level is that you go about propagating enjoining good and forbidding evil by word.
The third level is taking practical action to enforce this divine injunction.
interning him, in a bid to make him desist from future violations.
However, for every type of the aforesaid actions, there must be room for manoeuvre commensurate with the circumstances prevailing at the time of committing the sin.
However, commands and interdictions are two obligations that become more demanding to enforce, if the person who is turning away from what is good, or committing the sin is among your household.
You may find some members of your family who are apathetic towards discharging certain obligations, or committing cardinal sins, lying, encroaching upon other people’s rights, and this or that of vile deeds.
enjoining good and forbidding evil in the same manner we discussed earlier..
Allah, the Omniscient says in His Glorious Book,
“…And whoever trusts in Allah, then surely Allah is Mighty, Wise”. (8/49).
Commenting on this verse, Imam Mousa al-Kadhim (a.s.) was quoted as saying, “Trust in God is of varying degrees. Trusting in God in all your affairs comes on top. Whatever He allotted to you, you should wilfully accept, in the knowledge
that you know He shall not wrong His servants. So, entrust Him with your affairs”.
Allah has stated in His Holy Book,
“And whoever holds fast to Allah, he indeed is guided to the right path”. (3/101).
It has been narrated from Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.), “Allah revealed to David (a.s.): Whomsoever among My servants held fast to Me, to the exclusion of My servants, I shall know that. And if it so happened that the heavens and the earth, and those in them, plot his downfall, I shall extricate him from such a situation. Conversely, should anyone of My servants put his trust in another of My creation, I shall know his intention, cut him off heavenly sustenance, and sink the ground under his feet; thereafter, I do not care where he perished”
“My Lord! grant me that I should be grateful for Thy favour which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I should do good such as You are pleased with, and make me enter, by Your mercy, into Your servants, the good ones”. (27/19).
Tradition has it, “Thanksgiving for God’s favours, irrespective of their magnitude, is weightier than the favour itself”.
Quoting the Prophet (s.a.w.), Imam Ali (a.s.) has said, “By Him, the Only and One God! Not a single believer, who has been favoured with the best of the riches of this life and the hereafter, has achieved
such favour, except with his good faith in Allah, his good opinion of Him, and his good character”.
”Whatever benefit comes to you (O man!), it is from Allah, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself..”. (4/79).
Imam Ali (a.s.) was quoted as saying, “Not a devout Muslim shall taste the true flavour of Iman (faith), unless he is satisfied that what has been allocated to him will not go to any other person, and that which has escaped him shall never be his”.
Describing true believers, Allah, the Exalted, has this to say,
“Their sides draw away from (their) beds, they call upon their Lord in fear and in hope, and they spend (benevolently) out of what We have given them. So no soul knows what is hidden for them of that which will refresh the eyes; a reward for what they did”. (32/16,17).
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq said, “Have hope in Allah, the kind of hope that shall help you refrain from trespassing upon His bounds, and fear Allah, in such a manner that shall not make you give up on His mercy”.
“..Only the patient will be paid back their reward in full without measure”. (39/10).
God, the Exalted, also revealed,
“Those who spend (benevolently) in good and bad days, and those who restrain (their) anger and pardon men; and Allah loves the doers
of good (to others)”. (3/134).
The Apostle of God (s.a.w.) was quoted as saying, “Among the most favoured avenues that may bring the servants closer to their Lord are their reactions in two situation - a burst of irateness, checked by restraint, and a tribulation responded to by patient perseverance”.
It has been narrated from Imam Ali (a.s) thus, “Endurance is of two types - The first is that exercised at times of affliction which is good. And better still is restraining oneself from transgressing against His injunctions, especially that which He deemed haraam”. The Imam also said, “Fear God, against wrongdoing, especially in secret, for the Witness is the Judge Himself”.
Allah, the Most High, said in His Book,
“Surely, Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you that you may be mindful”. (16/90).
It has been narrated from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) thus, “Three categories of people will be the closest to God, the Most High, at the Day of Reckoning: A person who, at an angry moment, chose not to use his upper hand in dealing a blow to his adversary; a second who befriended two others, yet, throughout this friendship, he did not lean to one side at the expense of the other; and a third who told the truth, albeit against himself”.
rather than his desires.
”Yearnings for women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and arable land, is made to seem fair to men; this is the provision of the life of this world; and Allah is He with Whom is the good goal (of life). Say: Shall I tell you of what is better than these? For those who guard (against evil) are gardens with their Lord, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and pure mates and Allah’s pleasure; and Allah sees the servants”. (3/14,15).
The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) said, “Blessed is he who forsook a pleasurable moment for an unseen promise”.
The Prophet (s.a.w.) was quoted as saying, “The person who is most loved by, and the closest to, me at the Day of Judgement, shall be the one with the best moral credentials and the most humble.” From the famous book of prayers of Imam as-Sajjad is this quotation, “O Lord! Bless Mohammad and his household, and do not elevate my rank among the people, unless You have suppressed my soul by the same measure, and do not bestow on me public honour, unless You create in my soul a humiliation by the same measure”.
“O children of Adam! attend to your attire (and looks) at every time of prayer, and eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely, He does not love the extravagant”. (7/32).
The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) said, “The most honourable
of works are those of a) being fair to others, b) giving charity to your brethren, and c) the remembrance of Allah, the Most High, in every circumstance”.
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “The best of acts of worship are moderation in food, and morality”.
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Blessedness belongs to him who pays more attention to fearing God Almighty than fearing human beings, and to him who is more concerned with his own faults and frailties than those of his fellow believers”.
Describing His Messenger, Allah, the Most High, said,
“Most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality”. (68/4).
Asked about who of the faithful is the most deep-rooted in faith, the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “The one who has the best integrity”.
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Allah never bestows glory on him who is petty-minded, and never humiliates him who is mild-tempered”.
Imam Ali ar-Ridha (a.s.) said, “Man can only attain true worship with forbearance”.
Allah, the Exalted, said,
“Surely, they who recite the Book of Allah, keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly, hope for a gain which will not perish. That He may pay them back fully their rewards and give them more out of His grace; surely, He is Forgiving, Multiplier of rewards”. (35/29,30).
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “The companions of the The Qur’an shall be
in a very lofty rank among mankind, save the prophets and messengers”. It was also related from Imam Abu Abdillah as-Sadiq (a.s.) thus, “Those, among devout youths, who recite The Qur’an, it will blend with their blood and flesh. And Allah shall place them with the virtuous noble scribes; the Qur’an shall stand them in good stead on the Day of Judgement”.
Tradition has it, “Al-Hussain bin Ali (a.s.) said to the Messenger of God (s.a.w.): O father! what will be his reward such as who pays visitation to you (your tomb)? The Prophet (s.a.w.) replied: Those who pay me a visit, your father, your brother, or you, I shall be duty-bound to visit them at the Day of Judgement to extricate them from their sins, (if any)”.
The Apostle of God (s.a.w.) said, “Renounce worldly things, Allah will love you”. In another tradition, he said, “If Allah chose any of His servants for His favour, He would make him relinquish the pleasures of this life for those of the Hereafter, and make him mindful of his own shortcomings, rather than those of other people”. Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s.) was quoted as saying, “Apart from knowing God, the Most High, and His Messenger, there is no deed more meritorious than shunning the glitters of this life”.
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq had these words for a man who sought his advice, “I commend to you to be God-fearing, pious, and diligent. Beware of desiring
that which Allah has bestowed on other people. It suffices to remind you of what He said in His Holy Book, addressing the Prophet (s.a.w.),
‘Do not strain your eyes after what We have given certain classes of them to enjoy, and do not grieve for them, and make yourself gentle to the believers’ (15/88).
God Almighty also said,
‘Let not then their property and their children excite your admiration..’ (9/56).
And should you grow fearful, always remember the lifestyle of the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) - his staple food was barley (bread), his deserts dates, and his fire was lit with palm leaves. If a misfortune befalls you or members of your family, remember the calamities that befell the Prophet (s.a.w.), in that they were unprecedented”.
Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “A believer who comes to the rescue of a wronged fellow believer shall get a reward that is greater than that of fasting Ramadhan, and devoting oneself zealously to the service of God in the Sacred Mosque..”. In another hadith, he said, “If a Muslim looks after the needs of his brethren, Allah shall call him: Your reward shall come from Me and I shall not accept for you anything less than The Garden”.
The Prophet (s.a.w.) counselled Abu Thar thus, “Be answerable to yourself before you are called to book, for this
will ameliorate your trial on the Day of Judgement. Weigh yourself (take stock of your deeds) before you shall be weighed. And be prepared for the Grand Parade when everything shall lay bare before God”.
In a hadith, the Prophet said, “He who has become impervious to Muslims’ concerns shall no longer be counted among them. And he who heard a person calling on Muslims for help, and did not respond to his plea, is not a Muslim”.
“And those who made their abode in the city and in the faith before them love those who have fled to them, and do not find in their hearts a need of what they are given, and prefer (them) before themselves though poverty may afflict them, and whoever is preserved from the niggardliness of his soul, these it is that are the successful ones”. (59/9).
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Among the prerequisites of forgiveness are giving away food, spreading peace, and speaking gently with others”.
The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) said, “The parable of a head of a family, going about his business to earn a living for himself and his dependants is like a mujahid in the way of Allah”.
The following verses from the Glorious Qur’an depict vividly the effect of true penitence:
”O you who believe! turn to Allah a sincere turning; maybe your Lord will remove
from you your evil and cause you to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow..” (66/8).
”..and turn to Allah all of you, O believers! so that you may be successful”. (24/31).
”..Surely Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves”. (2/222).
”Do they not know that Allah accepts repentance from His servants and takes the alms, and that Allah is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the All-merciful”. (9/104).
”Say: O my servants! who have acted extravagantly against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah; surely, Allah forgives the failings altogether; surely, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful”. (39/53).
It has been narrated from Imam Mohammad al-Baqir (a.s.), “The parable of a penitent is that of a sinless person, and the (parable) of him who dwells on his sin, while he keeps asking God’s forgiveness, is that of a mocker”.
”..and they who act unjustly shall know to what final place of turning they shall turn back”. (26/227).
Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “The most abhorrent sin in the sight of God Almighty is that of unjustly encroaching upon the property of a Muslim”.
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “He who volunteers
to back an oppressor, knowing that he was thus, he be outside the pale of Islam”. He also said, “The most wicked of people is he who sells the Hereafter at the price of this life. And the most wicked of the two is the one who bartered the Hereafter for the life of another person”.
The Prophet said,“The most vile of people is he who is accorded respect for fear of their mischief”.
“But if you held command, you were sure to make mischief in the land and cut off the ties of kinship!”. (47/22).
In a reply to a tribesman, on the best of (deeds in) Islam, the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Faith. The man said: And what comes next? The Prophet said: Being kind to your kinship. The man said: And what comes after in that order? The Prophet said: Enjoining good and forbidding evil. The man then asked: Tell me of the most vile deeds in the eye of The Creator? The Prophet said: Associating gods with Allah. The man said: What comes next? The Prophet said: Enmity among relatives. The man said: And what comes next in that order? The Prophet said: Enjoining what is wrong and forbidding what is good”.
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Anger is the precursor to every vile deed”.
“Therefore, enter the gates of hell, to abide therein; so certainly evil is the dwelling place of the proud”.
(16/29).
The Almighty also said,
“And do not turn your face away from people in contempt, nor go about in the land exulting overmuch; surely Allah does not love any self-conceited boaster”. (31/18).
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “The majority among the companions of Hell are the pompous”.
“(As for) those who unjustly seize the property of the orphans, surely they only devour fire into their stomachs and they shall enter burning fire”. (4/10).
Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “He who tells a lie on purpose after solemnly pledging to tell the truth, he shall be viewed as though he was going against God, the Exalted.
Describing the pious, Allah said in His Holy Book,
“And they who do not bear witness to what is false, and when they pass by what is vain, they pass by nobly”. (25/72).
“..There shall befall those who are guilty humiliation from Allah and severe chastisement because of what they planned”. (6/124).
God Almighty also said,
“..and the evil plan shall not beset any save those who hatched it..”. (35/43).
Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “Had it not been for the fact that the perpetrators of trickery and betrayal are among the companions of Hell, I could have become the most cunning among the Arabs”.
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Do not denigrate a needy believer, for he who treats any believer roughly, Allah shall treat him with the contempt he deserves, and
shall maintain His dislike for him until he abandons such attitude or repent”.
“Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn, from the evil of what He has created.. and from the evil of the envious when he envies”. (113/1,2,5).
Imam Abu Abdillah as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Envy eats away faith in the same way fire consumes firewood”.
“O you who believe! avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others..” (49/12).
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “An assembly rife with backbiting is an affront to faith. Therefore, purify your hearing faculty from listening to backbiting, for both the speaker and the listener are deemed sinners”.
“O you who believe! let not your wealth, or your children, divert you from the invocation of Allah; and whoever does that, these are the losers”. (63/9).
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “He, who makes this life his prime goal, shall be far removed from Allah’s domain”.
Imam as-Sadiq had this reaction and rebuke to a close friend, when he heard him calling the mother of his slave names. Hitting his own forehead with his hand, he said to him, “God be praised! (How dare) you falsely accuse his mother (by using abusive language)! I thought you were pious and God-fearing. In which case, you are not!”. The man said, “May I be your ransom! but his mother
is a Sindi (from the province of Sind) and that she is a polytheist”. The Imam retorted, “(And so!) do not you know that every people have their own way in conducting their marriages. Go away!”. It was recounted that the Imam (a.s.) was never seen with him again ever.
“And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but Him, and (show) goodness to your parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) ‘Ugh’ nor chide them, and speak to them a generous word”. (17/23).
“Only they forge the lie who do not believe in Allah’s revelations, and these are the liars”. (16/105).
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “It is a great treachery to tell your fellow-human being a pack of lies, while he is not aware you are lying to him”.
Imam as-Sajjad (a.s.) said, “Guard against lying, be it petty or big, in any circumstance, whether in earnest or in jest, for if you lie in trivial matters, you shall be tempted to lie in grave ones”.
The Originator of the heavens and the earth said,
“So He made hypocrisy to follow as a consequence into their hearts till the day when they shall meet Him, because they failed to perform towards Allah what they had promised with Him, and because they told lies”. (9/77).
”If four (bad) habits characterize a person, he should be deemed a hypocrite; and if only
traces of these habits were found in him, he would remain tainted, until he renounced them. These are: if he speaks, he tells lies; if he makes a promise, he does not keep it; if he undertakes a covenant, he betrays it; and if he disputes, he acts immorally”, said Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.).
“And those who, when they commit an indecency or do injustice to their souls, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their faults - and who forgives the faults but Allah, and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have done”. (3/135).
The Prophet said, “He who hoards foodstuffs, for more than forty days (plotting to push prices up), Allah shall deny him the breeze of Paradise”.
The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) said, “He who cheats is not one of us”.
“O children of Adam! attend to your attire (and looks) at every time of prayer, and eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely, He does not love the extravagant”. (7/31).
Allah, the All-pervading also declared,
“And give to the near of kin his due and (to) the needy and the wayfarer, and do not squander wastefully. Surely, the squanderers are the fellows of Satan and Satan is ever ungrateful to his Lord”. (17/26,27).
Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “If Allah chose what is best for any of His servants, He would make him spend wisely, and take good care of his affairs. He would lead him away from
misappropriation and prodigality”.
The Prophet of Mercy (s.a.w.) said, “He who deliberately abandons the observance of the obligation of prayer shall be denied refuge with God and His Messenger”.
Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Allah shall neither cast an eye on His servant, nor render him pure in heart, if he were to throw beyond his back any of the obligations He ordained, or commit any of the sins He prohibited”.
Thus, we finish our dialogues on specific subjects, praying to the Almighty to make the reward for the effort put into them closeness to Him. I hope
that you and our brethren would benefit from them. Having said that, the forthcoming discussion shall be a general one, as you may want to enquire about any other topic we have not covered in these dialogues.
No sooner had my father left, I gathered my notes; thus ending the last dialogue on well-defined juridical topics. Now it is time to get ready for a dialogue, the topics of which, I am going to determine.
In no time, I prepared a raft of questions. Shortly after my father had joined in, I started asking about leather products sold in, or imported from, non-Muslim countries, such as Europe.
them while in prayer. What would become of his prayer?
sujood on. The same goes for paper made of cotton or flax.
so.
day. The same ruling applies to such people as making the journey without niyyah the night before.
have a valid reason not to fast and [not the others].
though, tell me at which side of the Jamarat you carried out the stoning?
of the position of a person depositing money in public banks?
That is, because each of which is alien to the other.
Here, I would reiterate that disposing of moneys withdrawn from state banks in Muslim countries, in any transaction, can be done only with the approval of the Marji’ or his representative.
permissible. It is permissible for the bank, whether state owned or private, to charge the customer fees for the service it provides and interest on any payment of money it makes from its capital, not from the customer’s account.
assurance and other insurance policies. Are they in order?
if the first party could prove the failure of the second party to supply, for example, the building material on time, he could be made to pay the agreed penalty. Are these agreements in order to enter into?
restricts your work to the areas that deal with lawful merchandise, there is no harm in carrying out the work. As for your wages, they are halal to receive so long as you are not aware that such wages contain tainted money.
As regards that which is imported from non-Muslim countries, you are neither permitted to consume it nor trade in it, unless you are absolutely sure that it really was slaughtered according to Islamic injunctions, both in letter and spirit.
imported from non-Muslim countries?, especially if I was in the dark as to such permissibility on two counts:
I do not know whether it has scales, but the information given on the cover indicates that it is of the kind that has scales and there is no reason why I should not believe the case to be true.
I do not know how it was caught and whether it perished outside the water or inside it. However, it is common knowledge that modern fishing techniques, especially those employed by big fishing trawlers, result in big catches and the fish is often taken out of the water while still alive.
medicines and detergents contain small quantities of alcohol. Is it permissible to use?
Is it permissible for a living person to donate his eye or kidney to another person?
a Muslim. As for the dead body of an unbeliever, it is permissible.
paternal grandfather. With such a permission, she can then have the right of disposal over her child’s property, provided it does not entail any malice. The parents, however, have no right to take any action that could compromise their child’s interests. They must spare no effort to ensure the preservation of his property until he attains adulthood.
who play their parts should be of unblemished character.
animal from the back of its neck?
the Exalted to do all that which is prayed for?
“O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and seek means of approach unto Him and strive hard in His way that you may be successful”. (5/35).
In this session, I aim to enquire about matters concerning the young, in particular. I am going to start it with what I consider as the predicament of some sections of students.
medical students and physicians to carry out such examinations, provided that preservation of the respected human life is at stake, even if it be in the future.
a man, would the same rulings outlined in the previous examples apply?
“..and whoever is mindful of (his duty to) Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out, and gives him sustenance whence he thinks not; and whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him; surely, Allah attains His purpose; Allah indeed has appointed a measure for everything”. (65/2,3).
to human reproduction: The use of contraceptives is commonplace these days. If this was not feasible due to fear of harm or out of necessity, can the woman seek medical advice that may entail local examination by a man doctor or a woman doctor, especially when pregnancy could endanger her health or cause her unnecessary trouble?
entitled to such an action?
and sole, can be exposed in prayer.
implanted in the wife’s womb?
so, taking into account that if they decline, they shall be deemed failed?
parents could not contemplate the idea of their child being away from them; it could upset them. So, they objected to their child’s making such a journey. Can the child still make the trip?
is it permissible to listen to religious songs?
that is normally intended to move the viewer, permissible?
Thus, we concluded our dialogues. However, we may resume them, if need be.
Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher of the worlds.