Eid coinciding with Friday?

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah  may Allah be pleased with him, “The Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace upon him, said, ‘Eid prayer and Friday prayer have fallen on the same day, today. Whoever prays ‘Eid prayer, Friday prayer is not obligatory on him. As for us, we are going to pray Friday prayer’ (Abu Dawood Classed as authentic by Sheikh Albaani)

On the authority of ‘Ataa Abi Rabaah, “Ibn Zubayr led us in ‘Eid prayer early one Friday morning. [Later that day] we went out to pray Friday prayer, but we didn’t see Ibn Zubayr!? Therefore, we prayed by ourselves; and when that happened, Ibn ‘Abbaas was in Ta’if.

So when we saw Ibn ‘Abbaas, we asked him (Ibn Abbaas) about Ibn Zubayr not praying Friday prayer with us. Ibn ‘Abbaas answered by saying, ‘What Ibn Zubayr did (not praying Friday prayer) was in accordance with Prophetic Tradition.”

If the day of Eid coincides with Friday, then whoever prays Eid with the imaam does not have to attend Jumu’ah (it is not obligatory on him); in his case it becomes Sunnah. If he does not pray Jumu’ah, he has to pray Zuhr. This is in the case of people other than the imaam. As for the imaam, he has to be present for Jumu’ah and lead those Muslims who attend the prayer. The Jumu’ah prayer should not be forsaken completely on this day.

 

Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan

Virtues of Dhul-Hijjah

Alhamdulillah, all praise is due to Allah Swt for guiding us and allowing us to make it to the blessed month of Dhul Hijjah. InshaAllah i’m going to summarize a few important matters pertaining to this month and pertaining to the udhiya i.e the sacrifical animal for the day of Eid.

The texts and others indicate that these ten days are better than all the other days of the year, with no exceptions, not even the last ten days of Ramadaan. But the last ten nights of Ramadaan are better, because they include Laylat al-Qadr (“the Night of Power”), which is better than a thousand months.

 

You should know, my dear brothers and sisters in Islaam, that the virtue of these ten days is based on many things:

 

Allaah swears an oath by them, and swearing an oath by something is indicative of its importance and great

benefit.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “By the dawn; by the ten nights” [al-Fajr 89:1-2]. Ibn

‘Abbaas, Ibn al-Zubayr, Mujaahid and others of the earlier and later generations said that this refers to the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah. Ibn Katheer said: “This is the correct opinion.” (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/413)

 

Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allaah than these ten days.” The people asked, “Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah?” He said, “Not even jihaad for the sake of Allaah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2/457).

So my dear brothers and sisters we must realize the importance of this month and make the most when it comes to worship and doing good deeds.

Some of the things that the The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded us is to recite a lot of Tasbeeh (“Subhan-Allaah”), Tahmeed (“Al-hamdu Lillaah”) and Takbeer (“Allaahu akbar”) during this time.

 

The Takbeer may include the words “Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, la ilaaha ill-Allaah; wa Allaahu akbar wa Lillaahi’l-hamd (Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, there is no god but Allaah; Allaah is Most Great and to Allaah be praise),” as well as other phrases.

 

There is sound evidence that Ibn ‘Umar and Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with them) used to go out in the marketplace during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, reciting Takbeer, and the people would recite Takbeer when they heard them. The idea behind reminding the people to recite Takbeer is that each one should recite it individually, not in unison, as there is no basis in Sharee’ah for doing this.

 

My dear brothers and sisters not only during this time but in other times as well it is upon us if we know of a forgotten sunnah then we must revive it, for verily Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):

 

“Whoever revives an aspect of my Sunnah that is forgotten after my death, he will have a reward equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without it detracting in the least from their reward.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 7/443; this is a hasan hadeeth because of corroborating asaaneed).

 

And one of the forgotten sunnah of this time are some of the prohibitions upon the one offering the sacrifice. The Sunnah indicates that the one who wants to offer a sacrifice must stop cutting his hair and nails and removing anything from his skin, from the beginning of the ten days until after he has offered his sacrifice, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When you see the new moon of Dhu’l-Hijjah, if any one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, then he should stop cutting his hair and nails until he has offered his sacrifice.” According to another report he said: “He should not remove (literally, touch)

anything from his hair or skin.” (reported by Muslim with four isnaads, 13/146)

 

The Prophet’s instruction here makes one thing obligatory and his prohibition makes another haraam, according to the soundest opinion, because these commands and prohibitions are unconditional and unavoidable. However, if a person does any of these things deliberately, he must seek Allaah’s forgiveness but is not required to offer (an extra) sacrifice in expiation; his sacrifice will be acceptable. Whoever needs to remove some hair, nails, etc. because it is harming him, such as having a broken nail or a wound in a site where there is hair, should do so, and there is nothing wrong with that. The state of ihraam is so important

that it is permitted to cut one’s hair if leaving it will cause harm. There is nothing wrong with men or women washing their heads during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) only forbade cutting the hair, not washing it.

 

The wisdom behind this prohibition of the one who wants to offer a sacrifice from cutting his hair etc., is so that he may resemble those in ihraam in some aspects of the rituals performed, and so that he may draw closer to Allaah by offering the sacrifice. So he leaves his hair and nails alone until the time when he has offered his sacrifice, in the hope that Allaah will save him in his entirety from the Fire. And Allaah knows best.

 

Other acts of worship include:

 

Among the good deeds which the Muslim should strive to do during the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah are:

 

Fasting. It is Sunnah to fast on the ninth day of Dhu’l-Hijjah, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) urged us to do good deeds during this time, and fasting is one of the best of deeds.

 

Allaah has chosen fasting for Himself, as is stated in the hadeeth qudsi: “Allaah says: ‘All the deeds of the son of Adam are for him, except for fasting, which is for Me and I am the One Who will reward him for it.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1805).

 

Performing Hajj and ‘Umrah.

 

Sincere repentance. One of the most important things to do during these ten days is to repent sincerely to Allaah and to give up all kinds of disobedience and sin.

 

“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it,

And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it.”

[al-Zalzalah 99:7-8]

Shaddaad ibn Aws (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best prayer for seeking forgiveness is to say: ‘Allaahumma anta rabbi la ilaaha illa anta, Khalaqtani wa ana ‘abduka wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa wa’dika ma astata’t. A’oodhu bika min sharri ma sana’tu, aboo’u laka bi ni’matika ‘alayya wa aboo’u laka bi dhanbi, faghfir li fa innahu laa yaghfiru’l-dhunoob illaa anta (O Allaah, You are my Lord. None has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise (to You) as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to You all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobodycan forgive sins except You).” Whoever says this during the day, having faith in it and dies before the evening comes, will be among the people of Paradise, and whoever says it during the night, having faith in it, and dies before the morning comes, will be among the people of Paradise.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari,5831).

 

If you have been lapsing in being good to your neighbors and family now is the time, hurry to seek the pleasure of Allah Swt.

Beginning of Dhul-Hijjah

All praise is due to Allaah alone, praise and salutations be upon the Messenger of Allaah,his household, Companions,and all those who follow them in goodness.

Official Decision and Announcement of the High Judiciary Council of Saudi Arabia…

Just a short time ago, Fatwa-Online was informed of the official decision and announcement of the High Judiciary Council (HJC) of Saudi Arabia regarding the beginning of Dhul-Hijjah.

The 1st of Dhul-Hijjah 1430 will be tomorrow, Wednesday 18 November 2009, and the Muslims performing Hajj will be in ‘Arafah on Thursday 26 November 2009 (9 Dhul-Hijjah 1430), and the Muslim Ummah shall be celebrating ‘Eed al-Adhaa on Friday 27 November 2009, (10 Dhul-Hijjah 1430), inshaa.-Allaah.

Mahad Medina Price Update

Bismillah Wa Hamdulillah Wa Salatu Was Salaam ala RasulAllah

Following are the new prices thats i’ve been informed about for the visa renewals:

Sisters who are accompanied they will pay $100 instead of $150 and children $50 instead of $100 Brothers’ is $200.

 

Mahad Medina Contact info

Aassalamalaikom Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,

a lot of people have been asking about how to contact mahad medina and their website being down, following is what brother yusuf from the mahad had posted on the comments here:

yusuf administration@m-al-m.com 82.114.160.34

Submitted on 2009/09/20 at 8:13pm salaam alaykum yes our website is down and would be back soon but the email is working effectively therefore any intending student could communicate with us we ask your pardon for the delays baarakallahu fik

Studying in Egypt Q & A

Bismillah Wa Hamdulillah Wa Salatu Was Salaam ala RasulAllah

1) What are the recommend (Salafi) places to study/seek knowledge in egypt?

There are a few individuals in Egypt that you can study with, there is Shaykh Hassan al-Banna, he is the eldest and probably the best person to sit with, he gives weekly classes in a Masjid nearby from where i live, then there is a young brother by the name of Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem depending on where you will live at he is quite far away, a good 45 mins. to and hour from Hayy al-’Aashir, and then there is Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sa’eed Raslaan in Moonafiyyah, probably the most organized place with regards to studying the deen.

2) If choosing to stay within city are there any jobs or does the masjid give money/food for support?

Jobs are available if you are able to juggle between studies and work, but my advice is come to Egypt with enough money to hold you above water for at least 6 months or so, i personally did not search for jobs but i do know brothers that work and it seems the number 1 field is teaching english, the masjid does give food to poor people, i don’t know how it works though.

3)How does one stay there legally after the entry/visit visa expire..whats the cost involved and duration?

Assuming you have the US passport this issue is quite simple, once you arrive at the Airport you will purchase an entrance Visa which will give you 30 days time in order to acquire a proper visa, which will be done in Tahrir at what they call the “Mugama’a” you simply go down there with your families passports and the apps. and they’ll give you a vise for how ever long you chose to stay.

4)How much is the rent, average cost of cheap food and utility bills?

Now this varies considerably, it really depends how you want to live, you can find a apartment unfurnished, and when i say unfurnished i mean, there is nothing in it, not even closets, you can find an apartment like that for about a 100 bucks, it all depends which neighborhood you go to, so you kinda have to plan that out for yourself and see how you want to live. Utilities are cheap, you probably end up paying 20 pounds a month for electricity which is about $4.50.Gas i don’t know because i dont use it, but those are the only two things you’ll be paying unless you want internet at home, which is about 120 pounds, that’s about 20 bucks.

5) For those who are not rich and won’t have any financial support while being there, do you know much about villages where some sheikh’s teach such as sheikh raslan and the likes?

Villages are probably a cheap option, there is a lot of brothers who move from the city to live with Shaykh Raslaan. That’s really the only village i know about where bros. are going to live and study.

6) How has your personal experience been in Egypt?

As for my experience in Egypt then it was quite a trip, it took me a while to somewhat get used to the people and they way they do things, let’s put it this way, if you come for the people then you will be really disappointed but if you come for Allaah then you can benefit tremendously with regards to the language in a short period of time. So clear your niyyah constantly. You will need a lot of patience, so bring a lot of that with you.

That is my advice barakAllak feek.

May Allaah make it easy for me,  you and the entire Muslim ummah aameen.

Life after Ramadan

Bismillah Wa Hamdulillah Wa Salatu Was Salaam ala RasulAllah

It’s been several days since the month of Ramadan went by, Alhamdulillah all praises are due to Allah Swt for giving me and the muslim ummah that made it to it  a chance to live through this blessed month, may Allah accept my, yours and other Muslim brother and sisters ibadaat done during this month and on others times only for His sake. Ameen

The schedule of daily routine changes during the month of Ramadan however things are slowly getting back to the usual routine including the islamic center’s and mosques that hold regular duroos and activities.

Now as far as fasting is concerned then one should fast 6 days of shawwal rite after eid, they do not have to be done consecutively but one should hasten to do good deeds.

Abu Ayyoob (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever fasts Ramadaan then follows it with six days of Shawwaal, that is the fasting of a lifetime.” Narrated by Ahmad, 5/417; Muslim, 2/822; Abu Dawood, 2433; al-Tirmidhi, 1164.

And there are other reports too regarding the virtues of fasting the 6 days of shawwal.

One thing that is sad which is noticed after Ramadan is the people turning up less in the mosques for regular salaat. During the month of Ramadan the mosques were filled up with people, rows of people, kids, recitation of Quran and dhikr; now rite after Ramadan it is as if the mosques had visitors that left all of a sudden.

May Allah Swt accept our Ramadan and gives us a chance to make it through more of the upcoming blessed month’s of Ramadan with our eeman being at it’s peak. Ameen

Eid Mubarak

Bismillah

AAssalamalaikom Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,

My dear brothers and sisters in islam…i wish you all a very happy Eid mubarak.

What is Ramadan like in the West?

Bismillah Wa Hamdulillah Wa Salatu Was Salaam ala RasulAllah

I thought since there are visitors here from different parts of the world, why not share how the days are spent in the West during the month of Ramadan?

Of course, this may vary from place to place, but InshaAllah I will share how it is like in our place.

After finishing up suhoor, we go to the mosque which is about approximately a 2 minute drive. It is a walkable distance, but it would take a long time to get there; but it’s still  pretty close… we can even hear the athan. Since the athan is already called out, after praying the sunnah of fajr we recite Quran as much as Allah wills, along with the many brothers who either live in the neighborhood or drive up.

The Iqama is called about 20 minutes after the athan and after the fard salat the imam gives a talk. Some brothers leave while other’s stay. After fajr some people may catch up with their sleep while others may get ready to go to work. Some may read Quran, etc. this may vary on an individual basis.

Before Zuhr, people try to get to the mosque early so they can do some reading of the Quran. Usually after zuhr there is no talk by the imam, so people just leave; most of them as some may work or have other things to attend. Similarly,  people try to come in early before asr to get some more reading done, pray asr and then again theres a talk. Between asr and maghrib, there’s about more than a 2 hour gap of time, so one can either help the family for iftar or cooking ahead for suhoor and with time to do some reading before maghrib.

The fast is broken in the mosque along with the brothers. Since the mosque is majority Yemeni, the brothers bring and share kahwa and right after fard of maghrib, a lot of people rush to leave while others make their sunnah and leave slowly.

During these days, the gap between maghrib and isha is not much so after coming home from maghrib and eating iftaar with family, one can relax a few minutes only before getting ready to leave for isha.

The iqama used to be called  20 minutes after the adhan of isha, however, these days it seems a little shorter than that. One has to park far in order to avoid the traffic congestion or possibly get hit by a car! For Isha and tarweeh prayers, there are a lot of people Mashaallah. The masjid is very big mashallah… if I had to throw out a number I’d say between   500 to 700 people come (not counting the sisters who have a musalla upstairs). During the first 10 days, there’s a lot more people and one notices this year after year and during the middle 10, the number may go down and then again during the last 10, the number goes back up.

We pray 11 raka which includes witr for taraweeh and after that one needs to sit for a few minutes in order for the exits to clear up. Some times they have a talk after isha and sometimes they also do some fund raising.

During the last 10 days, they have congregation qiyaam at the 3rd part of the night and may have suhoor at the masjid and also sometimes they may have dinner after iftaar at the masjid.

During Eid, there’s even more people! The second part of the masjid accomodates a lot of people to, lot of kids get dressed up with their jambias and traditional clothes; the same goes with the elders.

The market places/restaurants here sell iftar boxes while in the other areas they may have some deals that they offer which may not be one of places one wants to go.

This is just a brief summary of how the month of Ramadan is spent here.

Virtues of fasting in summer’s heat

Bismillah Wa Hamdulillah Wa Salatu Was Salaam ala RasulAllah

Right before Ramadan started this year, it was kinda hot here in the west and it so happened  that right when Ramadan started Allah Swt changed the weather to a little cooler mornings and to somewhat normal temperature during the day time.

I happened to read this article several days ago however due to the timing/schedule these days i just couldn’t put it up.

Virtues of fasting in summer’s heat

Since Ramadan is during summer this year, Ibn Rajab’s section in “Lata’if Al-Ma’arif” (p. 272 273) about the virtues of fasting during hot days will serve as good encouragement:

“From the acts of worship whose reward is multiplied during the heat is fasting, and this is because of the thirst that one experiences in the midday heat.”

This is why Mu’adh Bin Jabal expressed regret on his deathbed that he would no longer experience this midday thirst, as other early Muslims did.

It was related that Abu Bakr would fast in the summer and not in the winter; and Umar advised his son Abdullah on his deathbed, “Try to obtain the characteristics of faith.” The first one he mentioned was fasting in intense summer heat.

And Al-Qasim Bin Muhammad said that Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her) would fast in the intense heat. He was asked: “What drove her to do this?” He replied: “She would take advantage of the days before death.”

Some righteous women would choose the hottest days for fasting, saying: “If the price is low, everyone will buy,” meaning that they wanted to do deeds that only a few were capable of due to how hard it was to do them. This is indicative of the high aspirations these women had.

Ka’b said that Allah said to Musa: “I made it incumbent upon Myself that whoever is thirsty for My sake will have his thirst quenched on the Day of Resurrection.”

When Amir Bin Abd Qays went from Basrah to Sham, Mu’awiyah would ask him to tell him what he needed. Amir said: “All I need is for you to return the heat of Basrah to me to make the fasting a bit harder, as it is too easy in your lands.”

Al-Hajjaj was on a journey between Makkah and Madina. He pulled out his dinner and invited a bedouin to eat with him, and the bedouin said: “I have been invited by One who is better than you and I have accepted the invitation.” He asked: “And who is this?” The man replied: “Allah invited me to fast, and I fasted.”

Al-Hajjaj asked: “On this very hot day?” The man replied: “Yes. I am fasting it in anticipation of a much hotter day.” Al-Hajjaj said: “So, eat today and fast tomorrow.”

The man replied: “Only if you can guarantee that I will live until tomorrow.” Al-Hajjaj said: “This isn’t in my hands.” The man said: “How can you ask me to do something now when there is something of the future that isn’t in your hands?”

Ibn Umar went on a trip once with some companions, and they saw a shepherd who they invited to eat with them. He said: “I am fasting,” and Ibn Umar said: “You are fasting in heat like this, and while you are in the midst of all these plants and sheep?” The shepherd replied: “I’m taking advantage of my remaining days.”

Ibn Umar was impressed by this reply and said: “Can you sell one of your sheep to us? We’ll feed you from its meat when you break your fast, and we’ll also pay you for it.” The shpherd said: “It doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to my master.”

Ibn Umar said: “What would your master say if you told him that it was eaten by a wolf?” The shepherd raised his finger to the sky and said: “What about Allah?”

Ibn Umar kept repeating this phrase that the shepherd was saying, and when he got to the city, he went to the shepherd’s owner and bought him (the shepherd) and his sheep from him. He then freed the shepherd and gave him his sheep as a gift.

Abu Ad-Darda’ would say: “Fast the very hot days in anticipation of the Day of Resurrection, and pray two rak’at in the darkness of night in anticipation of the darkness of the grave.”

When those who fast for Allah in the heat are patient despite their intense thirst, Allah will set aside a specific gate of the gates of Paradise for them.

This is the gate called Rayyan, and whoever enters through it will drink, and whoever drinks after entering it will never be thirsty again. When they enter through it, it will be locked for those after them, and none will enter through it except them.” – taken from Saudi Gazette