(' Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) There is no disagreement among the scholars of the Muslims that the source of legal rulings for all the acts of those who are morally responsible is Allah Most Glorious.
The question arises, Is it possible for the mind alone, unaided by Allah's messengers and revealed scriptures, to know rulings, such that someone not reached by a prophet's invitation would be able through his own reason to know Allah's rule concerning his actions?
Or is this impossible?
The position of the Ash'aris, the followers of Abul Hasan Ash'ari, is that the mind is unable to know the rule of Allah about the acts of those morally responsible except by means of His messengers and inspired books.
For minds are in obvious disagreement about acts
Some minds find certain acts good, others find them bad
Moreover
one person can be of two minds about one and the same action
Caprice often wins out over the intellect
and considering something good or bad comes to be based on mere whim
So it cannot be said that an act which the mind deems good is therefore good in the eyes of Allah, its performance called for and its doer rewarded by Allah; or that whatever the mind feels to be bad is thus bad in the eyes of Allah, its nonperformance called for and its doer punished by Allah.
The basic premise of this school of thQught is that the good of the acts of those morally responsible is what the Lawgiver (syn
Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace)) has indicated is good by permitting it or asking it be done
And the bad is what the Lawgiver has indicated is bad by asking it not be done.
The good is not what reason considers good, nor the bad what reason considers bad
The measure of good and bad, according to this school of thought, is the Sacred Law, not reason (dis: w3).
According to this school
a person is not morally obligated by Allah to do or refrain from anything unless the invitation of a prophet and what Allah has legislated have reached him (n: w4 discusses Islam's relation to previous prophets' laws)
Noone is rewarded for doing something or punished for refraining from or doing something until he knows by means of Allah's messengers what he is obliged to do or obliged to refrain from.
So whoever lives in such complete isoiation that the summons of a prophet and his Sacred Law do not reach him is not morally responsible to Allah for anything and deserves neither reward nor punishment.
And those who lived in one of the intervals after the death of a prophet and before a new one had been sent were not responsible for anything and deserve neither reward nor punishment.
This view is confirmed by the word of Allah Most High, ""We do not punish until We send a messenger"" (Koran 17: 15).
('lim usul al-fiqh (y71), 96-98) *
(Nawawi:) Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Say, 'Are those who know and those who do not know equal?' "" (Koran 39:9).
(2) ""Only the knowledgeable of His slaves fear Allah"" (Koran 35:28).
(3) ""Allah raises those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge whole degrees"" (Koran 58:11).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Whoever Allah wishes well, He gives knowledge of religion."" (2) ""The superiority of the learned Muslim over the devotee is as my superiority over the least of you."" Then the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Allah and His angels, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth
the very ant in its anthill and the fish bless those who teach people what is good."" (3) ""When a human being dies his work comes to an end except for three things: ongoing charity, knowledge benefitted from, or a pious son who prays for him."" (4) ""A single learned Muslim is harder on the Devil than a thousand worshippers
,.
(5) ""Whoever travels a path seeking knowledge Allah makes easy for him a path to paradise.
""Angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge out of pleasure in what he seeks.
""Those in the heavens and the earth, and the very fish in the water ask Allah to forgive the person endowed with Sacred Knowledge.
""The superiority of the learned Muslim over the devotee is like the superiority of the moon over all the stars.
""The learned are the heirs of the prophets.
The prophets have not bequeathed dinar nor dirham, but have only left Sacred Knowledge, and whoever takes it has taken an enormous share."" (6) ""He who calls others to guidance shall receive the like of the reward of those who follow him without this diminishing their own reward in the slightest
And he who calls others to misguidance shall bear the like of the sins of those whofollow him without this diminishing their own sins."" (7) ""He who goes forth to seek Sacred Knowledge is in the way of Allah [syn
jihad, def:
09] until he returns."" (8) ""This world and what is in it are accursed [dis: w5] except for the remembrance of Allah, that which Allah loves, someone with Sacred Knowledge, or someone learning it.""
'Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah be well pleased with him) said, 'The religious scholar is greater in reward than the fighter in the way of Allah who fasts the day and prays the night.""
Abu Darda' (Allah be well pleased with him) said, ""Teaching Sacred Knowledge for a brief time is better than spending a night in prayer.""
Yahya ibn Abi Kathir said, ""Studying Sacred Knowledge is a prayer.""
Sufyan al-Thawri and Shafh said, ""There is nothing after what is obligatory that is superior to seeking Sacred Knowledge.""
(Nawawi:) There are similar statements from whole groups of early Muslims I have not mentioned that are like those I have quoted, the upshot of which is that they concur that devoting one's time to Sacred Knowledge is better than devoting it to voluntary fasting or prayer, better than saying ""Subhan Allah"" (lit
""Exalted is Allah above any limitation""), or other supererogatory devotions.
Among the proofs for this, besides the foregoing, is that:
(1) the benefit of Sacred Knowledge affects both its possessor and the Muslims, while the above-mentioned supererogatory works are confined to oneself;
(2) Sacred Knowledge validates
so other acts of worship require it, though not vice versa;
(3) scholars are the heirs of the prophets, while devotees are not characterized as such;
(4) the devotee follows the scholar
being led by and imitating him in worship and other acts, obeying him being obligatory and not the other way around;
(5) the benefit and effect of Sacred Knowledge remain after its possesser departs, while supererogatory works cease with the death of their doer;
(6) knowledge is an attribute of Allah Most High;
(7) Sacred Knowledge
meaning the knowledge we are discussing, is a communal obligation (def: c3.2), and it is thus better than the supererogatory
The Imam of the Two Sanctuaries (A: Juwayni) says in his book alGhiyathi that ""the communal obligation is superior to the personal obligation in that the person performing it fulfills the need of the Islamic Nation (Umma) and lifts the obligation from it, while the obligation of the individual is restricted to himself."" And success is through Allah (alMajmu' (y108), 1.18-22).
*
(Nawawi:) Know that what we have mentioned about the merit of seeking Sacred Knowledge only applies to the seeker who thereby intends Allah Himself
not some end concerned with this world.
Whoever seeks it for a worldly aim such as money, leadership, rank, prestige, fame, people inclining towards him, defeating opponents in debate, or similar motive, is blameworthy.
(A: When the basic reason is Allah but other motives playa role, they diminish the merit in the proportion that they enter into it.)
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Whoever wants to cultivate the afterlife We shall increase for him his tillage, while who· ever wants to cultivate this world, we shail give hini of it, but he will have no share in the next"" (Koran 42:20).
(2) ""Whoever wants the present world We hasten for him therein whatever We will, for whomever We want, and then consign him to hell, roasting in it condemned and rejected"" (Koran 17: 18).
(3) ""Verily, your Lord is ready at ambush"" (Koran 89: 14).
(4) ""They were not ordered except to worship Allah, making their religion sincere unto Him as pure monotheists"" (Koran 98:5).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
( I) ""The first person judged on Resurrection Day will be a man martyred in battle, ""He'll be brought forth, Allah will reacquaint him with His blessings upon him and the man will acknowledge them, whereupon Allah will say, 'What have you done with them?' to which the man will respond, 'I fought to the death for you.' ""Allah will reply, 'You lie
You fought in order to be called a hero, and it has already been said.' Then he will be sentenced and dragged aw<\.y on his face to be flung into the fire.
""Then a man will be brought forward who learned Sacred Knowledge, taught it to others, and who recited the Koran, Allah will remind him of His gifts to him and the man will acknowledge them, and then Allah will say, 'What have you done with themT The man will answer, '1 acquired Sacred Knowledge, taught it, and recited the Koran
for Your sake.' ""Allah will say, 'You lie
You learned so as to be called a scholar, and read the Koran so as to be called a reciter
and it has already been said.' Then he will be sentenced and dragged away on his face to be flung into the fire."" (2) ""Anyone who seeks Sacred Knowledge to argue with fools, vie with scholars, or draw people's attention to himself, will take a place in hell."" (3) ""The most severely tortured on Resurrection Day shall be the scholar who did not benefit from his knowledge.""
Sufyan al-Thawri said.
""No servant increased in knowledge and then in desire for the things of this world, save that he increased in distance from Allah."" (Ibid., 1.23-24) *
(Nawawi:) There are three categories of Sacred Knowledge
The first is the personally obligatory (fard al-'ayn, def: c2.1), which is a morally responsible individual's learning the knowledge that the obligatory acts he must perform cannot be accomplished without, such as how the ablution (wudu) and prayer are done and so forth.
Its obligatory character is how groups of scholars have interpreted the hadith in the Musnad of Abu Ya'la al-Mawsuli, from Anas, who relates that the Propht;t (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim."" The meaning of this hadith
though the hadith itself is not well authenticated (A: being weak (dis: p9.5)), is true.
As for the basic obligation of Islam, and what relates to tenets of faith, it is adequate for one to believe in everything brought by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give: him peace) and to credit it with absolute conviction free of any doubt
Whoever does this is not obliged to learn the evidences of the scholastic theologians
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not require of anyone anything but what we have just mentioned, nor did the first four caliphs, the other prophetic Companions, nor others of the early Muslim community who came after them.
Rather, what befits the common people and vast majority of those learning or possessing Sacred Knowledge is to refrain from discussing the subtleties of scholastic theology, lest corruption difficult to eliminate find its way into their basic religious convictions
Rather, it is fitter for them to confine themselves to contentment with the above-mentioned absolute certainty.
Our Imam Shafi'i (Allah Most High have mercy on him) went to the greatest possible lengths in asserting that engaging in scholastic theology is forbidden
(A: What he meant thereby was the heretical scholastic theology that proliferated in his time and put rationalistic theories ahead ol the Koran and sunna, not the science of theology ('ilm al-tawhid) by which Ash'ari and Maturidi scholars (dis: x47) have clarified and detailed the tenets of faith of Sunni Islam, which is an important part of the Islamic sciences.) He insistently emphasized its unlawfulness, the severity of the punishment awaiting those who engage in it, the disgrace of doing it, and the enormity nf the sin therein by saying, ""Fora servant to meet Allah with any other sin than idolatry (shirk) is better than to meet Him guilty of anything of scholastic theology."" His other statements expressing the same meaning are numerous and well known.
But if someone has doubts (Allah be our refuge) about any of the tenets of faith in which belief is obligatory (def: books u and v),and his doubt cannot be eliminated except by learning one of the theologians' proofs, then it is obligatory for him to learn it in order to remove the doubt and acquire the belief in question.
Scholars disagree about the Koranic verses and hadiths that deal with the attributes of Allah (n: such as His 'hand' (Koran 48:10), His 'eyes' (52:48), or His 'nearness' (50:16)) as to whether they should be discussed in terms of a particular figurative interpretation (ta'wil, def: w6) or not.
Some say that they should be figuratively interpreted as befits them (n: interpreting His 'hand,' for example, as an allusion to His omnipotence).
And this is the more well known of the two positions of the scholastic theologians.
Others say that such verses should not be given a definitive interpretation, but rather their meaning should not be discussed, and the knowledge of them should be consigned to Allah Most High, while at the same time believing in the transcendence of Allah Most High, and that the characteristics of created things do not apply to Him
For example, it should be said we believe that ""the All-merciful is 'established' [Ar
istawa, dis:
v1.3] on the Throne"" (Koran 20:5), but we do not know the reality of the meaning of that, nor what is intended thereby, though we believe of Allah Most High that ""there is nothing whatsoever like unto Him"" (Koran 42:11), and that He is above indwelling in created things (hulul, dis: w7), or having the characteristics of temporal, contingent existence (huduth, dis: w8).
And this is the path of the early Muslims, or the vast majority of them, and is the safest, for a person is not required to enter into discussions about this
When one believes in Allah's transcendence above created things, there is no need for debate on it, or for taking risks over what there is neither pressing necessity nor even any real call for.
But if the need arises for definitive interpretations to refute someone making unlawful innovations and the like, then the learned may supply them, and this is how we should understand what has come down to us from scholars in this field.
And Allah knows best.
A person is not obliged to learn how to perform ablution, the prayer, and so forth, until the act itself is obligatory for him.
As for trade, marriage, and so forth, of things not in themselves obligatory, the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries (A: J uwayni), Ghazali, and others say that learning their means and conditions is personally obligatory for anyone who wants to do them.
It has also been said that one should not call this knowledge ""personally obligatory,"" but rather say, ""It is unlawful to undertake them until one knows the conditions for their legal validity."" And this expression is more accurate.
It is obligatory for one to know what is permissible and what is unlawful of food, drink, clothing, and so forth, of things one is unlikely to be able to do without
And likewise for the rulings on treatment of women if one has a wife.
Shafi'i and colleagues (Allah have mer.cy on them) say that fathers and mothers must teach their children what will be obligatory for them after puberty
Thc guardian must teach the child about purification, prayer
fasting, and so forth;
and that fornication, sodomy, theft, drinking, lying, slander
and the like are unlawful; and that he acquires moral responsibility at puberty and what this entails.
It has been said that this education is merely recommended
but in fact it is obligatory
as the plain content of its scriptural basis (n: mentioned below) shows
Just as it is mandatory for a guardian to wisely manage his charge's property.
this is even more important
The merely recommended is what exceeds this, such as teaching him the Koran, Sacred Law, etiquette, and teaching him what he needs to earn a living.
The evidence for the obligation of teaehing a young ehild is the word of Allah Mighty and Majestic, ""0 you who believe, protect yourselves and families from a fire"" (Koran 66:6).
'Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah be well pleased with him), Mujahid, and Qatada say it means, ""Teach them that with which they can save themselves ,from hell.""
As for knowledge of the heart, meaning familiarity with the illnesses of the heart such as envy, pride, and the like (dis: books p, r, and s), Ghazali has said that knowledge of their definitions, causes, remedy, and treatment is personally obligatory.
(A: And this is what Ghazali meant when he said that Sufism (Tasawwuf, dis: w9) is personally obligatory for every Muslim
He did not mean that taking a way (tariqa) and a sheikh are obligatory, but rather the elimination of unlawful inner traits, which one could conceivably accomplish through the companionship of a single sineere brother.)
Others hold that if the morally responsible individual is endowed with a heart free of all these unlawful diseases
it suffices him, and he is not obliged to learn what will cure them
But if not safe from them, he must reflect: if he can purify his heart from them without instruction then he must purify it, just as he must shun fornication and the like without learning the evidence proving he must
But if he cannot rid himself of these unlawful traits except through learning the above-mentioned knowledge, then he is personally obliged to
And Allah knows best (al-Majmu' (y108) ,
1.24-26).
(Nawawi:) The second category (n: of Sacred Knowledge) is what is communally obligatory (fard al-kifaya, def: c3.2), namely the attainment of those Sacred Sciences which people cannot do without in practicing their religion, such as memorizing the Koran and hadith, their ancillary disciplines, methodological principles, Sacred Law, grammar, lexicology, declension, knowledge of hadith transmitters, and of scholarly consensus (ijma', def: b7) and nonconsensus.
As for learning which is not Sacred Know· ledge but is required to sustain worldly existence, such as medicine and mathematics, it too is a communal obligation (ibid., 1.26).
*
(N awawi:) The third category is the supererogatory (def: c4.2), such as in-depth research into the bases of evidences, and elaboration beyond the amount required by the come munal obligation, or such as an ordinary Muslim learning the details of nonobligatory acts of worship for the purpose of performing them; though not the work of scholars in distinguishing the obligatory from the nonobligatory, which is a communal obligation in respect to them
And Allah knows best (ibid., 1.27).
*
(Nawawi:) Having mentioned the categories of Sacred Knowledge, the subjects it excludes are those that are unlawful, offensive, or permissible.
Unlawful knowledge includes:
(1) learning soreery (dis: p3), since according to the most reliable position, it is unlawful, as the vast majority of scholars have decisively stated;
(2) philosophy (dis: wlO);
(3) magic (sha'badha, meaning sleight of hand, etc,);
(4) astrology (dis: p41);
(5) the sciences of the materialists (dis: wII);
(6) and anything that is a means to create doubts (n: in eternal truths)
Such things vary in their degree of unlawfulness.
Offensive knowledge includes such thing;, as post-classical poetry which contains romance and uselessness.
Permissible knowledge includes postclassical poetry which does not contain stupidity or anything that is offensive
incites to evil, hinders from good; nor yet that which urges one to do good or helps one to do it (n: as the latter would be recommended) (ibid .
1.27).
(Muhammad Sa'id Buti:) What is the proof that it is legally valid and even obligatory to accept the authority of qualified scholarship (taq- lid) when one is not capable of issuing expert legal opinion (ijtihad) on matters of Sacred Law?
There are several aspects to it (n: diseussed in the seetions that follow) (al-Lamadhhabiyya akhtar bid'a tuhaddidu al-shari'a al-Islamiyya (y33), 70).
(n:) For the key term qualified to issue expert legal opinion (Ar
mujtahid, this ability being ijtihad) , please turn to book 0 and read O22.1(d), the qualifications of an Islamic judge (qadi)
The difference between the qualifications for the Imam of a school and those for a judge or a mufti is that the former's competence in giving opinion is absolute, extending to all subject matters in the Sacred Law, while the competence of the judge Or mufti is limited respectively to judging court cases or to applying his Imam's ijtihad to particular questions.
No age of history is totally lacking people who are competent in ijtihad on particular questions which are new, and this is an important aspect of Sacred Law, to provide solutions to new ethical problems by means of sound Islamic legal methodology in applying the Kora'nic and hadith primary texts
But while in this specific sense the door of ijtihad is not and cannot be closed, Islamic scholarship has not accepted anyone's claims to absolute ijtihad since Imams Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmad
If one studies the intellectual legacy of these men under scholars who have a working familiarity with it, it is not difficult to see why.
As for those who decry ""hidebound conservatism"" and would open the gate of ijtihad for themselves while lacking or possibly not even knowing the necessary qualifications, if such people have not studied the rulings of a particular school and the relation between these rulings, the Koranic and hadith primary texts, and the school's methodological principles, they do not know how ijtihad works from an observer's standpoint, let alone how to employ it
To ask them, for example, which of two equally authenticated primary texts that conflict on a legal question should be given precedence, and why, is like asking an aspiring drafting student for the particulars of designing a suspension bridge
Answers may be forthcoming, but they will riot be the same as those one could get from a qualified contractor
To urge that a mujtahid is not divinely protected from error (ma'sum) is as of little relevance to his work as the fact that a major physicist is not divinely protected from simple errors in calculus; the probability of finding them in his published work is virtually negligible
Regarding other, long-dead schools, such as the Zahiriyya, the difference between their work and that of the four living schools is firstly one of quality, as their positions and evidence have not been reexamined and upgraded by succeeding generations of first-rank scholars like those of the four schools (dis: w12), and secondly the lack of verification of the actual positions of their mujtahids through reliable chains of transmitters, as deseribed below at b7.6.
(Muhammad Sa'id Buti:) The first aspect of it is the word of Allah the Majestic, ""Ask those who recall if you know not"" (Koran 16:43).
By consensus of all scholars (ijma'
def: b7).
this verse is an imperative for someone who does not know a ruling in Sacred Law or the evidence for it to follow someone who does
Virtually all scholars of fundamentals of Islamic law have made this verse their principle evidence that it is obligatory for the ordinary person to follow the scholar who is a mujtahid.
Similar to the above verse in being evi· dence for this is the word of Allah Most High:
""Not all of the believers should go to fight
Of every section of them, why does not one part alone go forth, that the rest may gain knowledge of the religion to admonish their people when they return, that haply they may take warning"" (Koran 9:122).
Allah Most High prohibited the people to go out altogether in military expeditions and jihad, and ordered a segment of them to engage solely in becoming knowledgeable in the religion of Allah, so that when their brothers returned to them, they would find someone qualified to give them legal opinion on the lawful and unlawful and to explain the rule of Allah the Glorious and Exalted (ibid., 71).
*
(Muhammad Sa'id Buti:) A second aspect is the consensus of scholars that the Companions of the Prophet (Ar
Sahaba, anyone who personally met the Prophet (Allah bless him and him peace) and died while believing in Islam) were at various levels of knowledge in religion; not all of them were capable of giving formal legal opinion (fatwa), as Ibn Khaldun has noted, nor was the religion taken from all of them.
Rather, there were those of them capable of legal opinion and ijtihad, and these were a small minority in relation to the rest, and there were those of them who sought legal opinion and 'followed others therein, and these were the vast majority of them.
(n: Suyuti, in Tadrib al-rawi, quotes Ibn Hazm's report that most of the Companions' legal opinions came from only seven of them: 'Umar, 'Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, Zayd ibn Thabit, and 'A'isha; and this was from thousands of the Companions (Tadrib al·raHJi fi shar:.h Taqrib al-Nawawi (yl09), 2.219).)
Nor did the individual Companion giving a legal opinion necessarily mention the evidence for it to the person who had asked about it
AIAmidi notes in his book al-lhkam: ""As for scholarly consensus [ijma', dis: b7.2], it is that ordinary people in the times of the Companions and those who immediately followed them, before there were dissenters, used to seek the opinion of mujtahids and would follow them in rules of Sacred Law.
""The learned among thcm would unhesitatingly answer their questions without alluding to mention of evidence
No one censured them for doing this; a fact that establishes scholarly consensus on the absolute permissibility of the ordinary person following one capable of ijtihad.""
The Prophet (Allah blcss him and give him pcace) used to dispatch the most knowledgeable of the Companions to places whose inhabitants knew nothing more of Islam than its five pillars
The latter would follow the person sent to them in everything he gave his judgement upon and had them do, of works, acts of worship, deal- ing with one another
and all matters of the lawful and unlawful.
Sometimes sueh a person would come across a question on which he could find no evidence in the Koran or sunna, and he would use his own personallegal reasoning and furnish them an answer in light of it, and they would follow him therein.
As for the era of those who came after them (AT
tabi'in, those who had personally learned from one or more of the Companions but not the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace)), the scope of legal reasoning had expanded, and the Muslims of this time followed the same course as had thc Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), cxccpt that the legal efforts were represented by the two main schools of thought, that of juridical opinion (ra'y) and that of haditll (n: the former in Iraq, the latter in Medina) because of the methodological factors we previously mentioned when we quoted Ibn Khaldun
'"" There were sometimes discussions and sharp disputes between leading representatives of the two schools, but the ordinary people and learners not at the main figures' level of understanding were unconcerned with this disagreement, and followed whomever they wanted or whomever was near 10 them without anyone censuring them for this (al-Lamadhhabiyya aklltar bid'a tuhaddidu al-shari'a al-Islamiyya (y33), 71-73).
*
(Muhammad Sa'id Buti:) A third aspect is the obvious rational evidence, which we express in the words of Sheikh 'Abdullah Diraz, who says:
""T'he logical proof is that, assuming that a pcrson does not have the qualifications for Utihad, when an instance of a particular religious ruling arises, he will either not worship by any means at all, which all concur is impermissible, or, if he wor- ships by means of something, it will either be by examining the proof that verifies the ruling or by following a competent authority.
""The former is inadmissible because it would lead, in respect to him and all others like him
to in-depth examination of the evidences for all such instances, preoccupation with which would obviate the earning of livelihoods
disrupting trades and occupations, ruining the world by neglect of tillage and offspring, and preventing anyone's following another's ijtihad
placing everyone under the most extreme hardship
The sole remaining alternative is to follow another, which is the means through which one must worship in such a case"" (ibid., 73).
*
(Muhammad Sa'id Buti:) Because scholars accept the evidence from Koran, sunna, and reason as complete and intersubstantiative that the ordinary person orlearnedone notatthe leveloftextual deduction and ijtihad is not entitled but to folIowa qualified mujtahid who has a comprehensive grasp of the evidence - they say that a formal legal opinion (fatwa) from a mujtahid is in relation to the ordinary person just as a proof from the Koran and sunna is in relation to the mujtahid
For the Koran, just as it obligates the scholar thoroughly versed in it to hold to its evidences and proofs, also obligates (n: in the verse quoted above at b2.1) the uninformed person to adhere to the formal legal opinion of the scholar and his ijtihad (ibid., 73).
*
(Salih Mu'adhdhin:) Muslims of the Sunna and Community are in agreement that we have arrived at all the rulings of Sacred Law through evidence that iscitherof unquestionably established transmission (qal'i al-wurud) or probabilistically established transmission (zanni al-wurud).
The suras of the Koran
all of its verses
and those hadiths which have reached us by so many channels of transmission that belief in them is obligatory (mutawatir, def: O22.1(d(II))) are all of unquestionably established transmission, since they have reached us by numerous means
by generation from generation, whole groups from whole groups, such that it is impossible that the various channels could all have conspired to fabricate them.
As for the evidentiary character of these texts, regardless whether they are of unquestionably or probabilistically established transmission, they are of two types.
The first type, unquestionable as evidence (qat'i aJ-daJala), is a plain text that does not admit of more than one meaning, which no mind can interpret beyond its one meaning, and which there is·no possibility to construe in terms of other than its apparent sense
This type includes Koranic verses that deal with fundamental tenets of faith in the oneness of Allah, the prayer, zakat
and fasting;
in none of which is there any room for disagreement, nor have any differences concerning them been heard of or reported from the Imams of Sacred Law
Everything in this category is termed unquestionable as evidence.
Thc second type
probabilistic as evidence (zanni al-dalala), is a text that can bear more than one meaning, whether because it contains a word that can lexically have two different meanings
or because it was made by way of figure of speechpr metaphor, or because it can be interpreted in other than its apparent sense in the context without this contradicting what was intended by the Wise Lawgiver
It is here that we find scope for scholarly difference of opinion to a greater or lesser extent depending on the number of meanings a text can imply, how much interpretation it will bear
and so forth.
All of the derivative rulings of Sacred Law are of this type, probabilistic as evidence, so we naturally find differences among Islamic legal scholars as to their interpretation, each scholar interpreting them according to his comprehension and the broadness of his horizons, while not giving the text a reading it does not imply, and then corroborating his interpretation with evidence acceptable to scholars
Scholarly differences are thus something natural, even logically necessary, as a result of the factors we have just described.
Allah Mighty and Majestic has willed that most texts of the Sacred Law be probabilistic as evidence because of a wisdom He demands, namely, to give people more choice and leave room for minds to use ijtihad in understanding His word and that of His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace).
We conclude this short summary with an example to clarify what we have said
Consider the word of Allah, ""Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three periods"" (Koran 2:228), as opposed to His saying, in the same sura, ""Those who forswear their women have a wait offour months"" (Koran 2:226).
Allah's saying ""three"" in the former and ""four"" in the latter are texts that are decisive as evidence, in that neither admits of more than one interpretation, namely, the well-known numbers.
But in contrast with this, when Allah says ""periods"" (Ar
quru') in the first, and ""months"" (ashhur) in the second, we find that the former word can have more than one sense in its Arabic lexical root mcaning, while months cannot, the latter being decisive in meaning and incapable of bearing another interpretation, Concerning this question, Imam Qurtubi says in his Koranic exegesis: ""Scholars differ about the word periods.
Those of Kufa hold that it means menstrual periods, and this is the position of 'Umar, 'Ali, and Ibn Mas'ud
But those of the Hijaz hold it means the intervals of purity between menstrual periods, and this is the view of 'A'isha, Ibn 'Umar, and Shafi'i."" Considering this, is it not natural that there should be various opinions about understanding the verse ""three periods"" but only one about understanding Allah's saying ""four months""?
If Allah had wanted all opinions to coincide on this question, He might have said, for example, ""three menstrual periods"" (hiyad), or ""three intervals of purity between menstrual periods"" (athar), just as He said ""four months."" And all the texts of Sacred Law that can bear more than one meaning are comparable to this example (' Umdat al-salik (y90),11-13).
*
('Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) Scholarly consensus (ijma') is the agreement of all the mujtahids (def: O22.l(d)) of the Muslims existing at one particular period after the Prophet's death (Allah bless him and give him peace) about a particular ruling regarding a matter or event
It may be gathered from this that the integral elements of scholarly consensus are four, without which it is invalid:
(a) that a number of mujtahids exist at a partieular time;
(b) that all mujtahids of the Muslims in the period of the thing or event agree on its ruling, regardless of their country , raee, or group, though nonmujtahids are of no consequence;
(c) that each mujtahid present his opinion about the matter in an explicit manner, whether verbally, by giving a formal legal opinion on it, or practically, by giving a legal decision in a court case concerning it;
(d) and that all mujtahids agree on the ruling, for if a majority of them agree, consensus is not effected, no matter how few those who contradict it, nor how many those who concur.
When the four neeessary integrals of consensus exist, the ruling agreed upon is an authoritative part of Sacred Law that is obligatory to obey and not lawful to disobey
Nor can mujrahids of a succeeding era make the thing an object of new ijtihad, because the ruling on it, verified by scholarly consensus, is an absolute legal ruling which does not admit of being contravened or annulled.
The proof of the legal authority of scholarly consensus is that just as Allah Most Glorious has ordered the believers, in the Koran, to obey Him and His messenger, so too He has ordered them to obey those of authority (ulu al-amr)· among them, saying, ""0 you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Prophet and those of authority among you"" (Koran 4:59), such that when those of authority in legal expertise, the mujtahids, agree upon a ruling, it is obligatory in the very words of the Koran to follow them and carry out their judgement.
And Allah threatens those who oppose the Messenger and follow other than the believers' way, saying, ""Whoever contraverts the Messenger after guidanee has become clear to him and follows other than the believers' way, We shall give him over to what he has turned to and roast him in hell, and how evil an outcome"" (Koran 4:115).
A second evidentiary aspect is that a ruling agreed upon by all the mujtahids in the Islamic Community (Umma) is in fact the ruling of the Community, represented by its mujtahids, and there are many hadiths that have come from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), as well as quotes from the Companions, which indicate that the Community is divinely protected from error, including his saying (Allah bless him and give him peace):
(1) ""My Community shall not agree on an error
"" (2) ""Allah is not wont to make my Community concur on misguidance."" (3) ""That which the Muslims consider good, Allah considers good."" ('llm usul al-fiqh (y71), 45-47)
(n: Another hadith that scholars quote in connection with the validity of scholarly consensus is the following, given with its commentary.)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Allah's hand is over the group, and whoever dissents from them departs to helL"" Allah's hand is over the group (al-'Azizi:) Munawi says, ""Meaning His protection and preservation of them, signifying that the collectivity of the people of Islam are in Allah's fold, so be also in Allah's shelter, in the midst of them, and do not separate yourselves from them."" The rest of the hadith, according to the one who first recorded it (n: Tirmidhi), is, and whoever dissents from them departs to hell.
Meaning that whoever diverges from the overwhelming majority concerning what is lawful or unlawful and on which the Community does not differ has slipped off the path of guidance and this will lead him to hell (al-Siraj al-munir sharh alJam!' al-saghir (y18), 3.449).
(n: In addition to its general interest as a formal legal opinion, the following serves in the present context to clarify why other than the four Sunni schools of jurisprudcnce do not necessarily playa role in scholarly consensus.)
('Abd aI-Rahman Ba'alawi:) Ibn Salah reports that there is scholarly consensus on its being unlawful to follow rulings from schools other than those of the four Imams, meaning in one's personal works, let alone give court verdicts or formal legal opinions to people from them, because of the untrustworthiness of the ascription of such rulings to the scholars who reportedly gave them, there being no channels of transmission which obviate the possibility of textual eorruption and spurious substitutions.
The Zaydis
for example, who trace themselves to Zayd ibn 'Ali ibn Husayn (n: son of' Ali and Fatima), the beatitude of Allah be upon them
despite the fact that Zayd was one of the Imams of the religion and a renowned figure well qualified to give guidance to those seeking it, his followers identify him with extreme permissiveness on many questions, ascriptions based on failure to check as to what his positions actually were (n: by naming the intermediate transmitters and establishing their reliability)
It is quite otherwise with the four schools, whose Imams (Allah reward them) have spent themselves in checking the positions of their schools, explaining what could be rigorously authenticated as the position of the person it was attributed to; and what could not be
Their scholars have thus achieved safety from textual corruption and have been able to discern the genuine from the poorly authenticated (Bughya al-mustarshidin fi talkhis fatawa ba'd ala'imma min al-muta'akhkhirin (y19), 8).
CAbd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) A legal ruling is a statement from the Lawgiver (syn
Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace)) concerning the acts of those morally responsible which:
(I) requires something;
(2) allows a choice;
(3) or gives stipulations.
An injunctive ruling is one that enjoins the morally responsible individual to either do or refrain from an act, or gives him an option to do or refrain from it.
An example of enjoining one to do an act is Allah's saying, ""People owe Allah to make pilgrimage to the House"" (Koran 3:97).
An example of enjoining one to refrain from an act is His saying, ""Let no people mock another people"" (Koran 49: 11).
And an example of giving an option to do or refrain from an act is His saying, ""When the prayer is finished, go forth in the land"" (Koran 62:10).
As for stipulatory rulings, they entail that something is made a legal reason (sabab) for another thing, a condition (shart) for it, or a preventive (mann of it.
An example of being stipulated as a reason for something is Allah's saying, ""0 believers, when you go to pray, wash your faces and wash your forearms to the elbows"" (Koran 5:6), which stipulates wanting to pray as a reason for the obligation of performing ablution (wudu).
An example of something being made a condition for another thing is His saying, ""People owe Allah to make pilgrimage to the House, whoever is able to find a way"" (Koran 3:97), which implies that the ability to get to the House (n: Kaaba) is a condition for the obligatoriness of one's pilgrimage
Another example is the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""There is no marriage unless there are two witnesses,"" which means the presence of two witnesses is a condition for the validity of a marriage.
An example of being made a preventive of something is the Prophers saying (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""The killer does not inherit,"" which entails that an heir's killing the deceased is preventive of his inheriting an estate division share from him ('11m usul al-fiqh (y71), 100--102).
(N:) The obligatory (fard) is that which the Lawgiver strictly requires be done
Someone who performs an obligatory act out of obedience to Allah is rewarded, while a person who refrains from it without excuse deserves to be punished.
(A: In the Shafi'i school there is no difference between obligatory (fard) and requisite (wajib) except in the pilgrimage, where nonperformance of a requisite does not invalidate the pilgrimage, but necessitates an expiation by slaughtering
For any act of worship, obligatory or nonobligatory:
all conditions necessary for its validity and all of its integrals (rukn, pI
arkan) are obligatory, since it is unlawful to intentionally perform an invalid act of worship.)
The sunna (n: or recommended (mandub )) is that which the Lawgiver asks be done, but • does not strictly require it
Someone who performs it out of obedience to Allah is rewarded, though someone who refrains from it is not punished.
The permissible (mubah) is what the Lawgiver has neither requested nor prohibited, so the person who does it is not rewarded or punished.
Rather, doing or not doing it are equal, though if a person does it to enable him to perform an act of obedience to Allah, or refrains from it for that reason, then he is rewarded for it
And if he does such an act to enable him to perform an act of disobedience, he is sinning.
The offensive (makruh) is that which the Lawgiver has interdicted but not strictly forbidden.
A person who refrains from such an act out of obedience to Allah is rewarded, while the person who commits it does not deserve to be punished.
The unlawful (haram) is what the Lawgiver strictly forbids
Someone who commits an unlawful act deserves punishment, while one who refrains from it out of obedience to the command of Allah is rewarded.
(n: Scholars distinguish between three levels of the unlawful:
(1) minor sins (saghira, pI
sagha'ir), which may be forgiven from prayer to prayer, from one Friday prayer Uumu'a) to another, and so forth, as is mentioned in hadith;
(2) enormities (kabira, pI
kaba'ir), those which appear by name in the Koran or hadith as the subject of an explicit threat, prescribed legal penalty, or curse, as listed below at book p;
(3) and unbelief(kufr), sins which put one beyond the pale of Islam (as discussed at 08.7) and necessitate stating the Testification of Faith (Shahada) to reenter it.
Repentance (def: p77) is obligatory for all three (al-Zawajir 'an iqtiraf alkaba'ir( y49),1.5-9).)
(Nawawi:) There is no doubt that the merit of an act varies
Fasting, for example, is unlawful on 'Eid Day, obligatory before it, and recommended after it
The prayer is highly desirable most of the time, but offensive at some times and situations, such as when restraining oneself from using the lavatory
Reciting the Koran is desirable, but offensive when bowing in the prayer or prostrating
Dressing one's best is good on the 'Eid or on Friday, but not during the drought prayer
And so forth.
Abul Qasim al-Junayd (Allah have mercy on him) said, ""A sincere person changes forty times a day, while the hypocritical show-off stays as he is forty years
"" The meaning of this is that the sincere person moves with what is right, wherever it may lead, such that when prayer is deemed better by the Sacred Law, then he prays
and when it is best to be sitting with the learned, or the righteous, or guests, or his children, or taking care of something a Muslim needs, or mending a broken heart, or whatever else it may be, then he does it, leaving aside what he usually does
And likewise for fasting, reciting the Koran, invoking Allah, eating or drinking, being serious or joking, enjoying the good life or engaging in self-sacrifice
and so on.
Whenever he sees what is preferred by the Sacred Law under the circumstances, he does it, and is not bound by a particular habit or kind of devotion as the show-off is
The Prophet (Allah bless himand give him peace) did various things, of prayer, fasting, sitting for Koran recital and invocation, eating and drinking, dressing, riding, lovemaking with his wives, seriousness and jest, happiness and wrath, scathing condemnation for blameworthy things, leniency in punishing those who deserved it and excusing them, and so on, according to what was possible and preferable for the time and circumstances (al-Majmu' (y108), 1.17-18).
('Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) Obligatory acts are distinguished in four ways, according to various considerations.
One distinction is whether current performance is time-restricted or non-time-restricted.
A time-restricted Obligatory act is one the Lawgiver demands be done at a particular time, such as the five obligatory prayers, for each of which the time for current performance is set, such that the particular prayer is not obligatory before it, and the individual is guilty of serious sin
if he delays it past its time without excuse.
A non-time-restricted obligatory act is one which the Lawgiver strictly demands, but does not specify a time for its current performance, such as the expiation obligatory for someone who swears and oath and breaks it (def: 020).
A second distinction between obligatory acts is made on the basis of who is called upon to perform them, namely, whether an act is personally obligatory or communally obligatory.
A personally obligatory (fard al-'ayn) aet is what the Lawgiver requires from each and every morally responsible person
It is insufficient for someone to perform such an act on another's behalf, such as the prayer, zakat (def: h1.0), pilgrimage, keeping agreements, and avoiding wine or gambling.
A communally obligatory (fard al-kifaya) act is what the Lawgiver requires from the collectivity of those morally responsible
not from each one of them, such that if someone undertakes it, then the obligation has been fulfilled and the sin and responsibility (n: of nonperformance) is lifted from the rest, while if no one undertakes it, then all are guilty of serious sin for neglecting the obligation.
Examples include commanding the right and forbidding the wrong (def: book q), praying over the dead, building hospitals
lifesaving, fire fighting, medicine, industries people require
the existence of Islamic courts and judges, issuing formal legal opinions
responding to someone who says ""as-Salam 'alaykum,"" and testifying in court.
The Lawgiver requires that these obligatory acts exist in the Islamic Community regardless of who does them
But He does not require they be done by each person, or some particular one, since the interests of the Community arc realized by the existence of these things through the efforts of some of those morally responsible, and do not entail every particular person's performance of them.
Someone able through himself or his property to perform the communally obligatory act is obliged to perform it, and someone unable to do it himself is obliged to urge and have the person do it who can
If the obligatory act is done, all are cleared of the sin, and if neglected, all are guilty of serious sin
The person capable of it is guilty because he neglected a communally obligatory act he could have done, and the rest are gUilty because they neglected to urge him and have him perform the obligatory act he was capable of.
When an individual is the only one available who can perform a communally obligatory act, it becomes personally obligatory for him.
A third way obligatory acts are distinguished is by the amount of them required, that is, whether the act is of a defined amount or an undefined amount.
Obligatory acts of defined amount arc those for which the Lawgiver has determined a particular quantity
such that the subject is not free of the obligation until he has done the amount stipulated by the Lawgiver, as with the five obligatory prayers
or zakat.
Obligatory acts of undefined amount are those which the Lawgiver has not stipulated the but rather demands them from the subject in an undetermined quantity, such as spending in the way of Allah, cooperating with one another in good works
feeding the hungry, helping those in distress, and so forth.
A fourth distinction between obligatory acts is whether an act is a specific obligation, or an obligation to choose between certain alternatives.
Specific obligations are those in which the Lawgiver demands the act itself, such as the prayer, fasting in Ramadan, paying for merchandise, rent from a tenant, or returning something wrongfully taken; such that the individual is not free of the obligation until he does that very act.
An obligation to choose between certain alternatives is when the Lawgiver requires the performance of one of a given number of actions, such as one of the options in expiating a broken oath, where Allah Most High requires the person who has broken his oath to feed ten poor people, clothe them, or free a slave ('abd, def: w13), and the obligation consists of doing any of these three things ('Ilm usul al-fiqh (y71), 106,108-11).
*
('Abd al-Wahhab KhalIaf:) Recommended acts are divided into three categories.
The first is recommended acts whose demand is confirmed
Someone who neglects such an act does not deserve puniShment
but does deserve censure and blame
This includes the sunnas and recommended acts that are legally considered to complete obligatory acts
such as the call to prThis category is called the confirmed sunna (sunna mu'akkada) or sunna of guidance.
The seeond category is those acts whose performance is sanctioned by Sacred Law such that the person who performs them is rewarded, though someone who omits them deserves ncithcr punishment nor blame
This includes acts the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not diligently perform
but did one or more times and then discontinued
It also includes all voluntary acts, like spending on the poor, fasting on Thursday of each week, or praying rak'as (units) of prayer in addition to the obligatory and confirmed sunna prayers.
This category is called the extra sunna or supererogatory (nafila),
The third category consists of the superlatively recommended, meaning those acts considered part of an individual's perfections
It includes following the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in ordinary matters that proceeded from him as a human being, as when a person eats, drinks, walks, sleeps, and dresses like the Prophet used to
Following the example ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in these and similar matters is an excellence and considered among one's refinements, as it shows one's love for the Prophet and great attachment to him
But someone who does not follow the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in matters like these is not considered a wrongdoer, because they are not part of his lawgiving (A:
though such acts are rewarded when one thereby intends to follow the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and every desirable practice one performs means a higher degree in paradise which the person who neglects it may not attain to).
Acts of this category are called desirable (mustahabb), decorum (adab), or meritorious (ibid., 112).
(""Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) Thc unlawful is of two kinds.
The first is the originally unlawful in itself, meaning the Sacred Law forbids it from the outset, such as adultery, theft, prayer without ritual purity, marrying a member of one's un marriageable kin while knowing them to be such, selling unslaughtered dead animals
and so forth, of things that are intrinsically unlawful because they entail damage and harm, the prohibition applying from the outset to the very act.
The second is the unlawful because of an extrinsic reason, meaning that the initial ruling of an act was that it was obligatory, recommended, or permissible, but an extrinsic circumstance became linked with it that made it unlawful
such as a prayer performed in a garment wrongfully taken, or a sale in which there is fraud, or a marriage whose sole purpose is to allow the woman to remarry her previous husband who has pronounced a threefold divorce against her, or fasting day after day without breaking the fast at night
or an unlawfully innovated divorce (def: n2.3), and so forth, of things unlawful because of an external circumstancc
The prohibition is not due to the act itself, but because of something extrinsic to the act; meaning the act is not damaging or harmful in itsclf, but something has happened to it and become conjoined with it that makes it entail damage or harm.
One consequence of the above distinction is that an intrinsically unlawful act is uncountenanced by the Law to begin with, so it cannot be a legal cause or reason, or form the basis for further legal consequences
Rather, it is invalid.
Because of this, prayer without ritual purity is invalid, marriage to a close unmarriageablc relative when one knows them to be such is invalid, and the sale of an un slaughtered dead animal is invalid
And something legally invalid is without other legal efficacy.
But an act that is unlawful because of an extrinsic circumstance is intrinsically lawful, and can thus be a legal reason and form the basis for further legal consequences, since its prohibition is accidental to it and not essential
Because of this, a prayer while wearing a garment wrongfully taken is legally valid, though the person is guilty of serious sin for having taken it; a sale in which there is fraud is legally valid (N: though the buyer has the option to cancel the sale and return the merchandise for a full refund); and an unlawfully innovated divorce is legally effective.
The reason for this is that the prohibition of an act because of an extrinsic event or circumstance does not vitiate either the basis of its being a legal cause or its identity, provided all its integrals and conditions exist
As for intrinsic unlawfulness, it negates the basis of an act's being a legal cause and vitiates its identity by the nonexistence of one of its integrals or conditions, so that it is no longer something that is of legal consideration (ibid., 113-14).
*
CAbd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) Strictness is what Allah initially legislates, of general rulings not concerned with one circumstance rather than another, or one individual rather than another.
Dispensation is when what is normally forbidden is made permissible because of necessity or need.
For example, if someone is forced to make a statement of unbelief (kufr) it is made permissible, to ease his hardship, for him to do so as long as faith remains firm in his heart
Likewise with someone who is forced to break his fast in Ramadan, or forced to destroy the property of another;
the normally prohibited act which he is forced to do becomes permissible for him, to ease the hardship
And it is made permissible for someone forced by extreme hunger or severe thirst to eat from an unslaughtered dead animal or drink wine.
(A: The latter is not permissible even under such conditions in the Shafi'i school.)
Dispensation also includes being permitted to omit an obligatory act when an excuse exists that makes its performance a hardship (dis: c7.2, second par.) upon the individual
Thus, someone who is ill or travelling in Ramadan is permitted not to fast
And someone who is travelling is permittet:
to shorten prayers of four rak'as to only two rak'as (ibid., 121-22).
(n:) Since it is permissible for a Muslim to follow any of the four Imams in any of his acts of worship, comparison of their differences opens another context for discussing dispensation and strictness, a context in which classical scholars familiar with various schools often use the term ""dispensation'"" to refer to the ruling of the school easiest on a partieular legal question, and ""strictness"" to refer to the ruling of the school that is most rigorous
Which school this is varies from question to question
The following entry discusses how and when it is permissible for ordinary Muslims to use dispensations in the sense of following easier rulings from a different school, while entry c6.5 discusses the way of greater precaution (al-ahwat fi ai-din) taken by those Muslims who purposely select the strictest school of thought on each legal question beeause of its being more precautionary and closer to godfearingness (taqwa).
Seholars frequently acknowledge that the difference of the Imams is a mercy, and their unanimity is a decisive proof
Sheikh 'Umar Barakat, the commentator of 'Umdat al-salik, says:
""It is permissible to follow each of the four J Imams (Allah be well pleased with them), and permissible for anyone to follow one of them on a legal question, and follow a different one on another legal question
It is not obligatory to fol- low one particular Imam on all legal questions"" (Fayd al-Ilall aI-Malik (y27), 1.357).
This does not, however, imply that it is lawful to indiscriminately choose dispensations from each school, or that there are no conditions for the abovementioned permissibility
Imam Nawawi was asked for a formal legal opinion on whether pursuing dispensations in such a manner was permissible:
(Question:) ""Is it permissible for someone of a particular school to follow a different school in matters that will be of benefit to him, and to seek out dispensations?"" He answered (Allah be well pleased with him), ""It is not permissible to seek out dispensa- tions [A: meaning it is unlawful, and the person who does is corrupt (fasiq)], and Allah knows best"" (Fatawa aI-Imam al-Nawawi (y105), 113).
But when forced by necessity or hardship to take such a dispensation (A: even retroactively, as when one has finished the action, and then makes the intention to have followed another Imam's school of thought on the question), then there is nothing objectionable in it, provided that one's act of worship together with its prerequisites is valid in at least one of the schools
One may not simply piece together (talfiq) constituent parts from various schools in a single act of worship, if none of the schools would consider the act valid
An example is someone who performs an ablution that is minimally valid in the Shafi'i school by wetting only a few hairs of his head in the ablution sequence, something not permitted by Hanafis, and then prays behind an imam without himself reciting the Fatiha, something permitted by Hanafisbut not Shafi'is
His ablution, the necessary condition for his prayer, is inadequate in the Hanafi school, and his performanct; of the prayer is inadequate in the Shafi'i school, with the result that neither considers his prayer valid, and in fact it is not
Whoever follows a ruling mentioned in this volume from another school must observe the conditions given at w14, and make sure his worship is valid in at least one school, which for prayer can best be achieved by performing all recommended measures in the present volume relating to purity, for example, e5, ell, and so on, as if obligatory.
e6.S A second way to use differences between schools is to take the way of greater precaution by following whoever is most rigorous on a given question.
For example, when performing the purificatory bath (ghusl), rinsing the mouth and nostrils with water is a nonobligatory, sunna measure according to the Shafi'i school
but obligatory and necessary for the purificatory bath's validity according to Hanafis
The way of greater precaution is for the Shafi'i to perform it as diligently as if it were obligatory, even though omitting it is permitted by his school.
('Abd al-Wahhab Sha'rani:) My brother, when you first hear of thc two levels of this scale (n: dispensation and strictness), beware of jump- ing to the conclusion that there is absolute free choice between them, such that an Individual may without restriction choose either dispensation or strictness in any ruling he wishes
It does not befit a person able to perform the stricter ruling to to taking a dispensation permissible to him.
(A: The more rigorous is always preferable in the Shafi'i school, even when the dispensation is permissible.)
For as you know, my brother, I do not say that the individual is free to choose between taking the dispensation or taking the stricter ruling when he is able to perform the stricter ruling obligatory for him
I take refuge in Allah from saying such a thing, which is like making a game of religion
Of an absolute certainty, dispensations are only for someone unable to perform the stricter ruling, for in such a case, the dispensation is the stricter ruling in relation to him.
Moreover, I hold that mere sincerity and honesty demand of anyone who follows a particular school not to take a dispensation that the Imam of his school holds is permissible unless he is someone who needs to; and that he must follow the stricter ruling of a different Imam when able to, since rulings fundamentally refer back to the word of the Lawgiver, no one else; this being especially necessary when the other Imam's evidence is stronger, as opposed to what some followers do.
We find among the dictums of the Sufis that one should not follow a position in Sacred Law for which the evidence is weaker except when religiously more precautionary than the stronger position.
For example, the Shafi'i opinion that (n: a male's) ablution is nullified by touching a girl who is a child or touching the nails or hair of a woman:
though this position is considered weaker by them (n: than the position given at e7.3), it is religiously more precautionary, so performing ablution for the above-mentioned things is better (al-Mizan alkubra (y123), 1.10-11).
(A: Because more rigorous rulings necessarily meet the requirements of less rigorous ones (though not vice versa)
following more rigorous rulings from another school is unconditionally valid, unlike following its dispensations
And Allah knows best.)
*
(' Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) Three conditions must exist in any aet that it is legally valid to make an individual responsible for.
The first is that the act be well enough known to the individual that he can perform it in the way required of him
It should be noted that the individual's knowledge of what he is responsible for means the possibility of his knOWing it, not his actual knowledge of it
Whenever a person reaches puberty, of sound mind and capable of knowing the rulings of Sacred Law by himself or by asking those familiar with them, then he is considered to know what he is responsible for, and rulings are carried out on him, their consequences exacted of him, and the excuse of being ignorant of them is not accepted from him.
The second condition is that it is known that the ruling has been imposed by someone who possesses the authority to do so and whose rules the individual is obliged to observe, since it is through this knowledge that the individual's will can be directed to obey him
This is the reason that in any proof for a ruling of Sacred Law the first point discussed is why it is legally binding for individuals.
The third condition is that the act the subject is responsible for be possible and within the capacity ofthe subject to do orto refrain from
This condition in turn implies two things: first, that it is legally invalid to impose something impossible, whether impossible in itself or impossible because of another thing; and second, that it is invalid to ask that a particular individual be responsible for someone else's performing an act or refraining from one, since someone else's action or inaction is not within the individual's own capacity
Hence, a pcrson is not responsible for his father's payirg zakat, his brother's pcrforming the prayer, or his neighbor'S refraining from theft
As regards others, all a person is obliged to do is to advise, to command the right and forbid the wrong, for these are acts he is capable of.
Nor is it legally valid to make a person responsible for various innate human states which are the results of natural causes that are not of the person's acquisition or choice, such as emotional arousal when angry; turning red when embarrassed;
love, hate, grief, elation, or fear when reasons for them exist; digestion; breathing; being short or tall, black or white; and other innate traits with which people are born and whose presence or absence is subject to natural laws, not to the individual's will and choice, and which are thus beyond his capacity and not among the things possible for him
And if some primary texts have reached us that apparently show that there is responsibility for some of the things that are not within a person's capacity, these are not as they seem
For example, the order of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""Do not become angry,"" is outwardly an order to refrain from something natural and unacquircd, namely, anger when motives for it exist
But the real meaning is ""Control yourself when angry and restrain yourself from its bad consequences.""
From the condition that an act must be within the individual's capacity before he can be held accountable for it, one should not jump to the conclusion that this implies there will not be any hardship whatsoever for the individual in the act.
There is no contradiction between an act's being within one's capacity and its being hard
Nothing a person is responsible for is completely free of hardship, since moral responsibility is being obliged to do that in which there is something to bear with, and some type of difficulty.
Hardship, however, is of two types
The first is that which people are accustomed to bear, which is within the limits of their strength, and were they to continue bearing it, it would not cause them harm or damage to their persons, possessions, or other concerns
The second is that which is beyond what people are accustomed to bear and impossible for them to continually endure because they would be cut off, unable to go on, and damage and harm would affect their persons, possessions, or one of their other concerns.
Examples include fasting day after day without breaking it at night, a monastic life, fasting while standing in the sun, or making the pilgrimage on foot
It is a sin for someone to refuse to take a dispensation and insist on the stricter ruling when this will probably entail harm CIlm usul alfiqh (y71), 128-33).
*
CAbd al-Wahhab Khallaf:) Two conditions must exist in an individual for it to be legally valid to hold him responsible.
The first condition is that he is able to understand the evidence that he is responsible for something, such that it is within his capacity to understand legal texts from the Koran and sunna by which the ruling is imposed, whether by himself or through another (dis: b5.I)
Since human reason is something hidden
unobservable byoutward sense perception, the Lawgiver has conjoined responsibility for rulings with something manifest and perceptible to the senses from which reason may be inferred, namely, puberty
Whoever reaches puberty without showing signs of impaired intellectual faculties
his capacity for responsibility exists
And conversely, neither an insane person nor child are responsible, because of their lack of intellect
which is the means of understanding the evidence that something is a ruling
Nor are those responsible who are in a state of absentmindedness or sleeping, because while they are heedless or asleep it is not within their capacity to understand
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The pen has been lifted from three: the sleeper until he awakens, the child until his first wet dream, and the insane person until he can reason."" The second condition (n: for the legal validity of holding someone responsible) is that he be legally eligible for the ruling
Eligibility is of two types, eligibility for obligation, and eligibility for performance.
clU Eligibility for obligation is the capacity of a human being to have rights and duties
This eligibility is established for every person by the mere fact of being human
whether male, female, fetus, child, of the age of discrimination, adolescent, intelligent, foolish, sane or insane, healthy or ill;
because its basis is an innate attribute found in man
Every human being, whoever he or she may be, has eligibility for obligation and none lacks it because one's eligibility for obligation is one's humanness.
There are only two human states in relation to eligibility for obligation, partial and full
One could have partial eligibility for obligation by being entitled to possess rights over others but not have obligations towards them, like a fetus in its mother's womb, which has rights, since it can be an heir, inherit a bequest, and the proceeds of an endowment (waqf) can accrue to it, but it does not have any obligations to others
Full eligibility for obligation means a person has rights upon others and obligations towards them
Every human being acquires it at birth.
Eligibility for performance is the capal:ity of an individual for words and actions that are legally significant, such that if an agreement or act proceeds from him, it legally counts and entails the rulings applicable to it
If he prays, fasts, makes the pilgrimage, or does anything obligatory, it is legally acknowledged and discharges the obligation
And if he commits a crime against another's person, possessions, or honor, he is held accountable for his crime and is bodily or financially penalized.
So eligibility for performance is responsibility, and its basis in man is intellectual discrimination.
There are three states which a person may have in relation to eligibility for performance:
(I) a person could completely lack or lose eligibility for performance, like a young child during his childhood or an insane person during his insanity (regardless of his age), neither of whom has eligibility for performance beeause they lack human reason, and for neither of whom are there legal consequences entailed by their words or actions
Their agreements and legal dispositions are null and void, the limit of which is that if either of them commits a crime against another's person or possessions, he is responsible for paying the indemnity out of his own property, but not subject to retaliation in his own person, This is the meaning of the scholars' expression, ""The intentional act of a child or insane person is an honest mistake.
"" (2) A person could have partial eligibility for performance, an example of which is the child who has reached the age of mental discrimination (def:
f1.2) but not puberty (k13.8), or the retarded person, who is not disturbed in intellect nor totally bereft of it, but rather is weak-minded and lacking in intellect, so that the Sacred Law treats him as it does the child with discrimination.
Because each of these two possesses the basis of eligibility for performance by the fact of having discrimination, those of their legal actions which are absolutely beneficial to them, such as accepting gifts or alms, are valid without their guardian's pcrmlsslon.
As for those of their legal actions which are wholly harmful to them, such as giving donations or waiving their rights to something, these are not in any way valid, even with the guardian's permission.
The gift, bequest, endowment, and divorce of such persons are not valid, and the guardian's permission is irrelevant to these actions.
The legal actions of the child with discrimination or the retarded person which are between absolute benefit and absolute harm to him are valid, but only on condition that the guardian gives his permission for them
If the guardian gives permission for the agreement or disposition, it is implemented, and ifhe does not permit it, the action is invalid.
(3) Or a person could have full eligibility for performance by the fact of having reached puberty sound of mind.
Events, however, may befall this eligibility.
They include those that happen to a person without affecting his eligibility for performance by eliminating or diminishing it, but which alter some rulings concerning him because of considerations and interests that arise through these events, not because of loss or lessening of eligibility for performance.
Examples include the foolhardy and the absentminded person
Both have reached puberty with normal intelligence and have full eligibility for performance, but to protect their own property from loss and prevent them from becoming a financial burden on others, they are declared legally incompetent in financial dealings such that neither their financial transactions nor donations are valid
This is not because of a lack or lessening of their eligibility for performance, but rather to protect their own property.
A debtor has likewise reached puberty with normal intelligence and possesses full eligibility for performance, but to protect the rights of his creditors, he is declared legally incompetent to make transactions with his money that infringe on the rights of his creditors, such as charitable donations ('Ilm usul al-fiqh (y71) 134-40).
In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate.
Praise be to Allah, Lord ofthe Worlds
Allah bless our liegelord Muhammad, his folk, and his Companions one and all.
This is a summary of the school of Imam Shafi'i (the mercy and bliss of Allah Most High be upon him) in which I have confined myself to the most dependable positions (al-sahih) of the school according to Imam Rafi'i and Imam Nawawi, or according to just one of them
I may mention a difference of opinion herein, this being when their recensions contend (dis: w12), giving Nawawi's position first (0: as he is the foremost reference of the school)
and then as opposed to it, that of Rafi'i (n: generally left un translated because it is the weaker position where mentioned).
I have named it The Reliance of the Traveller and Tools of the Worshipper.
(0: Reliance means that which is depended upon
since the author meant that this text should be a reliable resource work for whoever goes by it, because it contains the most dependable positions of the school and omits the weak ones.
Traveller (salik) derives from travel (suluk), meaning to proceed along, the allusion being to the spiritual journey, meaning one's seeking knowledge of the rules of religion with seriousness and effort, to thereby reach Allah Most High and be saved from perdition.
Tools are physical instruments their owner depends on in his work, like those of a carpenter.
The tools here are knowledge of the rules of Sacred Law found in this text which the validity of worship depends upon.)
I ask Allah to give benefit through it, and He is my sufficiency, and best to rely on.
Water is of various types:
(I) purifying;
(2) pure;
(3) and impure.
Purifying means it is pure in itself and it purifies other things.
( 0: Purification (Ar
tahara) in Sacred Law is lifting a state of ritual impurity (hadath, def: e7), removing filth (najasa, e14), or matters similar to these, such as purificatory baths (ghusl) that are merely sunna or renewing ablution (wudu) when there has been no intervening ritual impurity.)
Pure means it is pure in itself but cannot purify other things (0: such as water that has already been used to lift a state of ritual impurity).
Impure means it is neither purifying nor pure
(0: Namely:
(I) less than 216 liters of water (qullatayn) which is contaminated by filth (najasa), even when none of the water's characteristics (n: i.e.
taste, color, or odor) have changed;
(2) or 216 liters or more of water when one of its characteristics of taste, color, or odor have changed (n: through the effect of the filth
As for the purity of water that has been used to wash away filth, it is discussed below at e14.14).)
It is not permissible (0: or valid) to lift a state of ritual impurity or remove filth except with plain water (0: not used water (def: (2) below), or something other than water like vinegar or milk), meaning purifying water as it comes from nature.
no matter what quality it may have (0: of taste, such as being fresh or saline (N: including seawater);
of color, such as being white, black, or red; or of odor, such as having a pleasant smell).
It is not permissible to purify (def: e1.2(0:) with:
(I) water that has changed so much that it is no longer termed water through admixture with something pure like flour or saffron which could have been avoided;
(2) less than 216 liters of water that has already been used for the obligation (dis: c2.1(A:), end) of lifting a state of ritual impurity, even if only that of a child;
(3) or less that 216 liters of water that has been used to remove filth, even if this resulted in no change in the water.
It is permissible to purify with water:
(1) (non-(l) above) that has been only slightly changed by saffron or the like;
(2) that has been changed by proximity with something such as aloes or oil that are (0: i.e.
even if) fragrant;
(3) that has been changed by something impossible to prevent, such as algae, tree leaves falling in it, dust, or the effects of standing too long;
(4) (non-(2) of the previous ruling) that has already been used for a nonobligatory use such as the sunnas of rinsing out the mouth, renewing ablution when there has been no intervening state of ritual impurity, or a sunna purificatory bath;
(5) or water that has already been used (n: to lift a slate of ritual impurity) and has now been added together until it amounts to 216 liters or more.
With less than 216 liters, if a person performing ablution (after washing his face once) or the purificatory bath (after making intention for it) makes the intention in his heart to use his hands to scoop up the water, then the introduction of his hands into this amount of water does not make the water used
But if not (0: if he does not make this intention at all, or does so after putting his hands in the water, which is less than 216 liters ), then the rest of the water is considered as already used (n:
and no longer purifying
But in the Maliki school (dis: c6.4( end)), it is valid (though offensive) to lift a state of ritual impurity with water that has already been used for that purpose (al-Sharh alsaghir 'ala Aqrab al-masalik ila madhhab aI-Imam Malik (y35),1.37)).
As for 216 liters or more of water
even if two or more persons in a state of major ritual impurity Ganaba, def: elO) are immersed in it, whether simultaneously or serially, their impurity is lifted and the water does not thereby become used (n: but remains purifying).
Qullatayn (lit
""two great jars"") roughly equal five hundred Baghdad ritls, and their vol- ume is one and a quarter dhira' in height, width, and length.
(n: The definition of qullatayn as being 216 liters is based on estimating the dhira' at fortyeight centimeters
Metric equivalents of Islamic weights and measures are given at wIS.)
Two hundred and sixteen liters of water does not become impure by mere contact with filth, but only becomes so by changing (n: in taste, color, or smell) because of it, even when (0: this change is) only slight.
If such change (n: in 216 liters or more of water) disappears by itself (0: such as through standing at length) or by water (0: added to it, even if the additional water is used or impure) then the water is again purifying.
But the 216 liters of water does not become purifying if the change disappears by (0:
putting) such things as musk (0: in it, or ambergris, or camphor, which mask the scent; or putting saffron and the like in it which mask the color) or vinegar (0: which masks the taste) or earth.
Less than 216 liters becomes impure by mere contact '.\lith filth, whether the water changes or not, unless filth falls into it whose amount (N: before it falls in is so small that it) is indiscernible by eyesight (A: eyesight, here and for all rulings, meaning an average look, not a negligent glance nor yet a minute inspection), or if something dead falls into it of creatures without flowing blood, such as flies and the like, in both of which cases it remains purifying
This is equally true of running or still water.
When less than 216 liters of impure water is added to (0: even if with impure water) until it amounts to 216 liters or more and no change (def:
below) remains in it, then it is (0: has become) purifying.
Change, resulting from something pure or impure, means in color, taste, or smell.
(N: But the least change caused by filth makes water (n; even if more than 216 liters) impure, while change caused by something pure does not hurt as long as it can still be termed water.
For example, when sugar and tea leaves have been added to water and it is called tea, it has become pure but not purifying
As for a slight discoloration by tea leaves, or a slight sweetness from sugar, this does not negate water's being purifying.)
Purification is permissible with water from any pure container, except those of gold or silver, or those to which enough gold or silver has been applied that any of it could be collected from the vessel by heating it with fire (N: meaning that if the vessel were exposed to fire, the metallic coat would melt and separate from the container, even if not drop by drop)
Such containers or utensils are unlawful for men or women to use in purification, eating, drinking, or other use (0: of any type whatever)
It is unlawful to acquire such a container or utensil even if one does not use it
Even a small eye-liner stick of silver is unlawful.
Vessels soldered with gold are absolutely unlawfuL It is unlawful to use a vessel to which much (def: f4.5) silver solder has been applied by way of decoration: permissible to use a vessel to which only a little silver solder has been applied by way of a needed repair; and offensive but not unlawful to use a vessel to which only a little silver has been applied for decoration, or much out of necessity.
Solder means that a part of the vessel has been broken and then silver is put there to hold it together.
It is offensive to use the vessels of nonMuslims (N: before washing them) (0: to be certain of the purity of the vessels used, since nonMuslims are not as concerned about purity as Muslims are) or wear their clothes (0: for the same reason).
It is permissible to use a vessel made of any precious gem, such as a ruby or emerald.
*
CO: In Sacred Law it refers to the use of a twig or the like on the teeth and around them to remove an unpleasant change in the breath Or similar, together with the intention (n: of performing the sunna).)
Using a toothstick is recommended any time, except after noon for someone who is fasting, in which case it is offensive
(A: Using toothpaste is also offensive then, and if any reaches the stomach of someone fasting, it is unlawful (n: if the fast is obligatory, as this breaks a fast).)
It is especially desirable to use the toothstick for every prayer, for reading (0: the Koran, hadith, or a lesson), ablution, yellowness of teeth, waking from sleep, entering one's house, and for any change of breath from eating something with a bad odor or from not eating.
(A: When there exists a demand for an act, such as using the toothstick before reading the Koran, and an equal demand not to, as when it is after noon on a fast-day, then the proper course is not to do it.)
Anything coarse is adequate (n: to fulfill the sunna) except rough fingers, though the best is a twig from the arak (n: a desert shrub) that is dried (N: meaning previously cut from the shrub long enough to have dried) and then moistened.
It is best to clean the teeth laterally, beginning on the right and paying particular attention to the bases of the back teeth, and to intend the Bunna thereby.
*
It is sunna:
(1) to trim the fingernails and toenails;
(2) to clip one's mustache (0: when it grows long
The most one should clip is enough to show the pink ofthe upperlip
Plucking it out or shaving it off is offensive.) (A: Shaving one's beard is unlawful according to all Imams except Shafi'i, who wrote two opinions about it, one that it is offensive, and the other that it is unlawful
A weak chain of narrators ascribes an opinion of offensiveness to Imam Malik
It is unbelief (kufr) to turn from the sunna in order to imitate nonMuslims when one believes their way to be superior to the sunna);
(3) for those used to it, to pluck away the hair of the underarms and nostrils, though if plueking the underarms is a hardship, then shaving them;
and to shave the pubic hair;
(4) and to line the eyes with kohl (n: an antimonic compound that one should be careful to see contains no lead), each eye an odd number of times, preferably three.
It is offensive to shave part of the head and leave part unshaven (A: though merely cutting some of the hair shorter than another part is not objectionable)
There is no harm in shaving it all off (0: but it is not recommended except for the rites of hajj and 'umra (n: the greater and lesser pilgrimages)) .
Circumcision is obligatory (0: for both men and women
For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar
bazr) of the clitoris (n:
not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert).
(A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, whileHanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)
It is unlawful for men or women to dye their hair black, except when the intention is jihad (0: as a show of strength to unbelievers)
Plucking out gray hair is offensive
It is sunna to dye the hair with yellow or red
(N: It is unlawful for a woman to cut her hair to disfigure herself (n: e.g
for mourning), though if done for the sake of beauty it is permissible.) It is sunna for a married woman to dye all of her hands and feet with henna (n: a red plant dye), but it is unlawful for men to do so unless it is needed (N: to protect from sunburn, for example).
*
(N: Meaning to wash certain parts ofthe body with water, with the intention of worship.)
(0: The legal basis for ablution, prior to scholarly consensus, is the word of Allah Most High, ""0 believers, when you go to pray, wash your faces, and wash your forearms to the elbows, wipe your heads, and [wash] your feet to the two anklebones"" (Koran 5:6), and the hadith related by Muslim, ""A prayer is not accepted without purification.
Ablution has six obligatory integrals:
(a) to have the intention when one starts washing the face;
(b) to wash the face;
(c) to wash the arms up to and including the elbows;
(d) to wipe a little of the head with wet hands;
(e) to wash the feet up to and including the anklebones;
(f) and to do these things in the order mentioned.
The sunnas of ablution are all its actions besides the above
(N: The obligatory minimum is to perform (b), (c), (d), and (e) once, though the sunna is to perform them each three times.)
THE INTENTION The person performing ablution intends:
(1) to lift a state of lesser ritual impurity (hadath) (0: since the purpose of ablution is to eliminate that which prevents prayer and the like);
(2) to purify for the prayer;
(3) or to purify for something not permissible without purification, such as touching a Koran, or something else ..
(N: The simple intention to perform the obligation of ablution suffices in place of all the above.)
The above intentions are not used by three types of people when performing ablution:
(1) a woman with chronic vaginal discharge (def: e13.6);
(2) a person unable to hold back intermittent drops of urine coming from him (n: or with some similar state of chronic annulment of ablution (e13.7));
(3) or a person intending to perform dry ablution (tayammum, def: e12).
Such people merely intend permission to perform the obligation of the prayer as they begin their ablution.
(0: The intention to lift a state ofminorritual impurity is inadequate for these people because their state of impurity is not lifted.) (n: Rather, the Sacred Law gives them a dispensation to perform the prayer and so forth without lifting it.)
The necessary condition of ablution is that the intention for it exist in the heart and that it accompany one's washing the first part ofthe face.
It is recommended to pronounce it aloud, and that it be present in the heart from the first of ablution (0: during the preliminary sunnas before washing the face, so as to earn their reward)
It is obligatory that this intention persist in the heart until one washes the first part of the face (0: as that is the first integral)
If one confines oneself to making the intention when washing the face, it suffices, but one is not rewarded for the previous sunnas of rinsing the mouth and nostrils and washing the· hands (N: provided that one merely intended cleanliness or something else by them, and the intention of worship did not come to one's mind).
HOW TO PERFORM ABLUTION It is recommended to begin ablution by mentioning (n: in Arabic, like the other invocations in this volume (def: wI)) the name of Allah Most High (0: by saying ""In the name of Allah,""' which is the minimum.
The optimum is to say, ""In the name of Allah
Most Merciful and Compassionate."" Before this
it is sunna to say, ""I take refuge in Allah from the accursed Devil,"" and to add after the Basmala: ""Praise to Allah fOT Islam and its blessings
Praise to Allah who made water purifying and Islam a light
My Lord, I take refuge in You from the whispering of devils and take refuge in You lest they come to me."" It is sunna to say all the above to oneself.)
If one intentionally or absentmindedly omits saying the name of Allah (n: at the first of ablution), then one pronounces it during it (0: by saying.
""In the name of Allah, first to last"").
It is recommended to wash the hands three times.
(0: By saying ""three times,"" the author indicates the sunna character of performing such acts thrice, and that it is an independent sunna (N:
rewarded apart from the sunnas it is conjoined with).)
If one has doubts as to whether or not one's hands are free of filth, it is offensive to dip them into less than 216 liters of water without first washing them three times
(0: When sure they are pure, it is not offensive to immerse them
When sure they are impure,it is unlawful to dip them into this amount of water (N: since it spoils it by making it impure).)
One next uses the toothstick (def: e3), and then rinses the mouth and nose out three times, with three handfuls of water
One takes in a mouthful from a handful of water and snuffs up some of the rest of the handful into the nostrils (n:
swishing the water around the mouth, and expelling the water of the mouth and the .nose simultaneously), then again rinses the mouth and then the nostrils from a second handful of water, followed by rinsing the mouth and then the nostrils from a third handful of water.
One lets the water reach as much of the mouth and nostrils as possible, unless fasting.
when one goes lightly.
Then one washes the face three times,face meaning from the point where the hairline usually begins to the chin in height, and from ear to ear in width.
It is obligatory to wash all facial hairinner, outer, and the skin beneath, whether the hair is thick or thin-such as eyebrows, mustache, and so forth; except for the beard, since:
(1) ifit is thin, its inner and outer hair and the skin beneath must be washed;
(2) but if thick, then the outer hair is enough, though it is recommended to saturate it by combing it from beneath with wet fingers.
It is obligatory to cause the water to flow over the outer (0: hair of the) part of the beard that hangs below the chin (0: though not its inner hair), It is obligatory to wash part of the head in every direction beyond the bounds of the face, to make sure everything has been completely covered.
It is sunna to use new water to saturate one's beard (0: ifit is thick) by combing it from beneath with the fingers.
Then one washes the hands up to and including the elbows three times.
(If the arm has been amputated between the hand and elbow, it is necessary to wash the remaining forearm and the elbow, If amputated at the elbow, then the end of the upper arm must be washed, If it has been amputated between the elbow and shoulder, then it is recommended to wash the rest of the upper arm,)
Then one wipes the head with wet hands, beginning at the front of the head, sliding the paired hands back to the nape of the neck, and then returning them to where one began, (0: This is an explanation of the best way, for otherwise, fulfilling the obligation does not depend on starting at the front, but may be from any part of the head.) One does this three times.
If one is bald, or one's hair never grew, or is long, or braided, then it is not recommended to slide the hands back to the front.
Each of the following suffices as wiping the head:
(1) to place the hand on the head without moving it so that one wets any of what is referred to by ""wiping the head,"" the minimum of which is part of a single hair, provided this part does not hang below the limits of the head;
(2) to drip water on the head without making it flow over it;
(3) or to wash the head.
(If it is difficult to remove one's turban, then after wiping the minimum of the head required, one may finish by wiping the turban.)
One then wipes the ears inside and out with new water, three times, and then the ear canals with one's little fingers with more new water, three times (0: though this second sunna is not separately mentioned in the more well known books, which speak of the two sunnas together, making ""wiping the ears"" include the ear canals).
Then one washes the feet up to and including the anklebones three times.
If one does not know whether one washed a particular limb or the head three times (N: as is sunna), then one assumes one has washed it the least number that one is sure of, and washes as many additional times as it takes to be certain one has reached three.
One begins with the right when washing arms and legs, but not the hands, cheeks, and ears, which are washed right and left simultaneously.
One washes more than is obligatory of the face by adding part of the head and neck, and likewise with the arms and legs by washing above the elbows and ankles, the maximum of which is the whole upper arm or lower leg.
One washes the parts of the body successively and without pausing between them (0: such that in normal weather the last part would not dry before one began the next), though if one pauses between them, even for a long time, one's ablution is still valid without renewing the intention.
After finishing, one says: HI testify that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and messenger
0 Allah, make me one of the oftrepentant, one of the purified, one of Your goodly slaves
0 Allah, I declare Your exaltedness above every imperfection and Your praise
I testify there is no god but You
I ask Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance."" There are supplications said for each limb washed, but these are not authenticated as being of the sunna.
OTHER RECOMMENDED MEASURES Other recommended measures (adab) include:
(I) facing the direction of prayer;
(2) not to talk during ablution for other than a necessity;
(3) and to begin with the top of the face and not slap water upon it.
If another person is pouring one's water (N: or if using a tap) one begins washing the arms from the elbows, and the feet from the anklebones
If pouring one's own water (N: from a jug, for example), one begins washing the arms from the fingers and the feet from the toes.
One should take care that water reaches the inner corners of the eyes, and the heels (N: up to the level of the anklebones) and similar places it is feared one may neglect, especially during the winter.
One moves one's ring when washing the hand to allow water to reach the skin beneath
(0:
If the water cannot otherwise get under it, it is obligatory to move the ring.)
One saturates between the toes using the little finger of the left hand
One begins with the little toe of the right foot, coming up through the toes from beneath, and finishes with the little toe of the left.
THINGS OFFENSIVE IN ABLUTION It is offensive:
(1) to have another person wash one's limbs, unless there is some excuse (0: such as old age or the like);
(2) to wash the left before the right;
(3) or to waste water.
It is recommended:
(1) not to use less than 0.51 liters (mudd) of water for ablution;
(2) not to use less than 2.03 liters (sa') of water for the purificatory bath (ghusl);
(3) not to dry off the parts washed in ablution (N: unless there is an excuse such as illness or cold weather) or shake the water off one's hands;
(4) notto ask another to pour waterfor one's ablution;
(5) and not to wipe the neck.
OTHER PROVISIONS If dirt under the nails prevents the water (0: of ablution or the purificatory bath from reaching the skin beneath) then the ablution (0:
or bath) is not valid.
(N: The same is true of waterproof glue, paint, nail polish, and so forth on the nails or skin:
if it prevents water from reaching any part of the nails or skin, no matter how small, one's ablution or purificatory bath is not valid.)
If one has doubts during the course of the ablution that one has washed a particular limb or the head, then it is obligatory to wash it again and everything that follows it in the ablution sequence.
But if these doubts arise after one has finished ablution, one need not repeat anything.
(A: The same is true of the purificatory bath (ghusl)
)
It is recommended to renew the ablution (N: when there has been no intervening state of minor ritual impurity) when one has performed any prayer, obligatory or nonobligatory, with it.
Ablution is recommended for someone in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) who wishes to eat, drink, sleep, or make love again.
And Allah knows best.
*
(N: Wiping one's footgear (Ar
khuff) with wet hands is a dispensation that can take the place of the fifth ablution integral of washing the feet.
The footgear Muslims generally use for this are ankle-high leather socks that zip up and are worn inside the shoes.)
Wiping footgear is permissible for 72 hours (lit
""three days and nights"") to a traveller on a lawful trip (N: one not undertaken for purposes of disobeying Allah) that fulfills the conditions permitting one to shorten prayers on journeys (def: f15.1-5).
Wiping them is permissible to a nontraveller for 24 hours (lit
""a day and a nigh!"")
(n: At the end of these periods, one removes the footgear to perform ablution, or, if one has ablution at the time, to wash the feet, before putting them on again and starting a new period of permissibility, as at e6.7.)
The beginning of the period is reckoned from the time of the first minor ritual impurity (hadath) that occurs after having put them on while in a state of ablution.
Wiping footgear is permissible for only 24 hours:
(1) when one has wiped both of a pair of footgear for ablution or just one of the pair (n:
leaving the other for later) when not on a trip, and then begun travelling;
(2) or (0: when one has wiped both of a pair of foot gear or just one) when on the trip and then finished travelling;
(3) or when one is in doubt as to whether one first wiped one's footgear for ablution while travelling or whether it was while not travelling.
Wiping footgear is permissible for 72 hours if one's ablution is nullified when not travelling and one then lifts that state of minor ritualimpurity by wiping them for the ablution while travelling.
When one doubts as to whether or not the permissible period for wiping them has expired, then one may not wipe them while the doubt exists
(A: Because dispensations cannot be taken unless one is certain (N: of their necessary conditions).)
If one has doubts (n: when near the end of the permissible period for wiping them, for example, and uncertain exactly when it began) about whether one nullified one's ablution at the time of the noon prayer, or whether it was at the time of the midafternoon prayer, then one proceeds on the assumption that it was at the time of the noon prayer.
If a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) occurs during the permissible period for wiping footgear, then one must take them off for the purificatory bath (ghusl).
The conditions for the permissibility of wiping footgear are:
(a) that one have full ablution when one first puts them on;
(b) that they be free of filth;
(c) that they cover the whole foot up to and including the anklebones;
(d) that they prevent water (N: if dripped on them drop by drop from directly) reaching the foot (O:-if water reaches the foot through the holes of a seam's stitches, it does not affect the validity of wiping them, though if water can reach the foot through any other place, it violates this condition);
(e) and that they be durable enough to keep walking around upon as travellers do in attending to their needs (0: when encamping, departing, etc.);
-no matter whether they are of leather, felt, layers of rags (N: including thick, heavy wool socks that prevent water from reaching the foot (A: not modern dress socks (n: due to non-Cd) and (e) abovc), which are not valid to wipe in any school, even if many are worn in layers)), wood, or other; nor whether they have a cleavage laced up with eyelcb (0: provided none of the foot shows).
One may not wipe footgear if wearing just one of a pair, washing the other foot
Nor if any of the foot shows through a hole in them.
It is sunna to wipe the footgear on the top.
bottom, and heel in lines (N: as if combing something with the fingers), without covering every part of them or wiping them more than once.
One puts the left hand under the heel and the right hand on top of the foot at the toes, drawing the right hand back towards the shin while drawing the left along the bottom of the foot in the opposite direction towards the toes.
It is sufficient as wiping the Jootgear to wipe any part of their upper surface (N: with wet hands), from the top of the foot up to the level of the anklebones
It is not sufficient to only wipe some of the bottom, heel, side of the foot, or some of the footgear's inner surface that faces the skin.
When on an ablution that was performed by wiping the footgear, and then some part of the foot shows because of taking them off, or through a hole, it's sufficient (N: to complete one's ablution) to merely wash the feet again (0: without repeating the ablution).
*
(N: Meaning the things that nullify one's ablution.)
The first is anything that exits from the front or rear private parts, whether a substance (0: such as urine or feces) (N: or the mucus that exits from the vagina with or without sexual stimulation, though not a woman's sexual fluid that appears through orgasm, discussed below) or wind, and whether something usual or something uncommon such as a worm or stones
But not a male's sperm or female's sexual fluid (Ar
maniyy, that which exits with orgasmic contractions, whether a man's or a woman's (def: el0A)), which necessitates the purificatory bath (N: as it causes major ritual impurity) but does not necessarily nullify ablution, an example ofthis being someone firmly seated (dis: e 7.2, second paragraph) who sleeps and has a wet dream, or someone who looks at something lustfully and sperm or sexual fluid come
Otherwise, if one makes love to one's spouse, or has an orgasm while lying asleep, ablution is nullified (n: respectively) by touching the spouse's skin (e7.3) or by sleep (below).
LOSS OF INTELLECt THROUGH SLEEP ETC.
The second cause of minor ritual impurity is loss of intellect (0: meaning the loss of the ability to distinguish, whether through insanity, unconsciousness, sleep, or other
Loss of intellect excludes drowsing and daydreaming, which do not nullify ablution
Among the signs of drowsing is that one can hear the words of those present, even if uncomprehendingly).
Sleep while firmly seated on the ground (A:
or any other surface firm enough to prevent a person's breaking wind while seated on it asleep) does not nullify ablution, whether riding mounted, leaning on something which if removed would cause one to fall, or otherwise seated.
If one sleeps when firmly seated and one's rear moves from its place before one awakens, this nullifies one's ablution
But not if:
(I) one's rear moved after or during awakenfing, or if one is uncertain about whether it happened before awakening or during;
(2) one's arm dropped to the ground while one was firmly seated;
(3) or when one drowses while not firmly seated, hearing but not comprehending, or if one is uncertain as to whether one drowsed or slept, or uncertain as to whether one slept while firmly seated or not firmly seated.
CONTACT OF MAN AND WOMAN'S SKIN The third cause of minor ritual impurity is when any, no matter how little, of the two skins of a man and woman touch (N: husband and wife, for example) when they are not each other's un marriageable kin (Ar
mahram, def: m6), even if they touch without sexual desire, or unintentionally , and even if with tongue or a nonfunctional or surplus limb; though touching does not include contact with teeth, nails, hair, or a severed limb.
Ablution is also nullified by touching an aged person or a corpse (N: of the opposite sex) but not by touching a member of one's unmarriageable kin, or a child who is younger than the age that usually evokes sexual interest.
One's ablution is not nullified when one is uncertain about:
(1) whether one touched a male or female;
(2) whether one touched hair or skin;
(3) or whether the person one touched was of one's unmarriageable kin or not.
TOUCHING HUMAN PR[VATE PARTSWITH HAND The fourth cause of minor impurity is touching human private parts with the palm ar inner surface afthe fingers only (N: i.e
those parts which touch when the hands are put together palm to palm), whether one touches the private parts:
(1) absentmindedly;
(2) without sexual desire;
(3) in the front or rear;
(4) of a male or female;
(5) of oneself or another, even if deceased, or a child;
-but not if one touches them with one's fingertips, the skin between the fingers, with the outer edge of the hand, or touches the corresponding parts of an animal.
Ablution is not nullified by vomiting, letting blood, nosebleed, laughing during the prayer, eating camel meat, or other things (N: not discussed above).
When certain that a minor ritual impurity has occurred, but uncertain whether one subsequently lifted it (N: with ablution), then one is in a state of minor ritual impurity (A: because in Sacred Law, a state whose existence one is certain about does not cease through a state whose existence one is uncertain about).
When certain that one had ablution, but uncertain that it was subsequently nullified, then one still has ablution.
The following are unlawful for someone in a state of minor ritual impurity:
(1) to perform the prayer;
(2) to prostrate when reciting the Koran at verses in which it is sunna to do so (def: f11.13);
(3) to prostrate out of thanks (f11.19);
(4) to circumambulate the Kaaba (j5);
(5) or to carry a Koran, even by a strap or in a box, or touch it, whether its writing, the spaces between its lines, its margins, binding, the carrying strap attached to it, or the bag or box it is in.
(n: Other aspects of proper manners (adab) towards the Book of Allah are treated below at wI6.) (A: The opinion expressed in Fiqh al-sunna that it is permissible to touch the Koran without ritual purity is a deviant view contrary to all four schools of jurisprudence and impermissible to teach (dis: r7.1(3), except to explain that it is aberrant.) (n: Though in theHanafi school, it is permissible for someone in a state of minor ritual impurity to touch or carry a Koran that is inside a cover not physically attached to it, such as a case or bag, as opposed to something joined to it, like a binding (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 1.43)
And Allah knows best.)
It is also unlawful (n: when without ablution) to touch or carry any of the Koran written for the purpose of study, even a single verse or part of one, as when written on a slate or the like.
(0: But this is permissible for nonstudy purposes such as when the Koran is intended to be an amulet (def: wI7)
It is not prohibited to touch or carry such an amulet even if it contains whole suras, or even, as Sheikh (N: Shirbini) ai-Khatib has said, if it contains the whole Koran.)
It is permissible to carry a Koran in one's baggage and to carry money, rings, or clothes on which Koran is written.
It is permissible to carry books of Sacred Law, hadith, or Koranic exegesis which contain Koran, provided that most of their text is not Koran (0: because the non-Koranic part is the purpose, though this is unlawful if half or more is Koran).
Boys who have reached the age of discrimination (def: f1.2(0:)) may touch or carry the Koran while in a state of minor ritual impurity (0:
because of the need to learn it and the hardship of their keeping ablution, and likewise for young girls, though this is for study alone, as opposed to nonstudy, when it is unlawful
As for children under this age, their guardian may not give a Koran to them) (A: as this is an insult to it
Also, teachers should remind children that it is unlawful to moisten one's fingers with saliva to turn its pages).
Someone in a state of minor or major impurity may write Koran if he does not touch or carry what he has written.
When one fears that a Koran may burn, get soaked, that a non-Muslim may touch it, or that it may come into contact with some filth, then one must pick it up if there is no safe place for it, even if one is in a state of minor or major ritual impurity, though performing the dry ablution (tayammum, def: e12) is obligatory if possible.
It is unlawful to use a Koran or book of Islamic knowledge as a pillow (0: except for fear of theft, when it is permissible to do so).
And Allah knows best.
*
It is recommended when one intends to use the lavatory:
(1) to put something on one's feet, unless there is an excuse (0: such as not having shoes);
(2) to cover the head (0: even if only with a handkerchief or other);
(3) to set aside anything on which there is the mention of Allah Most High, His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), or any revered name (0: like those of prophets or angels)
If one enters with a ring (0: on which something worthy of respect is written), one closes one's hand around it;
(4) to ready stones (N: or other suitable material (def: e9.5)) (0: if one uses them) to clean oneself of filth (N: though water alone is sufficient);
(5) to say before entering:
""In the name of Allah
0 Allah, I take refuge in You from demons, male and female,"" and after leaving, ""[0 Lord,] Your forgiveness
Praise be to Allah who rid me of the hurt and gave me health"";
(6) to enter with the left foot first and depart with the right foot first (and this, together with (3) and (5) above, are not only for indoors, but recommended outdoors as well);
(7) not to raise one's garment until one squats down to the ground (0: to keep one's nakedness covered as much as possible) and to lower it before one stands up;
(8) to put most of one's weight on the left foot while squatting;
(9) not to spend a long time;
(10) not to speak;
(11) when finished urinating, for men to squeeze the penis with the left hand from base to head (0: recommended because this is where the urethra is, and for women to squeeze their front between thumb and forefinger) (N: so urine does not exit later and nullify one's ablution) pulling lightly three times (0: this being recommended when one thinks the urine has stopped, though if one thinks it has not, this is obligatory);
(12) not to urinate while standing (0: which is offensive) unless there is an excuse (N: such as when standing is less likely to spatter urine on one's clothes than sitting, or when sitting is a hardship);
(13) not to clean oneself with water in the same place one relieved oneself, if it might spatter, though if in a lavatory one need not move to a different place;
(14) to distance oneself from others if out· doors and to screen oneself;
(15) not to urinate into holes, on hard places, where there is wind, in waterways, where people gather to talk, on paths, under fruit trees, near graves, in still water, or in less than 216 liters of running water;
(16) and not to relieve oneself with one's front or rear facing the sun, moon, or the Sacred Precinct in Jerusalem.
It is unlawful to urinate on anything edible, bones, anything deserving respect, a grave, or in a mosque, even if into a receptacle.
It is unlawful to urinate or defecate with one's front or rear towards the direction of prayer when outdoors and there is no barrier to screen one, though it is permissible when outdoors or indoors within a meter and a half of a barrier at least 32 cm
high, or in a hole that deep
When one is not this close to such a barrier, it is not permissible except in a lavatory, where, if the walls are farther from one than the maximal distance or are shorter than the minimal height, relieving oneself with front or rear towards the direction of prayer is permissible, though offensive.
It is obligatory to clean oneself of every impure substance coming from one's front or rear, though not from gas, dry worms or stones, or excrement without moisture.
Stones suffice to clean oneself, though it is best to follow this by washing with water
Anything can take the place of stones that is a solid, pure, removes the filth, is not something that deserves respect or is worthy of veneration, nor something that is edible (0: these being five conditions for the validity of using stones (N: or something else) to clean oneself offilth without having to follow it by washing with water).
But it is obligatory to wash oneself with water if:
(1) one has washed away the filth with a liquid other than water, or with something impure;
(2) one has become soiled with filth from a separate source;
(3) one's waste has moved from where it exited (n: reaching another part of one's person) or has dried;
(4) or if feces spread beyond the inner buttocks (N: meaning that which is enfolded when standing), or urine moved beyond the head of the penis, though if they do not pass beyond them, stones suffice.
It is obligatory (N: when cleaning oneself with a dry substance alone) to both remove the filth, and to wipe three times, even when once is enough to clean it, doing this either with three pieces (lit: ""stones"") or three sides of one piece
If three times does not remove it, it is obligatory to (N: repeat it enough to) clean it away (0: as that is the point of cleaning oneself
Nawawi says in ale Majmu' that cleaning oneself (N: with a dry substance) means to remove the filth so that nothing remains but a trace that could not be removed unless one were to use water) (N: and when this has been done, any remaining effects of filth that could have only been removed with water are excusable)
An odd number of strokes is recommended.
One should wipe from front to back on the right side with the first piece, similarly wipe the left with the second, and wipe both sides and the anus with the third
Each stroke must begin at a point on the skin that is free of impurity.
Major Ritual Impurity (Janaba) e10.0 It is offensive to use the right hand to clean oneself of filth.
It is best to clean oneself of filth before ablution, though if one waits until after it to clean, the ablution is nevertheless valid (N: provided that while cleaning, the inside surface of the hand (def: e7.4) does not touch the front or rear private parts).
If one waits until after one's dry ablution (tayammum, def: e12) to clean away filth, the dry ablution is not valid (A: because lack of filth is a condition for it).
*
The purificatory bath (ghusl, def: ell) is Obligatory for a male when:
(1) sperm exits from him;
(2) or the head of his penis enters a vagina;
and is obligatory for a female when:
(1) sexual fluid (def: belOW) exits from her;
(2) the head of a penis enters her vagina;
(3) after her menstrual period;
(4) after her postnatal lochia stops or after a child is born in a dry birth.
(n: The Arabic term maniyy used in all these rulings refers to both male sperm and female sexual fluid, i.e
that which comes from orgasm, and both sexes are intended by the phrase sperm or sexual fluid wherever it appears below.)
When a woman who has been made love to performs the purificatory bath, and the male's sperm afterwards leaves her vagina, then she must repeat the ghusl if two conditions exist:
(a) that she is not a child, but rather old enough to have sexual gratification (A: as it might otherwise be solely her husband's sperm);
(b) and that she was fulfilling her sexual urge with the lovemaking, not sleeping or forced.
Male sperm and female sexual fluid are recognised by the fact that they:
(a) come in spurts (n: by contractions);
(b) with sexual gratification;
(c) and when moist, smell like bread dough, and when dry, like egg-white.
When a substance from the genital orifice has anyone of the above characteristics, then it is sperm or sexual fluid and makes the purificatory bath obligatory
When not even one of the above characteristics is present, it is not sperm or sexual fluid
Being white or thick is not neeessary for it to be considered male sperm, and being yellow or thin is not necessary for it to be considered female sexual fluid.
The purificatory bath is not obligatory:
(1) when there is an unlustful discharge of thin, sticky, white fluid (madhy) caused by amorous play or kissing;
(2) or when there is a discharge of the thick, cloudy white fluid (wady) that exits after urinating (0: or carrying something heavy).
If one does not know whether one's discharge is sperm or whether it is madhy (def: (1) above), then one may either:
(1) consider it sperm, and perform the purificatory bath (0: in which case washing the portions of clothes and so forth affected with it is not obligatory, as it is legally considered a pure substance) ;
(2) or consider it madhy, and wash the affected portions of the body and clothes (N:
which is obligatory, as it is legally considered filth), and perform ablution, though not the purificatory bath.
The best course in such cases of uncertainty is to do all of the above (0: of bathing, washing the affected portions, and ablution, so as to take due precaution in one's worship).
All things unlawful for someone in minor ritual impurity (def: e8.l) are also unlawful for someone in a :state of major ritual impurity (N: or menstruation)
In addition, it is likewise unlawful for such a person:
(1) to remain in a mosque;
(2) or to recite any of the Koran, even part of a single verse, though it is permissible to use its invocations (dhikr) when the intention is not Koran recital (0: such as saying in disasters, ""Surely we are Allah's, and unto Him we will return,"" and the like)
If one intends Koran recital, it is disobedience, but if one intends it primarily as invocation (dhikr), or as nothing in particular, it is permissible.
It is permissible to pass through a mosque (A:
though not to enter and leave by the same door (Ar
taraddud), which is unlawful) when one is in a state of major ritual impurity, but this is offensive when there is no need.
*
When performing the purificatory bath, one:
(1) begins by saying, ""In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate"";
(2) removes any unclean matter on the body (0: pure or impure);
(3) performs ablution (wudu) as one does before the prayer;
(4) pours water over the head three times, intending to lift a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) or menstruation, or to be permitted to perform the prayer, and running the fingers through one's hair to saturate it;
(5) and then pours water over the body's right side three times, then over the left side three times, ensuring that water reaches all joints and folds, and rubbing oneself.
(6) If bathing after menstruation, a woman uses some musk to eliminate the afterscent of blood (0: by applying it to a piece of cotton and inserting it, after bathing, into the vagina as far as is obligatory (def: (b) below) for her to wash)
(N:
What is meanHhereby is a substance that removes the traces of filth, by any means, and it is fine to use soap.)
Two things (N: alone) are obligatory for the validity of the purificatory bath:
(a) having the intention «4) above) when water is first applied to the parts that must be washed;
(b) and that water reaches all of the hair and skin (N: to the roots of the hair, under nails, and the outwardly visible portion of the ear canals, though unlike ablution the sequence of washing the parts is not obligatory), even under the foreskin of the uncircumcized man, and the private parts of the nonvirgin woman which are normally disclosed when she squats to relieve herself.
(n: In the Hanafi school, rinsing out the mouth and nostrils (def: eS, 7) is obligatory for the validity of the purificatory bath (al-Lubab Ii sharh al-Kirab (y88), 1.14)
It is religiously more precautionary for a Muslim never to omit it, and Allah knows best.)
If one begins the purificatory bath while on ablution (wudu) but nullifies it (def: e7) before finishing, one simply completes the bath (N:
though one needs a new ablution before praying).
If there is filth (najasa) on the body, one washes it off by pouring water on it and then performs the purificatory bath, though washing oneself a single time suffices for both removing it and for the purificatory bath.
When a woman who is obliged to both lift a state of major ritual impurity Uanaba) and purify after menstruation performs the purificatory bath for either of these, it suffices for both.
Whoever performs the bath one time with the intention to (n: both) lift a state of major ritual impurity and fulfill the sunna of the Friday prayer bath has performed both, though if he only intends one, his bath counts for that one but not the other.
The purificatory bath is sunna:
(1) for those who want to attend the Friday prayer (def: f18) (0: the bath's time beginning at dawn);
(2) on the two 'Eids (f19) (0: the time for it beginning from the middle of the night);
(3) on days when the sun or moon eclipse;
(4) before the drought prayer (f21);
(5) after washing the dead (0: and it IS sunna to perform ablution (wudu) after touching a corpse);
(6) after recovering one's sanity or regaining consciousness after having lost it;
(7) (N: before) entering the state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram, def: j3), when entering Mecca, for standing at 'Arata (j8), for circumambulating the Kaaba (is) and going between Safa and Marwa (j6), for entering Medina, at al-Mash'ar al-Haram (j9.2), and for each day of stoning at Mina (j1O) on the three days following 'Eid al-Adha.
*
(N: When unable to use water, dry ablution is a dispensation to perform the prayer or similar act without lifting one's minor or major impurity, by the use of earth for one's ablution.)
Three conditions must be met for the legal validity of performing dry ablution.
(a) The first is that it take place after the beginning of the prayer's time if it is for an obligatory prayer or a nonobligatory one that has a particular time
The act of lifting earth to the face and arms (N: the first step of dry ablution) must take place during that time
If one performs dry ablution when unsure that the prayer's time has come, then one's dry ablution is invalid, even if it coincides with the correct time (dis: e6.2(A:))
If one performs dry ablution in the midmorning for the purpose of making up a missed obligatory prayer, but the time for noon prayer comes before one has made up the missed obligatory prayer, then one may pray it (N: the noon prayer) with that dry ablution (N: because one did not perform dry ablution for it before its time, but rather performed dry ablution for a different prayer in that prayer's time, which clarifies why this does not violate the conditions of praying with dry ablution), or one could pray a different missed prayer with it (0: as one is not required to specify which obligatory prayer the dry ablution is for).
(b) The second condition is that dry ablution must be performed with plain, purifying earth that contains dust, even the dust contained in sand;
though not pure sand devoid of dust; nor earth mixed with the likes of flour; nor gypsum, pottery shards (0: which are not termed earth), or earth that has been previously used, meaning that which is already on the limbs or has been dusted off them.
(c) The third condition is inability to use water
The person unable to use water performs dry ablution, which suffices in place of lifting all forms of ritual impurity, permitting the person in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) or woman after her menstrual period to do everything that the purificatory bath tghusl) permits them to do.
If either of them subsequently has a minor ritual impurity (hadath), then only the things prohibited on minor impurity are unlawful for them (def:
eS.l) (N: not those prohibited on major impurity (e10
7), that is, until they can again obtain water to lift their state of major impurity, when they must, for the dry ablution is only a dispensation to pray and so forth while in states of impurity and is nullified by finding water).
Inability to use water has (0: three) causes (n: lack of water, fear of thirst, and illness).
LACK OF WATER The first is lack of water
When one is sure there is none, one performs dry ablution without searching for it
If one thinks there might be some, one must look through one's effects and inquire until one has asked all of one's party or (N: if too numerous) there is no time left except for the prayer
One does not have to ask each person individually, but may simply call out, ""Who has water, even for a price?"" Then one looks around, if on level ground
If not level, one checks on foot within the range at which one's group could be expected to respond to a cry for help, provided there is no threat to life or property
Or one may climb a nearby hill.
The search for water must occur after the particular prayer's time has come.
When one checks, does not find water, performs dry ablution, (N: prays an obligatory prayer with it,) and remains at the place, one need not search again before performing dry ablution for another obligatory prayer (N: when the next prayer's time comes), provided one made sure there was no water the first time, and nothing has happened to change one's mind
But if one did not make sure, or if something has happened to suggest that there tnight now be water, like the appearance of rain clouds or riders, one is obliged to check again for water.
When sure that one can obtain water by waiting until the last of a prayer's time, then it is better to wait
But if one thinks otherwise, then it is bener to perform dry ablution (n: and pray) at the first ofthe time.
(N: This entry's rulings apply equally to obtaining water for purification and to obtaining clothing to fulfill the prayer's condition of covering one's nakedness (def: f5).)
If a person gives or loans one water, or loans one a bucket (0: when it is the sole means of obtaining the water) then one must accept it, though not i( the person loans or gives one the price of these things (0: because of the burden of accepting charity that it involves), If one finds water or a bucket for sale at the , usual price for that locality and time, then one is obliged to buy it, provided one's money is in excess of one's debts, even if they are not due until a future date; and provided one's money exceeds the amount required for the journey's expenses, round trip, When someone has water he does not need but will not sell, one may not simply take it from him by foree, except when compelled by thirst (N:
provided the water's owner is not also suffering from thirst, and provided one pays him the normal price for it in that locality and time, because one's need does not eliminate another's rights),
If one finds some water, but not enough to complete purification, one must use it as far as it will go, and then perform dry ablution in place of the rest
For minor ritual impurity, one uses the water on the face, then the arms, and so forth, in the usual ablution sequence, For major ritual impurity (janaba), one begins wherever one wishes, though it is recommended to start at the top of the body,
FEAR OF THIRST The second cause of inability to use water is fear of one's own thirst, or that of worthy companions and animals with one, even if in the future (0: worthy meaning those whose killing is unlawful, such as a trained hunting dog or other useful animal, while unworthy includes non-Muslims at war with the Muslims, apostates from Islam (def: oB), convicted married adulterers, pigs, and biting dogs), Ablution (N: as well as the purificatory bath (ghusl)) is unlawful in such a case
One should conserve one's water for oneself and others, and may perform dry ablution for prayer with no need to make up the prayer later (A: provided lack of water predominates in that place (dis:e12.19(N:))).
ILLNESS The third cause is an ailment from which one fears (N: that performing a normal ablution or purificatory bath would cause):
(1) harm to life or limb;
(2) disability;
(3) becoming seriously ill;
(4) an increase in one's ailment;
(5) a delay in recovering from one's illness;
(6) considerable pain;
(7) or (n: a bad effect from the water suchas) a radical change in one's skin color on a visible part ofthe body.
One may depend on one's own knowledge (N: as to whcther one of the above is to be apprehended) (0: if one is knowledgeable in medicine) (N: though it is not a condition that one be knowledgeable in medicine, for one's own previous experience may be sufficient to establish the probability that one of them will occur if a full ablution or bath (ghusl) is performed)
Or one may depend on a physician whose information concerning it is acceptable (A: meaning one with skill in medicine whose word can be believed, even if he is not a Muslim).
(n: Rulings e12.1l-13 below have been left in Arabic and deal with a person who has injuries that prevent a normal ablution or bath for one of the above reasons
Strictness on the question ('azima) is to follow the Shafi'is, while dispensation (rukhsa) is to follow the Hanafi school «2) below).
(1) The Shafi'i school is the hardest in this matter, insisting on a full ablution except for the injured part, where a full dry ablution must be performed at the proper point in the ablution sequence in place of washing the injured part, as at
below.
If someone has a cast or dressing harmful to remove, as at e12.l2, it must be .
first applied when one has ablution, and thereafter one must wipe it with water when one comes to it in the ablution sequence in addition to performing a complete dry ablution at that point.
Finally, when someone with such a bandage on the members of dry ablution (the face or arms) recovers and has his cast or dressing removed, he is obliged to make up (repray) all the prayers he pcrformed with such an ablution, as at e12.13(0:).
(2) TheHanafi school requires someone with an injury who wants to pray to make a complete ablution (N: or b3.th, if needed)
But if this would entail harm, such as one of the things mentioned above at eI2.9, then when he comes to the injury in the ablution sequence, he is merely required to wipe it with wet hands so as to cover more than half of the injury
If this would also entail harm, or if he has a bandage that cannot be removed without harm, or he cannot reapply the dressing by himself and has no one to help him to do so, then he simply wipes more than half the bandage when he comes to it in his ablutiC'n
He may pray with such an ablution and need not repeat the prayer later (al-Hadiyya al-'Ala'iyya (y4) (43-44).
It is not necessary that he be free of minor or even major impurity (janaba) at the time the dressing is applied (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88) , 1.41).
(3) (N: There is strong evidence for performing dry ablution (tayammum) in place of washing such an injury
To add it at the proper point of the ablution sequence as a precautionary measure (dis: c6.5) would not interfere with the validity of following the Hanafi position just discussed.)
If it is so cold that one fears an illness or one of the things previously mentioned (e12.9) from the use of water and one lacks means of heating the water or warming one's limbs up afterwards, then one performs the dry ablution (N:
prays), and repeats the prayer later.
When one lacks both water and earth, one is obliged to pray the obligatory prayer by itself, and later make up the prayer when one again finds water or finds earth, if in a place where dry ablution suffices as purification for a prayer that need not be made up later (N: such as in the desert (dis: e12.19(N:))).
THE INTEGRALS OF DRY ABLUTION Dry ablution has seven obligatory integrals:
(a) the intention, one intending permission to perform the obligation of the prayer, or that which requires dry ablution (N: such as carrying the Koran when there is no water for ablution)
It is inadequate to intend to lift a state of minor ritual impurity (dis: e5.3(O:) or intend the obligation of dry ablution.
If one is performing dry ablution for an obligatory prayer, one must intend its being obligatory, though need not specify whether
for example, it is for the noon prayer or the midafternoon prayer
If one were to intend it for the obligation of performing the noon prayer, one could (N: instead) pray the midaftemoon prayer with it (N: though not both, as at e12.20).
If one intends a dry ablution for both an obligatory prayer and a nonobligatory prayer, then both may be prayed with that same dry ablution.
But if one's intention is merely for a nonobligatory prayer, a funeral prayer (janaza), or simply prayer, then one may not pray an obligatory prayer with that dry ablution
If one intends an obligatory prayer, one may pray nonobligatory prayers only, or pray them before and after an obligatory prayer during the obligatory prayer's time, or after the obligatory prayer's time has expired.
The intention must occur when one conveys the earth (0: meaning when one first strikes the earth) and must continue until one wipes part of the face;
(b and c) that one's hands contact the earth and convey it (N: up to the face and arms, after having shaken the excess dust from one's hands);
(d and e) to wipe the face (N: not missing under the nose) and arms including the elbows;
(f) to do the above in the order mentioned;
(g) and that the dry ablution be performed by striking the earth twice, once for wiping the face, and a second time for wiping the arms.
It is not obligatory to make the earth reach under the hair (N: of the anus and face).
THE SUNNAS OF DRY ABLUTION The sunnas of dry ablution are:
(1) to say, ""In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate"";
(2) to wipe the upper face before the lower;
(3) to wipe the right arm before the left;
(4) and for wiping the arms, (N: holding the palm, up,) to place the left hand crosswise under the right with the left hand's fingers touching the backs of the fingers of the right hand, sliding the left hand up to the right wrist
Then, curling the fingers around the side of the right wrist, one slides the left hand to the right elbow, then turns the left palm so it rests on the top of the right forearm with its thumb pointed away from one before sliding it back down to the wrist, where one wipes the back of the right thumb with the inside of the left thumb
One then wipes the left arm in the same manner, followed by interlacing the fingers, rubbing the palms together, and then dusting the hands off lightly.
(N: This method is not obligatory, but rather any way will suffice that wipes all of both arms.)
One separates the fingers when striking the earth each of the two times, and must remove one's ring for the second (N: before wiping the arms).
THINGS WHICH NULLIFY DRY ABLUTION Dry ablution is nullified by both the things which nullify ablution (def: e 7) and by the mere belief that one can now obtain water when this belief occurs before one begins praying, such as by seeing a mirage or a troop of riders.
This belief also nullifies dry ablution when it occurs during one's prayer if the prayer is one which must be later made up, like that of someone at home who performs dry ablution for lack of water (N: because if one performs dry ablution in a place Where water is generally available during the whole year, it is obligatory to make up one's prayer, in view of the fact that the dry ablution has been performed for a rare excuse
The rule is that whoever performs the prayer without full ritual purity because of a rare excuse is obliged to make up his prayer, as when the water of a city or village is cut off for a brief period of time during which those praying perform dry ablution, while if one has performed it in a place where water is seldom available during the year, it is not obligatory to make up one's prayer, as when one performs dry ablution in the desert)
But if not of those prayers that must be made up later, such as that of a (N:
desert) traveller who has performed dry ablution, then it (N: the belief that one can now obtain water, when it occurs during prayer) does not (N:
nullify one's dry ablution) and one finishes the prayer, which is adequate, though it is recommended to interrupt it in order to begin again after one has performed ablution.
One may not perform more than one obligatory prayer with one dry ablution, whether one of the prescribed obligatory prayers or one vowed (def: jI8), though one may pray any number of nonobligatory prayers or funeral prayers with it.
The minimal age for menstruation is about 9 full years
There is no maximal age for the end of it, as it is possible until death.
The minimal menstrual period is a day and a night
It generally lasts 6 or 7 days
The maximal period is 15 days.
The minimal interval of purity between two menstruations is 15 days
There is no maximal limit to the number of days between menstruations.
Whenever a woman who is old enough notices her bleeding, even if pregnant, she must avoid what a woman in her period avoids (def:e13.4).
If it ceases in less than 24 hours (lit
""the minimum""), then it is not considered menstruation and the woman must make up the prayers she has omitted during it
If it ceases at 24 hours, within 15 days, or between the two, then it is menstruation
If it exceeds 15 days, then she is a woman with chronic vaginal discharge (dis: e13.6).
Yellow or dusky colored discharge is considered menstrual flow.
If a woman has times of intermittent bleeding and cessation during an interval of 15 days or less, and the times of bleeding collectively amount to at least 24 hours, then the entire interval, bleeding and nonbleeding, is considered menstruation.
Postnatal bleeding (nifas) lasts at least a moment, generally 40 days, and at most 60
If it exceeds this, the woman is considered to have chronic vaginal discharge (dis: e13.6).
All things unlawful for someone in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba) (dis: e10.7) are unlawful for a woman during her menstruation and postnatal bleeding
It is also unlawful for her to fast then, and the (N: obligatory) fast-days she misses must be made up later, though not missed prayers.
It is unlawful for her:
(1) to pass through a mosque when she thinks some of her blood might contaminate it (N:
and it is unlawful for her to remain in the mosque under any circumstances (n: when menstruating or during postnatal bleeding));
(2) to make love, or take sexual enjoyment from what is between her navel and knees;
(3) to be divorced;
(4) or to perform purification with the intention to raise a state of ritual impurity.
When her bleeding ceases, then fasting, divorce
purification, and passing through the mosque are no longer unlawful for her, though the other things remain unlawful for her until she performs the purificatory bath (ghusl, def: ell).
If a woman claims to be having her period, but her husband does not believe her, it is lawful for him to have sexual intercourse with her.
A woman with chronic vaginal discharge (N: preparing to pray) should wash her private parts, apply something absorbent to them and a dressing, and then perform ablution (N: with the intention discussed above at e5.3)
She may not delay (N: commencing her prayer) after this except for reasons of preparing to pray such as clothing her nakedness, awaiting the call to prayer (adhan), or for a group to gather for the prayer
If she delays for other reasons, she must repeat the purification.
She is obliged to wash her private parts, apply a dressing
and perform ablution before each obligatory prayer (N: though she is entitled, like those mentioned below, to perform as many nonobligatory prayers as she wishes, carry and read the Koran, etc
until the next prayer's time comes (n: or until her ablution is broken for a different reason), when she must renew the above measures and her ablution).
same measures (def: above) that a woman with chronic vaginal discharge docs
(N: And likewise for anyone in a state of chronic annulment of ablution, such as continually breaking wind, excrement, or madhy (def: eIO.5), though washing and applying an absorbent dressing are only obligatory when filth exits.)
(A: If a person knows that drops of urine will not stop until the time for the next prayer comes, then he takes the above measures and performs the prayer at the first of its time.)
*
Filth means:
(1) urine;
(2) excrement;
(3) blood;
(4) pus;
(5) vomit;
(6) wine;
(7) any liquid intoxicant (n: including, for the Shafi'i school, anything con.
taining alcohol such as cologne and other cosmetics, though some majorHanafi scholars of this century, including Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti 'i of Egypt and Bad] ai-Din al-Hasani of Damascus, have given formal legal opinions that they are pur;;:
(tahir) because they are not produced or intended as intoxicants.(N: Other scholars hold they are not pure, but their use is excusable to the extent ,tnctly demanded by necessity.) While it is religiously more precautionary to treat them as filth, the dispensation exists when there is need, such as for postoperative patients who are unable for some time after their surgery to wash away the alcohol used to sterilize sutures, And Allah knows best.)
(N: As for solid intoxicants, they are not filth, though they are unlawful to take, eat, or drink);
(8) dogs and pigs, or their offspring;
(9) wady and madhy (def: e10.5);
(10) slaughtered animals that (N: even when slaughtered) may not be eaten by Muslims (def: j16);
(11) unslaughtercd dead animals other than aquatic life, locusts, or humans (A: which are all pure, even when dead, though amphibious life is not considered aquatic, and is filth when dead);
(12) the milk of animals (other than human) that may not be eaten;
(13) the hair of unslaughtered dead animals;
(14) and the hair of animals (other than human) that may not be eaten, when separated from them during their life (N: or after their death
As for before it is separated from them, the hair is the same as the particular animal, and all animals are pure during their life except dogs and swine).
(n: In the Hanafi school, the hair of an unslaughtered dead animal (other than swine), its bones, nails (hoofs), horns, rennet, and all parts unimbued with life while it was alive (A: including its ivory) are pure (tahir)
That which is separated from a living animal is considered as if from the un slaughtered dead of that animal (Hashiya radd al-muhtar 'ala al-Durr al-mukhtar sharh Tanwir al-absar (y47), 1.206-7).)
Rennet (n: a solidifying substance used in cheese-making) is pure if taken from a slaughtered (def: j17) suckling lamb or kid that has eaten nothing except milk.
That which comes from the mouth of a sleeping person is impure if from the stomach, but pure if from the saliva ducts.
The fol1owing are pure:
(1) seminal fluid that has reached the stages of gestation in the womb, becoming like a bloodclot and then becoming flesh;
(2) the moisture (N: mucus) of a woman's private parts (0: as long as it remains inside the area that need not be washed in the purificatory bath (def: el1.l(b), end), though if it exits, it is impure);
(3) the eggs of anything;
(4) the milk, fur, wool, or feathers of all animals that may be eaten, provided they are separated from the animal while living or after properly slaughtered;
(5) human milk, male sperm, and female sexual fluid (def: elOA) ,
No form of filth can become pure, except:
(1) wine that becomes vinegar;
(2) the hide of an unslaughtered dead animal that is tanned;
(3) new animate life that comes from filth (0: such as worms that grow in carrion);
(4) (n: and for the Hanafis, filth which is transformed [molecularly changed] into a new substance, such as a pig becoming soap, etc
(alHadiyya al-'Ala'iyya (y4), 54)).
Wine that becomes vinegar without anything having been introduced into it is pure, as are the sides of the container it touched when it splashed or boiled
But if anything was introduced into the wine before it became vinegar, then turning to vinegar does not purify it
(A: In the Hanafi school it is considered pure whether or not anything has been introduced into it.)
Tanning means removing from a hide all excess blood, fat, hair, and so forth by using an acrid substance, even if impure
Other measures such as using salt, earth, or sunlight, are insufficient.
Water need not be used while tanning, though the resultant hide is considered like a garment affected with filth, in that it must be washed with purifying water before it is considered pure.
Hides of dogs or swine cannot be purified by tanning.
Any hair that remains after tanning has not been made pure, though a little is excusable.
Something that become.s impure by contact (def: below) with something from dogs or swine does not become pure except by being washed seven times, one of which (recommended not to be the last) must be with purifying earth (def: e 12.1(b)) mixed with purffying water, and it must reach all of the affected area
One may not substitute something else like soap or glasswort in place of earth.
(n: The contact referred to is restricted, in the Shafi'i school, to contamination by traces of moisture from dogs or swine, whether saliva, urine, anything moist from them, or any of their dry parts that have become moist (Mughni almuhtaj ila ma'rifa rna'ani alfaz al-Minhaj(y73) , 1.83)
(A: If something dry such as the animal's breath or hair touches one's person, it need only be brushed away.) In the Maliki school, every living animal is physically pure, even dogs and swine (al-Fiqh 'ala al-madhahib al-arba'a (y66), 1.11) (A: and they consider the above sevenfold washing as merely a sunna)
While more precautionary to follow the Shafi'i school, the dispensation exists for those who have difficulty in preventing contamination from dogs, provided their prayer with its prerequisites is considered valid in the Maliki school (dis: c6.4(end) and w14.1(6))
And Allah knows best.)
The urine of a baby boy who has fed on nothing but human milk can be purified from clothes by sprinkling enough water on the spot to wet most of it, though it need not flow over it
The urine of a baby girl must be washed away as an adult's is.
WASHING AWAY FILTH As for kinds of filth that are ""without substance"" (N: i.e
without discernible characteristic (najasa hukmiyya) such as a drop of dry urine on a garment that can not be seen)
it is sufficient (N:
to purify it) that water flow over it.
But if it is a substance (N: with discernible characteristic (najasa 'ayniyya)), it is obligatory to remove all taste of it, even if difficult, and to remove both color and odor if not difficult
If the odor alone is difficult to remove
or the color alone, then the fact that one of these two remains does not affect a spot's purity, though if both the odor and color of the filth remain in the spot, it is not considered pure.
When using less than 2l6liters of water to purify a spot affected by filth, it is obligatory that the water flow over it (N: and it may not be simply immersed in the water (dis: e1.l5), though this would be permissible with more than 216 liters), but is not obligatory to wring it out
After one purifies it, it is recommended to wash it a second and third time.
When the ground (A: or floor, or carpet) is affected with liquid filth (A: like wine or urine), it is enough to drench the place with water and is not necessary that the filth sink into the ground
If the effects of sun, fire, or wind remove the traces of the filth, the ground is stilI not pure until one drenches it with water.
Liquids other than water, such as vinegar or milk, cannot be purified after they become affected with filth
But if a solid is affected
such as shortening, one discards the filth that fell into it and the shortening around it, and the remainder is pure.
Water used to wash away filth is impure when:
(1) it changes (def: e 1.17);
(2) its weight increases;
(3) (0: or if neither of the above have occurred, but some trace (N: i.e
an inexcusable amount (def: e14.1O, second par.)) of filth remains on the place to be purified);
-but if none of the above occurs, then it is not impure (0: i.e
then the water is pure but not purifying to other things); though if it amounts to (N: or is added to until it amounts to) 216 or more liters (dis: e1.16), then it is purifying
If Jess, it is considered the same as the spot it washed: if the spot is pure (N: i.e
an inexcusable trace does not remain) then the water is pure, but if the spot is still impure, then the water is impure.
(n: In theHanafi school, if a garIPent's damp spot of filth, whose quantity is too slight to wring out any drops, touches another dry, pure garment, the latter does not become impure (Maraqi al-falah sharh Nur al-idah (y126), 31).)
*
(0: The legal basis for the prayer, prior to scholarly consensus, is Koranic verses such as the word of Allah Most High, ""And perform the prayer"" (Koran 2:43), and hadiths such as the word of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
""On the night I was taken from Mecca to Jerusalem [dis: Koran 17:1], Allah imposed fifty obligatory prayers upon my Community
So I kept petitioning Him in the matter, asking they be lightened, until He made them but five each day and night"";
a hadith related by Bukhari, Muslim, and others.)
The prayer is only obligatory for Muslims who have reached puberty, are sane, and in purity (0: meaning not during menstruation or postnatal bleeding).
Those who lose their reason through insanity or illness do not have to make up the prayers they miss while in this state, and nor do converts to Islam (N: make up prayers from before their Islam).
An apostate from Islam (murtadd, def: 08) who then returns must make up every prayer missed
(n: w18 discusses why making up prayers missed without excuse is obligatory.)
When a child with discrimination (0:
meaning he can eat, drink, and clean himself after using the toilet unassisted) is seven years of age, he is ordered to perform the prayer, and when ten, is beaten for neglecting it (N: not severely, but so as to discipline the child, and not more than three blows).
Someone raised among Muslims who denies the obligatoriness of the prayer, zakat, fasting Ramadan, the pilgrimage, or the unlawfulness of wine and adultery, or denies something else upon which there is schdarly consensus (ijma', def: b7) and which is necessarily known as being ofthe religion (N: necessarily known meaning things that any Muslim would know about if asked) thereby becomes an unbe1iever(kafir) and is executed for his unbelief (0: if he does not admit he is mistaken and acknowledge the obligatoriness or unlawfulness of that which there is scholarly consensus upon
As for ifhe denies the obligatoriness of something there is not consensus upon, then he is not adjudged an unbeliever).
A Muslim who holds the prayer to be obligatory but through lack of concern neglects to perform it until its proper time is over has not committed unbelief (dis: w18.2).
Rather, he is executed, washed, prayed over, and buried in the Muslim's cemetery (0: as he is one of them
It is recommended, but not obligatory, that he be as ked to repent (N: and if he does, he is not executed).
No one has an excuse to delay the prayer beyond its time except:
(1) someone asleep (N: when its time first came who remained so until the time ended);
(2) someone who forgot it;
(3) or someone who delayed it to combine two prayers during a journey (dis: f15.12).
*
The prescribed prayers are five:
(1) The time for the noon prayer (zuhr) begins after the sun's zenith for that day, and ends when an object's shadow, minus the length of its shadow at the time of the sun's zenith, equals the object's height.
(2) The time for the midafternoon prayer ('asr) begins at the end of the noon prayer's time, and ends at sunset, though when an object's shadow (N: minus the length of its shadow at the sun's zenith) is twice as long as the object's height, the preferred time is over and the merely permissible time remains.
(3) The time for the sunset prayer (maghrib) begins when the sun has completely set
It only lasts long enough to perform ablution (wudu), clothe one's nakedness, make the call to prayer (adhan) and call to commence (iqama) and to pray five moderate-length rak'as (units) of prayer
It is a sin to delay commencing the sunset prayer beyond this, and if one does, one is making up a missed prayer (0: Le., according to the position the author has adopted, which contradicts the more reliable opinion that one's prayer is not a makeup until after the red has disappeared from the sky), though if one begins it within the right time, one may continue until the red disappears from the sky.
(4) The time for the nightfall prayer ('isha) begins when the red of sunset leaves the sky, and ends at true dawn (n: true dawn being when the sky around the horizon begins to grow light.
Before this, a dim light sometimes appears overhead for some minutes, followed by darkness, and is termed the deceptive dawn (al-fajr al-kadhib) (al-Iqna' fi hall alfaz Abi Shuja' (y7), 1.95)
But after a third of the night has passed, the preferred time for nightfall prayer has ended and the merely permissible remains.
(5) And the time for the dawn prayer (subh) begins at true dawn' and ends at sunrise, though the preferred time for it ends when it becomes light outside, after which the merely permissible remains.
(n: Prayer times vary a little each day with the season and the year, and from one town to another through the effects of latitude and longitude
One can keep abreast of the changes by obtaining the whole year's times in a printed calendar from one's local Muslim association or mosque, or by using the pocket computer mentioned below at w19, which discusses how one fasts and prays at northerly latitudes (including much of North America and Europe during the summer months) lacking the features that legally define the true prayer and fasting times, such as nightfall or true dawn.)
It is best to pray every prayer at the first of its time, taking the necessary steps at its outset, such as purification, clothing one's nakedness, giving the call to prayer (adhan) and call to commence (iqama), and then praying.
If less than one rak'a of one's prayer occurs within the proper time (A: meaning that one does not lift one's head from the second prostration of the rak'a before the time ends) and the remainder takes place after it, then the whole prayer is considered a makeup
If one rak'a or more takes place within the prayer's time and the remainder is after it, then the prayer is considered a current performance, though it is unlawful to intentionally delay the prayer until part of it occurs after the time is finished.
It is permissible to rely (N: for knowledge that a prayer's time has come) on a knowledgeable, dependable muezzin (caller to prayer)
If one lacks someone to inform one of the time, then one may reason on the basis of reciting a scheduled period of invocation or Koran recital (Ar
wird) (n: referring to those whose wirds normally take the whole time between two prescribed prayers such that when they finish, they know the time for the second prayer has come
The legal basis of wirds is discussed at w20), and the like(N:
including modern clocks, and prayer time calendars issued by experts on the times in various localities) .
MAKING UP MISSED PRAYERS When enough of a prayer's time has elapsed to have performed the prayer during it.
and someone who has not yet prayed loses their reason or their menstrual period begins, they are obligated to make up that missed prayer (0: as soon as they are able).
Whenever a prescribed prayer is missed for a valid reason (def: n.5), it is recommended to make it up immediately.
If missed without a valid reason, it is obligatory to make it up (dis: w18) immediately (A:
meaning during all one's time that is not occupied by necessities
In the Shafi'i school, it is not even permissible for such a person to perform sunna prayers (N: before having finished making up the missed ones))
The same applies to making up missed obligatory fasts (N: by fasting a day in place of each day missed), and it is unlawful to delay doing so until the following Ramadan (dis:
i1.33).
It is recommended that missed prayers be made up in the order they were missed
(n: The call to prayer (adhan) and call to commence (iqama) when making up missed prayers are discussed at f3.5, and whether to recite prayers aloud or to oneself at f8.25.)
It is recommended to make up missed prescribed prayers before performing the current· one, unless one fears its time will pass, in which case it is obligatory to pray the current one first.
If one begins making up a missed prayer thinking that there will be time for both it and the current prescribed prayer, but finds that there is only enough time left for the latter, then one must discontinue the makeup in order to perform the current one.
If one has a prayer to make up and finds the current prayer being performed by a group, it is recommended to perform the makeup by oneself before praying the current one.
If one misses one· or more of the five prayers but does not remember which of them it was, then one must pray all five, intending for each one making up the missed prayer.
(n: If someone finds he has been consistently mistaken day after day in pra ying, for example, the dawn pra yer( subh) before its time, or some similartiming error, then each prayer performed after the first day of the whole series of prayers thus mistakenly prayed is considered the makeup of the day before it, and when such a person discovers the error, he has only one prayer to make up, namely the one on the last day prior to learning of the mistake (Mughni al-rnuhtaj ita rna'rita rna'ani altaz al-Minhaj (y73), 1.127).)
*
The call to prayer (adhan) and call to commence (iqama) are two sunnas for the prescribed prayers, even when praying alone or in the second group to pray (N: in a mosque, for example), such that there is public cognizance (0: of both the call to prayer and to commence, whether in a large or small town).
To give the call to prayer (adhan) is better than being the imam for a group prayer (0:
though to be imam is superior to giving the call to commence (iqama)).
When praying alone in a mosque where a group has already prayed, one does not raise one's voice in giving the call to prayer, though if no group has yet prayed, one raises it
The same applies to a second group to pray: they do not raise their voice.
It is sunna for a group of women who are praying together to give the call to commence without giving the call to prayer.
When making up one or more missed' prescribed prayers, one gives the call to prayer only for the first (N: in the series), but gives the call to commence for each one.
The words of the call to prayer and call to commence are well known.
(n: The words of the call to prayer mean:
""Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest
Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest
I testify there is no god but Allah
I testify there is no god but Allah
I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Come to the prayer
Come to the prayer
Come .
to success
Come to success
[n: At this point, before the dawn prayer only, one adds: ""Prayer is better than sleep
Prayer is better that sleep.""] Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest
There is no god but Allah."" The words of the call to commence mean:
""Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest
I testify there is no god but Allah
I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
Come to the prayer.
Come to success
The prayer is commencing
The prayer is commencing
Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest
There is no god but Allah."")
Each word (N: of both of them) must be recited in the order mentioned above.
If one remains silent for long or speaks at length between the words of the call to prayer (0:
or call to commence), it is not valid and must be begun again, though a short remark or silence while calling it does not invalidate it.
When giving the call to prayer or call to commence by oneself, the minimal audibility permissible is that one can hear oneself
The minimum when calling them for a group is that all their contents can be heard by at least one other person.
It is not valid to give the call to prayer before a prayer's time has eome, except for the dawn prayer, when it is permissible to give the call to prayer from the m.iddle of the night onwards (N: as is done in Mecca and Medina).
When giving the call to prayer and call to commence, it is recommended to have ablution (wudu), stand, face the direction of prayer, and to turn the head (not the chest or feet) to the right when saying, ""Come to the prayer,"" and to the left when saying, ""Come to success."" It is offensive to give the call to prayer while in a state of minor ritual impurity (hadath), more offensive to do so in a state of major ritual impurity Uanaba), and even worse to give the call to commence (iqama) while in either of these two states.
It is recommended:
(1) to give the call to prayer from a high place near the mosque;
(2) to put one's fingertips in one's ears while calling it;
(3) to take one's time in giving the call to prayer (A: pausing for an interval after each sentence equal to the sentence's length) (0: except for repetitions of ""Allah is Greatest,"" which are said in pairs);
(4) and to give the call to commence rapidly, without pause,
It is obligatory for the muezzin (0: or person giving the call to commence):
(a) to be Muslim;
(b) to have reached the age of discrimination (def: f1.2);
(c) to be sane;
(d) and if calling for a men's group prayer, to be male, It is recommended that he be upright (def:
o24.4) and have a strong, pleasant voice.
It is offensive for a blind person to give the call to prayer unless a sighted person is with him (0: to tell him when the time has come).
When one hears the call to prayer (N: or call to commence), it is recommended to repeat each phrase after the muezzin, even if in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba), during menstruation, or when reciting the Koran (N: and a fortiori when reading or reciting something else).
One does not repeat the phrases ""Come to the prayer"" or ""Come to success,"" but rather says after them, ""There is no power or strength except through Allah."" And at the call to prayer at dawn, one does not repeat ""Prayer is better than sleep,"" but instead says, ""You have spoken the truth, and piously."" When the person giving the call to commence says, ""The prayer is commencing,"" one replies, ""'May Allah establish it and make it endure as long as the heavens and earth, and make me one of the righteous of its folk."" If one hears it while making love, going to the lavatory, or performing the prayer, one says the words when finished.
It is recommended for the muezzin, after he finishes, and those hearing him to bless the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
(A:
It is unobjectionable in the Shafi'i school for the muezzin to do so as loudly as the call to prayer.)
Then one adds, ""0 Allah, Lord of this comprehensive invitation and enduring prayer, grant our liegelord Muhammad a place near to You, an excellence and exalted degree, and bestow on him the praiseworthy station that You have promised him."" *
It is a necessary condition (shart) for the validity of prayer that one have purity (N: absence of filth (najasa, def: e14.1)) in:
(a) body;
(b) clothing, whether or not it moves with the person (N: who is praying);
(c) anything that touches the body or clothing (0: though if one's chest overhangs something impure while prostrating without touching it, this does not hurt);
(d) and the place on which one is standing during the prayer.
One's prayer is invalid if one is holding the end of a rope connected with something impure.
One's prayer is valid if performed onthe pure portion of a rug which is affected with some filth (N: on another part) oron a bed whose legs rest on something impure, even if the rug or bed moves when one's own portion moves
(N: The rule illustrated by these examples is that it is not permissible for the person praying to support or carry something affected by filth, but is permissible for him to be supported by it, provided he is not in direct contact with the filth.)
Impure substances (najasa) other than blood (dis: below) that are indiscernible by (A:
average) vision are excusable, though if visually discernible, they are inexcusable
(A: That which is seen by a normal look is not excusable, while that which can only be seen by minute scrutiny is excusable
)
As for blood or pus, if it is from another, (0: human or otherwise,) then only a little (def:
below) is excusable, though if from the person praying, it is excusable whether much or little, regardless if from a squeezed pimple, a boil, a sore, being bled, cupped, or something else.
(N: In rulings of Sacred Law, the application of key descriptive terms like little, much, near, far, briefly, at length, and so forth, is governed by the concept of common acknowledgement ('urf)
To know whether something is little or much, which could be stipulations in a particular ruling, we stop to reflect whether it is commonly acknowledged as such, namely, whether most people would describe it as such when speaking about it.
Common acknowledgement also takes into consideration what is normal or expected under the circumstances
For example, a few drops of animal blood on the clothes of a butcher would be little, while the same amount on the clothes of a student would be much.)
If one prays with (N: an inexcusable amount of) something impure (N: on one's person, place, or clothes) that one did not know of or forgot, and notices it after finishing, one must repeat the prayer
It invalidates the prayer if noticed during it.
If one gets some mud on oneselffrom the street and but is not certain it contains filth, then it is is considered pure (N: the rule being that the initial presumption for all things is that they are pure, as long as their impurity has not been decisivelyestablished).
Someone unl,lble to remove filth from his person or who is being held in an impure place must pray and later make up the prayer when capable of purity.
(N: When being held in an impure place,) one bows the head as close to the ground as possible without actually contacting the filth, which is unlawful to place the forehead upon.
If one loses track of a spot of filth on a garment, then all of it must be washed without trying to decide where the spot might be, though if someone reliable knows where it is and informs one, one may accept this.
If a spot of filth is on one of two garments (N: one of which the person wants to pray in) and the person is not sure which, then he may reason and choose the one he believes is pure (N: to pray in), regardless of whether another pure one is available or whether he can wash one to use
(N:
But it is not obligatory to try to decide which is pure
Rather, he may wash one, or both, and pray in them, or pray in some other garment.)
If one washes the garment believed to have filth on it, then one may pray wearing both garments, or pray in each garment alone, though if one makes no attempt to decide which garment is impure, but rather performs a prayer in each one separately, then neither prayer is valid.
If one loses track of the location of filth on the ground in open country, one may pray wherever one wishes.
But if one loses track of its location on a small plot of ground or in a room (bay!, lit
""house,"" meaning a one-room dwelling), then all the ground or floor must be washed (def: e14.12) before one may pray on any of it.
It is offensive to pray:
(1) in a bathhouse or its outer room where clothes are removed;
(2) in the middle of a path;
(3) at a rubblish dump;
(4) at a slaughterhouse;
(5) in a church;
(6) in places where taxes (dis: p32) are gathered or taken;
(7) in places likely to be contaminated by wine;
(8) on top of the Kaaba;
(9) or towards a tomb (dis: w21).
Prayer is unlawful in a garment or on land wrongfully taken, being legally valid (dis: c5.2), but without reward.
*
aothing one's nakedness (0: from the eyes of men as well as jinn (def: w22) and angels, for these too see people in this world) is obligatory, by scholarly consensus (ijma', b7), even when alone, except when there is need to undress.
(0: Zarkashi states (A: and it is the authoritative position for the school) that the nakedness it is obligatory to clothe when alone consists solely of the front and rear private parts for men, and of that which is between the navel and the knees for women.)
Clothing one's nakedness is a necessary condition for the validity of the prayer (0: when one is able).
Seeing a hole in one's clothes after a prayer is like seeing a spot of filth (n: meaning the prayer must be repeated, as at f4.7, unless one covers the hole immediately, as below at f5.5).
The nakedness of a man (0: man meaning the counterpart of the female, including young boys, even if not yet of the age of discrimination) consists of the area between the navel and knees.
The nakedness of a woman (0; even if a young girl) consists of the whole body except the face and hands.
(N: The nakedness of women is that which invalidates the prayer if exposed (dis: w23)
As for looking at women, it is not permissible to look at any part of a woman who is neither a member of one's unmarriageable kin (mahram, def: m6.1) nor one's wife, as is discussed below in the book of marriage (m2).)
It is a necessary condition that one's clothing:
(a) prevent the color of the skin from being perceptible (n: Nawawi notes, ""A thin garment beneath which the blackness or whiteness of the skin may be seen is not sufficient, nor a garment of thick, gauzelike fabric through which part of the nakedness appears"" (al-Majmu' (y108), 3.170));
(b) enclose the body as a garment, for a prayer performed without clothes in a small tent would not be valid;
( c) and conceal the nakedness from view on all sides and above, though it need not do so from below.
One's prayer is valid when there is a tear through which one's nakedness shows that one covers with one's hand (A: immediately, i.e
one must do so before enough time passes to say ""Subhan Allah') (0: that is, one must cover it with one's hand when not prostrating, at which point not covering it is excusable).
It is recommended for a woman to wear a covering over her head (khimar), a full length shift, and a heavy slip under it that doesn't cling to the body
(0: She should not wrap it so tightly about herself that it hinders standing, sitting, and other postures connected with the actions of prayer
She is recommended to pray in three garments even though the headcover and shift alone are sufficient as a covering.)
It is recommended for a man to pray in his best clothes, and to wear an ankle-length shirt and a turban (0: and a shawl over head and shoulders, a mantle, and a wraparound or loose drawers (N:
under the ankle-length shirt))
If he does not wear all of these, it is desirable to wear two, namely the ankle-length shirt with either the man tie , the wraparound, or the loose drawers.
If only wearing enough to clothe one's nakedness, one's prayer is valid, though it is recommended to place something on one's shoulders, even if only a piece of rope.
If one does not have clothes but is able to conceal part of one's nakedness, one must cover the front and rear private parts
If only one of these two can be covered, it must be the front
If one has no clothes at all, then one performs the prayer without clothes and need not make it up later.
*
Facing the direction of prayer (qibla) is a necessary condition for the prayer's validity, with the sole exceptions of praying in extreme peril (dis: f16.S) and nonobligatory prayers performed while travelling.
(N: The rulings below deal with nonobligatory prayers, not the five prescribed ones, which must be performed while facing the proper direction for prayer (qibla) whether one is riding in a vehicle or not (dis: w24).)
A travelIer may perform nonobligatory prayers riding or walking, even on short trips.
When riding and able to face the direction of prayer, prostrate, and bow, as when on a ship, one is obligated to
If not able, then one is only required to face the direction of prayer during the first Allahu Akbar of the prayer, provided this is not difficult, as when one's mount is stationary or when one can tum oneself or one's mount the proper direction
If it is difficult, as when one's mount is not properly saddle broken, or if the reins are not in one's hands, as when riding in a pack train with each animal tied to the one ahead of it, then it is not obligatory to face the direction of prayer at any point of the prayer's performance, and one merely nods in the direction of travel instead of bowing and prostrating
One's nod for prostration must be deeper than the nod for bowing
One does not have to bow to the limit of one's capacity, nor bow the forehead until it touches the mount's back, though this is permissible if one troubks oneself to do so.
When praying while walking, one must stop tobow and prostrate on the ground (0: if easy, though if walking in mud, water, or snow, one may simply nod), and may walk during the rest of the prayer, though it is obligatory to face the direction of prayer during the first Allahu Akbar, and at each bowing and prostration.
Such prayers (0: whether riding or walking) are only valid on condition:
(a) that one's journey continue for the prayer's duration;
(b) and that one not turn from the direction of travel towards anything but the direction of prayer.
If one reaches home while thus praying, or the destination, or a town where one intends to stay, then one must face the direction of prayer, and bow and prostrate on the ground or on one's mount if stopped.
When at the Kaaba, one must pray directly towards the Kaaba itself
One's prayer is invalid if one merely faces the semicircular wall (N: Hijr Isma'il) that is to one side of it, or directs any part of the body outside the outline of the Kaaba, unless one is standing at the end of a long row of people praying at the periphery of alMasjid al-Haram (n: the mosque of the Kaaba), a row which, if the people in it were to advance, some of them would be facing outside the Kaaba's outline
To pray in such a row is valid for everyone in it.
For knowledge of the proper direction it is obligatory to rely on the prayer niche (mihrab) of a mosque in a city or village through which many people pass.
At every place the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) faced to pray and established where he stood, it is obligatory to pray facing as he did, without reconsidering the direction of prayer, or turning right or left, though in other places one may use personal reasoning as to whether to turn righ t or left.
If one does not find an informant to tell one of the proper direction of prayer by having seen the Kaaba in that direction, then one employs personal reasoning, using other evidence.
(n: To establish the direction of prayer in cities far from Mecca one may use a world globe and a piece of string, since in North America, Australia, and other regions, using a flat world map will yield the wrong direction because of the curvature of the earth, and the error factor is often considerable
One puts the end of the string on the position of Mecca on the globe, the other end on one's own city, and pulls the string taut, observing the bearing of the string and drawing a line in the same direction ona local map, which can be oriented with a compass and used to indicate the proper direction to pray.)
If one does not know how to use other evidence, (0: and it is a communal obligation (def:
c3.2) for someone to know,) or one is blind, then one follows another (0: reliable sighted person acquainted with the evidence).
If, after praying, one becomes certain one was mistaken, then the prayer must be repeated.
(n: In the Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali schools, the criterion for facing the direction of prayer is merely that some portion of the person's face be directed towards the Kaaba (al-Fiqh 'ala al-madhahib al-arba'a (y66), 1.195)
(A: This takes in 180 degrees, from far left to far right, such that when the Kaaba is anywhere between, one is considered to be facing the direction of prayer.)) *
It is recommended to put a barrier at least 32 cm
high in front of oneself when performing the prayer, or to spread out a mat, or if one cannot, todraw a line (N: on the ground, straight out, perpendicular to one's chest) about a meter and a half (0: or less) in front of one
It is then unlawful for anyone to pass (0: between the person praying and such a barrier, even when there is no other way to pass (dis: p75.27)).
If someone tries to pass between oneself and the bartier, it is recommended to gently push him back
If he persists, one may push him back as hard as necessary, as one would an attacker (def:
07.3)
Were he to die as a result, one would not be subject to retaliation (03) or have to pay an indemnity (04) to his kin.
If there is no barrier, or ifthe person praying is farther than a meter and a halffrom it, then passing in front of him is merely offensive, and the person praying is not entitled to push him.
(A: Passing in front of a person without a barrier
in a mosque for example, is limited to the length of his prostration, and it is not unlawful or offensive to pass in front of him when farther than that.)
When one notices a gap in a row of people performing a group prayer, one is entitled to pass in front of others to fill it.
*
(n: Special vocabulary:
Allahu Akbar: Allah is greatest.
Ameen: a one-word supplication meaning ""Answer our prayer."" as-Salamu 'alaykum: Peace be upon you.
Fatiha: the opening sura of the Koran.
Follower: someone praying in group behind an imam.
Integral (rukn): one of the legally essential elements found within an action that compose it.
Imam: someone leading a group prayer.
Rak'a: one complete cycle of the words and actions of the prayer.
Sura: a chapter of the Koran.
Ta'awwudh: to say in Arabic, ""I take refuge in Allah from the accursed DeviL"")
MEASURES RECOMMENDED BEFORE PRAYER It is recommended:
(1) to stand forthe prayer after the end ofthe call to commence (iqama);
(2) to be in the first row;
(3) to make the rows straight, especially if one is the imam (0: when one should order the group to do so);
(4) and to fill up the first row first, then the second, and so on (0: meaning there should not be a second row when the first one is not full (A:
as to pray in such a second row is the same as not praying with a group, and is rewarded as if one had prayed alone), nor gaps within one row, nor a distance in excess of a meter and a half between rows).
It is superior to stand on the imam's right (A:
though the sunna is for the imam to be in the middie) (N: and if one arrives at a group prayer in which the row extends to the right, one's reward is greater for standing on the left, since one is performing the sunna).
THE INTENTION Then one makes the intention with one's heart.
If it is for an obligatory prayer, one must intend performing the prayer, and that it is obligatory, and know whieh one it is, such as the noon, midafternoon, or Friday prayer
The intention must coincide with one's first Allahu Akbar, obligatorily existing in the mind and recommended to be uttered with the tongue (N: before the first Allahu Akbar) as well
One intends it from the first of the phrase"" Allahu akbar"" to the last of it
It is not obligatory to specify the number of rak'as, or that it is for Allah Most High, or whether it is a current performance or a makeup prayer, though specifying these is recommended.
(A: some scholars hold that the mere determination to perform a particular prayer existing in the mind beforehand is sufficient
Such an intention could be expressed, for example, by walking to the mosque after hearing the call to the noon prayer (dis: w2S).)
If the intention is for a nonobligatory prayer that has a particular time, one must intend which one it is, such as for 'Eid, the eclipse prayer, assuming the state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram), the sunna prayers before and after the.noon prayer, and so forth.
If it is for a nonobligatory prayer that is wholly supererogatory, unconnected with a particular time, one may simply intend to perform prayer •
It immediately invalidates one's prayer:
(1) to cease to intend praying;
(2) to decide that one will cease to;
(3) not to know whether one has ceased to or not (0: meaning one hesitates in one's heart, saying, ""Shall I stop intending or continue?"" The mere thought of how it would be if one were to hesitate during the prayer is of no consequence, but rather the occurrence of doubt that negates one's resolve and certainty);
(4) to intend during the first rak'a to stop when one reaches the second;
(5) or to decide to interrupt one's prayer if such and such a thing happens, regardless whether the event will definitely occur during the prayer or whether it merely may happen, such as, ""I'll stop if Zayd comes in.""
If one knowingly begins the noon prayer (N: for example) before its time has come, one's prayer is not legally considered to have begun
If one does so unknowingly, it is validly begun, but counts as a nonobligatory prayer.
THE OPENING ALLAHU AKBAR The Allahu Akbar (n: an integral) that begins the prayer can only be in Arabic and must be pronounced ""Allahu akbar"" or ""Alliihulakbar.
"" One's prayer is not legally considered to have begun if one omits any of its letters, pauses between the two words, adds the letter waw (.I) between them, or says ""Allahu akbar"" with a long a between the final b and r.
If unable to pronounce it because of being a mute or similar, one must move the tongue and lips according to one's capacity.
The minimal valid audibility for saying ""Allahu akbar,"" reciting the Koran, and all invocations (dhikr), is that one can hear them oneself, given normal hearing and lack of extraneous noise.
The imam speaks aloud (def: below) every time he says ""Allahu akbar"" in the prayer.
(A: Throughout the rUlings
aloud (jahran) means that someone beside or behind the speaker could distinguish his words, while to oneself (sirran) means that the speaker can distinguish his own words, but such a person could not.)
It is obligatory that one be standing when one opens an obligatory prayer with ""Allahu akbar."" If a single letter of it oceurs while not standing, the prayer is not considered to have validly begun as an obligatory prayer, but is considered to have begun as a supererogatory prayer, provided one is ignorant that it is unlawful, though not if one knows
(N: The latecomer to a group prayer should take careful note of this, and not bow or make other prayer movements until he has completed the opening Allahu Akbar while standing.)
It is recommended to lift the hands to shoulder level when one says ""Allahu akbar"" (0:
meaning that one's fingertips are even with the tops of the ears, thumbs with the earlobes, and palms with one's shoulders), fingers slightly outspread.
If one intentionally or absentmindedly does not lift the hands at the first of saying ""Allahu akbar,"" one may do so during it, though not afterwards
The palms face the direction of prayer (qibla) and the hands are uncovered.
After the opening Allahu Akbar, one places the hands between the chest and navel, grasping the left wrist with the right hand, and fixing one's gaze on the place where one's forehead will prostrate.
(0: One does this when not reciting the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud, def: f8A5) , where one only looks at the place of prostration until one says ""except Allah,"" and then looks at the index finger.)
(A: It is offensive to close one's eyes while praying unless it is more conducive to awe and humility towards Allah.)
lHE OPENING SUPPLICATION (ISTIFTAH)
Then one recites (N: to oneself) the Opening Supplication (Istiftah), which means: ""I turn my face to Him who created the heavens and earth, a pure monotheist, in submission, and am not of those who associate others with Him
My prayer, worship, life, and death are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds, who has no partner
Thus I have been commanded, and I am of those who submit."" This is recommended for anyone performing an obligatory or supererogatory prayer, even if seated; no matter whether a child, woman, or traveller (0: alone or in a group, imam or follower), though not for a funeral prayer.
If one intentionally or absentmindedly omits the Opening Supplication (Istiftah) and begins saying ""I take refuge, etc."" (Ta'awwudh), one may not return to the Opening Supplication.
When (N: joining a group that has already begun, and) the imam says ""Ameen"" just after one's opening AUahu Akbar, one says"" Ameen"" with him and then recites the Opening Supplication (Istiftah).
If one says the opening AllahuAkbar and the imam finishes the prayer with Salams before one has sat down with the group, then one recites the Opening Supplication (Istiftah)
But if one has already sat down when the imam finishes with Salams and one rises (N: to finish one's prayer), then one does not recite it (0: the Opening Supplication).
If one joins the group while the imam is standing, and one knows it is possible (0: to recite the Opening Supplication) together with saying ""I take refuge,"" and so on (Ta'awwudh) and the Fatiha (N: all before the imam will finish his recital and bow), then one may recite the Opening Supplication, though if one has doubts (N: that there is enough time), one omits both the Opening Supplication and Ta'awwudh, and begins reciting the Fatiha
If the imam bows before one finishes (0: the Fatiha), one bows with him, provided one has omitted the Opening Supplication and Ta'awwudh, though if one did not omit them, then one must recite as much (A: as many letters) of the Fatiha as one recited of them, since if one bows before having recited that much, it invalidates one's prayer.
If One recites what we have just said is enough of the Fatiha to permit one to bow with the imam (n: when one is a latecomer, for otherwise it is obligatory to recite it all, as at fl2.17(0:)), but one holds back from bowing with him without excuse, then if the imam straightens up from bowing before One has oneself bowed, one has missed that rak'a (N: and must rise after the group has finished to perform it).
SAYING HI TAKE REFUGE, ETC.""(TA'AWWUDH) After the Opening Supplication, it is recommended to recite the Ta'awwudh, saying, HI take refuge in Allah from the accursed Devil."" It is said in every rak'a and especially recommended in the first, whether one is imam, follower, or praying by oneself, and whether the prayer is obligatory, supererogatory, or even a funeral prayer
It is said to oneself in both the prayers recited to oneself and those recited aloud.
THE FATIHA Then one recites the Fatiha (def: w1.16) in every rak'a (n: an integral), whether one is imam, follower, or praying alone.
The Basmala (n: the words ""In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate"") is one of its verses
(n: In the other three schools, it is recited to oneself even when the rest is recited aloud (Sharh al-sunna (y22) , 3.54).)
It is obligatory to recite the Fatiha's verses in order and without interruption
It is considered to be interrupted and must be begun again if one deliberately pauses at length during it, or pauses briefly but thereby intends to cease reciting, or mixes with it some words of invocation (dhikr) or Koran that are not in the interests of the prayer.
One's recital of the Fatiha is not considered to be interrupted if one speaks words during it that are in the interests of the prayer, such as saying ""Ameen"" in response to the imam's Ameen, or reminding him of the right words when he errors, or prostrating with him as a sunna for his Koran recital (def: fl1.14)
Nor is it interrupted if one forgetfully falls silent during it or absentmindedly adds some words of invocation (dhikr).
If one omits one of the Fatiha's letters (Ar
harf, a consonant or long vowel (A: mistakes in a short vowel (haraka) do not harm as long as they do not alter the meaning)), fails to double a letter that should be doubled, or substitutes a wrong letter for the right one, it invalidates (0:
one's recital of that particular word, and one must recite the word again (dis: s3.3)
But it does not invalidate one's prayer unless it changes the meaning and was done deliberately).
SAYING ""AMEEN"" After reciting (n: the last words of the Fatiha) ""nor of the lost,"" one says ""Ameen"" to oneself in prayers spoken to oneself and aloud in those recited aloud.
When following an imam, one says ""Ameen"" when he does, and then a second time (N: to oneself) when finished with one's own recital of the Fatiha.
RECITING A SURA If one is the imam or praying by oneself, it is recommended in the first an d second rak' as onl y to recite one complete sura (0: even if short) after the Fatiha.
It is recommended to recite:
(1) the suras from al-Hujurat (Koran 49) to al-Naba' (Koran 78) for the dawn (subh) and noon (zuhr) prayers;
(2) the suras from al-Naba' (Koran 7S) to alDuha (Koran 93) for the midafternoon ('asr) Bnd nightfall ('isha) prayers;
(provided that there are a restricted number of followers (0: meaning no others are praying behind the imam) who do not mind the length of these «1) and (2) above) recitations, though if otherwise, the imam should be brief) (3) the suras from al-Duha (Koran 93) to the end (Koran 114) for the sunset prayer (maghrib);
(4) al-Sajda (Koran 32) for the dawn prayer on Friday (n: in the first rak'a, when the group may prostrate during the recital, as at fl1.I4) , and ai-Ins an (Koran 76) (n: in the second rak'a);
(5) and al-Kafirun (Koran 109) (n: in the first rak'a) and al-Ikhlas (Koran 112) (n: in the second) for the sunna prayers that accompany the sunset and dawn prayers (def: f10.2), for the two rak'as after circumambulating the Kaaba (5), and for the guidance prayer (istikhara, f10.12).
It is recommended to recite the Koran in a distinct, pleasant way (tartil) (0: Le
to recite it as revealed by Allah, observing the proper rules of Koranic recitation) and to reflect upon its lessons and meanings (dis: w26).
It is offensive for a follower to recite a sura when praying behind an imam whose recital is audible to him, though it is recommended for the follower to recite the sura during prayers that are not recited aloud, or those recited aloud if he cannot hear the imam's recital due to the distance or poor hearing, .or can hear it, but uncomprehendingly.
One recites a longer sura in the first rak'a than in the second.
If a latecomer to a group prayer misses the first two rak'as with the group and then performs them alone after the imam has finished the group prayer with Salams, he is recommended to recite the suras to himself during them.
The imam (or person praying by himself) recites the Fatiha and suras aloud for the dawn prayer (subh), Friday prayer (jumu'a), prayer on the two 'Eids (def: f19), drought prayer (f2I), lunar eclipse prayer (f20) , the group prayer that is sunna on the nights of Ramadan (tarawih, f10.5), and for the first two rak'as of the sunset (maghrib) and nightfall ('isha) prayers.
In other prayers, the Fatiha and suras are recited to oneself.
When making up at night (layl, from sunset to true dawn) a prayer that one missed during the day or night, one recites aloud
When making up in the daytime (nahqr, from dawn to sunset) a prayer that one missed during the day or night, one recites to oneself
At dawn, however (N: from true dawn to sunrise), all makeup prayers are recited aloud
(N: The upshot is that one recites aloud in all prayers that are made up attimes when one normally recites aloud, and recites to oneself at the times one normally recites to oneself.)
STANDING Standing is an integral in all obligatory prayers (0: for anyone who can stand, whether by himself or assisted by another, though it is not an integral in nonobligatory prayers).
Standing requires that the spine be upright.
One is not standing ifone inclines forward so that the backbone is no longer straight, or bends so that one is closer to bowing (def: f8.29) than to standing
If a person's back is bowed with age or the like so that his normal posture resembles someone bowing, then he stands as he is, but must bend a little further for bowing if able to.
It is offensive in prayer to stand on one foot, for both feet to be held together (A: though this is sunna for women), or for one foot to be ahead of the other.
To stand at length (A: reciting the Koran in prayer) is better than to prostrate or bow at length (A: therein).
It is permissible to pray nonobligatory prayers seated (0: any way one wishes, though the iftirash (def: f8.37) style of sitting is best) or lying down, even when able to stand (A: but the merit is less than to do so standing).
BOWING Then one bows from the waist (n: an integral).
The minimum is to bow as far as an average size person needs to when he wants to put bis hands on his knees
It is obligatory that one repose therein, minimally meaning to remain motionless for a moment after having moved
It is also obligatory that one intend nothing by the motion but bowing.
The optimal way is to raise one's hands and say ""Allahu akbar"" so that one begins raising the hands as one starts saying it, and when the hands are at shoulder level, one bows.
Whenever one says"" Allahu akbar"" during a movemen t from one prayer posture to another, it is recommended to prolong the words until one reaches the next posture (A: so that one's prayer is not devoid of invocation (dhikr) at any point).
Then one puts the hands on the knees: fingers apart, with back and neck extended, legs straight, and elbows out, though women keep them close.
One then says, ""My Lord Most Great is exalted above all limitation,"" three times, the least that is optimal
If praying alone, or the imam of a limited number of followers who do not mind the extra length, one may increase the number of times one says this to five, seven, nine, or eleven.
When finished, (0: however many times one has said it,) itis recommended to say, ""0 Allah, to You I bow, in You I believe, to You I submit
My hearing, sight, mind, bones, nerves, and all that my feet bear up are humbled before You.""
STRAIGHTENING UP Then one lifts one's head, the minimum of which is to return to standing as one was before bowing, and then remain motionless for a moment
(n: Each is an integraL) It is obligatory .
to intend nothing by one's movement except straightening up.
The optimal way is to raise the hands (A:
lifting them from the knees as one starts straightening up, raising them to shoulder level) and the head together, saying, ""Allah hears whoever praises Him."" This is said whether one is imam, follower, or praying alone
When one is standing upright, one says, ""Our Lord, all praise is Yours, heavensful, earthful, and whatever-elseYou- will-full
"" (0: If following an imam or praying alone, one says this to oneself
If imam, one says"" Allah hears whoever praises Him"" aloud, but the rest to oneself.)
Those we have previously mentioned who wish to add to the words of bowing may add here, ""0 You who deserve praise and glory, the truest thing a slave can say (and all of us are Y our slaves) is, 'None can withhold what You bestow, none can bestow what You withhold, and the fortune of the fortunate avails nothing against You.' "" PROSTRA nON
Then one prostrates (n: an integral)
The conditions for its validity are:
(a) that an uncovered portion of the forehead touch a part ofthe place of prayer (N: it is not obligatory that any of the other limbs of prostration be uncovered);
(b) that one remain motionless for a moment while prostrating;
( c) that the place of prostration bear the weight of the head;
(d) that one's rear be higher than one's head;
(e) that one not prostrate on something joined to one's person that moves with one's motions, such as a sleeve or turban;
(f) that nothing but prostration be intended by one's motion;
(g) and that part of each knee, the bottom of the toes of each foot, and the fingers of each hand be placed on the ground.
(0: In our school, it is not obligatory that the nose touch the ground in prostration, though it is desirable
)
If one cannot fully prostrate so that one's forehead touches the ground (N: a pregnant woman, for example), then it is not necessary to stack up pillows on the place of prostration to touch the forehead on them
One merely bows as low as one can.
If one has put a bandage On the forehead because of an injury that affects all of it, and there is hardship in removing it (0: severe enough to permit dry ablution (tayammum) (def: eI2.9)), then one may prostrate upon it and need not make up the prayer.
The optimal way to prostrate is to say ""Allahu akbar"" and:
(1) to put the knees down first, then the hands, and then the forehead and nose (0: the order is called for, and any other order is offensive);
(2) to prostrate with the hands directly under one's shoulders, fingers together, extended towards the direction of prayer (qibla), hands uncovered;
(3) for men to keep 1 span (n: about 23 cm.)
between the two knees and two feet (0: though a woman's are kept together);
(4) for men to keep the stomach apart from the thighs, and forearms from sides, though women keep them together;
(5) and to say three times, ""My Lord Most High is exalted above all limitation
"" Those we have previously mentioned who wish to add to the words of bowing may increase the number of times this is said as previously described (0: namely, in odd numbers up to eleven) and add: ""0 Allah, I prostrate myself to You, believe in You, and surrender to You
My face prostrates to Him who created it and gave it form, who opened its hearing and vision by His power and strength
Allah is exalted in perfection, the Best of Creators."" It is commendable to supplicate Allah while prostrating.
SITTING BE1WEEN PROSTRATIONS Then one raises the head (N: and sits back before prostrating a second time.· Sitting at this point is an integral)
It is obligatory to sit motionlessly for at least a moment and to intend nothing but sitting by one's movement.
The optimal way is:
(1) to say ""Allahu akbar"" (N: as one raises the head);
(2) to sit in iftirash, which is to place the left foot on its side and sit upon it while keeping the right foot resting on the bottom of its toes, heel up;
(3) to place one's two hands on the thighs near the knees, fingers extended and held together;
(4) and to say, ""0 Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, pardon me, set me right, guide me, and sustain me.""
There are two other ways of sitting back (iq'a') (0: between the two prostrations, or at the first and second Testifications of Faith (Tashahhud, def: f8.45)).
One way is to sit back on the heels with the bottom of the toes and knees upon the ground.
This is rcommended between the two prostrations, though iftirash (def: f8.37) is better.
The other way is to simply sit on the ground, palms down, and knees drawn up
This is offensive in any prayer.
Then one prostrates again just as before.
(0: The first rak'a is only completed when one has performed the second prostration, because each prostration is a separate integral, as is the moment of motionlessness in each.)
After this one raises the head, saying ""Allahu akbar"" (0: as one first raises it, drawing out the words until one is standing upright).
It is sunna, here and in eachrak'a that is not followed by the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud), to briefly rest in the iftirash style of sitting (f8.37) before rising
Then one (0: quickly) rises, helping oneself up with both hands (0:
palms down), and prolonging the Allahu Akbar until standing
If the imam omits this brief sitting, the follower performs it anyway
It is not done after a Koran recital prostration (def: f11.13).
Then one performs the second rak'a of the prayer just like the first, except for the initial intention, the opening Allahu Akbar, and Opening Supplication (Istiftah).
If one's prayer exceeds two rak'as, one sits in iftirash (def: f8.37) after the first two rak'as and recites the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud,f8.45) and the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), though not upon his family (N: which is done only in the final Testification of Faith at the end of the prayer).
Then one rises, saying ""Allahu akbar"" and leaning on one's hands (n: as before)
When standing, one lifts the hands to shoulder level (A:
which one does here, but not after rising from the first or third rak'a), and then goes on to perform the remainder of the prayer as one did the second rak'a, except that one recites the Fatiha to oneself and does not recite a sura after it.
TESTIFICATION OF FAITH (TASHAHHUD) One sits back (n: an integral) at the last of one's prayer for the Testification of Faith in the tawarruk style of sitting, with one's (0: left) posterior on the ground and left foot on its side, emerging from under the right, which is verticaL (0: The wisdom in the difference between the ways of sitting during the two Testifications of Faith, namely, iftirash (f8.37) in the first and tawarruk in the second, is that a latecomer to group prayer may know by observing the former that the prayer has not finished, and by the latter that it nearly has.
Imam Malik holds the sunna in both testifications to be the tawarruk style of sitting; while Abu Hanifa holds that the iftirash style is sunna for both
May Allah have mercy on them all for explaining the Deity's command without the slightest loss.)
However one sits here (0: in the final Testification of Faith (Tashahhud)) and in the foregoing (0: Testification of Faith, and between the twp prostrations, and before rising) ispermissible, though iftirash and tawarruk are sunna.
A latecomer to a group prayer sits in iftirash at the end of his imam's prayer and sits in tawarruk at the end of his own.
Similarly, the person who must perform a forgetfulness prostration (def: f11) sits in iftirash for his last Testification of Faith, prostrates for forgetfulness, and then sits in tawarruk for his Salams.
In the two Testifications of Faith, one's left hand rests on the left thigh near the knee, its fingers extended and held together
The right hand is similarly placed, but is held closed with its thumb touching the side of the index finger, which alone is left extended
One lifts the index finger and points with it when one says the words ""except Allah."" One does not move it while it is thus raised (0: following the sunna from a hadith related by Abu Dawud
It is offensive to move it here, though some hold that it is recommended, the evidence for which is also from the sunna, in a hadith related by Bayhaqi, who states that both hadiths are rigorously authenticated (sahih)
Precedence is given to the former hadith, which negates moving the finger, over the latter hadith, which affirms it, because scholars hold that what is sought in prayer is lack of motion, and moving it diminishes one's humility
The Prophet's moving it (Allah bless him and give him peace) was merely to teach people that it was permissible (A: as it was the Prophet's duty (Allah bless him and give him peace) to distinguish for his Community the acts that were offensive from those that were unlawful, and he was given the reward of the obligatory for doing such offensive acts).
Moreover, Bayhaqi says that the meaning of moving it in the latter hadith is simply raising it, so there is no actual contradiction).
The minimal Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) is to say: ""Greetings to Allah
Peace be upon you, 0 Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings
Peace be upon us and upon Allah's righteous slaves
I testify there is no god except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
"" The optimal way is to say: ""Greetings, blessings, and the best of prayers to Allah
Peace be upon you 0 Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings
Peace be upon us and upon Allah's righteous slaves
I testify that there is no god except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."" Its words (N: minimal or optimal) are obligatory (0: Le
when one can recite the Arabic, one may not use other words) and their order is a condition.
If one cannot say it, one must learn
If one cannot learn (0: because there is no teacher, or there is, but one is unable), then one may translate it (0: to any language one wishes).
One then says the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) (n: an integral after the final Testification of Faith, but merely sunna after the first one, as at f9.1S below).
The minimum is to say, ""0 Allah, bless Muhammad."" (n: One confines oneself to this minimum at the· first Testification of Faith, as mentioned above at fB.42.)
The optimal way is to say: ""0 Allah, bless Muhammad and the folk of Muhammad as You blessed Ibrahim and the folk of Ibrahim
And show grace to Muhammad and the folk of Muhammad as You did to Ibrahim and the folk of Ibrahim in the worlds, for You are truly the Most Praiseworthy and Noble."" (A: It is desirable to add before each mention of the names Muhammad and Ibrahim the word sayyidina (""our liegelord"")
The hadith ""Do not liegelord me in the prayer"" is a forgery containing corrupt Arabic.)
It is recommended afterwards (0: after the second Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) of the prayer, though not after the first) to supplicate Allah for any permissible thing one wishes concerning one's religion or this world
One of the best supplications is: ""0 Allah, forgive me what I have done and what I may do, what I have hidden and what I have made known, my excesses and what You know better than I
Only You put one ahead or behind
There is no god but You."" It is recommended (0: if one is imam) that such supplications be briefer than the Testification of Faith with its Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) (0: though if one is alone, one may supplicate as long as one wishes, if not afraid of forgetting (N: that one is still in the prayer)).
CLOSING THE PRAYER WITH SALAMS Then one says the final Salams (n: an integral)
The minimum is to say ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" (peace be upon you),andit must Occur while one is sitting
(0: It is inadequate to say ""Salam 'alaykum"" without the first word being definite (n: i.e
as-Salamu), since this has not reached us through any hadith texts, and invalidates the prayer if done intentionally.)
The optimal way is to say, ""Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah"" (0: though to add the words ""and His grace"" (wa barakatuhu) is not sunna) and to turn the head to the right enough to show the ""right cheek (N: to those behind)
One thereby intends to finish the prayer and intends greetings of peace to the angels and Muslims (whether human or jinn (def: w22)) on the right.
One then turns one's head to the left and repeats the Salam, intending to greet those on the left
A follower intends one of the two Salams as a response to the imam's, depending on which side the imam is on, or if the follower is directly behind him, he may intend either Salam as a response to him.
When one is a latecomer to a group prayer, it is recommended not to stand up to finish one's missed rak'as until the iml,lm has said both Salams
It is permissible to stand after he has said just one, but if one stands before he has said the first Salam it invalidates one's prayer, unless one purposely intended to cease participation in the group prayer before doing so.
A latecomer, if making his first Testification of Faith while the group is making their last one, may sit at length (0: for dhikr or supplications) after the imam's Salams before he stands up to finish his own rak'as, though it is offensive
If he does this when not at the point of his first Testification of Faith, it invalidates his prayer if intentional.
Someone who is not a latecomer to a group prayer may sit as long as he wishes after the imam's Salams to supplicate, finishing with his own Salams whenever he wants (0: because the imam's leadership ends with the imam's first Salam, so there is no harm in the follower taking his time, as he is now praying alone, and someone praying alone may do so as long as he likes).
It is recommended to invoke Allah Most High (dhikr) to oneself and to supplicate after the prayer.
(0: Shafi'i says in al-Umm, ""I prefer that the imam and follower invoke Allah (dhikr) after the Salams, and do so silently, unless the imam wants to be learned from, in which case he says the invocations aloud until he believes that he has been learned from, after which he says them to himself:') (n: The following invocations are listed in the commentary and have been written in full and vowelled by the translator in the facing column of Arabic
Their order is sunna, as the commentator notes below.
(1) Ayat al-Kursi (Koran 2:255) (said once);
(2) al-Ikhlas (Koran 112) (once);
(3) al-Falaq (Koran 113) (once);
(4) al-Nas (Koran 114) (once);
(5) ""I ask Allah's forgiveness"" (three times);
(6) ""0 Allah, You are peace, from You is peace, You are exalted through Yourself above all else, 0 You of Majesty and Beneficence"";
(7) ""0 Allah, none can withhold what You bestow, norie can bestow what You withhold, and the fortune of the fortunate avails nothing against You"";
(8) ""Allah is exalted above any limitation or imperfection"" (thirty-three times);
(9) ""Praise be to Allah"" (thirty-three times);
(10) ""Allah is greatest"" (thirty-three (A: or thirty-four) times);
(N: (8), (9), and (10) above are also recommended before going to sleep at night, in which case ""Allah is greatest"" is said thirty-four times) (11) and ""There is no god but Allah, alone, without partner
His is the dominion, His the praise, and He has power over all things
"") (0: It is recommended to begin the supplications with the Koran when called for, like Ayat alKursi and so forth, then (5) through{lO) above.)
One should invoke the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) at the beginning (0: and middle) and end of one's supplications.
The imam turns for (N: postprayer) invocation and supplications so that his right side is towards the group and his left side towards the direction of prayer (qibla)
He leaves his place as soon as he finishes, if there are no women (N: in which case he waits for them to leave first)
It is recommended that the followers remain seated until the imam stands.
(A: In the Shafi'i school, the invocations are recommended to precede the postprayer sunna rak'as.)
It is recommended for those who perform nonobligatory prayers after the prescribed prayer to first wait till after some conversation; it being better to pray them elsewhere, and best to perform them in one's home
(0: However, it is better to perform certain nonobligatory prayers in the mosque, such as those before the Friday prayer, those after circumambulating the Kaaba, and those before entering the state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram) if there is a mosque at the site.
(A: Others that are better in the mosque include:
(1) the midmorning nonobligatory prayer (duha, def: f10.6);
(2) the guidance prayer (istikhara, f10.12);
(3) the two rak'as that are sunna before departing on a journey and when arriving from one;
(4) prayers performed during a period of spiritual retreat in a mosque (i'tikaf, i3);
(5) confirmed sunna prayers (sunna mu'akkada, f10.2) that onc is afraid of missing if one does not pray them in the mosque;
(6) and the sunna rak'as before the sunset prayer.))
While performing the dawn prayer (subh) it is sunna to lift one's hands and supplicate after straightening up from bowing in the second rak' a.
One says: ""0 Allah, guide me among those You guide, grant me health and pardon among those You grant health and pardon, look after me among those You look after, grant me grace in what You have given me, and protect me from the evil [A: here, one turns the palms down for a moment] of what You have ordained; for You decree and none decrees against You; and none is abased whom You befriend
0 our Lord, who are above all things sacred and exalted, all praise is Yours for what You decree
I ask Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance."" It is commendable to add ""and none is exalted whom You are at enmity with"" (A: after the above words ""and none is abased whom You befriend"") , If one is imam, one pluralizes the singular pronominal suffix so that, for example, ihdini (""guide me"") becomes ihdina (""guide us"") and so forth (dis: w1.27).
The words of this supplication are not set and may beaccompJished by pronouncing any supplication (0: and praise) or Koranic verse containing a supplication, such as the last verses of al-Baqara (Koran 2:285-86), though the above words are better.
After this, one invokes the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
It is recommended to raise one's hands throughout the supplication (0: palms up when asking the good, palms down when asking Allah to avert affliction)
One does not stroke the face or chest with one's hands after the supplication (0: as opposed to other supplications, for which it is recommended to wipe the face with the hands, as is mentioned in hadith).
The imam says the supplications aloud
The follower says ""Ameen"" after each supplication that is audible to him and participates in the praises and so forth by responding with similar expressions
If the imam is inaudible, the follower himself says the supplication
When praying alone one says it to oneself.
When disasters (0: such as drought or an epidemic) befall the Muslims, they similarly supplicate in every prescribed prayer (0: after straightening up from bowing in the last rak'a).
The prayer is invalidated (if one has no excuse (def: below)) by uttering two or more letters, or when two or more letters worth of sounds such as laughter, crying, groaning, clearing the throat, blowing, sighing, or similar are audible.
It is also invalidated by much (0: i.e
more than six words worth of) sound, even when there is a valid excuse such as
blurting out· words unthinkingly, laughter or coughing overcoming one, absentmindedly speaking, or when one speaks because as a new Muslim one does not know it is unlawful during the prayer; though with such an excuse a slight amount of speech does not invalidate the prayer.
One's prayer is invalid if one speaks knowing that it is unlawful but ignorant of the fact that it invalidates the prayer, and is also invalid if one says"" Aah"" during it out of fear of hell.
When it is impossible to recite the Fatiha (N:
to oneself) (A: or the final Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) or Salams) except by clearing one's throat, one may do so even when it approximates two letters
though if it is merely impossible to recite aloud, then one may not clear one's throat, but must instead recite to oneself.
(A: Some things which are not commonly known to invalidate the prayer, such as clearing the throat, do not invalidate the prayer of ordinary people, whose ignorance of them is excusable, though a scholar has no such excuse.)
If one notices (N: during the prayer) a blind person about to fall into a well, or the like, then one must speak up to alert him if there is not a nonverbal means of warning him of it.
No form of invocation of Allah (dhikr) invalidates the prayer unless it is a direct address such as ""Allah have mercy on you"" or ""And upon you be peace""; though it does not invalidate the prayer if it refers to someone not present, such as ""Allah have mercy on Zayd"" (0: nor is it invali· dated by addressing Allah or the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)).
When something happens to one during the prayer (0: such as someone asking permission to enter, or having to remind the imam that he has forgotten something), then if one is male, one says ""Subhan Allah"" (0: intending only invocation (dhikr) thereby, as one may not merely intend to inform, nor lack any particular intention thereby, for these invalidate the prayer), or if female, one claps the right palm on the back of the left hand, not palm to palm.
If one recites a Koranic expression such as ""0 Yahya, take the book"" (Koran 19:12), intending only to inform (0: without intending invocation) or not intending anything in particular, this invalidates the prayer, though not if the intention is Koran recital, or recital and informing together.
A SUBSTANCE REACHING THE BODY CAVITY The prayer is invalidated when any (even if a little) substance (A: other than saliva) reaches the body cavity intentionally
It also invalidates the prayer if it occurs absentmindedly or in ignorance of its prohibition, provided the amount of the substance is commonly acknowledged to be much (def: f4.5), though not if it is little.
EXTRANEOUS MOTION Adding a surplus action that is an integral, such as bowing, invalidates the prayer if done intentionally, but does not invalidate it if done because one has forgotten (0: that one has already performed it).
The prayer is not invalidated by intentionally or absentmindedly adding a surplus spoken integral such as repeating one's recital of the Fatiha or the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) or reciting them in the wrong place.
The prayer is invalidated by adding, even if absentmindedly, a motion that is not one of the actions of prayer, provided it is both (0:
considered by common acknowledgement (def:
f4.5) to be) much and uninterruptedly consecutive, such as three steps (0: or successively moving three separate body parts like the head and two hands, though an up-and-down motion is considered just one) or thr.ee or more consecutive motions.
The prayer is not invalidated by action that is not much, such as two steps, or is much but is separated so that the subsequent motion is considered to be unconnected with the preceding one
But if a (0: slight) action is grossly improper, such as jumping, it invalidates the prayer.
Slight actions such as scratching oneself, or turning a rosary (subha, dis: w27) do not affect the validity of the prayer, nor does remaining silent at length.
THINGS OFFENSIVE IN PRAYER It is offensive to perform the prayer while one is holding back from urinating or defecating.
(0: If enough time remains to perform the prayer, the sunna is to relieve oneself first, even when one fears missing praying with a group, since it diminishes one's awe and humility in prayer.)
It is offensive to pray in the presence of food or drink one would like to have, unless one fears that the prayer's time will end.
It is offensive during the prayer:
(1) to interlace the fingers;
(2) to turn (N: the head when there is no need
As for turning the chest from the direction of prayer (qibla), it invalidates the prayer except when there is an excuse such as in extreme peril, or when performing a nonobligatory prayer during a journey);
(3) to look to the sky;
(4) to look at something distracting;
(5) to gather one's clothes or hair with the hand, tuck one's hair under a turban, or wipe the dust from one's forehead;
(6) to yawn, though ifit overcomes one, one should cover the mouth with the hand;
(7) to exaggerate in lowering one's head while bowing;
(8) or to put one's hands on the hips.
It is offensive during the prayer to spit to the front of one or to the right
Rather, one should expectorate to the left, in the hem of one's gare ment, or under the foot (N: when one is praying in a desert or similal) (0: It is unlawful to spit in a mosque except into the left hem of one's garment (N: or a handkerchief
The slight motions neces7 sary to take out one's handkerchief and return it do not harm, as they are inconsiderable).)
THINGS OBLIGATORY IN PRAYER The prayer has conditions (def: f9.13), integrals (f9.14), main sunnas (f9.15), and ordinary sunnas.
THE CONDITIONS OF PRAYER The prayer's conditions are eight:
(a) purification from minor and major ritual impurity (hadath and janaba) (A: through ablution (wudu, def: eS) and the purificatory bath (ghusl, ell) respectively, as well as from menstruation and postnatal bleeding by bathing after them);
(b) that one be free of filth (najasa, e14) (A:
in body, clothes, and place of prayer ({4));
(c) that one's nakedness be clothed (fS);
(d) that one be facing the direction of prayer (qibla, f6);
(e) that one avoid the actions prohibited in prayer, i
e
extraneous speech, eating, and excessive motion (f9.1-7);
(f) knowing or believing that the prayer's time has come (t2);
(g) knowing that the prayer is obligatory;
(h) and knowing how it is performed.
Whenever one violates any of these conditions, one's prayer is invalidated, such as:
(1) (non-(a) above) when a state of ritual impurity occurs during the prayer, even if absentmindedly;
(2) (non-(b)) when some filth containing moisture affects a garment during the prayer, but one does not immediately shed the garment; or when some dry filth affects it, but one throws it off with the hand or sleeve (0: since in that case one is supporting it and in contact with it (dis:
f4.2(N:)));
(3) (non-(c)) when the wind discloses a part of one' nakedness and its cover gets beyond reach;
(4) or (non-(g)) when one believes that some elements of the prayer are obligatory and some are merely recommended, but does not know which are obligatory.
One's prayer is not invalidated if one thinks that all the prayer's parts are obligatory, or«2) above) if one immediately sheds the garment affected by moist filth, brushes off dry filth, or «3) above) immediately re-covers one's nakedness.
THE INTEGRALS OF PRAYER The prayer's integrals (rukn, pI
arkan) are seventeen:
(a) the intention (def: f8.3);
(b) the opening Allahu Akbar (f8.7);
(c) standing (f8.27);
(d) the Fatiha (f8.17);
(e) bowing (f8.29);
(f) remaining motionless a moment therein;
(g) straightening back up after bowing (f8.31);
(h) remaining motionless a momenttherein;
(i) prostration (f8.33);
G) remaining motionless a moment therein;
(k) sitting back (f8.36) between the two prostrations;
(I) remaining motionless a moment therein;
(m) the prayer's final Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) (f8.45);
(n) sitting therein (f8.43);
(0) the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after the prayer's final Testification of Faith (f8.45);
(p) saying ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" the first of the two times it is said at the end of the prayer (f8.47);
(q) and the proper sequence of the above integrals.
THE MAIN SUNNAS OF PRAYER The prayer's main sunnas (A: meaning those which if omitted call for a forgetfulness prostration (def: f11)) are six:
(a) the prayer's first Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) (N: in prayers that have two);
(b) sitting during it;
(c) the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after it (f8.45);
(d) the blessings on his family in the prayer's final Testification of Faith (Tashahhud);
(e) the supplication (f8.53) after bowing in the final rak'a of the dawn prayer (subh);
(f) and standing therein.
OTHER SUNNAS All other parts of the prayer are ordinary sunnas (0: and missing one is not compensated by a forgetfulness prostration).
*
The prayer is the best of the body's spiritual works (0: prayer referring to the prescribed prayer, and body excluding worship connected with the heart, such as faith in Allah, which is better than the works of the body), and supererogatory prayers are the best of voluntary spiritual works (0: though scholarly work in Islamic religious knowledge, meaning beyond what is obligatory to ensure the validity of one's worship, is superior to nonobligatory prayer because it fulfills a communal obligation (fard alkifaya, def: c3.2)).
Supererogatory prayers that the Sacred Law stipulates be prayed in groups, such as the prayer on the two 'Eids (fl9), the prayer at solar and lunar eclipses, and the drought prayer, are better than those it does not stipulate be prayed in groups, namely, all others besides these
But the sunna rak'as before and after the prescribed prayers (0: whether confirmed sunna (sunna mu'akkada, def: below) or otherwise) are superior to the group prayer that is sunna on the nights of Ramadan (tarawih).
THE SUNNA PRAYERS BEFORE AND AfTER THE PRESCRIBED PRAYERS
It is sunna to diligently perfonn the nonobligatory prayers that are offered before and after the prescribed ones.
The optimal number of these is two rak'as before the dawn prayer (subh), four before and after the noon prayer (zuhr), four before the midafternoon prayer ('asr), two after the sunset prayer (maghrib), and two after the nightfall prayer ('isha).
The confirmed sunnas (dis: c4.1) of these (0:
confirmed (mu'akkada) meaning those which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not omit whether travelling or at home) consist of ten rak'as:
(1) two before the dawn prayer (subh);
(2) two before and after the noon prayer (zuhr);
(3) two after the sunset prayer (maghrib);
(4) and two after the nightfall prayer ('isha).
It is recommended to pray two rak'as before the sunset prayer.
The sunnas of the Friday prayer (jumu'a) are the same as those of the noon prayer (zuhr) (dis: w28.1).
The time for the nonobligatory rak'as that come before prescribed prayers is that of the prescribed prayers
It is proper (adab) to pray such a sunna before the prescribed prayer, though if prayed after it, it is still a current performance (A:
not a makeup,
and one must intend it, for example, as the SUnna before noon prayer (zuhr)).
The time for nonobligatory rak'as that come after the prescribed prayer begins when one has performed the prescribed prayer and ends with the end of the prayer's time.
WITR (THE FINAL PRAYER AT NIGHT) The minimal performance for witr (lit.
""odd number"") is one rak'a (0: even if one omits the sunnas after the nightfall prayer ('isha))
(A:
A witr of at least three rak'as is obligatory (wajih) in the Hanafi school, and one should never omit it.)
The optimal way is to perform eleven rak'as, and (0: if one performs more than three) one should finish with Salams (def: f8.47) after every pair
The least considered optimal is three rak'as, (0: and one separates them by) finishing two times with Salams (N: i.e
by finishing two rak'as with Salams and then performing the final rak'a).
One recites al-A'la (Koran 87) in the first rak'a, al-Kafirun (Koran 109) in the second, and alIkhlas, al-Falaq, and al-Nas (Koran 112, 113, and 114) in the third.
It is permissible to (n: serially) join all the rak'as of any witr prayer that has from three to eleven rak'as by finishing them once with Salams (0: in the final rak'a
In that case and also when one's witr is only a single rak'a, one merely intends witr, whereas in other witrs prayed in pairs (n:
until one reaches the last one), one intends each pair as twa rak'as afwitr).
When joining the rak'as of witr one may limit oneself to a single Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) (A: in the final rak'a), or may recite two Testifications, one in the last rak'a and one in the next to the last, and to thus recite two Testifications is superior (A: if one separates the final two rak'as from one another by finishing the next to the last rak'a with Salams (N: before praying the final rak'a by itself), for otherwise it is better to recite a single Testification, as making witr resemble the sunset prayer (maghrib) is offensive).
More than two Testifications (A: in a joined witr) invalidates the whole prayer.
The best time for witr is just after the sunna rak'as that follow the nightfall prayer ('isha), unless one intends to offer the night vigil prayer (tahajjud; to rise at night after having slept, to pray some nonobligatory rak'as), in which case it is best to pray witr after the night vigil prayer (A:
provided that one usually manages to get up when one has made such an intention
If not, then it is better to perform witr after the sunnas of the nightfall prayer ('isha)).
When one has already performed witr, but decides to pray the night vigil prayer (tahajjud), one performs the latter's rak'as two by two, and there is no need to repeat the witr, or ""make it an even number"" by performing one rak'a before the night vigil prayer
However, it is recommended not to intend performing prayers between witr and dawn.
TARAWIH It is recommended to perform tarawih, which is twenty rak'as of group prayer on each night of Ramadan
(0: As well as being sunna to pray tarawih alone, it is also sunna to pray it in a group.) One finishes each pair of rak'as with Salams.
It is recommended to pray witr in a group after tarawih, unless one intends the night vigil prayer (tahajjud), in which case one should postpone witr until after it
During the second half or Ramadan, in the last rak'a (N: of witr) , itisrecommended to supplicate as one does in the dawn prayer (def: f8.53), and then one adds: ""0 Allah, we ask Your help, Your forgiveness, and Your guidance
In You we believe, on You we rely, You we praise with every good, we are grateful to You and not ungrateful, and disown and abandon him who commits outrages against You
0 Allah, You alone do we worship, to You we prllY and prostrate, You we strive for and hasten to obey,hoping for Your mercy and fearing Your punishment.
Truly, Your earnest punishment shall overtake the unbelievers."" The time for witr and tarawih is between the nightfall prayer ('isha) and dawn.
THE MIDMORNING PRAYER (DUHA) It is recommended to pray the midmorning prayer (duha), which minimally consists of two rak'as, is optimally eight rak'as, and maximally twelve
One finishes each pair of rak'as with Salams.
Its time is after the sun is well up until just before the noon prayer (zuhr)
(0: The preferable time for its performance is after a quarter of the day has passed.)
When one misses (0: even intentionally) any supererogatory prayer that has a specified time, such as the two 'Eids, duha, witr, or the sunnas before and after the prescribed prayers, it is recommended to make it up at any time afterwards.
If one misses a supererogatory prayer that is contingent upon some passing event, such as the eclipse prayer, drought prayer, greeting the mosque, or the prayer for guidance (istikhara, def: f10.12), one does not make it up.
THE NIGHT VIGIL PRAYER (TAHAJJUD) Supererogatory prayer at night is a confirmed sunna (def: f10.2(0:)), even if one can only do a little
Wholly supererogatory prayers (0:
meaning those unconnected with a particular time or reason) at night are better than during the day.
If one divides the night into six parts, the fourth and fifth part are the best for prayer
If divided in half, the second half is best
If divided into thirds, the middle part is best
Praying the entire night, every night, is offensive.
It is recommended to begin one's night vigil prayers (tahajjud) with two brief rak'as, to ha,ve intended the night vigil prayer before going to sleep, and not to make a practice of more prayer than one can regularly perform without harm to oneself.
(A: It is sunna to recite the suras of the night vigil prayer sometimes aloud, sometimes to oneself.)
One (0: who is performing wholly supererogatory prayers, whether in the night or day) finishes every two rak'as with Salams, though one may also:
(1) join three or more rak'as by finishing but once with Salams:
(2) pray a single supererogatory rak'a by itself;
(3) recite the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) every two rak'as (0: without finishing them with Salams), or every three, or every four, even if the Testifications of Faith grow very numerous (A: before finishing the series ofrak'as with Salams)
(N: This is if not praying witr (dis:f10.3, end));
(4) or confine oneself to just one Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) in the final rak'a (0: in which case one recites a sura in each of the rak'as and finishes with Salams after the abovementioned final Testification of Faith), though it is not permissible to recite the Testification of Faith in every rak'a (0: without finishing with Salams).
When one's intention (N: in a wholly supererogatory prayer) is to perform a specific number of rak'as (0: four or more), then one may change one's mind as to the number and pray fewer rak'as, or more, provided one changes the intention before (0: having added or subtracted any)
Thus, it is permissible to intend four but finish after two, if one intends to subtract two, though it invalidates the prayer to purposely finish it after two without having made the intention to curtail the planned four rak'as
If one absentmindedly finishes with Salams, one goes on to complete the four and performs the forgetfulness prostration (def: fll) at the end.
GREETING THE MOSQUE It is recommended for whoever enters a mosque to greet the mosque by praying two rak'as each time he enters, even if many times within an hour
One is no longer entitled to pray it after sitting.
It is accomplished anytime one enters a mosque and prays two rak'as, whether one intends merely performing two supererogatory rak'as, fulfilling a vow, the sunna rak'as before or after a prescribed prayer, the prescribed prayer alone, or the prescribed prayer together with the intention of greeting the mosque.
(0: If one enters the mosque when one does not have ablution (wudu), it is sunna to say four times, ""Allah is far exalted above any limitation, praise be to Allah, there is no god but Allah, Allah is greatest."")
It is offensive to begin any nonobligatory prayer, whether greeting the mosque, the sunna rak'as before a prescribed prayer, or other, when the imam has begun the prescribed prayer or the muezzin has begun the call to commence (iqama).
THE GUIDANCE PRAYER (ISTIKHARA) (n: the translator has added the following text from Imam Nawawi's Riyad al-salihin:)
Jabir (Allah be well pleased with him) relates that ""the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to teach us the guidance prayer (istikhara) for all matters, as he would a sura of the Koran, saying:
"" 'When a matter concerns one of you, pray two nonobligatory rak'as [dis: f8.20(5)] and say:
""0 Allah, I ask You to show me what is best through Your knowledge, and bring it to pass through Your power, and I ask You of Your immense favor; for You are all-powerful and I am not, You know and I do not, and You are the Knower of the Unseen
0 Allah, if You know this matter to be better for me in my religion, livelihood, and final outcome [or perhaps he said, ""the short and long term of my case""], then bring it about and facilitate it for me, and bless me with abundance therein
And if You know this matter to be worse for me in my religion, livelihood, and final outcome [or perhaps he said, ""the short and long term of my case""], then keep it from me, and keep me from it, and bring about the good for me whatever it may be, and make me pleased with it,"" and then one should mention the matter at hand.' ""
A nonobligatory prayer at home is superior to one performed at the mosque (dis:f8.52).
It is offensive for one to single out the night before Friday (lit
""night of Friday,"" i.e.
Thursday night, since in Arabic the night of a given date comes before its day) as a special night for prayer.
It is an offensive, blameworthy innovation (bid'a, def: w29) to perform any of the following spurious prayers:
(1) twelve rak'as between the sunset prayer (maghrib) and nightfall prayer ('isha) on the first Thursday night of the month of Rajab;
(2) one hundred rak'as in the middle of the month of Sha'ban;
(3) (0: two rak'as after each of three times of reciting Ya Sin (Koran 36) on the night of midSha'ban;
(4) or the so-called prayer of' Ashura' on 10 Muharram.)
fH.O PROSTRATIONS OF FORGETFULNESS, KORANRECITAL, OR THANKSTHE FORGETFULNESS PROSTRATION * fIl.I The two reasons for the forgetfulness prostration are nonperformance of something called for (0: such as a main sunna (f9.15)), or performance of something uncalled-for (0: such as absentmindedly adding a rak'a to one's prayer).
remember it until doing what comes after it, then one must (A: if still in the same rak'a) go back to it, perform it and what comes after it, and (A: it is sunna to) prostrate for it at the end of one's prayer (0: provided one is not a follower
As for a follower who misses an integral, he continues following the imam until the imam finishes with Salams, and then the follower rises alone and performs a makeup rak'a.
One is only obliged to reperform a missed integral (A: in the same rak'a, i.e
when praying by oneself) if one's forgetfulness of it doesn't continue (A: until the next rak'a)
If one's forgetfulness continues and one goes on to perform the integral (A: during the course of the subsequent rak'a) then the same integral (A: ofthe following rak'a) takes the missed integral's place (A: in which case the rak'a containing the omission does not count and one does not return to it, but performs the rest of the prayer and then adds a makeup rak'a at the end, after which one performs the forgetfulness prostration before one finishes with Salams)).
fl1.3 (0: If there is a surplus action, such as when one absentmindedly goes from standing to prostration without having bowed, but then remembers, in such a case one stands up and bows, and performs the forgetfulness prostration (N: at the end of the prayer)
This (N: having stood twice before bowing) is a surplus action.
One does not prostrate for forgetfulness when there is no surplus action, as when one omits the final prostration of the prayer, but remem bers it before one finishes with Salams and performs it, in which case one does not prostrate for it because there has not been an addition
) f11.4 If one misses a main sunna (def: f9.15), even purposely, one performs a forgetfulness prostration.
If one misses anything besides an integral or main sunna, then one does not prostrate for it.
f1l.5 One does not prostrate for (A: either intentionally or absentmindedly) doing an uncalled for action of the type which when done intentionally does not invalidate the prayer (0: such as turning the head, or taking one or two steps), though reciting a part or all of the Fatiha or Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) at the wrong place in the prayer are exceptions to this, in that, although intentionally reciting them at the wrong place does not invalidate the prayer, it does call for a forgetfulness prostration.
fll.6 One performs a forgetfulness prostration for unintentionally doing an uncalled-for action of the type which when done intentionally invaHdates the prayer (0: such as a small amount of extraneous speech), provided it is not the type of action whose unintentional performance also invalidates the prayer (0: such as much extraneous speech or action (def: f9)) (N: since doing it would in any case invalidate the prayer and obviate the need for a forgetfulness prostration).
Straightening back up after bowing (fB.31), and sitting between prostrations (f8.36) are two brief integrals
To intentionally make them lengthy invalidates one's prayer, though to do so absentmindedly merely calls for a forgetfulness prostration.
(A: An exception to this is standing at length after bowing in the final rak'a of any prayer, as this does not invalidate the prayer even when done intentionally, and even if one does not supplicate therein.)
fl1.7 If one forgets the first Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) and stands up, it is unlawful to return to it
If one intentionally returns to it, this invalidates one's prayer (0: because one has interrupted an obligatory act (A: the integral of standing) for the sake of something nonobligatory (A: the main sunna of the first Testification of Faith (Tashahhud))).
But if one returns to it absentmindedly or out of ignorance, one merely prostrates for it, though one must (0: interrupt the Testification of Faith that one has returned to, and) stand up as soon as one remembers.
If one (A: has omitted the first Testification of Faith and started to rise, but) checks oneself before standing and sits down again, this does not call for a forgetfulness prostration (0: as it is not a full surplus action (def: f11.3))
But if one intentionally rises and then returns to sitting after having been closer to standing, one's prayer is invalid.
If not (0: i.e
if one had not yet been that close, or had, but returned absentmindedly or in ignorance of its prohibition), it is not (0: invalid).
The same applies to omitting the supplication of the dawn prayer (f8.53), where placing the forehead on the ground is as standing up is in the above rulings (N: that is, one may return to the omitted supplication as long as one has not yet completed one's (A: first) prostration).
fI1.8 When praying behind an imam who misses the first Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) by standing, the follower may not remain seated to recite it by himself (0: as this is a gross contravention of his leadership and invalidates the prayer when done purposely and in awareness of its prohibition) unless he has made the intention to cease his participation in the group prayer and finish alone.
But if the imam omits the first Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) and the follower stands up with him, and then the imam sits down, it is unlawful for the follower to follow him therein
Rather, the follower should either cease his participation in the group prayer, or else remain standing and wait for the imam to rise before they continue the prayer together
If the follower intentionally sits back down when the imam does (0: knowing it is unlawful) then his prayer is invalid.
If the imam is sitting for the Testification of Faith and the follower absentmindedly stands up, then he must sit again, in deference to his imam's leadership (0: because follOwing him in what is correct takes priority over starting an obligatory integral, which is also why the latecomer to group prayer may omit both standing and reciting the Fatiha (n: to bow when the imam bows, as above at f8.15)).
f11.9 One does not perform the forgetfulness prostration when one is uncertain (A: i.e
does not know or believe) that one did something that calls for a forgetfulness prostration, or that one added a surplus integral, or did something uncalledfor.
But if uncertain whether one omitted a main sunna (def: f9 .15), or performed the forgetfulness prostration, or whether one prayed three rak'as or four (A: and this includes being uncertain (N: i.e
not knowing or believing .it probable) that one performed one or more of a rak'a's integrals, since without all seventeen integrals (def: f9.14), the rak'a remains unperformed), then one proceeds on the assumption that one did not yet do it (0: returning to the original basis, which was that one had not done it) and one finishes with a forgetfulness prostration.
When one's doubt (A: that one has performed an extra rak'a) is resolved before finishing the prayer with Salams, one also prostrates for forgetfulness because of the rak'a one prayed while uncertain, which was presumed to have possibly been extra (A: i.e
the final rak'a, which one performed thinking it might be extra)
But if performing it would have been obligatory in any case, as when one is uncertain during the third rak'a (A:
of a four-rak'a prayer) as to whether it is the third or fourth rak'a (A: both of which would be obligatory for the prayer in any case), but one remembers during it that it is the third, then one does not prostrate for one's forgetfulness, though if one did not remember which it was until rising for the fourth rak'a (A: whieh one presumed might be the fifth), one prostrates for forgetfulness.
(A: The same applies to prayers of less than four rak'as.)
f11.10 The forgetfulness prostration, even if there are numerous reasons for it in one prayer, is only two prostrations.
fIl.l1 If one comes late to a group prayer and the imam performs a forgetfulness prostration at the end of the group's prayer, one performs it with the group, and once again at the end of one's own prayer.
A follower does not prostrate for forgetfulness whenhe makes an individual mistake (A: the imam did not make) while following (n: unless he omits an integral, as discussed above at f11.2( 0:)), though he does prostrate if his mistake occurred before joining the group or after the imam finished with Salams.
If the imam makes a mistake, even if it was before one joined the group prayer, then one must prostrate for it with the group out of deference to the imam's leadership
If one does not, it invalidates one's prayer
If the imam neglects to perform a forgetfulness prostration, the follower does so anyway.
If one comes late to group prayer ,absentmindedly finishes with Salams with the imam, and then remembers (0: the rest of the prayer that one has to complete), one performs the remainder and prostrates for forgetfulness.
f11.12 The forgetfulness prostration is a sunna
It is performed before .one's final Salams, whether the reason is a surplus action or an omitted one.
One is no longer entitled to perform it if one deliberately finishes with Salams before it, or absentmindedly finishes with Salams and there is a lengthy interval before one recalls that one was supposed to have performed it; though if this interVal is brief and one wishes, then one may prostrate, and one has thereby returned to the prayer and must again finish it with Salams.
THE KORAN RECITAL PROSTRATION f11.13 To prostrate for recital of appropriate verses of the Koran is sunna for the person reciting, listening, or merely hearing.
f11.14 One prostrates for one's own recital if praying by oneself or if one is imam (0: but it invalidates one's prayer to intentionally and with knowledge of its prohibition recite a verse for the purpose of prostrating during the prayer (N: if one prostrates therein), exceptfor al-Sajda (Koran 32) recited in the dawn prayer (subh) on Friday
(A:
Though if such a verse merely occurs in the course of one's prayer, as when one is reciting a particular sura containing it, one may prostrate))
But if either of them prostrates upon hearing someone else's recital, it invalidates their p,rayer.
A follower prostrates with his imam
The follower's prayer is invalid if he prostrates for his own recital, the recital of someone besides the imam, or prostrates without the imam, or does not prostrate when the imam does.
f11.15 There are fourteen prostration verses, two of them in aI-Hajj (Koran 22)
They do not include the prostration at Sad (Koran 38:24), which is a prostration of thanks, not of Koran recital, and is only performed outside of prayer
To purposely prostrate for it during the prayer invalidates the prayer.
f11.16 When one prostrates for reciting while in the prayer, it is recommended to say ""Allahu akbar"" before prostrating and again when rising.
It is obligatory to stand again after it (0: or to sit up again if performing a nonobligatory prayer seated) and recommended to then recite more of the Koran before one bows.
When one prostrates for reciting while outside of the prayer, it is obligatory to sayan opening Allahu Akbar (0: and to finish with Salams.
The four integrals of both the prostration of Koran recital (A: outside of prayer) and of the prostration of thanks are:
(a) the intention;
(b) the opening Allahu Akbar;
(c) the prostration;
(d) and the final Salams (A: which can only be performed in a sitting position).
Whether in or out of the prayer, the things that invalidate a normal prayer invalidate the prostrations of recital or thanks, and the conditions of the prayer, i.e
ablution (wudu), clothing nakedness, the entry of the proper time-which is when the last letter of a prostration verse has been recited-facing the direction of prayer (qibla), and so forth, are also conditions of these prostrations).
It is recommended to say ""Allahu akbar"" when one prostrates and rises, though not to recite the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) therein.
fl1.17 If one delays the recital prostration past its time and the interval is brief (0: meaning less than the time of two brief, medium-length rak'as) then one is still entitled to prostrate
Iflongerthan that, one does not make it up.
When one repeats a prostration verse within one sitting or within one rak'a and one has missed the prostration at its first mention, then it is accomplished by a single prostration (0: though if one prostrates for the first, one still prostrates for the subsequent times, as the reason to do so has been renewed).
fl1.18 When reciting the Koran, whether during the prayer or not, it is recommended to ask Allah for mercy at the verses mentioning mercy, and to seek refuge in Him (Ta'awwudh) at verses mentioning punishment.· THE PROSTRATION OF THANKS f11.19 Whenever a manifest blessing appears in one's life (0: such as a child, wealth, or prestige), it is recommended to prostrate out of thanks to Allah, and likewise when an affliction is averted (0: such as being saved from drowning, regaining health, or the reappearance of someone lost (A:
or the death of a tyrant)), or when one sees someone Allah has afflicted with disobedience or illness, though in the latter case one should prostrate in private (0: so as not to sadden the person).
The prostration of thanks is the same as the Koran recital prostration outside ofthe prayer (0:
regarding its integrals and conditions (def:
fll.16))
It invalidates one's prayer if performed during it.
fl1.20 It is unlawful to prostrate without occasion merely to humble oneself to Allah to draw near to Him (0: because it is a reprehensible innovation (bid'a, def: w29.3)).
fl1.21 The recital prostration's requirements of facing the direction of prayer (qibla), purity, and clothing nakedness are the same as those of nonobligatory prayers.
Group prayer is a communal obligation (def: c3.2) upon all male nontravellers for the five current prescribed prayers, such that the rite of the prayer be public
(0: In a small town, it is enough to merely gather somewhere and pray
In a city, the prayer must be held in public places such that the manifestations of obedience to Allah's command are evident
If held in houses where the rite of prayer is not public, the obligation remains unfulfilled (A: though a house with a sign on it is sufficient).)
Group prayer is sunna for women, travellers, and for makeup prayers in which the imam and followers are performing the same type of prayer; though it is not sunna for a follower's makeup prayer to be performed behind an imam's current prescribed prayer, or for a makeup prayer to be performed behind a different type of makeup (0: such as a follower making up the noon prayer (zuhr) behind an imam who is making up the midaftemoon prayer ('asr)).
It is personally obligatory to perform the Friday prayer Gumu'a) in a group (A: for every male Muslim who is not travelling).
The group prayer for which the demand is the strongest is the dawn prayer (subh), then the nightfall prayer (,isha), and then the midafternoon prayer ('asr).
The minimal number of people for a group prayer is an imam and a follower.
It is best for men to perform group prayer at the mosque (0: as the act of going to the mosque makes the group prayer evident)
The best mosque in which to pray is the one with the most people
If there is a nearby mosque attended by few people, then it is better to go to a distant one attended by more, unless the imam there commits reprehensible innovations (bid'a, def: w29.3), is immoral, does not consider one of the integrals of the prayer to be an integral Cn: though this does not matter if it is the result of the imam's following a different school of jurisprudence, as below at f12.29 (N:)), or if one's going to the farther mosque will make group prayer impossible at the one nearby (A: as when one is one of the only two people who are likely to come), in all of which cases it is better to pray at the nearby mosque.
It is better for womento pray at home than at the mosque (A: whether they are young or old)
It is offensive for an attractive or young woman to come to the mosque to pray (0: or for her husband to permit her), though not offensive for women who are not young or attractive when this is unlikely to cause temptation
(N: The author's words here must be interpreted in the light of the following details: If a woman's going to group prayer or elsewhere will definitely lead to temptation between the sexes, it is unlawful for her to go.
lf such temptation can be definitely prevented,
her going to attend group prayer remains sunna, as is attested to by the hadiths that have reached us on the subject
If temptation is feared but not certain to occur, her going becomes offensive.
Whether such temptation is likely to occur is something that differs with different times, places, and people
An old woman is not like a young one, nor a righteous society like one in which temptation between the sexes is the rule; nor is a special prayer place set aside for women at a mosque like a prayer place which they share with men
This is why 'A'isha (Allah be well pleased with her) said, ""Had the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) seen what women do now, he would have forbidden them the mosque as the women of Bani lsra'il were forbidden,"" a hadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim.
The temptation between the sexes whose occurrence is to be feared when they intermingle is of various degrees, the least of which is a person's appreciating and admiring the other, then being attracted to and enamored with the other, and finally, those indecencies which are not hidden from anyone
Islam is eager to eliminate evil at its inception and extirpate temptation from its outset, and the word of Allah Most High, ""Tell believers to lower their eyes and to guard their private parts"" (Koran 24:30), explains both the starting point and final outcome of the temptation of men through women and the temptation of women through men.)
There is no demand to go to group prayer (0: whether communally obligatory (dis: f12.I), personally obligatory (f12.3), or sunna (f12.2)), when there is a valid excuse not to, such as:
(1) hardship due to rain or snow that soaks clothing;
(2) hardship due to heavy mud (0: from getting soiled or slipping when walking through it);
(3) (0: severe) winds at night (0: ordawn);
(4) severe heat or cold (0: because of the hardship of moving in them, and likewise intense darkness at night, which is an excuse not to attend);
(5) being in the presence of food or drink that one wants to have (0: as they obviate the awe and humility befitting the prayer
One should eat enough to take the edge off one's hunger (A: and then go to join the group));
(6) holding back from going to the toilet or breaking wind (0: as one should relieve oneself first, even if one fears missing the group prayer);
(7) hazard to one's person;
(8) hazard to one's property (0: from theft or seizure, whether it belongs to oneself or to another whose property one is obliged to protect.
It also includes bread one has put in the oven that would burn if one were to leave and attend the prayer);
(9) hardship from an ailment (0: even when one is able to attend, if it entails a hardship comparable to that of walking in the rain
If one is suffering from a slight indisposition such as a toothache or the like, it is not an excuse);
(10) taking care of a sick person (0: who would suffer harm if one left to pray, whether a relative, friend, or total stranger) or taking care of someone ill who is strongly attached to one's staying with him;
(11) the death of a relative, friend, (0: or spouse);
(12) fear of missing the impending departure of the party one intends to travel with;
(13) having eaten something with a bad odor (0: such as raw onions or garlic, though not if cooked, as this eliminates the smell);
(14) orfear of meeting someone who will try to collect a debt one owes him and one is unable to pay.
(0: The demand for group prayer is not eliminated by other than the above excuses.)
It is a condition of a valid group prayer that the follower intend to follow the imam (0:
whether at the opening Allahu Akbar or thereafter).
If the follower neglects to do so, his prayer is as if he had performed it alone
It invalidates one's prayer to purposely omit the intention to follow the imam while at the same time praying behind him and following his motions by awaiting them at length, though awaiting them shortly or performing one's own prayer simultaneously with his does not invalidate it.
It invalidates one's prayer to take a follower as one's imam when the follower is concurrently praying behind an imam (0: though if his imam finishes with Salams and the follower is still pray· ing, he may then be taken as one's imam).
The imam intends leading the prayer as imam
If he neglects this intention then his own prayer counts as if he had prayed alone (N: though his followers' prayer counts as a group prayer), the imam having lost the reward for praying in a group.
In the Friday prayer Gumu'a), it is a necessary condition for the prayer's validity that the imam intend leading as imam.
When going to a group prayer, it is recommended to walk with tranquillity
(0: It is sunna not to gambol about, speak of disapproved things, or engage in acts which are offensive in the prayer itself, such as looking right or left.)
It is recommended to diligently seek the spiritual merit of being at the group prayer's opening Allahu Akbar, meaning that one says it just after the imam does.
If one has begun a nonobligatory prayer when the call to commence (iqama) is given, one should finish it before joining the group, as long as one does not fear the group will finish before one can join them
If afraid they will, then one interrupts the nonobligatory prayer to join them.
If one has begun praying a prescribed prayer alone and the call to commence (iqama) is given for a group prayer, it is recommended to tum one's prayer into a supererogatory prayer of two rak'as, and pray the prescribed prayer with the group
Were one to merely change one's intention to that of following their imam, it would count as a valid group prayer for one, but it is offensive
In such a case if one reaches the end of one's prayer before the
group, one may either wait for them to finish with one while sitting in the final Testifica· tion of Faith (Tashahhud), or else finish with Salams as soon as one reaches the end of one's prayer
(0: One may not follow the imam in what is in excess of one's own prayer.)
It is permissible to start praying with a group, and then cease one's participation in praying with them (A: by a silent intention) and finish one's prayer alone, though this is offensive when there is no excuse
(0: It is not offensive to do so when there is an excuse, such as being ill, or unable to endure the imam's lengthy Koran recital because of weakness or having business to attend to (N: or: a pressing emergency)
)
When one arrives late to a group prayer in which the imam is already bowing, it is obligatory for one to say the opening Allahu Akbar while standing upright, after which one says a second Allahu Akbar before one bows to join the group (0: though if one only says it once, intending the opening Allahu Akbar thereby, then omitting the second Allahu Akbar of bowing does no harm, as it is sunna)
If any part of one's opening Allahu Akbar occurs when one is not standing upright (def: f8.27) , one's prayer is invalid.
A latecomer is considered to have performed the rak'a if he manages to say ""Allahu akbar,"" bow, and remain motionless a moment therein before the imam straightens up beyond the definitionallimit of bowing (f8.29)
If one is uncertain as to whether the imam straightened up past the limits of bowing before one reached that position, or whether it was after
then one has not performed the rak'a (0: as one assumes, when uncertain, that one had not yet reached it)
Nor does tl}e rak'a count for such a follower when it does not count for the imam, such as when the imam nullifies his ablution (wudu), or has overlooked something impure on his person, or has mistakenly added a fifth rak'a to his prayer.
If one does not join the group until the imam has straightened up from bowing, or thereafter, then one follows his motions, saying ""Allah
akbar"" with him and repeating ""Subhan Allah"" and the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) when he does, even when this does not correspond to the rak'a in which one's own Testification of Faith would be if one were praying alone.
If one joins the group just as the imam is prostrating or sitting in the final Testification of Faith, then one prostrates or sits with him (N: after having recited one's opening Allahu Akbar while standing) without (A: a second) Allahu Akbar (0: though Qne does say ""Subhan Allah"" in prostration and recite the Testification of Faith with the imam, in deference to his leadership).
If the final Testification of Faith of the imam coincides with one's own first Testification, then when the imam finishes with Salams, one stands up with an Allahu Akbar to finish one's prayer;
though if the imam's final Testification does not coincide with one's first Testification, one rises to finish without an Allahu Akbar.
Whenever one joins the group before the imam finishes with Salams, one has attained the merit of the group prayer
(N: But it is less than the merit of praying with the group from the beginning or joining them in the middle, though joining them at the end is better than praying alone.)
The rak'as one performs before the imam finishes with Salams are the first rak'as of one's prayer, and those performed after the imam finishes are the last
Hence, if the imam performs the dawn prayer's supplication (def: f8.53) in the rak'a in which one joins the group, one repeats it in one's own second rak'a.
It is obligatory for one to follow the imam's leadership in prayer actions, such that each of one's movements begins after the imam begins it and before he finishes (N: the following integral)
(0: It is highly desirable that) one follows the imam's spoken integrals in the same way, with the sole exception of saying"" Ameen"" (def:f8.19), which should be simultaneous with his.
It invalidates one's prayer to say one's opening Allahu Akbar simultaneously with the imam, or to be uncertain as to whether one did so or not.
It is offensive to perform some other part of the prayer simultaneously with the imam, and one thereby loses the merit of group prayer.
GETIING AHEAD OF THE IMAM It is offensive to proceed to an integral ahead of the imam, as when one bows before he does, and one is recommended to return to following him.
(N: An ""integral"" in rulings concerning the person who gets ahead of the imam or lags behind him refers to integrals that are physical actions, such as standing, bowing, straightening up, prostrating, or sitting up between prostrations
It does not refer to spoken integrals such as reciting the Fatiha, or to remaining motionless for a moment in the various positions.)
It is unlawful, though if does not invalidate the prayer, to completely finish an integral before the imam comes to it, as when one bows, straightens up, and then waits for him to straighten up.
It invalidates one's prayer to completely finish two integrals before the imam does, if one does so intentionally (0: and knowing it is unlawful).
If one does so absentmindedly (0: or in ignorance of its prohibition), it does not invalidate the prayer, but the rak'a does not count (0: and one must add an additional rak'a after the imam finishes with Salams).
LAGGING BEHIND THE IMAM If there is no excuse (def: below), it is offensive to lag behind the imam until he completely finishes an integral (def: fl2.15(N:)) ahead of one, and it invalidates one's prayer to lag behind the imam until he finishes two integrals.
If the imam bows and straightens up while (N: without excuse) one has not yet bowed, it does not invalidate one's prayer until the imam actually begins going down towards prostration and one still has not bowed (0: since lagging'means that the imam has finished two integrals before the follower has reached the first of them)
This invalidates one's prayer even before the imam reaches prostration, as he has completed two integrals.
When one lags behind the imam for a valid reason, such as one's slow recital (0: the imam being fast in his recital) due to one's inability (A:
whether natural inability or being a non-Arabicspeaker), not merely to unfounded misgivings (waswasa, def: s3.3), and the imam bows, then it is obligatory for one to finish the Fatiha (0: one is not entitled in such a case to simply omit the rest of the Fatiha and bow with the imam, as a latecomer is entitled to do (dis: f8.15
third paL)), after which one rapidly performs the elements of the prayer to catch up with the imam, provided the imam is not more than three (0: long) integrals ahead of one
(0: Long excludes the integrals of straightening up after bowing and sitting between prostrations, which are short
Rather, the imam;s being three integrals ahead of one means he has bowed, prostrated once, and begun the second prostration, while the follower still has not bowed.)
If one is further behind than that (0: as when he has started to stand up while one is still standing for recital), then one follows from where one is (N: the number of rak'as one has done) and performs the ones missed after the imam finishes with Salams.
When the imam is bowing or in the final Testification of Faith (Tashahhud), and becomes aware of someone coming to join the group prayer, it is recommended that he wait for the latecomer (N: so the rak'a counts for him if they are bowing, or so the group prayer counts for him if they are in the final Testification of Faith), provided:
(a) that the person has entered the mosque or place of prayer;
(b) that the wait is not excessively long;
(c) and that the imam's intention is obedi- .
ence to Allah, not to give distinction or honor to the latecomer, such as by waiting for the noble but not the lowly.
Waiting for a latecomer is offensive in other than bOwing and the final Testification of Faith.
When a mosque has an imam assigned to it (0: by the person in charge ofthe mosque, or as a condition of an endowment (waqf, def: k30)), and the mosque is not in a busy location, it is offensive for another to commence the group prayer without the imam's permission (0: because the imamate is his, no one else 's, and because of the alienation and hurt feelings it involves)
It is not offensive for another to do so in a mosque at a busy location or one to which no imam has been assigned.
When one has already performed one's prcscribed prayer alone or in a group, and finds another group prayer being performed, it is recommended to repeat one's prayer with them, intending the obligatory prayer
(A: The first fulfills one's obligation ofthe prescribed prayer, but one intends repeating, e.g., the noon prayer (zuhr).) Its reward is that of a supererogatory prayer.
The imam is recommended to keep his recital of the sura brief (0: not necessarily the absolute minimum, but not the maximum desirable for someone praying alone).
When leading a group composed solely of those who do not mind lengthy prayers, he is recommended to lengthen the recital.
(0: The imam should not prolong the recital when he does not know how everyone feels, and of those present some generally prefer lengthy rak'as and some do not, or when praying in a mosque at a busy location where people often join the prayer after the imam has begun.)
When the imam stops reciting the Koran because of uncertainty, it is recommended for the follower to remind him of what comes next
(N:
When he does not stop but merely hesitates, the follower does not remind him, so as not to fluster him.) If the imam forgets an invocation (dhikr), the follower says it so the imam can hear
If he forgets an action, the follower should remind him of it by saying ""Subhan Allah"" (n: with the intention of invocation, as at f9.4(0:))
If the imam remembers having missed the action, he performs it
But if he does not remember having missed it, it is not permissible for him to perform it just because the followers or others are reminding him, even if they are numerous
(A: The more reliable opinion is that if their number reaches four or more, he must act upon it.)
If the imam omits an obligatory element of the prayer (0: and does not return to it and perform it), then it is obligatory for the follower to cease his participation (def: f12.10) in the group prayer.
If the imam omits a sunna that the follower cannot add without considerably Jagging behind, such as the first Testification of Faith (Tashahhud), then it is unlawful for the follower to perform the missing sunna (0: rather, he must follow the imam)
If he performs it anyway (0:
intentionally and knowing it is unlawful), it invalidates his prayer, though he is entitled to cease his participation in the group prayer to perform the sunna in the course of finishing his own prayer alone
If the sunna omitted by the imam can be done without much of a lag, such is sitting briefly before rising for a new rak'a (def: fSAO), then the follower may add it without ceasing his participation in the group
(0: This also applies to when the imam omits the dawn prayer's supplication (f8.53), which the follower may perform it he can catch up with the imam before the imam lifts his head from the second prostration, though if the imam lifts his head before the follower has prostrated even once and the follower has not intended to cease his participation in the group prayer, then the follower's prayer is invalid.)
Whenever the imam ceases his prayer because of his ablution (wudu) being nullified, or another reason, he may choose a successor to finish leading the prayer, provided the successor is eligible (def: f12.27) to lead the group
If the group performs a whole integral (f12.15(N:)) after the imam has stopped leading, then he may no longer choose a successor.
Any follower may be picked as the successor (0: even if he came late to the group prayer)
If a latecomer, he leads the group beginning at the same point in the prayer where the imam left off.
When he finishes leading them in their prayer, he stands (0: to finish his own), and indicates to them to cease following his leadership, or better yet, indicates for them to remain waiting for him (A: in their final Testification of Faith (Tashahhud)) until he comes to it after finishing his own rak'as
If he does not know which rak'a the imam was in, then he should observe (0: by looking left or right to see if the followers are sitting or) whether they are ready to rise
If they are, he rises, and if not, then he sits in a Testification of Faith.
It is permissible for the successor to be someone who has not been praying with the group, pro"" vided he is picked in the first or third rak'a (if the prayer has four tak'as), though he may not be picked in the second or fourth rak'a (A: because the order of the person's prayer will not correspond to theirs, for such a person is not committed to the imam's order).
The followers need not intend to follow the successor
They may each simply break off and finish alone
If the imam chooses someone but they put forward someone else, their choice take!
precedence .
THE IMAMATE The one with the best right to be imam (N:
in order of preference, when there is a disagreement) is:
(1) the most learned in Sacred Law (A: i.e.
the rulings concerned with prayer) (0: even if he has not memorized any of the Koran except the Fatiha, since the need in prayer for knowledge of its rules is practically unlimited, while the only Koran recital required is the Fatiha);
(2) he who has memorized the most Koran;
(3) the most godfearing (0: because leading the prayer is an embassage between the servant and Allah Most High, and best befits him most honored by Allah);
(4) he who has been a Muslim longest;
(5) the noblest in lineage;
(6) he with the best life history or reputation;
(7) the cleanest in person and clothes;
(8) he with the best voice;
(9) and the most handsome.
When only one of the above is present, he is chosen
If all people present or some ofthem possess one or more of these characteristics, then someone from the first of the list takes priority over those listed after him
If two are equal and each insists on being the imam, they draw lots.
(N: It is permissible for a less qualified person to lead, even when a better qualified one is present.)
The imam assigned to a mosque or a person living in the house where the prayer takes place, even if only renting, takes precedence over everyone on the list, from the most learned on down, though he may select anyone else he wishes to lead the prayer
The sultan and those under him, of Islamic judges, regional governors, and so on, take precedence over even the imam of the mosque, the householder, and others.
The following take precedence even when the latter is more learned in Sacred Law:
(1) a nontraveller over a traveller;
(2) an upright person (def: O24.4) over a corrupt one;
(3) and an adult over a child.
A sighted and a blind person are equally eligible to lead the prayer.
It is offensive for someone to lead a group at prayer when most of the group dislike him for a reason recognized by Sacred Law (0: such as wrongdoing, not taking precautions against filth (najasa), having a blameworthy income, keeping the company of oppressors or the immoral, and so forth
If a minority dislike him, itis not offensive, for nobody lacks someone who dislikes him).
It is not permissible (0: or valid) to follow an imam who is non-Muslim, insane, in a state of ritual impurity (def: e7, elO), or who has filth (najasa) on his clothing or person, or is a woman leading men, or someone who omits or mispronounces (def: f8.l8) a letter of the Fatiha leading someone who knows it, or a mute, or someone who slurs the words so the letters are indistinct from one another, or someone with a lisp.
If after the prayer one finds out that the imam was one of the above, then one must make up the prayer, unless the imam had filth Upon him that was concealed, or he was in a state of ritual impurity (N: in which cases one need not make it up).
The group prayer is valid:
(1) when the imam is performing a supererogatory prayer and the follower is performing a prescribed prayer, or vice versa;
(2) when the imam is performing the noon prayer (zuhr) and the follower is praying the dawn prayer (subh) (A: i.e
when the type of prayer differs), or vice versa;
(3) when the imam is praying while sitting and the follower is praying standing, or vice versa;
(4) and when the imam is performing a makeup prayer and the follower is performing a current one, or vice versa.
(n: But a person shortening his prayer because of travelling may not pray behind an imam who is performing the full number, as at f15.8(f).)
It is valid for a Shafi'i to follow the leadership of an imam who follows a different school of jurisprudence whenever the follower is not certain that the imam has omitted an obligatory element of the prayer, though if certain the imam has omitted one, it is not valid to follow him
The validity is based solely on the belief of the follower as to whether or not something obligatory has been omitted.
(N: One'should mention the position of the Malikis and Hanbalis here, which is that the criterion for the validity of following the imam is the imam's school of jurisprudence,
such that if his prayer is valid in his own school, it is permissible to follow him as imam
How close this is to the spirit of the Law, which strives for Muslim unity.)
It is offensive to take an immoral person (def: o24.3(A:))as imam (0: because he might not be concerned about the things that are obligatory in the prayer), or someone who stutters over the letter f or the letter t, or who makes inconsequential mistakes in the Arabic vowelling (0: that do not change the meaning).
RULES AND CONDITIONS OF FOLLOWING When there are two or more male followers, it is sunna for them to stand behind the imam, A single male follower stands on the imam's right, and if a second follower arrives, the newcomer stands to the imam's left and says his opening Allahu Akbar, after which the two followers move back (0: little by little)
If they cannot move back (0: for lack of room) then the imam moves forward.
When there are men, boys, and women present, the men form the front row or rows, then the boys, and then the women
(A: This is also the rule for husband and wife: the wife prays in a separate row behind the husband.)
(0: If the men's back row is incomplete, it should be completed with boys (A: and a latecomer may not remove the boys to make a place for himself unless they are directly behind the imam)
Those who form a new row behind a row that is incomplete do not attain the merit of group prayer.)
A woman leading women in prayer stands in the middle of their first row.
It is offensive for the imam's place to be higher or lower than the followers' unless the imam wishes to teach the followers the actions of prayer
If the imam and follower are not in a mosque, it is obligatory that part of the imam's body be level with part of the follower's when both are of average height.
A latecomer to a group prayer who does not find a place in the last row should stand behind it, begin his prayer with the opening Allahu Akbar, and then indicate to someone in the row to stand with him, by drawing him back; and it is recommended that the person selected cooperate by stepping back (A: this is only if the latecomer does not expect anyone else to come).
The follower's prayer is invalid if his heel is farther forward than the imam's
(0: He should be farther back than the imam's heel, even if only a little, but not more than 1.44 meters, for otherwise the merit of group prayer is lost (A: i.e
unrewarded, though not legally invalid).)
Whenever an imam leads a follower in a mosque, the group prayer is valid no matter if they are at a distance from each other, and no matter whether they are in the same chamber or not, as when one of them is on the roof (even if the door is closed) and the other is in the mosque's well, provided that (0: both places open onto the mosque, and that) the follower can know when the imam is performing the motions of the prayer, whether by seeing the imam, or hearing his backup man (muballigh, the person who repeats the imam's Allahu Akbars and Salams in a loud voice so people can hear).
Multiple interconnected mosques opening onto eaeh other are considered as one mosque (0:
and so are the mosque's outer courtyards, even when there is a walkway between the courtyard and mosque).
MAXIMAL DISTANCES BETWEENTHE IMAM AND FOLLOWERS When the imam and follower are not in a mosque, but are in an open expanse such as a desert or large house, their group prayer is valid as long as the distance between them does not exceed approximately 144 meters
If farther apart than this, their group prayer is not valid
If there are rows of people behind the imam, this distance is the maximum that is valid between each row and the one in front of it, even if there are miles between the imam and the last-row, or a fire, river that would have to be swum to reach him, or busy street between them.
If the imam is in one building and the follower in another, such as two houses, or if there is a house, inn, or school where the imam is in a courtyard and the follower is under a covered porch, or vice versa, then the maximum allowable distance is the same as for outdoors (def: above), provided that there is nothing between the imam and follower that obstructs passage to the imam, such as a latticework window (0: and provided that there is nothing that prevents the follower from seeing him, such as a closed door).
The group prayer is valid when the imam is in a mosque and the follower is in an adjoining space, provided that there is 144 meters or less between the follower and the edge of the mosque, and that between the follower and the mosque there is not a barrier lacking a breach in it, breach meaning, for example, when the follower is standing before a wall's open gate
If such a person's group prayer with the imam is thus valid, then the prayer of those behind him or in the row with him is also valid, even when (0: these others are numerous, and) the group extends beyond the area fronting the gate
Such a person's group prayer is not valid if he turns from the gate, or if the wall of the mosque, a window, or a closed door (locked or not) lies between him and the imam.
*
(0: The rules below apply to prayers that are wholly supererogatory, i.e
which are not performed for any particular occasion or reason, and apply to prayers performed for a reason that will oceur after the prayer, such as the two sunna rak'as before entering the state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram).)
The prayer is unlawful and invalid:
(1) from sunrise until the sun is a spear's length above the horizon (N: meaning when a distance equal to the sun's diameter appears between the sun and the horizon);
(2) from the time the sun is at its highest point in the sky until it moves on;
(3) from when the sun yellows before sunset until after it has set;
(4) after praying the current dawn prayer (subh);
(5) and after praying the current midafternoon prayer ('asr).
It is permissible at the above times to offer nonobligatory prayers that are performed for a particular reason, such as the funeral prayer, greeting the mosque (def: f10.10), or the two rak'as that are sunna after ablution (wudu); and is also permissible to make up missed prayers;
though one may not perform the two rak'as that are sunna before entering the state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram).
It is not offensive to pray within the Meccan Sacred Precinct (Haram) at any time.
Nor is it offensive to pray when the sun is at its zenith on Fridays (N: whether in the Sacred Precinct or elsewhere).
Someone unable to stand may pray the prescribed prayer seated (0: and need not make it up), unable meaning that standing involves manifest hardship, will cause illness or the worsening of a present illness, or cause vertigo, as when one is on a ship.
Such a person may sit for the prayer any way he likes, though the iftirash style of sitting (def:
fB.37) is recommended
It is offensive in prayer to simply sit on the ground, palms down and knees drawn up, or to sit with legs outstretched (A:
when there is no excuse).
When seated for the prayer, the minimal bowing is to incline until the forehead is farther forWard than the knees
The optimal way is to incline until the forehead is as far forward as the place where the head rests in prostration.
When unable to bow or prostrate, one comes as close to the ground with the forehead as one can
When unable to do this, one performs them by nodding.
If an abscess or the like prevents one from sitting, then one ""sits"" standing (A: meaning ordinary standing, with the intention of sitting (N: so that one stands between prostrations and for the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud))).
If one is capable of standing but suffers from a painful swelling of the eyes or something similar (0: such as a wound that can be treated by having the patient remain lying down) and a reliable physician (0: in terms of knowledge and expertise in medicine, who can be believed) tclls one that praying while on one's back will enable one to be treated, then it is permissible to pray while lying down (0: without having to make up the prayer).
If unable to stand and unable to sit
one lies on one's right side (0: the right is recom- mended) facing the direction of prayer (qibJa) with the face and front of one's body, though one must bow and prostrate if possible (0: meaning one stands up enough to bow, then bows, then prostrates; or else sits up and bows).
If this is not possible, one bows and prostrates by merely nodding one's head (0: bringing one's forehead as near to the ground as possible), deeper for prostration than for bowing.
If unable to even nod, one merely glances down with the eyes for bowing and prostration
If one cannot, one goes through the integrals of the prayer in one's mind
If unable to speak (0: to recite the Fatiha) one recites it in one's heart.
The obligation of prayer exists as long as one is able to reason (dis: fl.l, second par.).
If one is standing during the prayer and becomes unable to remain standing, one sits to finish the prayer
If this occurs during the Fatiha, one may not interrupt reciting it, but must continue to do so as one proceeds to siL If one's condition improves enough (0: i.e
if seated during a prescribed prayer because of illness and a recovery of strength enables one to now stand), then one must stand to complete the prayer.
f1S.0 SHORTENING OR JOINING PRAYERS FOR TRAVEL OR RAIN (A: The two travel dispensations of shortening and joining prayers have no effect on each other: one may take both together, either, or none
It is superior in our school not to take dispensations that are permissible.)
SHORTENING PRAYERS WHILE TRAVELLING f1S.1 It is permissible to shorten the current prescribed prayers of noon (zuhr), midafternoon ('asr), and nightfall ('isha) to two rak'as each, when one:
(a) is travelling for a reason that is not disobedience to Allah (0: as there is no dispensation to shorten prayers on such a trip);
(b) on a journey of at least 48 Hashemite miles (n: approximately 81 km./SO mi.) one way:
One may also shorten the above prayers when one both misses them and makes them up on the trip, though one must pray the full number if one misses them while not travelling and makes them up on the trip, or misses them on the trip and makes them up while not travelling.
f1S.2 This distance (n: 81 km./SO mi
one way) holds for travel by water as well as by land
If such a distance is traversed in an instant (0: preternaturally, because of a miracle (karama, def:
w30)), oile may still shorten the prayer
(0: The brevity of the time taken to travel the distance is of no consequence.)
f1S.3 When there are two routes to a destination and one of them is less than the distance that permits shortening prayers but one chooses the longer way for a legitimate purpose such as safety, convenience, or recreation (0: provided that recreation is merely the reason for taking that route, not the reason for the trip itself, which must have some other legitimate purpose such as trade, for an outing is not a legitimate purpose) then one may shorten prayers
But if the only reason for choosing the longer way is to take the dispensation, thefll doing so is not valid and one must pray the full number.
(A: Purely recreational trips whose purpose is not disobedience are permissible, but there are no travel dispensations in them, though if undertaken in order to gain religious knowledge, to visit a fellow Muslim, or visit the grave of a righteous or learned Muslim (dis: g5.8), these and similar purposes are legitimate and permit the dispensations.)
f15.4 The journey's destination must be known.
If a wife travelling with her husband or a soldier with his leader does not know the destination, they may not shorten their prayers (N: as long as they have not yet travelled the distance that permits shortening
When they have travelled it, then they may)
If they know the destination and the journey meets the conditions (def: f15.I), then they may shorten their prayers (N: from the beginning of the journey).
f15.5 Someone whose journey constitutes an act of disobedience, such as a woman travelling against her husband's wishes, may not shorten their prayer but must pray the full number
(0:
The same applies to someone who undertakes a legitimate trip and then changes the purpose of it to disobedience.) (N: Though shortening prayers is permissible for someone who commits an act of disobedience while on a legitimate trip, as when someone travels for trade, but then sins by drinking wine, for example.)
THE BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY f15.6 Ifone'scity has walls, one may begin shortening prayers as soon as one has passed them, whether or not there are other buildings outside them
If there are no walls, one may shorten one's prayers after passing beyond the last buildings, excluding farms, orchards, and cemeteries
(N:
When the buildings of a city extend .to the next city, one's journey begins at the former's city limits, or at what people commonly acknowledge (def: f4.5) to be the edge of town.) A deser!
dweller may begin stortening prayers when he passes beyond his people's tents
(0: A person living in a valley begins shortening prayers when he has traversed the distance of the valley'S width
Someone living on a hill begins when he comes down from it
A person living in a gorge begins when he climbs up out of it.)
THE END OF THE JOURNEY f15.7 When the trip ends one must pray the full number of rak'as for each prayer.
A trip ends when one reaches one's hometown
It also ends;
(1) by the mere intention to stay in apJace at least 4 full days, not counting the day one arrives or the day one departs;
(2) or by staying that long without the intention, so that after one has stayed 4 full days, not counting the days of arrival and departme, one prays the full number of rak'as, unless one is staying in a place in order to fulfill a purpose that one expects to accomplish and intends to leave as soon as one does
As long as this is the case, one may shorten one's prayers for up to 18 days
If longer than this, one prays the full number
This holds for both jihad (def: 09) and other purposes.
When one reaches one's destination and intends to stay there for a significant amount of time (0: 4 days), one must pray thefull number of rak'as, but if not (0: as when not intending to stay at all, or intending 3 days or less), then one may continue shortening prayers for either 4 days (0:
if one learns that one cannot accomplish one's purpose during them), or 18, if one can expect one's purpose to be accomplished at any moment.
THE CONDITIONS FOR SHORTENfNG THE PRAYER f15.8 The conditions for shortening the prayer while travelling are:
(a) (0: that the trip be legitimate (def:
f15.5);
(b) that it be at least 81 km./50 mi
one way;
(c) that the destination be known (f15A));
(d) that the prayer take place from start to finish while on the trip (A: if one's vehicle arrives before the prayer is finished, one prays the full number);
(e) that the intention to shorten the prayer coincide with the opening Allahu Akbar (0: it not being valid if made after this);
(f) that no portion of the prayer be performed while following an imam who is praying the full number of rak'as;
(g) (0: that one be aware of the permissibility of shortening prayers for travel;
(h) and that the intention be free of things which nullify it (A: such as vacillation or doubts (dis: below))).
One must pray the full number of rak'as if:
(1) (non-(d) above) the intention to stay at the place for 4 days occurs during the prayer;
(2) (non-(h)) one is uncertain whether one's intention was to shorten, but one soon recalls that one did intend it;
(3) (non-(h)) one vacillates in the intention between shortening the prayer or not doing so;
(4) or (non-(f) one does not know whether one's imam is shortening or not, though if one does not know the imam's intention, it is valid to intend that if the imam shortens the prayer, one will shorten, and if he prays the full number, one will pray the full number, and then to do this.
JOINING TWO PRAYERS DURING A JOURNEY f15.9 It is permissible to join the noon prayer (zuhr) and midafternoon prayer ('asr) during the time of either of them (N: or the Friday prayer Uumu'a) and midafternoon prayer in the time of the Friday prayer), and permissible to similarly join the sunset prayer (maghrib) and nightfall prayer (,isha) during the time of either, provided one joins them during a journey in which prayer may be shortened (def: f15.8(a,b,c,d)).
If one stops travelling (A: to rest, for example) during the time of the first of the two prayers, then this is the best time to join them, but if one is travelling steadily during the first's time, the time of the second is better.
f15.10 The conditions for joining two prescribed prayers on a trip in the time of the first of them are:
(a) that the trip continue (A: until one finishes both prayers);
(b) that the first of the two be prayed first;
(c) that the intention to join the two prayers occur before finishing the first, either coinciding with the opening Allahu Akbar, or occurring during the prayer;
(d) and that one not separate the two prayers by waiting between them, though a short interval (A: meaning one that could contain two rak'as of the briefest possible) is of no consequence, nor is a brief search for water (dis: e12.3) by someone who has performed dry ablution (tayammum).
If one prays the second of the two prayers before the first (non-(b) above), then that prayer is invalid (0: and must be repeated after the first, if one still wants to join them).
One must wait to perform the second of the two prayers until its own time if:
(1) (non-Ca) above) one finishes one's journey before performing the second prayer;
(2) (non-(c)) one neglects to intend joining them.during the first prayer;
(J) or (non-(d)) one waits at length between them.
f15.11 If one has performed both prayers and the journey subsequently ends (A: whether in the time of the first prayer or the time of the second), they are and remain valid.
fl5.12 The necessary condition for joining two prayers in the time of the second of them (A: in addition to f15.8(a,b,c,d)) is that one make the intention to do so before the end of the 'first prayer's time (0: by an interval which could contain at least one rak'a)
If one neglects this intention, one has sinned, and praying the first prayer during the second prayer's time is considered making it up.
f15.13 When joining two prayers in the time of the second, it is recommended (A: not obligatory):
(1) to pray the first one before the second;
(2) to not pause at length between them;
(3) and that the intention to join them be present during the prayer one performs first.
JOINING PRAYERS BECAUSE OF RAIN fl5.14 It is permissible for a nontraveller to pray the noon prayer (zuhr) and the midafternoon prayer ('asr) at the time ofthe noon prayer (N: or the Friday prayer Gumu'a) and midafternoon prayer at the time of the Friday prayer), and to similarly pray the sunset prayer (maghrib) and nightfall prayer (,isha) at the time of the sunset prayer if:
(a) it is raining hard enough to wet one's clothing (0: and like rain in this is melted snow or hail);
(b) one is praying with a group in a mosque (0: or other place of prayer);
(c) the mosque is far (0: from one's door, i.e
far by common acknowledgement (def: f4.5));
(d) it is raining when the first prayer begins, when it ends, and when the second prayer begins;
(e) and conditions f15.10(b,c,d) exist.
f15.15 (A: If one arrives during the second of two prayers joined because of rain and does not finish one's own first prayer before the group finishes their second, then one is no longer entitled to join one's prayers for rain
It is a necessary condition that one pray at least part of the second prayer with them, though one may hurry through one's own first prayer alone to catch up with and join them during their second.)
f15.16 If the rain stops after one finishes the two prayers or during the second one, both prayers are and remain valid.
f15.17 It is not permissible to join two prayers in the time of the second of them because of rain.
fl5.IS (n: In the Shafi'j schooL there are no valid reasons other than travel or rain for joining prayers, though others exist in the Hanbali school, as discussed in what fOllows.)
('Abd ai-Rahman Jaziri:) The Hanbalis hold that the above-mentioned joining between the noon prayer (zuhr) and midafternoon prayer ('asr), or between the sunset prayer (maghrib) and nightfall prayer ('isha) is permissible, whether in the time of the first prayer of each of these two pairs, or in the time of the second prayer of each of them, though it is superior not to join them.
It is a necessary condition for the permissibility of joining them that the person praying be:
(1) a traveller on a trip in which shortening prayers is permissible;
(2) a sick person for whom not to join prayers would pose a hardship;
(3) a woman who is nursing an infant, or who has chronic vaginal discharge (dis: e 13.6), since she is permitted to join prayers to obviate the hardship of purification for every single prayer;
(4) someone with an excuse similar to the woman with chronic discharge, such as a person unable to prevent intermittent drops of urine coming from him (e13.7);
(5) or someone who fears for himself
his property, or his reputation, or who fears harm in earning his living if he does not join prayers; the latter giving leeway to workers for whom it is impossible to leave their work.
(al-Fiqh 'ala al-madhahib al-arba'a (y66), 1.487) PRA YING THE SUNNA RAK'AS WHENONE JOINS PRAYERS f15.19 (0: When one wants to join the midafternoon prayer ('asr) and noon prayer (zuhr) in the time of the noon prayer, one first prays the sunnas that come before the noon prayer, followed by the noon prayer, the midafternoon prayer, the sunnas that come after the noon prayer, and then the sunnas that come before the mid afternoon prayer.
Similarly, when one joins the nightfall prayer ('isha) with the sunset prayer (maghrib), one prays the sunnas that
come before the sunset prayer, and postpones those that follow the sunset prayer until after one has prayed the nightfall prayer, after which one prays the sunnas that come before and after the nightfall prayer, and then witr
Their order is sunna.)
*
The prayer of peril may be performed when the Muslims are engaged in permissible fighting (0: whether obligatory, as when fighting non-Muslims or highwaymen whom the caliph (def: 025) is fighting, or permissible, as when fighting someone who is trying to take one's property or that of others).
When the enemy is not in.the direction of prayer (qibla), the imam divides the Muslim force into two groups
One group faces the enemy while the other prays a rak'a behind the imam
When the imam rises for the second rak'a, the group makes the intention to cease following his leadership in the prayer and then finishes their second rak'a alone as individuals while the imam remains standing at the beginning of his second rak'a, reciting the Koran and awaiting the second group.
Then this first group goes to relieve the others in facing the enemy, and the others come and begin their group prayer behind the imam, who is stilI standing and who remains so long enough for thc second group to recite thc Fatiha and a short sura
At thcend ofthisrak'a whcn the imam sits in thc Testification of Faith (Tashahhud), the group rises and performs their second rak'a without him (whilc he remains sitting at the end of his second rak'a waiting for them to reach the same point in their own prayer)
When thcy catch up with him, he closes the prayer with Salams.
If this prayer is the sunset prayer (maghrib), the first group prays two rak'as following the imam's lead, and the second group follows him in the third rak'a
If it is a prayer with four rak'as, then each group follows the imam for two rak'as.
The imam may also divide the Muslim force into four groups and have each group pray one rak'a behind him.
When the enemy is visible in the direction of prayer (qibla) and the Muslims are numerous, the imam arranges them in two or more rows, opens the group prayer with"" Allahu akbar,"" and (0: after reciting the Fatiha with all of them) he bows and straightens up with everyone following his lead
Then he prostrates together with the row nearest him, while the other row remains standing.
When the imam and his row stand after their second prostration, the other row performs its -own prostrations and rises to catch up with the imam and his row, who have remained standing waiting for them.
In the seeond rak'a all bow and straighten up together, but when the imam prostrates, the seeond row, who remained standing on guard before, prostrate with him while the row nearest him remain standing on guard
When those who have prostrated with the imam sit back (0: after their prostration, for the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud)) then the row nearest him (0: who have been standing on guard) prostrate (0: and catch up with the others in the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud))).
It is recommended to remain armed during the prayer of periL
When the peril is great, in actual combat, Muslims may pray walking or riding, facing the direction of prayer (qibla) or not, in a group or singly, and nodding in place of bowing and prostration when they are unable to perform them, nodding more
deeply for prostration than for bowing
If forced to strike blow after blow during the prayer, this is permissible
Shouting is not.
*
(A: It is offensive for men to wear tight clothing that discloses the size of the parts of their body which are nakedness (def: f5.3), and this is unlawful for women.)
It is unlawful for men to wear silk or use it in any way, even to line clothing, though it is permissible to use it as padding in a cloak, pillow, or mattress.
Women may wear and use silk, and it is permissible for a guardian to dress a child in it before puberty.
It is permissible for men to use fabric composed partly of silk as long as the weight of the silk is half or less of the weight of the fabric; to embroider with silk thread where (0: the width of) the design does not exceed four fingers (0:
though the length does not matter); to have a silk fringe on a garment; or a silk collar; or to cover a silk mattress with a handkerchief or the like and sit on it.
It is also permissible for men to use silk when there is need to in severe heat or cold, to clothe their nakedness with it for the prayer when there is nothing else, or to use it when suffering from itching or for protection from lice
(0: The upshot is that when there is real need for it, one may use it
Otherwise, it is an enormity (def: c2.5(2)).
Imam Ghazali attributes its prohibition to its effeminacy and softness, which are unbecoming of men.}
It is permissible to wear a garment affected by something impure (najasa, def: e14.1) when not in prayer (0: or other activites requiring purity, provided one is not in a mosque
As for wearing such a garment in a mosque, one may not, since it is not permissible to carry something impure into the mosque when there is not some need, such as having to take one's shoes inside).
It is unlawful to wear leather taken from the carcass of an unslaughtered animal (n: before tanning, as at e14.6) except when there is pressing need, such as in the event of a sudden outbreak of war (A: when there is nothing else) and the like.
It is unlawful for men to wear gold jewelry, even the teeth of a ring's setting that holds its stone
(0: Unlike silk, there is no difference for the prohibition of gold between small and large amounts.) Nor may men wear objects painted or plated with gold, though if these tarnish so that the gold is no longer apparent, then they are permissible.
It is permissible to r.epair teeth with gold.
It is lawful (A: for both sexes) to wear a silver ring (A: the sunna for men being to do so on the little finger, of either hand), and (A: for men) to decorate battle weapons with silver, but not riding gear such as saddles and the like, nor an inkwell, writing utensil case, work knife, penknife, or lamp fixture--even if in a mosquenor to have silver jewelry other than rings, such as a necklace, armband, bracelet (0: because these resemble the habits of women and it is unlawful for men to imitate women), or a crown.
It is not permissible to use silver (A: or gold) to embellish the ceiling or walls of a house or mosque (0: even those of the Kaaba, because it is wasteful, and no one has reported that the early Muslims did so), though if the amount is so slight that none could be melted off by applying fire, then it may remain
If more than that, then not (0: i.e
it must be removed).
(0: It is offensive to use cloth for interior decoration in houses (A: meaning that if curtains and the like are used merely for decoration, it is offensive, though there is nothing wrong with using them to screen a room from view), even for shrines at the tombs of the righteous and learned.
It is unlawful to decorate walls with pictures (n: of animate life, as at p44).)
It is permissible for both men and women to decorate copies of the Koran and to embellish writing with silver (0: out of reverence for it)
It is permissible for women to have copies of the Koran decorated with gold, but this is unlawful for men.
All gold jewelry is permissible for women, even on shoes and woven into fabric, provided it is not wasteful
But if a woman is wasteful, such as when she has a nO-gram anklet of gold (0: meaning that it (N: i.e
the weight of a piece, though there is no limit to the number of average-weight pieces) exceeds the customary), then it is unlawful (0: since gold is only permitted to women for the sake of beauty, and when gold exceeds what is normal it is repulsive and devoid
of oeauty (A:
and zakat must be paid on such wasteful jewelry (n: as opposed to jewelry that is not wasteful, on which no zakat is due (dis: h4.4)))).
*
(0: Attending the Friday prayer is personally obligatory
It is the finest of prayers, and its day, Friday, is the best day of the week
Its integrals and conditions are the same as other prayers (def: f9.13-14).)
Anyone obliged to pray the noon prayer (zuhr) is obliged to pray the Friday prayer Gumu'a), except for women and for travellers on a trip that is not disobedience (def: f15.5), even if the trip is less that 81 km.l50 mi
one way (n:
though one's departure for the journey must have taken place before dawn on Friday, as at f18.6).
Valid excuses for not attending group prayer (def: f12
5), such as illness or taking care of a sick person, excuse one from attending the Friday prayer Gumu'a).
Eligible Muslims living in a village where there are not forty men (n: the minimum required for a valid Friday prayer, as at f18
7( e)) must go to a larger town for the Friday prayer when the two places are close enough that the call to prayer (adhan) from the larger town is audible to them under normal circumstances, given a calm wind and no interference
Audible means that the call of a man with a loud voice standing in the larger town on the side facing the village could be heard by a man with normal hearing standing on the side· of the village facing the town
If such a call would be inaudible, then the villagers are not obliged to go to pray the Friday prayer (A: but merely pray the noon prayer (zuhr)).
A Muslim present at the mosque who is not obliged to pray the Friday prayer may leave (A: instead of participating in it, such as a traveller merely wanting to pray the noon prayer (zuhr) and go), except for the following, who must pray the Friday prayer:
(1) someone with an illness for whom waiting for the Friday prayer poses no hardship, provided that he has arrived after its time has begun (0: namely noon, for if he arrives before this, or if waiting is a hardship, then he may leave);
(2) someone who is blind;
(3) or someone whose excuse is muddy terrain (dis: f12.S(2)).
Those· present at the mosque who are not obliged to pray the Friday prayer (A: other than the above-mentioned) may choose between performing the Friday prayer and the noon prayer (zubr) (0: even when the fact that they are present eliminates their excuse)
If they want to perform the noon prayer (zuhr) in a group (0: as is sunna) and their excuse from the Friday prayer is not obvious to onlookers, then they should conceal their group prayer rather than display it (0:
which would be offensive under the circumstances).
If a person is not obliged to perform the Friday prayer, but believes the reason for his excuse may disappear, such as sick person (A: hoping to recover before the prayer ends), then he should postpone his noon prayer (zuhr) until he can no longer hope to attend the Friday prayer
But if one's excuse from the obligation of attending the Friday prayer is not expected to cease, such as being a woman, then it is recommended to pray the noon prayer (zuhr) at the first of its time.
The noon prayer (zuhr) of someone obliged to perform the Friday prayer is not valid until he has missed the Friday prayer (A: by its having finished without his having attended).
It is unlawful for someone (0: obliged to pray the Friday prayer) to travel after dawn (A: on Friday before having prayed it) unless:
(1) there is a place on his route where the Friday prayer will take place;
(2) or he is going to travel with a group (0: of people not obliged to pray the Friday prayer) who are departing, such that his staying behind would entail harm for him.
In addition to the usual conditions for the prayer (def: f9.13), a valid Friday prayer Gumu'a) also requires:
(a) that it be a group prayer;
(b) that it take place during the time of noon prayer (zuhr);
(c) that it follow two sermons (khutba, def:f18.9);
(d) that its site be located among the dwellings of the community;
(e) that there be a minimum of forty participants who are male, have reached puberty, are sane, and are local residents, meaning they live there and do not leave except when they need to (n: though the minimum according to Abu Hanifa is three participants besides the imam (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 1.111));
(f) and that, in places where it is no hardship for everyone to pray at one location, there be no other Friday prayer prior to or simultaneous with it (0: i.e
in the opening Allahu Akbar of the prayer (dis: below)).
The imam is counted as one of the forty «e) above).
A group performing the Friday prayer must finish it as a noon prayer (zuhr) if:
(1) (non-(e) above) the number of participants diminishes during it to less than forty;
(2) or (non-(b)) if its time ends during the prayer (0: with the coming of the midafternoon prayer's time)
If the group has doubts before starting the Friday prayer that they will be able to finish it within its time, then they must begin it as a noon prayer (zuhr).
In places where having everyone assemble in one location is a hardship, as in Cairo or Baghdad, it is valid to hold as many Fridayprllyers as are
needed
In places where it poses no hardship, such as Mecca or Medina, if two Friday prayers are held, the first ofthem (A: to open with ""Allahu akbar"") is the Friday prayer, and the second is invalid (A: and must be reprayed as a noon prayer)
If two are held in such a place and it is not clear which was first, they should start over together as one Friday prayer.
THE SERMON (KHUfBA)
The integrals of the sermon (khutba) are five (0: and their order is sunna) (n: (a), (b), and (c) below are required in each of the two sermons, while (d) may be in either, and (e) must occur in the second, as mentioned below):
(a) saying ""al-Hamdu lillah"" (praise be to Allah), this particular utterance being prescribed;
(b) the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), which is also a prescribed utterance;
(c) enjoining godfearingness (taqwa), for which a particular expression is not prescribed, it being sufficient to say ""Obey Allah"";
(the above (0: integrals (a), (b), and (c)) are obligatory in each of the two sermons) (d) reciting one verse of the Koran (0: that conveys an intended meaning, such as a promise, threat, exhortation, or similar) in at least one of the two sermons;
(e) and to supplicate for believers (0: male and female) in the second of the two sermons (0:
which must be for their hereafter, as supplications for this world alone do not fulfill the integral).
(n: The following sermon, added here by the translator from the commentary at m2, has been related by two chains of transmission, one ascribing it to Ibn Mas'ud, and the other through him to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
""Praise is truly Allah's
We praise Him, seek His help, and ask His forgiveness
We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our selves and our bad actions
Whomever Allah guides none can lead astray, and whomever He leads astray has no one to guide him
I testify that there is no god but Allah alone, without any partner
and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger
Allah bless him and give him peace, with his folk and Companions
0 you who believe: fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die other than as Muslims.
"" '0 people, fear your Lord who created you from one soul and created its mate from it, and spread forth from them many men and women.
And be mindful of your duty to Allah, by whom you ask of one another, and to the wombs [that bore you], for verily, Allah is vigilant over you' "" (Koran 4:1).
(n: This sermon fulfills conditions (a), (b), (c), and (d) above (A: and the rest of the sermon may be in any language), and after sitting briefly, one rises and says, ""al-Hamdu lillah,"" the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), enjoins the people to fear Allah, and must add a supplication for the Muslims «e) above), such as saying, ""0 Allah, forgive the believers"" (Ar
Allahumma-ghfir lil-mu'minin walmU'minat).)
The conditions of the two sermons are:
(a) that the speaker be in a state of purity (0:
from minor (def: e7) and major (elO) ritual impurity and from filth (najasa, e14.1));
(b) that his nakedness be clothed;
(c) that the two sermons occur during the noon prayer's time (zuhr) before performing the two rak'as of the Friday prayer;
(d) that the speaker be standing during them (0: if able);
(e) that he sit down between the two;
(f) and that his voice be loud enough for the forty required participants (def: fI8.7(e)) to hear (0: the sermons' integrals).
The sunnas of the sermon include:
(1) that the speaker stand on a pulpit (minbar) or high place (0: and that it be to the right of the prayer niche (mihrab) and that the speaker stand on the right side of the pulpit);
(2) that he say ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" to those present when he enters the mosque and (0:
again) when he ascends the pulpit (0: and reaches his seat there);
(3) that he sit until the muezzin has finished (A: the second (dis: w28.2) call to prayer (adhan));
(4) that when speaking, he lean on a sword, bow, or stick (0: which is in his left hand
It is desirable for him to put his other hand on the pulpit.
If he does not have a sword or the like, he keeps his hands still by placing the right upon the left, or dropping them to his sides, He does not move them or fidget with one, as the aim is stillness and humility);
(5) and that he face the group during both sermons (0: and not turn to the right or left during them, for it is a reprehensible innovation
It is desirable for the listeners to face the speaker).
DESCRIPTION OF THE FRIDAY PRAYER The Friday prayer Uumu'a) consists of two rak'as.lt is sunna for the imam to recite al-Jumu'a (Koran 62) in the first rak'a (A: meaning the entire sura, the sunna being to make the sermon brief and the rak'as long, though wisdom must be used in deciding how mueh those present will aeeept) and al-Munafiqun (Koran 63) in the second rak'a (0: following the sunna from a hadith reported by Muslim, who also reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) sometimes recited al-A'la (Koran 87) in the first rak'a of the Friday prayer and a1-Ghashiya (Koran 88) in the second).
A latecomer who joins the group prayer in time to bow and remain motionless a moment therein while the imam is still bowing in the second rak'a is legally considered to have attended the Friday prayer (A: though such a person must rise after the imam has finished with Salams to pray the rak'a he missed)
If the latecomer joins the group after this point, he has missed the Friday prayer, but (0: obligatorily) intends performing the Friday prayer anyway and follows the imam (0: in ease
the imam has omitted an integral and has to repeat a rak'a, in which event the latecomer will have attended the Friday prayer)
(N: But if this does not happen, then) when the imam finishes with Salams, the latecomer rises and completes his prayer as a noon prayer (zuhr).
RECOMMENDED MEASURES FOR THOSEATTENDING THE FRIDAY PRAYER It is recommended to perform a purificatory bath (ghusl) (0; and offensive not to) before going to the Friday prayer, though it may be performed anytime after dawn
If one is unable to bathe, one may perform the dry ablution (tayammum).
It is also recommended to clean the teeth with a toothstick (siwak, def: e3), trim the nails, remove (0: bodily) hair, eliminate offensive odors, wear perfume and one's finest clothes (white being the best), and for the imam to dress better than anyone else
(A: Because of the time taken by these measures, it is offensive to visit others on Friday mornings.)
It is offensive for women who attend the Friday prayer to wear perfume or fine clothes.
It is recommended:
(1) to arrive early (0: which is recommended for everyone besides the imam, so as to take a seat and wait for the prayer), the best time being from dawn on;
(2) to come on foot in tranquility and dignity, and not to ride to the mosque unless there is an excuse (0: such as old age, weakness, or being so far from the mosque that the fatigue of walking would obviate one's humility and presence of mind in the prayer);
(3) to sit near to the imam;
(4) and to invoke Allah (dhikr) (0: both on the way and at the mosque before the sermon), and to recite the Koran and invoke Blessings (0:
on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)).
It is offensive (0: for anyone but the imam, when there is no need) to step over people to reach a place among them, unless one sees a vacant spot that cannot be reached otherwise.
It is unlawful to make someone sitting in the mosque rise and then sit in his place, though if someone voluntarily rises it is permissible (0: for another to sit there).
It is offensive to give another person one's place in the front row, in closeness to the imam, or to put others ahead of oneself in performing any act of worship (0: as is proved by the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith, ""People keep staying behind until Allah keeps them behind."" As for Allah' s saying, "" ..
preferring others to themselves, though poverty be their lot"" (Koran 59:9), it refers to things that relate to the physical self, such as feeding a hungry person when one needs the food, in which case preferring another to oneself is desirable, without a doubt).
I t is permissible to send someone to the mOsque to save a place for oneself there by spreading something out (0: such as a rug, for no one else may pray on it), though it is permissible for another to move it aside and sit down in its place.
flS.17 It is offensive, though not unlawful, for someone sitting in the mosque to speak or to rise and perform the prayer while the imam is giving the sermon (khutba)
(0: The more reliable position is that prayer is unlawful during the sermon (N: for the person already sitting in the mosque, as opposed to someone who hasjust arrived, as next discussed).)
A latecomer who arrives (0: when the imam is speaking or seated on the pulpit) should pray two brief rak'as to greet the mosque (0: if the prayer is being held in a mosque
If held elsewhere, one should intend them as the two rak'as that are sunna before the Friday prayer, though if one has already prayed these at home, one should simply sit down without praying.
It is offensive fora latecomer to simply omit the two rak'as of greeting the mosque, though if one enters the mosque at the end of the imam's sermon and believes that praying them will prevent one's participating in the opening Allahu Akbar with the group, then one should remain standing until they rise and incorporate one's greeting the mosque into the obligatory prayer (dis: f10.lO)).
It is recommended to recite al-Kahf (Koran 18) and invoke Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) on the night before Friday and during its day.
It is recommended to supplicate Allah much on Fridays, seeking the moment when prayers are answered (0: in view of the hadith Ii related by Bukhari and Muslm, ""There is a moment on Friday when the slave shall not ask Allah for anything save that He will give it to him""), which lies between the time the imam first sits on the pulpit and when the prayer finishes
(A:
Others hold that the moment occurs after the midafternoon prayer Casr).)
* (N: Meaning 'Eid ai-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, and 'Eid ai-Adha on 10 Dhul Hijja.)
The prayer on the two 'Eids is a confirmed sunna (def: c4.1) and is recommended to be prayed in a group.
Its time begins at sunrise, and it is recommended to take place after the sun is a spear's length (def: f13.2(1)) above the horizon (0: the time for its current performance continuing) until noon.
It is best to perform it in the mosque if there is room, though if there is not, then it is better to hold it outdoors.
RECOMMENDED MEASURES FOR THE'EID PRAYER It is recommended not to eat anything on 'Eid al-Adha until one performs the prayer, though one should eat an odd number of dates before the prayer on 'Eid al-Fitr.
It is recommended to perform the purificatory bath (ghusI) after dawn, even if one does not attend the prayer, though it may be performed from midnight on
It is recommended to wear perfume, dress one's best, for young boys to come in their good clothes, and for women who do not attract men's attention to attend, though without wearing perfume or fine clothes
It is offensive for an attractive woman to attend (dis: f12.4(N:)).
It is sunna:
(1) to come early after the dawn prayer (subh) on foot;
(2) to return home by a different route (N:
than one came);
(3) for the imam to delay his arrival until the time of the prayer;
(4) and to call the people to prayer with the words ""The prayer is gathering,"" as one also does for the eclipse prayer (def: f20) and the drought prayer (f21).
DESCRIPTION OF THE 'EID PRAYER The 'Eid prayer consists of two rak'as.
(A: In addition to the opening Allahu Akbar,) one says ""Allahu akbar"" seven times in the first rak'a after the Opening Supplication (Istiftah, def: f8.13) and before saying ""I take refuge, etc."" (Ta'awwudh, fS.16); and five times in the second rak'a, not counting the Allahu Akbar for rising from prostration, before saying the Ta'awwudh.
One raises one's hands (fS.12) each time one says"" Allahu akbar."" One invokes Allah Most High (N: to oneself) between each Al1ahu Akbar (0: saying ""Glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, there is no god but Allah, Allah is greatest""), placing the right hand upon the left (A: each time one says this invocation).
Missing or adding repetitions of ""Allahu akbar"" does not necessitate a forgetfulness prostration at the end of one's prayer
If one forgets them and proceeds directly to the Ta'awwudh, one does not return to them.
It is recommended to recite Qaf (Koran 50) in the first rak'a and al-Qamar (Koran 54) in the second
Or if one wishes, one may recite alA'la (Koran 87) in the first rak'a and al-Ghashiya (Koran 88) in the second
(A: Or one may recite al-Kafirun (Koran 109) iiI the first rak'a and alIkhlas (Koran 112) in the second.)
After the two rak'as, the imam gives two sermons (khutba) like those of the Friday prayer (0: in integrals (def: f18.9), not conditions (n:
which here exclude f18.10(c,d,e))).
It is recommended to open the first sermon by saying"" Allahu akbar"" nine times and to open the second by saying it seven times.
It is permissible for the imam to sit during the sermons.
There are tWQ types of Allahu Akbars (A:
said for the 'Eids), unrestricted and restricted.
The unrestricted, meaning those not confined to a particular circumstance but rather recited in mosques, homes, and the street, are sunna to recite from sunset on the night before each 'Eid until the imam commences the 'Eid prayer with the opening Allahu Akbar.
The restricted, meaning those recited after prayers (0: whether the five prescribed prayers or the nonobligatory), are sunna for 'Eid al-Adha only, from the noon prayer (zuhr) on 'Eid day until the dawn prayer (subh) on the last of the three days that follow it, which is the fourth day of the 'Eid
(N: The more reliable position is that the time for them begins from dawn of the Day of 'Arafa (n: 9 Dhul Hijja) and ends at the midafternoon prayer ('asr) on the last ofthe three days that follow 'Eid al-Adha.) They are recited (0: by men, by women (who say them to themselves), by both nontravellers and travellers, and whether one is praying by oneself or in a group) after the current prescribed prayers or making up prescribed prayers missed during the 'Eidor before, and after prayers performed to fulfill a vow, funeral prayers Qanaza), and supererogatory prayers
If one misses a prayer during the 'Eid but does not make it up until after the 'Eid, then one does not recite ""Allahu akbar"" after it.
One says, ""Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar"" (N: and then, ""there is no god but Allah
Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, praise be to Allah"")
It is commendable to add, as people are accustomed to, ""Allah is ever greatest, etc."" (0:
namely: ""Much praise be to Allah
Glory to Him morning and evening
There is no god but Allah.
Him alone we worship, making our religion sincerely His though the unbelievers be averse .
There is no god but Allah alone
He fulfilled His promise, gave victory to His slave, strengthened His army, and vanquished the Confederates alone
There is no god but Allah
Allah is ever greatest"").
It is recommended to say ""Allahu akbar"" on the first ten days of Dhul Hijja whenever one sees a head oflivestock (0: out ofreverence forits Creator).
*
(0: Eclipse refers to both that of the moon and sun.)
The eclipse prayer is a confirmed sunna (def: c4.1) (0: and missing it is not permissible, but rather is offensive).
(0: Like the drought prayer, it has no call to prayer (adhan) (n: besides that mentioned at f19.4(4)).)
It is recommended to be performed in a group at the mosque.
It is recommended for women without attractive figures to attend (0: in their household clothes, that is, women advanced in years and the like
As for women who have attractive figures, it is desirable for them to perform it in their homes (dis: f12.4(N:))).
DESCRIPTION OF THE ECLIPSE PRAYER The eclipse prayer consists of two rak'as.
The minimum is:
(a) to open with ""Allahu akbar"";
(b) to recite the Fatiha;
(c) to bow;
(d) to straighten up;
(e) to recite the Fatiha again;
(f) to bow again;
(g) to (0: straighten up and) remain motion ..
less a moment;
(h) and to prostrate, then sit up, and then prostrate again.
This is one rak'a, comprising standing twice, reciting (0: the Fatiha) twice, and bowing twice.
One then prays the second rak'a like the first.
It is not permissible to lengthen the amount of time one stands or bows merely because the eclipse has not yet passed, or to shorten the rak'as to less (0: than the above way after having intended it) because the eclipse has passed.
The optimal way is that after redting the Opening Supplication (Istiftah, def: fS.13), the Ta'awwudh (f8.16), and the Fatiha, one:
(a) recite aI .
Baqara (Koran 2) for the first Koran recital;
(b) recite Al 'Imran (Koran 3) after the second time one recites the Fatiha (A: in the first rak'a);
(A: then, in the second rak'a:)
(c) recite al-Nisa (Koran 4) for the third redtal;
(d) and recite al-Ma'ida (Koran 5) for the fourth recital.
Or one may recite comparable amounts of the Koran in place of the above suras.
One bows and says ""Subhana Rabbiya al-'Adhim"" (""How far above any limitation is my Lord Most Greaf') after the first of the four Koran recitals for a period equal to reciting one hundrcd verses of al-Baqara (N: about 20 minutes); after the second recital for the length of eighty of its verses; after the third for the length of seventy verses; and after the fourth for the length of fifty verses.
The other parts of the eclipse prayer are the same as other prayers.
After praying
it is recommended that the imam give two sermons like those of the Friday prayer (0; in integrals (def: f18.9) and conditions (f18.10), except that here the semons follow the prayer, as opposed to those of the Friday prayer, which precede it).
One may no longer perform the eclipse prayer if one has not yet begun it when the eclipse passes, when the sun sets while still eclipsed, or when the sun rises while the moon is still eclipsed.
But if one has begun the prayer and the eclipse passes or the sun sets while still in eclipse, one nevertheless completes the prayer.
*
The drought prayer is a confirmed sunna (def: c4.1) (0; even for someone travelling, or praying alone), and is recommended to be prayed in a group.
When the land is parched or the water supply is cut off or diminished, the imam (A: i.e
the caliph (def: 025) or his representative) warns people against wrongdoing and orders them to repent for their sins, give charity (0: because this influences the acceptance of prayers), settle their differences with enemies (0: if the enmity is not for Allah's sake
Otherwise, it is not objectionable, for severing ties with the corrupt is something that one should do), and fast for three days (0: which must be consecutive, for this is obligatory if the caliph orders it)
Then, on the fourth day while still fasting, they come out to an empty expanse (lit
""desert"") in their work clothes, accompanied by those of the women who do not have attractive figures (dis: f12.4(N:)), livestock, men and women advanced in years, infants and small children, the pious, and those related to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace); and they ask Allah to give them rain because of.those present(O: i.e
by virtue of their spiritual grace (baraka), interceding through them)
Each mentions to himself the good works he has done and intercedes through them.
Non-Muslim subjects ofthe Islamic state who attend are not hindered from doing so, but may not mix with us.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DROUGHT PRAYER The drought prayer consists of two rak'as like those ofthe 'Eid (def: f19.5).
The imam then gives two sermons like those of the 'Eid, except that in place of each Allahu Akbar (f19.7), the imam says, ""I ask forgiveness vf Allah Most Great
whom there is no god but He, the Living, the Ever Subsistent, and I tum to Him in repentance."" During the sermons, the imam frequently asks Allah's forgiveness (istighfar), blesses the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), supplicates Allah
and recites the verses, ""Ask forgiveness of your Lord-verily He is oft-forgiving-and He will loose the sky upon you in torrents, aid you with wealth and sons, and make gardens and rivers yours"" (Koran 71:10-12).
In the second sermon (0: about a third of the way through it) the imam turns toward the direction of prayer (qibla) and switches his cloak around (0: by putting the right side of it on his left and vice versa
It is also sunna to tum it upside down
Both sunnas can be effected by putting the lower left comer on the right shoulder and lower right comer on the left shoulder
The wisdom therein is the favorable portent of a change of state)
The people do likewise.
He should supplicate to his utmost
both to himself and aloud
(0: Those present raise their hands with the backs of the hands up
The sunna supplication is: ""0 Allah, send us rain, raining wholesomely, healthily
torrentially, widespread, pouringly, in sheets, drenchingly, continuously till Judgement Day
0 Allah, give us rain and make us not of those who despair
0 Allah, servants and cities are in distress, hunger, and want, from which we can ask none but You for relief
0 Allah, make the crops grow and the milk of the livestock flow, and send down the sky's blessings upon us and bring forth for us the blessings of the earth
Raise from us the affliction that none but You can lift
"") If they pray but are not given any rain, they repeat the prayer (0: until given rain)
If they prepare (0: and gather), but are given rain before the prayer, they pray in thanks and ask for more.
It is recommended for those whose land is flourishing to supplicate after prayers for those whose land is parehed
(0: This being the middle course
The minimum is to make a supplieation, while the optimum is to take the above measures of performing two rak'as with the two sermons, the supplications, and asking for forgiveness.)
At the first rainfall of the year, it is recommended to uncover part of the body for the rain to strike.
It is recommended to glorify Allah when thunder is heard (0: saying, ""Glory to Him the thunder and the angels glorify, in awe of Him,"") and when lightning is seen (0: saying, ""Glory to Him who shows you the lightning that you may have fear and hope"").
If it rains so much that harm is feared, it is recommended to supplicate as has come in the sunna: ""0 Allah, around us, not upon us
0 Allah, upon the hills and bluffs, the valley floors and copses of trees
"" *
It is recommended for everyone to frequently remember death, particularly if one is ill, and to prepare for it by repenting (def: p77) (0:
because of the hadith, ""Remember often the Ender of Pleasures,"" meaning death, a hadith related by Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban, and Hakim, the latter two classifying it as rigorously authenticated (sahih)
Nasa'i's version has the addition, ""for truly, it is not remembered in a plentitude save it diminishes it, and not remembered in a dearth save it increases it,"" ""plentitude"" meaning of wives and this-worldly goods, and ""dearth"" meaning of spiritual works).
It is recommended to visit the ill, even if the malady is only sore eyes, whether the person is a friend or enemy.
If the sick person is a non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state (dhimmi, def: 011) then if he is a rela.tive or neighbor, visiting him is recommended.
If not, visiting him is merely permissible.
It is offensive to sit lengthily with a sick person
It is recommended not to continuously visit (0: but only from time to time) unless one is a relative or similar person (0: of his friends) whom the sick person is fond of, or someone (0:
of the righteous) from whose presence others derive spiritual blessing (baraka), for any of whom visiting the sick person is recommended at any time as long as there is no objection (0: by the sick person to long visits).
If the visitor has hopes thatthe patient will survive, he supplicates for him (0: saying, ""0 Allah, Lord of Men, remove the harm and healfor You are the Healer besides whom there is no other-with a cure that will not leave behind pain or sickness,"") and then leaves
But if the visitor sees little hope of a recovery, he should encourage the sick person to repent and to make his bequests (def: Ll-3) (0: by telIing him, e.g
""You should repent of all your sins so that Allah Most High heals you, for repentance is reason for cures
And you should make some provision for bequests, as it prolongs one's life
A person should make bequests while alive and only die after having done so, for there is no one who does not pass on"").
INSTRUCTING THE DYING PERSON If the visitor sees the person is dying, he should make him desirous of Allah's mercy (0:
since hope should predominate over fear in this state) and should turn him to face the direction of prayer (qibla) by laying him on his right side, or if impossible, on his left
If this too is impossible, he is laid on hi!> hack (0: with his face and feet towards the direction of prayer (qibla) by propping up his head a little, feet meaning the bottoms of them).
The visitor should then instruct the dying per· son to say ""There is no god but Allah,"" letting him hear it (N: so he can repeat it) but without irritat· ing insistence, and without telling him ""Say ...
"" When he says it, then he is let be until he himself speaks of something else.
It is recommended that the person instructing him to say it be neither his heir nor enemy.
IMMEDIATE MEASURES AFTER DEATH When he dies, it is recommended that the kindliest to him of his unmarriageable kin (mahram) close his eyes
It is recommended:
(l) to close his jaws (0: with a wide bandage tied above his head so his mouth is not left open);
(2) to make his joints flexible (0: by bending the forearm to the upper arm, calf to thigh, thigh to stomach, and then straightening them, and to similarly flex the fingers in order to faeilitate washing and shrouding bim.1f the joints are flexed at this point, they remain flexible, but if not, it becomes impossible afterwards):
(3) to (0: gently) remove his clothes, and to cover him with a light cloth (0: tucking the edge under his head and feet so they do not beeome uncovered);
(4) and to place something heavy on his stomach (0: to prevent bloating).
It is recommended to hasten in paying off the debts of the deceased (dis: L4.2-3) or having them waived (n: by creditors)
It is recommended to hurry in implementing his bequests, and in readying him for burial (0: haste being recom· mended (N: in readying him and burying him) when it is unlikely that the body will rapidly change, but obligatory when this is likely).
When someone dies suddenly (0: or is believed to have died), the body is left until it is certain he is dead (0: by a change in odor or the like).
Washing the dead person, shrouding him, praying over him, carrying him, and burying him are communal obligations (def: c3.2).
*
Then the body is washed (0: obligatorily).
WHO SHOULD WASH THE BODY When the deceased is male, the best suited to wash the body (A: anyone may wash it, but it is not permissible (N: being offensive) for a nonMuslim to wash the body of a Muslim, and nonMuslim relatives are as though nonexistent in the following priority list) is:
(I) the father of the deceased;
(2) the father's father;
(3) the son;
(4) the son's son;
(5) the brother;
(6) the father's brother;
(7) the son of the father's brother;
(8) those named in the sequence given at L10.6(12-14);
(9) men related to the deceased;
(10) men not related to him;
(11) his wife;
(12) and his unmarriageable female relatives (mahram, def: m6.1).
If the deceased is female, the best suited to wash the body is:
(1) one of her female relatives (0: meaning the women of her immediate family, such as her daughter or mother);
(2) other women;
(3) her husband;
(4) and then a member of her unmarriageable male relatives (mahram,def: m6.2) (0: in the above (g2.2) order).
If the deceased is a non-Muslim, then his non-Muslim relatives are better suited to wash him.
It is recommended that the washer be trustworthy (0: so that he can be relied on to wash the deceased completely and so forth
If he notices something good, it is sunna to mention it, but if he notices something bad, it is unlawful to mention it, as this is slander (ghiba, def: r2.2)).
HOW TO WASH THE BODY It is obligatory for the washer to keep the nakedness (def: fS.3) of the deceased clothed (fSA) while washing him.
It is sunna that no one be present except the washer and his assistant
(0: It is preferable that the body be washed while clothed in an anklelength shirt into which the washer inserts his hand from the sleeve if ample enough, while pouring water over the garment and washing the body under it
If the sleeve is not wide enough for this, he tears open the seam from the side under the arm
It is obligatory that the body be covered from navel to knees.) Incense should be burned from the start of washing to the finish (0: as is sunna).
It is best to wash the body under a roof, and best that cold water be used, except when necessary (0: to heat it, such as to clean away filth that could not otherwise be removed, or when the weather is cold, since the deceased suffers from it just as a living person would).
It is unlawful to look at the nakedness of the deceased (def: f5.3) or touch it, except with a cloth (0: or similar, since direct contact without there being something in between is not permissible).
It is recommended not to look at or directly touch the other parts of the body save with a cloth.
It is recommended:
(1) to force out waste from the stomach;
(2) to clean the private parts of filth (0:
which is recommended when one is not certain anything has exited from those parts, though if it has, cleaning is obligatory);
(3) to give the body ablution (wudu) (0: like the ablution of a living person, turning the head when rinsing the mouth and nostrils so that no water reaches the stomach);
(4) to make the intention of performing the purificatory bath (ghusl), and then to wash the head, beard, and body each three times with water infused (with sidr (n: i.e
lote tree (Rhamus spina christi) leaves), taking care each time to press the hand on the stomach (N: in a downward stroke) (0: leaning on it to force its contents out, but gently so as not to hurt the deceased
If the hair of the head or beard is matted, it should be gently combed with a wide-toothed comb so as not to pull any out
If hair comes out as a result, the washer should return it and place it in the shroud to be buried with the deceased).
(0: It is sunna:
(1) that the place of washing be on an incline so the head is highest and the water flows down away from it;
(2) that there be an incense burner present with incense in it;
(3) to put one's right hand on the shoulder of the deceased with the thumb on the nape of his neck so that the head does not loll, and brace his back up against one's right knee;
(4) to have the helper pour abundant water during the process to obviate offensive odors from waste leaving the body;
(5) to stroke the stomach firmly and effectively with one's left hand;
(6) and when finished, to lay the deceased down again on his back with his feet towards the direction of prayer (qibla).)
If the body is not clean after three times, one washes it again, reaching an odd number of washings
(0: If clean after an even number of washings, it is sunna to add another
If clean after an odd number, one does not add any.)
It is sunna to add a little camphor to the water, especially for the last washing.
The obligatory minimum for this purificatory bath (ghusl) is that water reach all external parts of the body (0: and it is obligatory to remOVe any filth (najasa, def: e14.1), if present).
The body should be dried with a doth afterwards.
If anything leaves the body after washing, only the affected area need be washed
(0: It is not necessary to repeat the ablution (wudu) or bath (ghusl), even if the excretion is from the front or rear private parts.)
Then the body is shrouded (0: obligatorily).
If the deceased is male it is recommended that he be wrapped in three washed (0: not new) white shrouds, without an ankle-length shirt or turban, each shroud covering the whole body (0:
unless the deceased was in a state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram), in which case the head of the male or face of the female must be left uncovered)
It is permissible to add (0: beneath the shrouds) an ankle-length shirt and a turban
It is unlawful to use silk (N: to shroud a man).
If the deceased is a woman it is recommended that she be dressed in a wraparound, headcover, and a shift, and that she be wrapped in two shtouds (0: like those used for men in being white and washed), each of which covers her (0: entire body)
It is offensive for a woman's shroud to be made of silk, or fabric dyed with saffron or safflower.
The obligatory minimum for shrouding a man or woman is to completely cover their nakedness.
(0: For a man it is obligatory to cover the navel, the knees, and what lies between them, and for a woman, her entire body.)
It is recommended:
(1) to scent the shrouds with incense (0:
from aloes and the like);
(2) to sprinkle them with hunut (0: an aromatic compound of camphor, reed perfume, and red and white sandalwood) and camphor;
(3) to place cotton and hunut on the aperturesofthe body (0: such as the eyes, mouth, nostrils, and ears) and on places that touch the ground in prostration (0: the forehead, nose, palms, bottoms of the feet, and the knees);
(4) and it is commendable to perfume the entire body.
If a person dies while in a state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram, def: j3), it is unlawful to scent the body, to dress it in a garment with any sewing in it (A: if male), and to cover the head of a male's body or the face of a female's.
It is not recommended to prepare a shroud for oneself, unless to ensure that it comes from a lawful source or from the effects of a virtuous person (0: meaning those who worship much, or religious scholars who apply their knowledge in their lives
In such a case, one may procure it for the blessing therein (tabarruk, dis: w31)).
*
Then the deceased is prayed over (0:
obligatorily).
The obligation is fulfilled if a single Muslim male (0: who has reached the age of discrimination) prays over the deceased
It is not fulfilled by a prayer of women alone when there is a male available, though if there is no one besides women, they are obliged to pray and their prayer fulfills the obligation.
It is recommended to perform the funeral prayer in a group
It is offensive to pray it at a cemetery (0: though not in a mosque, which is preferable) .
WHO SHOULD LEAD THE FUNERAL PRAYER The person best suited to lead the funeral prayer as imam is the one who is best suited to wash the deceased (dis: g2.2) except for women, who have no right to lead (dis: f12.27)
The family member responsible for the deceased is given preference in leading the prayer even over the sultim (0: or imam of the mosque).
The older of two persons (0: meaning more years in Islam, provided he is upright (def: O24.4)) takes precedence over the more learned in Sacred Law (0: when they are at the same level (n: of the g2.2 precedence order), such as two sons or two brothers, since the purpose is to pray for the deceased, and the supplication of an older person is more likely to be answered) and (n: the older) is given precedence over any others (A: at that level), though ifthey are ofthe same age,then one is chosen according to the order used for the imamate of other prayers (def: f12.25).
The responsible family member is given precedence in leading the funeral prayer even when the deceased has stipulated some other nonfamily member to be the imam.
PLACING THE BODY FOR THEFUNERAL PRAYER It is recommended (N:in the funeral prayer itself, where the deceased, enshrouded, is on a bier in front of the imam and lying on his right side facing the direction of prayer (qibla)) that the imam stand by the head of the deceased, if male, and by the posterior, if female (0: because this better screens her from view).
If there are several bodies, it is best to perform a separate funeral prayer for each individual, though it is permissible to pray for all of them in a single prayer by putting the biers directly in front of the imam (0: one after another (N: parallel with the rows of worshippers), each body facing the direction of prayer (qibla))
The closest body to the imam (0: if the dead differ in gender) should be an adult male, then a boy, then a woman (0: though if all are male, all female, or all boys), then the best Muslim, then the next best (0: in piety, abstinence from this world, godfearingness, and all praiseworthy traits), and so forth.
If bodies are brought successively, the first one brought is placed closest to the imam, even if a prior arrival is less virtuous or is a boy, though not if a female, whose body should be placed further from the imam than that of a male brought subsequently.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FUNERAL PRAYER Then one intends to perfonn the prayer.
One must keep in mind its obligatory character, though need not explicitly intend it as a communal obligation (def: c3.2)
(0: One may confine oneself to merely intending to pray four Allahu Akbars over the particular deceased person as an obligatory act, without intending its being in fulfillment of a communal obligation
The intention must coincide with one's opening Allahu Akbar
) It is valid for someone to perform a funeral prayecfor a dead person who is absent (dis: g4.18) while following an imam who is praying over a dead person who is present.
One says ""Allahu akbar"" four times in the funeral prayer, raising one's hands (0: to shoulder level) at each one, and it is recommended between each one to fold the right hand over the left.
The funeral prayer is not invalidated by adding a fifth Allahu Akbar, even intentionally, though if the imam adds one the follower does not do likewise, but simply waits to finish with him when he says his Salams.
After the first Allahu Akbar it is obligatory to recite the Fatiha
It is recommended to say ""I take refuge, etc."" (Ta'awwudh, def: f8.16) before it and ""Ameen"" after it, though not to recite the Opening Supplication (Istiftah, f8.13) or a sura therein.
(A: It is obligatory that the Fatiha be recited in the funeral prayer and that the other spoken elements be uttered, but as for each occurring after its respective Allahu Akbar, the only one which must obligatorily be in its place is the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), which must come after the second Allahu Akbar.)
After the second Allahu Akbar (N: and one remains standing throughout the funeral prayer), it is obligatory to say the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), after which it is sunna to supplicate for the believers.
(0: It is also sunna to bless the folk of the Prophet after the blessings upon him (Allah bless him and give him peace) and to say ""al-Hamdu lillah"" before it.)
After the third Allahu Akbar one supplicates for the deceased
The recommended supplication is: ""0 Allah, this is Your slave, and son of Your slave
He has left the zephyr of this world and its spaciousness, in which were the things and people he loved, for the darkness of the grave and that whIch he will meet
He testified that there is no god but You alone without a partner, and that Muhammad is Your slave and messenger
You know him better than we
0 Allah, he has gone to remain with You, and You are the best to remain with
He is now in need of Your mercy, and You have no need to torment him
We come to You in desire for You, interceding for him
0 Allah, ifhe did well, treat him the better, and if he did wrong, disregard it and through Your mercy show him Your good pleasure and protect him from the trial and torment of the grave
Make his grave spacious for him and distance the earth from his sides, and through Your mercy protect him from Your torment until You raise him and send him safely to Your paradise, 0 Most Merciful of the Merciful
"" (n: This is the optimal supplication
The minimum is mentioned below at g4.13(f).)
It is commendable to say before the above: ""0 Allah, forgive those of us who are alive and those who are dead, those present and those absent, those who are young and those who are old, those who are male and those who are female.
o Allah, let those of us You give life live by Islam, and let those of us You take back die in a state of faith
"" If it is the funeral of a child, one may add to this: ""0 Allah, send him ahead to smoothe the way for his parents, and make him a reason for reward, a treasure, admonition, reflection, and intercessor
Make the scales of their good deeds heavy through him, and fill their hearts with patience.
"" After the fourth Allahu Akbar, it is sunna to say, ""0 Allah, do not withhold from us his recompense, nor try us after him, but forgive us and him."" Then one says ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" twrce (0: the first one being obligatory and the second sunna).
The integrals of the funeral prayer are seven:
(a) the intention;
(b) standing;
(e) saying ""Allahu akbar"" four times;
(d) the Fatiha;
(e) the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace);
(f) the supplication for the deceased, the minimum being ""0 Allah, forgive this deceased"";
(g) and the first of the two times one says ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" to finish the prayer.
The conditions of the funeral prayer are the same as other prayers (def: f9 .13), but in addition require:
(a) that the deceased's body has been washed before the prayer;
(b) and that the imam and those praying do not stand ahead of the body during the prayer (N:
i.e
closer to the direction of prayer (qibla)).
It is offensive to perform the funeral prayer over a body before it has been shrouded.
If someone dies under a pile of rubble, and it is impossible to take out the body and wash it (non-(a) above), then he is not prayed over.
A latecomer to the funeral prayer whom the imam has preceded by having already said ""Allahu akbar"" a number of times recites (0: the Fatiha) after his own opening Allahu Akbar
and then says ""Allahu akbar"" each time the imam does, though he performs the integrals in order from the point at which he began (0: reciting the Fatiha ·after his first Allahu Akbar, the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him' peace) after the second, and the supplication for the deceased after his third), and when the imam finishes with Salams, the latecomer goes on to complete his remaining number of times of saying ""Allahu akbar"" and the other spoken elements, and then finishes with his own Salams.
It is recommended that the body not be lifted until the latecomer finishes his prayer.
If the latecomer joins the group with his opening Allahu Akbar, and the imam immediately says the (0: second) Allahu Akbar (N: before the latecomer has had a chance to recite the Fatiha), then the latecomer (N: omits the Fatiha and) says ""Allahu akbar"" with the imam
Here, the latecomer has' performed the first two Allahu Akbars (0: both the second one which he performed with them, and the first one which lacked the Fatiha), and he is no longer obliged to recite the Fatiha
If the imam's Allahu Akbar occurs while such a latecomer is reciting the Fatiha, he discontinues it and says ""Allahu akbar"" with the imam.
If the imam says"" Allahu akbar"" and the follower does not say it until the imam has said it a second time, it invalidates the follower's prayer.
REPEATING THE FUNERAL PRAYER When one has performed a funeral prayer over someone, it is recommended that one not repeat it.
Someone who has missed praying (0: a funeral prayer until after the deceased has been buried) may pray it at the grave (0: and such a prayer is legally valid whether the deceased was buried before the funeral prayer had been performed over him, or whether after, though it is unlawful to bury a Muslim before his funeral prayer, and anyone who knows of it is guilty of a sin), but only on condition that the person praying at the grave had reached puberty and was sane on the day the deceased died (0: as he was thus one of those responsible for the communal obligation of praying over the deceased)
Otherwise, he may not pray there.
PRAYING OVER THE DEAD WHOARE NOT PRESENT It is permissible to perform the funeral prayer for an absent person whose body is out of town, even if not far (0: and even if the body is not in the direction of prayer (qibla) which the person praying faces (non-(g4.14(b)))
But such a prayer does not lift the communal obligation from the people ofthe town where the deceased died).
It is not permissible to perform the funeral prayer over someone who is absent (0: from the place of prayer) when the body is in the same town (A: though this is permissible if it is at the edge of a large city and is a problem to reach).
If part of the body of a person whose death has been verified is found, then it is obligatory to wash, shroud, and pray over it (0: even ifthe part is a fingernail or hair, as there is no difference between a little and a lot (A: provided that the part was separated from him after death (N: and provided the rest of him has not been prayed over, for if it has, then it is not obligatory to pray over the part))).
BURYING MARTYRS It is unlawful to wash the body of a martyr (0: even if in a state of major ritual impurity Ganaba) or the like) or perform the funeral prayer over him
A martyr (shahid) means someone who died in battle with non-Muslims (0: from fighting them, as opposed to someone who died otherwise, such as a person killed out of oppression when not in battle, or who died from fighting non polytheists, such as (N: Muslim) transgressors).
It is recommended that war gear be removed from the body (0: such as a breastplate and the like), and it is best to bury the martyr in the rest of his bloodstained clothes (0: since it is the effect of worship), though the responsible family member may nevertheless remove the garments and shroud the body before burial.
BURYING THE STILLBORN A premature baby (A: meaning one born before six full months) that dies is treated as an adult if it gave a cry (0: sneeze, or cough when it left the mother) or showed movement (0: treated as an adult meaning it is obligatory to wash, shroud, pray over, and bury the baby, since its life and death have been verified)
If it did not, then:
(1) if it had reached four months in the womb (0: which is the time at which the spirit is breathed into it) then it is washed before burial but not prayed over;
(2) but if it had not, it is only obligatory to bury it.
CARRYING THE DECEASED TO THE GRAVE The burial should take place immediately after the funeral prayer and not be delayed to wait for anyone besides the responsible family member, provided he is (0: reasonably) nearby, if it is not to be feared that the condition of the body will change (0: though if this is feared, then the family member is not awaited).
It is best that the bier be carried by its poles, sometimes by four (O: men) (N: one pole on the shoulder of each, the poles being parallel with the bier and supporting it, two ends forward and two ends aft) and sometimes by five, the fifth man between the two forward poles
It is recommended that the bearers walk faster than usual, though they should not trot.
It is recommended for men to follow the bier to the place of burial close enough behind to be considered part of the funeral procession
It is offensive to follow it with fire or incense burners, which are likewise offensive at the burial.
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Then the deceased is buried (0: obligatorily).
It is best to bury him in the cemetery .
It is unlawful to bury someone where another person has been buried unless the previous body is completed disintegrated (0: such that nothing of it remains, neither flesh nor bone).
It is also unlawful to bury two people in the same grave unless absolutely necessary, as when there has been much killing or death, in which case a wall of earth is made between the two bodies as a barrier
If the bodies differ in gender, this is even more imperative, especially when two people (0: of the same gender or not) are not related.
If someone dies ona ship and it is impossible to bury him on land, the body is placed (0: tightly lashed) between two planks (0: to obviate bloating) and thrown into the sea (0: so that it reaches shore, even if the inhabitants are non-Muslims, since a Muslim might find the body and bury it facing the direction of prayer (qibla)).
DIGGING THE GRAVE The obligatory minimum for a grave is that it conceal the odor of the body and that it protect it from (0: being dug up and eaten by) animals.
It is recommended to dig the grave wider than the obligatory minimum and that its depth equal the height of an average man with his arm fully extended upward.
A lahd (0: i,e, a grave with a lateral hollow large enough for the body dug into the side of the bottom of the grave that is towards the direction of prayer (qibla)) is superior to ashaqq (0: meaning a simple trench dug down into the middle of the floor of the grave with low block walls raised along the trench's sides, in which the deceased is placed before the walls are ceilinged with blocks (N: and the earth is shovelled back into the grave on top of them)), unless the earth is soft, in which case the shaqq is preferable (0: so as not to cave in on the deceased).
It is offensive to bury the deceased in a coffin (0: or to put in a pillow for him, because all of this wastes money without being of any benefit) unless the earth is soft (0: quick to fall) or moist (0: in which cases it is not offensive
If otherwise, then even if a coffin was stipulated by the deceased in his will, it is not provided),
BURYING THE BODY Men should bury the dead, even if the deceased is female, in which case the best suited is the husband, if able, and then (n: for either sex) those listed in the funeral prayer preference order (g4.3) , except that (A: when two are on the same level, such as two sons Or brothers) the most learned in Sacred Law is preferred to the oldest, unlike the order for the prayer (0: the purpose thereof being knowledge of the rules of burial, which a learned person is likely to know better than others).
It is recommended that the number of men (0: burying the deceased) be an odd number.
It is preferable to conceal it (0: the grave) with a cloth while placing the body in it (N: a blanket is stretched over the grave about half a meter above the level of the ground, helpers holding each corner, while another person stands down in the grave at the foot end, ready to take the body from the bier)
(0; This is especially necessary when burying a female, and is done because something might be disclosed of the deceased that is desirable to conceal.)
The head of the deceased is placed near the foot of the grave (0: foot meaning the end which will accomodate the feet when the body is in place), and the body is slid from the bier headfirst.
It is recommended for the person burying the deceased (N: who is standing in the grave taking the body, and there may be more than one):
(I) to say (0; to the deceased), ""'In the name of Allah and according the religion of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)"";
(2) to supplicate Allah for (0: the forgiveness of) the deceased;
(3) to place a block as a pillow for him, and to pull back the shroud enough to lay his cheek directly on the surface of the block (0: as it is more expressive of lowliness);
(4) and to place the deceased upon his right side.
It is obligatory that the body be placed facing the direction of prayer (qibla) (0: and this is absolutely necessary
If buried facing the other way, or lying on his back, he is disinterred and reburied facing the direction of prayer).
The lateral hollow dug into the side of the grave (N: in the lahd (def: g5.2)) for the body is walled up with blocks (A: after the body has been placed in it, before filling in the grave
It is sunna to use nine blocks).
The person at the graveside sprinkles three scoops of earth (0: using two hands) into the grave
(0: it is sunna to say with the first, ""Of it We created you all,"" with the second, ""To it We shall make you all return,"" and with the third, ""And from it We shall bring you forth again"" (Koran 20:55).)
Then the grave is filled in, using shovels, after which one stays for a moment:
(1) to instruct the deceased (dis: w32) (N:
the answers he will need to know when Munkar and Nakir (u3.3) question him in the grave as to his Lord, religion, and prophet);
(2) to supplicate for him (0: such as to say:
""0 Allah, make him steadfast
0 Allah, teach him his plea"");
(3) and to ask forgiveness for him.
THE FINISHED GRAVE One should raise the grave's surface (0:
up to) 1 span (n: about 23 em.) above the ground (0: so that it can be known, visited, and respected), except in countries at war with the Muslims (0: where it is not raised but rather concealed, so as not to be meddledwith), and to make its top flat is better (0: than mounding it)
No earth should be added (0: when levelling it) to what was excavated from it
It is recommended to sprinkle water over the grave and to put pebbles on it.
It is offensive:
(1) to whiten the grave with plaster.
(2) to build (0: a cupola or house) over it;
(3) to put khaluq (0: a perfume) on the grave (0: as it is of no benefit and wastes money) or rose water;
(4) to plaee an inseription on it (0: whether it is the name of the deceased or something other, on a board at the head of the grave or on something else; unless the deceased is a friend of Allah (wali, def: w33) or religious scholar, in which case his name is written so that he may be visited and honored, it then not being offensive);
(5) or to put a pillow or mattress under the deceased.
VISITING GRAVES It is recommended for men to visit graves (dis: w34) (0: of Muslims, especially on Fridays.
As for visiting graves of non-Muslims, it is merely permissible
The spirit of the dead person has a connection with his grave that is never severed, but is stronger from the midafternoon prayer ('asr) on Thursday until sunrise on Saturday, which is why people often visit graves on Friday and on Thursday afternoon).
There is no harm in wearing one's shoes when visiting (0: to walk between graves)
The visitor walks up to the grave as close as he would if the deceased were alive, and says, ""Peace be unto you, abode of a believing folk; Allah willing, we will be joining you."" It is sunna to recite (0: as much of the Koran as is easy) and to supplicate Allah (0: to forgive the deceased, while facing the direction of prayer, as supplications benefit the dead and are more likely to be answered if made after reciting the Koran)
(n: w35 discusses whether the spiritual reward for reciting the Koran may be donated to the deceased.)
It is offensive for women to visit graves (0: because of their lack of fortitude and exces- sive grief, though this does not apply to visiting the Prophet's tomb (Allah bless him and give him peace) which they should do
And like the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in this is their visiting the graves of the prophets, righteous, and learned).
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It is recommended to console all the relatives of the deceased, except young women who are not (0: the consoler's) unmarriageable kin (0: since only her unmarriageable relatives (mahram, def: m6.2) may console her, console meaning to enjoin steadfastness and encourage it by mentioning the reward in the hereafter, to warn against overburdening oneself with grief, and to pray for forgiveness for the deceased and thc lightening of the burden of those bearing the misfortune) when there has been a death in the family, for approximately three days after the burial.
It is offensive to sit for it (0: that is, for the extended family of the deceased to be seated and gather in one place for people to comc and console them, because it is an innovation (muhdath, syn.
bid'a, def
w29.3) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not do, nor those after him
It is offensive for either men or women).
If one is absent (0: whether one is the consoler or person to be consoled) and then arrives after a period (0: of three days), one should console (N: the deceased's relatives) or be consoled (N: if one ofthem).
It is recommended to say:
(1) to a Muslim who has lost a Muslim relative, ""May Allah greaten your reward, perfect your consolation, and forgive your deceased"";
(2) to a Muslim who has lost a non-Muslim relative, ""May Allah greaten your reward and perfect your consolation"";
(3) and to a non-Muslim who has lost a Muslim relative, ""May Allah perfect your consolation and forgive your deceased.""
It is permissible to weep before someone dies, but better not to afterwards (0: since the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) wept for his son Ibrahim before his death
It is only considered better not to weep afterwards because it is sorrow for something that has already pas,sed).
It is unlawful to eulogize the dead, lament in a raised voice, slap one's cheeks (n: as a display of grief), rend one's garments, or dishevel one's hair.
It is recommended for distant relatives and neighbors to prepare enough food for the deceased's close family relatives to suffice them for a day and night, and to urge them to eat.
For the deceased's family to prepare food and gather people over it is an unpraiseworthy innovation (bid'a, def: w29.3).
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«Muhammad Shirbini Khatib:) Lexically, zakat means growth, blessings, an increase in good, purification, or praise
In Sacred Law it is the name for a particular amount of property that must be payed to certain kinds of recipients under the conditions mentioned below
It is called zakat because one's wealth grows through the blessings of giving it and the prayers of those who receive it, and because it purifies its giver of sin and extolls him by testifying to the genuineness of his faith (al-Iqna' fi hall alfaz Abi Shuja' (y7) , 1.183).)
Zakat is obligatory:
(a) for every free Muslim (0: male, female, adult, or child);
(b) who has possessed a zakat-payable amount (Ar
nisab, the minimum that necessitates zakat, def: for livestock h2.4-S; for grain and dried foodstuffs h3.4; for gold, silver, and other money h4.2; and for trade goods hS.I);
(c) for one lunar year.
Non-Muslims are not obliged to pay zakat, nor apostates from Islam (murtadd, def:
08) unless they return to Islam, in which case they must pay for the time they spent out of Islam, though if they die as non-Muslims their property is not subject to zakat (N: because their property is considered to belong to the Muslim common fund (bayt ai-mal) from the moment such people leave Islam).
The guardian of a child or insane person is obliged to pay zakat from their property (N: if they owe any)
It is a sin for the guardian not to pay the zakat due on their property, and when the child or insane person becomes legally responsible (0: upon reaching puberty or becoming sane), he is obliged to pay the amount that his guardian neglected to pay (0: ofzakat in the past).
Zakat is due from the owner of property that has been:
(1) wrongfully seized from him;
(2) stolen;
(3) lost;
(4) fallen into the sea;
(5) or loaned to someone who is tardy in repayment;
-only if the owner regains possession of it, whereupon he must pay zakat on it for the whole time it was out of his hands (0: for the year or years that no zakat was paid on the absent property, since his having regained it establishes that it belonged to him the whole time, and his ownership of it is not vitiated by the mere fact of its not having been in his possession during these years, provided that it has remained a zakat-payable amount (nisab) during them
If it has diminished through expenditure to less than the zakatpayable amount, then no zakat need be paid on it), If the owner cannot regain the property, there is no zakat on it.
If a landlord rents someone a house for two years for 40 dinars, which he accepts in advance and retains possession of until the end of the two years, then at the end of the first of the two years he only pays zakat on 20 dinars, but at the end ofthe second year he pays one year's zakat on the 20 which he paid zakat on at the end ofthe first year (N: as the 20 has now been in his possession a second year) and pays two years' zakat on the 20 for which he did not previously pay zakat (N: as it has remained in his possession for two full years).
Someone with only the zakat-payable amount (0: of gold or silver) must pay zakat on this amount even when he is in debt for an amount equal to it, for debts do not remove the obligation ofzakat.
Zakat is not due on anything besides:
(1) livestock (def: h2.1);
(2) (n: some) food crops (h3.2);
(3) gold and silver (A: or their monetary equivalents);
(4) trade goods;
(5) mined wealth (n: meaning gold or silver exclusively, as at h6.1 );
(6) and wealth from treasure troves (A:
buried in pre-Islamic times).
Zakat is paid from the property itself, though it is permissible to take it from another lot of property (N: on condition that the amount paid is from the Same type of property (n: of the five types mentioned above) that the zakat is due on, such that one may not, for example, pay money for zakat due on wheat (n: but must pay wheat
An exception to this is trade goods, which are appraised, and zakat may be paid on them with money, as at h5.1(0:) below)).
THE ZAKA T YEAR By the mere fact that a full lunar year transpires (0: i.e
begins and ends while zakatpayable property is in the owner's possession), the poor now own the portion of it that the owner is obliged to pay aszakat
Thus, if someone has had 200 dirhams (n: the minimal zakat-payable amount of silver) in his possession for years without paying zakat, he is only obliged to pay zakat on it for the first year (0: because after that year, the amount owned by the poor (n: 5 dirhams) has diminished the money he possesses to less than the zakat-payable amount).
If all one's property were destroyed after having been in one's possession a full year but before it was possible to pay zakat (0: to deserving recipients), then there is no obligation to pay zakat on it (0: because it was destroyed through no fault of the owner); but if only part of the property has been destroyed, such that this diminishes the rest to less than the zakat-payable amount, then one must take the percentage due on the original amount (n:
2.5 percent, for example) from the remaining property, and no zakat is paid on the amount destroyed.
If all or part of one's property is destroyed after having been in one's possession a full year and after it was possible to have paid zakat on it (0: by there being both property and recipients), then one must pay the zakat due on both the remainder and the property destroyed.
Zakat is not obligatory if a person's ownership of the property ceases during the year, even if only for a moment, and it then returns to his possession;
or if it does not return; or if the person dies during the year.
The zakat year begins on property purchased or inherited when the buyer or inheritor takes possession of it, though if a person relinquishes his ownership of property during the zakat year merely to avoid paying zakat on it, this is offensive (0: as the learned differ about its unlawfulness).
The more reliable opinion is that it is unlawful, though the transaction would be legally valid (dis: c5.2)
But if such a person sells the property after possessing it a full year and before paying zakat on it (0: as when he sells it all, or sells part and the rest is not enough to require zakat), then the sale of the proportion of the property that was owed as zakat is invalid (0: because it belonged to someone else (n: i.e
the recipients, as at h1.9), and it is not valid to sell another's property without his consent), although the sale of the proportion of the property that was not owed as zakat is valid.
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Zakat on livestock is restricted to camels, cattle, sheep, and goats.
Zakat is obligatory when one has owned:
(a) a zakat-payable number of livestock;
(b) for one year;
(c) and has been grazing them (n: on unowned open range, as discussed below) for the entire year.
There is no zakat on work animals
for example, those trained to plow or bear loads (0:
since the purpose in having them is utility, like clothes or household furnishings
and is not production).
Grazing means they have been grazed on open range pasturage (0: open range excluding pasturage growing on land that a person owns (A:
as it would then be considered fodder))
If the livestock have been given fodder for a period long enough that they would have been unable to survive had they not eaten during it, then there is no zakat on them,
though if fed with it for less than such a period, then this does not affect the necessity of paying zakat on them
(A: There is no zakat on cattle that have been solely fed fodder or grain.
even if they could have otherwise been grazed.)
(n: It is religiously more precautionary (def:c6.5) and of greater benefit to the poor to follow Imam Malik on this question
Malik holds that zakat is obligatory whenever one has possessed a zakat-payable number of livestock for a year, whether or not they are work animals, and whether they have been grazed on open pasturage or fed with fodder for the entire year (a/-Sharh aisaghir 'ala Aqrab al-masalik ila madhhab a/-Imam Malik (y35) , 1.592).)
ZAKAT ON CAMELSZAKAT ON CATTLE For cattle, the minimum on which zakat is payable is 30 head, for which it is obligatory to pay a yearling, meaning a male calf in its second year (A: though a female may take its place, being worth more).
The zakat due on 40 head is a two-year-old female that has entered its third year (A: a male will not suffice).
The zakat on 60 head is 2 yearling males.
Zakat on additional numbers is figured in the same way: on 30 head, a yearling male, and on 40 head, a two-year-old female (N: according to which of the two alternatives accommodates the last 10 head (dis: h2.6).
ZAKA T ON SHEEP AND GOATS For sheep or goats (n: the Arabic ghanam meaning both), the minimum on which zakat is payable is 40, on which it is obligatory to pay ii shah, meaning either a one-year-old sheep (0: in its second year) or a two-year-old goat (0: in its third year)
The zakat on 121 sheep or goats is 2 shahs, on 201 sheep or goats is 3, on 400 sheep or goats is 4, and for every additional 100 the zakat is 1 shah.
CALCULATING THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS Numbers (0: of camels, cattle, or sheep) which are between zakat quantities (N: i.e
which number more than the last relevant zakat quantity but do not amount to the next highest one) are not counted, and no zakat is due on them.
New offspring of a zakat-payable quantity of livestock that are born during the year are counted for the zakat of the year their mothers are currently in, no matter whether their mothers survive or die
Thus, if one owned 40 sheep or goats which gave birth to 40 young a month before the year's end, but .then the 40 mothers died, one's zakat on the offspring would be 1 shah.
If a group of livestock are all female, or are both male and female, then only a female animal may be paid as zakat, except as mentioned above (h2.4) for 30 cattle
where a yearling male is acceptable.
If a group of livestock are all male, then a male animal may be paid as zakat.
If all the livestock are below the minimum age that may be given as zakat (def: h2.4-5), then one of them is given anyway
But if the herd is mixed
with only some of them underage, then only an animal of the acceptable age may be paid.
If the animals of the herd are defective, an animal is taken which is of the average defectiveness (0: of the group, defective meaning with defects that permit return for refund when sold as merchandise (def: k5.3)).
If the herd is composite, such as sheep and goats, then either kind may be paid as zakat, though the value of the animal given must correspond to the average value of the members of the herd.
The following are not taken as zakat unless the owner wishes to give them:
(1) a pregnant female (0: because of its superiority) ;
(2) one that has given birth (0: because of the high yield of milk);
(3) a stud (0: as it is for insemination, and the owner would suffer its loss);
(4) a superior quality animal;
(5) or one fattened for eating.
ZAKA T ON JOINTLY OWNED PROPERTY ORVENTURES WITH SHARED FACILITIES Two people pay zakat jointly as a single person if:
(I) they jointly own a zakat-payable amount of livestock or something else (0: such as fruit', grain, money, or trade goods), as when two people inherit it;
(2) or when the property is not jointly owned, as when each owner has, for example, 20 head of sheep(N: of a herd amounting to the zakat minimum of 40), but they share the same place to bed them down, to gather them before grazing, to pasture, water, or milk them, or share the same stud, employ the same shepherd, or similar, such as having the same watchman (0: for orchards and fields), the same drying or threshing floor (0:
for fruit or grain), the same store, or the same warehouse.
*
(N: The rulings of this section apply to the farmers who raise the crops
As for those who buy agricultural produce with the intention to sell it, their produce is no longer considered as crops are, but is rather a type of trade goods, and the zakat on it must be paid accordingly (def: hS).)
There is no zakat on grains or legumes except the staple types that people cultivate, dry, and store, such as wheat, barley, millet, rice, lentils, chickpeas, broad beans, grass peas, and Sana'i wheat.
There is no zakat on fruit except for raw dates and grapes (0: the zakat on grapes being taken in raisins, and on dates, in cured dates)
There is no zakat on vegetables
Nor is there zakat on seasonings such as cumin or coriander (0: sincc the aim in using them is preparation of food, not nourishment).
One is obliged to pay zakat as soon as one possesses the zakat-payable amount (def: below) of grain, or when the ripeness and wholeness of a zakat-payable amount of dates or grapes is apparent.
Otherwise, one is not obliged.
THE ZAKAT·PAYABLE AMOUNT OF CROPS The minimal quantity on which zakat is payable for crops is 609.84 kilograms of net dried weight, free of husks or chaff, though for rice and Sana'i wheat
which are stored in the kernal, the zakat minimum, including husks, is 1219.68 kilograms of dried weight.
Zakat is not taken from grain until it has been winnowed (0: made free ofstraw), norfrom fruits until they are dried (n: made into raisins and dates).
The produce for the entire year (N: i.e
the agricultural year) is added together in calculating the zakat minimum (N: when, for example
the season's first crop alone is less than the zakat minimum)
When one crop is harvested after another--due to varietal differences or the location of the two fields-in the same year, and of the same kind of crop (n: such as spring wheat and winter wheat), zakat is payed from them as if they were a single quantity
Different varieties of grain are also calculated additively when harvested at the same time, though the fruit or grain of one year is not added to thc fruit or grain of a different year.
Grapes are not calculated cumulatively with dates, nor wheat with barley (0: as they are different from one another).
The zakat for crops that have been watered without effort, as by rain and the like, is 10 percent of the crop (N: i
e
of the net dried storage weight of the grain, raisins, or dates)
The zakat for crops that have been watered with effort, such as on land irrigated by ditches (0: or a waterwheel) is 5 percent of the crop.
If a crop has been raised without irrigation for part of the year and irrigated for part of it, then the zakat is adjusted (0: according to the period, meaning how much of the time the fruit or crops were growing)
(N: It is more reliable to consult agricultural experts as to how much of the crop's water came from rain and how much came from irrigation
If 50 percent of the water came from each, for example, one would pay 7.5 percent of the crop as zakat, as this is the mean between the above two percentages.)
After one has paid zakat once on a crop (N: if one is the farmer), there is nothing further due on it (0: as there is no repetition of zakat on one's crops when they are in storage, unlike the repetition of it on money), even if it remains in one's possession for years.
It is unlawful for the grower to consume dates or grapes or otherwise dispose of them or sell them before they have been assessed (0: i.e.
estimated as to how much there is, and the owner made responsible for the portion to be paid as zakat), and if he does, he is responsible for the loss (0: since part of it belongs to the poor (dis: h1.9)) .
If an act of God destroys the fruit after assessment, there is no zakat on it.
*
Zakat is obligatory for anyone who has possessed the zakat-payable amount of gold or silver for one year.
THE ZAKAT-PAYABLE AMOUNTS OFGOLD, SILVER, AND 0THER MONEY The zakat-payable minimum for gold is 84.7 grams, on which 2.1175 grams (2.5 percent) is due
The zakat-payable minimum for silver is 592.9 grams, on which 14.8225 grams (2.5 percent) is due
There is no zakat on less that this.
(N: One must pay zakat (n: 2.5 percent) on all money that has been saved for a year if it equals at least the market value of 592.9 grams of silver (n:
that is current during the year)
While there is a considerable difference between the value of the gold zakat minimum and the silver zakat minimum, the minimum for monetary currency should correspond to that of silver, since it is better for the poor.)
Zakat is exacted proportionately (2.5 percent) on any amount over these minimums, whether the gold or silver is in coins, ingots, jewelry prepared for uses that are unlawful or offensive (dis: f17.6,8,1l), or articles which are permanent acquisitions.
There is no zakat on (n: gold or silver) jewelry that is for permissible use.
*
A zakat of 2.5 percent (0: like that of gold and silver, as merchandise is assessed according to its value in them) is obligatory for anyone who:
(a) has possessed trade goods for a year (n:
whether the merchandise itself remains, or whether there is sale and replacement, as below at h5.4-5);
(b) whose value (n: at the zakat year's end, as at h5.3) equals or exceeds the zakat minimum (N: 592.9 grams of silver if bought with monetary currency or silver, and 84.7 grams of gold if bought with gold, these being reckoned according to the values of silver and gold existing during the year);
provided:
(c) that the trade goods have been acquired through a transaction (0: such as a purchase, or acquired by a woman as her marriage payment (mahr, def: m8), or received as a gift given in return for something else (dis: k31.4), or such as articles rented from someone in order to rent them out to others at a profit, or land rented from someone in order to rent it out to others at a profit);
Cd) and that at the time of acquisition, the owner intended to use the goods for trade.
There is no zakat on trade goods if (non·(c) above) the owner acquired them by estate division (irth, def: Ll) or received them as a gift, or if (non( d)) he acquired them by purchase but at the time did not intend using them for trade.
THE BEGINNING OF THE ZAKAT YEAR FORTRADE GOODS When the owner buys trade goods that cost (N: at least) the gold or silver zakat minimum, the year of the merchandise's possession is considered to have begun at the beginning of the gold or silver's zakat year (N: so that a merchant's zakat is figured yearly on his total business capital and goods).
But the year of the merchandise's possession is considered to have begun at the moment of purchase if:
(1) the owner has bought the merchandise for less than the zakat minimum (0: provided the price of the new merchandise plus his remaining money do not amount to the zakat minimum);
, (2) or he has bought it (N: in exchange) for nonmonetary goods (N: provided these are not also trade goods, as at h5.4, for if they are, the zakat year cO!1tinues from the zilkat year of the previous goods).
ESTIMATING WHETHER THE VALUE OF ONE'STRADE GOODS AMOUNTS TO THE ZAKATMINIMUM OR NOT Merchandise is appraised (A: at its current market value) at the end of the zakat year:
(1) in terms of the same type of money that it was purchased with, if bought with money (N: i.e.
if purchased with silver or monetary currency, we see if the merchandise's market value at the year's end has reached the silver zakat minimum (def: h5.1(b));
or if with gold, we see if its market value has reached the gold minimum) even if it had been purchased for less than the zakat minimum (N: at the beginning of the year) (0: so that if it has now readied the value of the zakat minimum, one pays zakat on it, and if not, then there is no zakat);
(2) or in terms of its value in local monetary currency, if the merchandise was acquired by other than paying money for it (0: such as in exchange for goods, or acquired by a woman.as her marriage payment (mahr), or by a husband in exchange for releasing his wife from marriage (def: n5))
If its value equals the zakat minimum (h5.1(b)), then zakat is paid
But if not, then there is no zakat on it until the end of the next year, when it is reappraised and zakat is paid if its value amounts to the zakat minimum, and so on (N: in the following years).
It is not a condition that the value of the trade goods amount to the zakat minimum except at the end of the year (0: not at the beginning, middle, or during the whole of the year).
If trade goods are exchanged for other trade goods during the course of the year, this does not interrupt their possession (0: because zakat on merchandise is based on the value, and the value of the previous merchandise and the new merchandise is the same, so the year of its possession is not interrupted by merely transferrring it from one set of goods to another), though the zakat year of the funds which a professional money changer exchanges for other funds is interrupted by each exchange (N: and he pays no zakat as long as he keeps changing his business capital).
If merchandise is sold during the zakat year at a profit and its price is kept until the end of the year, then zakat on the merchandise's original value is paid at the end of that zakat year, but the zakat on the profit is not paid until the profit has been possessed for a full year.
(n: A second position in the Shafj'j school is that the zakat on the profit is simply paid in the current zakat year of the merchandise, just as one pays zakat on the offspring of livestock (dis: h2.7) in the current year of their mothers (Mughni almuhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73),
1.399).)
A zakat of 2.S percent is immediately due on:
(a) the zakat minimum or more of gold or silver (def: h4.2) (0: gold or silver excluding anything else, such as iron, lead, crystal, turquoise, cornellian, emerald, antimony, or other, on which there is no zakat);
(b) extracted from a mine (0: i.e
a site at which Allah has created gold or silver) located on land permissible for the miner to work or owned by him;
(c) and that this amount of ore has been gathered by working the site one time
or several times uninterrupted by abandoning or neglecting the project.
The zakat is only paid after the ore is refined into metal.
If the person stops working the site for a justifiable reason
such as to travel (0: not for recreation, but for something such as an illness) or to fix equipment, then he adds (0: the ore collected after the interruption to that collected before
in calculating the zakat minimum).
Ore found on someone else's land belongs to the owner of the land.
ZAKAT ON TREASURE TROVES An immediate zakat of 20 percent is due when one finds a treasure trove that was buried in pre-Islamic times (N: or by non-Muslims, ancient or modern) if it amounts to the zakat minimum (def: h4.2) and the land is not owned
If such a treasure is found on owned land, it belongs to the owner of the land
If found in a mosque or street, or if it was buried in Islamie times, it is considered as a lost and found article (def: k27).
*
The zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr is obligatory for every free Muslim, provided:
(a) that one has the necessary amount (0:
2.03 liters of food);
(b) and that on the night before the 'Eid and on the 'Eid itself, this is in excess of what one needs to feed oneself and those whom one is obliged to support (def: mI2.1), what one needs to clothe them, and in excess of one's debts and housing expenses.
If one's excess amounts to only part of the required zakat, one must pay as much of it as one has.
PAYING THE ZAKAT OF 'EID AL-FITR FORONE'S DEPENDENTS Someone obligated to pay the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr must also pay it for every person he is obliged to support, such as his wife and family (0:
e.g
his young son, grandson, father, or mother), if they are Muslim and if he has enough food (0:
2.03 liters per person above his own expenses and theirs), though he is not obliged to pay it for his father's wife when supporting his father because of the father's financial difficulties, even though he is obliged to support her (dis: ml2.S).
If one is obligated to pay the zakat of
Eid al-Fitr but only has enough to pay part of it, then one begins by paying one's own, then that of one's wife, young child, father, mother, and then one's adult son (0: without an income, as when he is chronically ill or insane, for otherwise one is not obligated to support him).
A wealthy woman married to a man too poor to pay her 'Eid al-Fitr zakat is not obliged to pay her own (A: though it is sunna for her to pay this and all forms of zakat to her husband, even if he spends it on her).
The zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr becomes obligatorv when the sun sets on the night before the 'Eid (n:- meaning on the evening of the last day of Ramadan).
WHAT TYPE OF FOOD MUST BE GIVEN The zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr consists of 2.03 liters of the main staple of the area in which it is given, of the kinds of crops on which zakat is payable (def: h3.2)
(A: If the main staple is bread, as in many countries, only wheat may be given, and is what is meant by the expression giving food here and in all texts below dealing with expiations (e.g.
j3.22(2)).) (N: The Hanafi school permits paying the poor the wheat's value in money, both here and for expiations.) It is permissible to give the best quality of the staple food ofthe area, but not to give less than the usual quality (0: such as by giving barley where wheat is the main staple).
It is permissible to give the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr(N: to deserving recipients (dis: h8.26)) anytime during Ramadan, though the best time is on the day of 'Eid al-Fitr before the
prayer (def:
f19.1)
It is not permissible to delay giving it until after the day of the 'Eid (0: that is, one may give it until sunset), and is a sin to delay until after this, and one must make it up (N: by paying it late).
*
It is unlawful to delay paying what is due from a zakat-payable amount of property when:
(a) it has been possessed for one year;
(b) one can find the (0: eight) categories (0:
of eligible recipients, or some of them) so as to be able to pay it;
(c) and the property is present (0: within Sl km.l50 mi.);
-unless one is awaiting a poor person more deserving than those present, such as a relative (0: of the person paying zakat whom he is not obliged to support), a neighbor, or a more righteous or needy person (0: than those present.
Under these circumstances it is not unlawful to delay giving it because there is an excuse, unless withholding it involves considerable harm for those present).
PAYING ZAKAT IN ADVANCE Zakat, on all types of property that 'a year's possession of the zakat minimum makes giving obligatory, may be payed for the current year (A: alone) before the year's end whenever the property owner possesses the zakat minimum, This zakat in advance is considered valid only when the year ends and:
(a) the recipient it still among the types eligible for zakat (0: meaning, for example, that his state has not changed from poverty to wealth);
(b) the zakat giver is still obliged to pay it;
(c) and the property is still as it was (0: i.e.
the zakat minimum still exists and has not been destroyed or sold), The zakat in advance is not valid if (N: before the end of the year):
(I) (non-(a) above) the poor person who accepted it dies, or becomes financially independent for some other reason than having accepted the zakat;
(2) (non-(b)) the giver dies;
(3) or (non-(c)) the property diminishes to less than the zakat minimum by more than the amount given in advance (0: such as when the giver takes out 5 dirhams as zakat in advance from 200 dirhams, but his holdings are subsequently reduced by 10 (N: to 190 dirhams, which is less than the zakat minimum)), even when this reduction is because of sale.
When the zakat in advance is not valid, the giver may take it back if he has explained that the money has been given in advance (0: by merely having said, ""This is my zakat in advance,"" or if the recipient knows it)
If what was given as zakat still exists, the recipient gives it back together with any increment organically connected with it, such as additional weight gained by a head of livestock while in the recipient's possession
But the property owner is not entitled to take back an increment that is not organically connected to the zakat, such as its offspring (0: born from the animal while in the recipient's possession).
If the zakat given in advance no longer exists, then the giver is entitled to take back a substitute (0: whether it be the substitute for a commodity that is fungible (mithli, def: k20.3(1)), such as silver dirhams, or whether for a nonfungible (mutaqawwim) commodity such as sheep or goats, in which case its price is the market value at the time the zakat in advance was accepted, not the time it ceased to exist).
After the return of the zakat in advance, the zakat giver pays the zakat from his wealth again if he is still obliged to.
The zakat in advance that is paid from the zakat-payable amount (nisab) is considered as if still part of the giver's property (0: only in respect to calculating whether the giver's total property equals the zakat-payable amount
It is not actually considered as still belonging to the zakat giver, since the recipient is entitled to dispose of it by sale or otherwise while it is in his possession).
Thus, if the zakat giver paid a sheep in advance as zakat on 120 head, and one of the sheep then gave birth to a new lamb, the giver would now be obliged to pay another sheep (0: it being as if he owns the (N: next highest) zakat-payable amount of 121 head (dis: h2.5)).
AUTHORIZING ANOTHER TO DISTRIBUTE ONE'SZAKAT It is permissible for the zakat giver to personally distribute his zakat to eligible recipients or to authorize an agent (wakil, def: k17) to do so.
It is permissible for the zakat giver to pay his zakat to the imam (A: i.e
the caliph (025) or his representative), and this is superior unless the imam is unjust, in which case it is better to distribute it oneself.
THE PRAYER OF THE RECIPIENT FOR THEZAKAT GIVER It is recommended for the poor person (0:
receiving zakat when the owner is distributing it) or the agent assigned to deliver the zakat to recip"" ients (N: if the imam has gathered it by means of agents to distribute to the poor) to supplicate for the giver, saying, ""May Allah reward you for what you have given, bless you in what you have retained, and purify it for you.""
THE INTENTION OF ZAKAT Making the intention of zakat is a necessary condition for the validity of giving it
The intention is made when zakat is paid to the poor person or the one being authorized to distribute it, and one must intend giving it as the zakat of one's property
(0: It is permissible to make the intention before paying the money.) When the owner has made this intention, it is not necessary that the agent distributing it also make an intention before giving it (0: because the owner's intention is sufficient, whether the agent is an ordinary individual or is the ruler
It is also permissible for the owner to authorize an agent to both make the intention and distribute the zakat).
It is recommended that the imam dispatch a zakat worker, (0: to collect zakat funds from those obliged to pay, to make this easier for them.
Such an agent must be) an upright Muslim (def:
O24.4) who knows the rulings of zakat, and who is not of the Hashimi or Muttalibi clans of Quraysh.
THE EIGHT CATEGORIES OF RECIPIENTS It is obligatory to distribute one's zakat among eight categories of recipients (0: meaning that zakat goes to none besides them), one""eighth of the zakat to each category.
(n: In the Hanafi school, it is valid for the giver to distribute his zakat to all of the categories, some of them, or to confine himself to just one of them (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 1.155).)
THE POOR The first category is the poor, meaning someone who:
(a) does not have enough to suffice himself (0: such as not having any wealth at all, or having some, but (N: he is unable to earn any, and) what he has is insufficient to sustain him to the end of his probable life expectancy if it were distributed over the probable amount of remaining time;
insufficient meaning it is less than half of what he needs
If he requires ten dirhams a day, for example, but the amount he has when divided by the time left in his probable life expectancy is four dirhams a day or less, not paying for his food, clothing, housing, and whatever he cannot do without
to a degree suitable (dis: f4.5) to someone of his standing without extravagance or penury, then he is poor-all of Which app1ies as well to the needs of those he must support (def: m12.1).)
(N: A mechanic's tools or scholar's books are not sold or considered part of his money, since he needs them to earn a living);
(b) and is either:
(I) unable to earn his living by work suitable to him (0: such as a noble profession befitting him (N: given his health and social position), as opposed to work unbefitting him, which is considered the same as not having any: If such an individual were an important personage unaccustomed to earning a living by physical labor, he would be considered ""poor."" This also includes being able to do work suitable to one, but not finding someone to employ one);
(2) or is able to earn his living, but to do so· would keep him too busy to engage in attaining knowledge of Sacred Law
(n: Nawawi notes, ""If able to earn a living at work befitting him except that he is engaged in attaining knowledge of some subject in Sacred Law such that turning to earning a living would prevent the acquisition of this knowledge (dis: w36), then it is permissible for him to take zakat because the attainment of knowledge is a communal obligation, though zakat is not lawful for someone able to earn a living who cannot acquire knowledge, even if he lives at a school
What we have just mentioned is the most correct and well known position
Darami mentions three positions concerning someone engaged in attaining religious knowledge:
-that he deserves charity even when able to earn a living;
-that he does not deserve it:
-and that if he is an outstanding student who can be expected to develop a good comprehension of the Sacred Law and benefit the Muslims thereby, then he deserves eharity, but if not, then he does not.
""Darami mentioned this in the chapter of 'Voluntary Charity' "" (al-Majmu' (y108) , 6.190-91).)
But if one's religious devotions are what keeps one too busy to earn a living, one is not considered poor.
Someone separated from his money by at least 81 km.lSO mi
is eligible for zakat
(N: This was in the past
In our day it is fitter to say that he must be far from his money in terms of common acknowledgement (def: f4.5).) (0: Such a person's absent property is as if nonexistent, and his ""poverty"" eOI).tinues until the ,money is present.
Likewise, someone owed money on a debt not yet due who does not have any other money is given zakat when it is distributed (N: to suffice him) until the debt becomes due.)
People whose needs are met by the expenditures of those who are obliged to support them such as their husbands or families are not given zakat (N: for poverty) (0: though it is permissible for a third party to give zakat to such a dependent by virtue of the dependent's belonging to some category other than the poor or those short of money (def: below), as when the person belongs to a category such as travellers needing money (h8.l8) or those whose hearts are to be reconciled (h8.14)).
THOSE SHORT OF MONEY The second category is people short of money, meaning someone who has something to spend for his needs but it is not enough, as when he needs five dirhams, but he only has three or four
The considerations applicable to the poor person also apply to someone short of money (0:
namely, that he is given zakat if he cannot earn a living by work befitting him (def: h8.8(b)), or if he can earn a living but attainment of knowledge of Sacred Law prevents his doing so; though if he is able to earn a living but extra devotions prevent him from doing so, then he may not take zakat).
HOW MUCH THE POOR ARE GIVEN A person who is poor or short of money is given as much as needed of tools and materials (0:
if he has a trade, such as the tools of a carpenter) with which he can earn a living, or property with which he can engage in trade (0: if a merchant), each according to the demands of his profession.
This amount varies, depending on whether, for example, he is a jeweller, clothier, grocer, or other.
If the recipient has no trade (0: i·.e
is unable to do any work, whether for wages, by trading, or other), then he is given enough zakat to fulfill his needs from the present till the end of his probable life expectancy (0: based on (N: the average lifespan for someone like him in) that locality).
Another position is that such a person is given enough for just one year.
These measures are obligatory when abundant zakatfunds are available, whether the imam distributes them or a property owner
But if there is not much zakat available (0: meaning if the owner or imam distributes funds that are too little to last the poor person for his probable life expectancy or for even one year), it is distributed as is, an eighth to each category.
ZAKAT WORKERS The third category consists of zakat workers, the above-mentioned agents (h8.6) dispatched by the imam
These include the person collecting it, the clerk (0: recording what the owners give), the person who matches the payees to recipients, and the one who distributes it to recipients.
The zakat workers receive an eighth of the zakat funds
If this amount is more than it would cosUo hire someone to do their job, then they return the excess for distribution to the other categories of recipients
But if less (N: than the cost of hiring someone), then enough is taken from the zakat funds to make up the difference.
All of this applies only if the imam (A: caliph) is distributing the zakat (0: and has not allotted a fee to the zakat workers from the Muslim common fund (bayt aI-mal))
If the property owner is distributing the zakat (0: or if the imam has allotted the workers a fee from the common fund) then the zakat funds are divided solely among the other categories of recipients.
THOSE WHOSE HEARTS ARE TO BE RECONCILED The fourth category is those whose hearts are to be reconciled
If they are non-Muslims, they are not given zakat, but if Muslims, then they may be given it (0: so that their certainty may increase, or if they are recent converts to Islam and are alienated from their kin).
Those to be reconciled include:
(1) the chief personages of a people (0: with weak Islamic intentions) whose Islam may be expected to improve, or whose peers may be expected to enter Islam;
(2) or the heads of a people who collect zakat for us from Muslims living near them who refuse to pay it, or who fight an enemy for us at considerable expense and trouble to themselves.
mosE PURCHASING THEIR FREEDOM
The fifth category is slaves who are purchasing their freedom from their owners
They are given enough to do so if they do not have the means.
mOSE IN DEBT
The sixth category is those who have debts (0: and they are of three types):
(1) A person who incurs debts in order to settle trouble (0: between two people, parties, or tribes) involving bloodshed (0: as when there has been a killing but it is not known who the killer is, and trouble has arisen between the two sides) or to settle trouble concerning property (0: such as bearing the expense when trouble occurs over it) is given zakat even if he is affluent.
(2) A person who incurs debts to support himself or his dependents is· given zakat if he is poor, but notif affluent
If he incurs a debt (0: for something lawful) but spends it on something unlawful, and then repents (0: and is felt to be sincere in this, and the original reason is known to have been something lawful), then he is given zakat.
(3) (0: And a third type, not mentioned by the author, which (n: given persons P, Q, and R) is When R incurs a debt by guaranteeing (daman, def: k15) to P that Q will pay P (n: what Q owes him)
If R finds that neither he nor Q can pay, then R is given zakat (n: because he has gone into debt in order to guarantee Q's debt), even if the reason R agreed to guarantee Q was not charity (N: but was rather that Q would pay him back).)
TIIOSE FIGlITING FOR ALLAH
The seventh category is those fighting for Allah, meaning people engaged in Islamic military operations for whom no salary has been allotted in the army roster (0: but who are volunteers for jihad without remuneration)
They are given enough to suffice them for the operation, even if affluent; of weapons, mounts, clothing, and expenses (0: for the duration of the journey, round trip, and the time they spend there, even if prolonged
Though nothing has been mentioned here of the expense involved in supporting such people's families during this period, it seems clear that they should also be given it).
TRA YELLERS NEEDING MONEY The eighth category is the traveller in need of money, meaning one who is passing among us (0: i.e
through a town in Muslim lands where zakat is collected), or whose journey was not undertaken for the purpose of disobeying Allah.
If such a person is in need, he is given enough to cover his personal expenses and transportation, even if he possesses money back home.
PAYING ZAKAT TO RECIPIENTS A person who qualifies as a member of two or more of the above categories is only given zakat for one of them.
When the (N: eight) categories of recipients exist in the town where zakat is collected, it is unlawful and invalid to give it to recipients elsewhere (0: as it must be paid to those present if the property owner is distributing his own zakat.
The other schools of jurisprudence permit giving it elsewhere)
But if the imam (A: caliph) is distributing the zakat, he may give it to recipients in a different place.
If the zakat giver's property is in the desert, or none of the eight categories of eligible zakat recipients exist in his own town, then the zakat should be distributed in the nearest town.
Each category of recipients must receive an equal share, one-eighth of the total (dis:h8.7(n:)) (A: though one may give various individuals within a particular category more or less), except for zakat workers, who receive only their due wage (def: h8.13).
If one of the categories does not exist in one's town, their eighth is distributed over the other categories such that each of them gets oneseventh.
If two categories of recipients do not exist in the town, then each of the remaining categories receive a sixth of the zakat, and so on (0: such that if there were only one category in town, all the zakat would be paid to it).
It is obligatory to give zakat to every individual member of a category if the owner is distributing zakat and the individuals are of a limited, known number, or if the imam is distributing zakat and it is possible to give it out person by person and include them all because of the abundance of funds.
If the owner is distributing zakat and the recipients in each category are not of a limited, known number, then the fewest permissible for him to give to in one category is three people, except for the category of zakat workers, in which a single person is enough.
It is recommended to give on,e's zakat to relatives other than those one is obliged to support (def: mI2.1).
It is recommended to distribute zakat to recipients in proportion to their needs, giving someone who needs 100 dirhams, for example, half of what one gives to SOmeone who needs 200.
It is not permissible to give zakat to a nonMuslim, or to someone whom one is obliged to support (def: m12.1), such as a wife or family member.
It is not valid for one to give zakat to a poor person on condition that he return it to one to payoff a debt he owes, or to tell the recipient, ""I hereby make the money you owe me zakat, so keep it for yourself."" But it is permissible:
(1) for the giver to pay his zakat (0: to a poor person who owes him money) when the giver's intention is that the recipient should pay him back with it;
(2) for the zakat giver to tell the poor person, ""Pay me the money you owe me so that I can give it to you as zakat"";
(3) or for the poor person to tell his creditor, ""Give me (0: zakat) so that I can pay it back to you (0: for the debt lowe you)"";
though it is not obligatory to fulfill these promises (0: meaning the outcomes alluded to in (2) and (3) above).
All of the above rulings concerning zakat (h8.2-25) apply to the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr (def:
h7) (0: in details, in giving it to deserving recipients (N: the eight categories described in this section), and in giving it in advance)
It is permissible for a group of people to pool their zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr, mix it, and collectively distribute it, or for one of them to distribute it with the others' permission
(0: The author mentions this to inform people that anyone can distribute their zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr to all categories of recipients, no matter how little it is.)
*
Giving voluntary charity is recommended at all times; especially during Ramadan, before praying for something one needs, (0: when there is an eclipse, illness, or journey,) and at all noble times and places (0: e.g
times such as the first ten days of Dhul Hijja or the days of 'Eid, and places such as Mecca or Medina).
It is superior to give charity to righteous people (0: meaning those who give Allah and His slaves their due), to one's relatives (A: which is better than giving to the righteous), even those of them who are one's enemies (A: and this is better than giving to one's friends among them), and to give from the best of one's wealth (0: meaning that which is lawful, which is better than giving what is from a doubtful source, or giving what is of poor quality, either of which are offensive to give as charity
It is unlawful to give property that has been unlawfully obtained (N: if one knows its rightful owner
If not, one must give it as charity (A: or taxes (def: p32)) to remove it from one's possession)) .
It is unlawful to give as charity money needed to support one's dependents or needed to pay a debt that is currently due (0: because supporting one's dependents or paying a current debt are obligatory, and obligatory acts take precedence over recommended ones).
It is recommended to give away in charity everything one owns that is in excess (0: of personal expenses and the expenses of those one is obliged to support), provided one can be patient with the resultant poverty
(0: But if one cannot be patient, it is offensive to give away what is in excess of one's needs.)
It is offensive to ask for anything besides paradise with the words ""For the sake [lit
""By the countenance (0: i.e
entity)""] of Allah,"" though if someone does, it is offensive not to give to him.
It is unlawful to remind a recipient of charity that one has given him (mann, dis: p36), and it eliminates the reward.
(0: It is permissible to give charity to a person not in need, or to a relative of the Prophet (Allah bless bim and give him peace)
It is offensive for a person not in need to accept charity, and preferable that he avoid it
It is unlawful for such a person to accept it if he pretends to be needy, and is unlawful for him to ask for charity.
It is permissible to give charity to a nonMuslim (n: but not zakat, as above at h8.24).} *
(0: The month of the fast is the best of months, and it is one of the distinctive features of this Community (Umma); that is, as now practiced, a fact not contradicted by the word of Allah Most High, ""Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you"" (Koran 2:183), the resemblance interpreted as referring to fasting without other qualification, not to its amount and time
Fasting Ramadan is one of the pillars of Islam (def: u2) by scholarly consensus (ijma').
Bukhari and Muslim relate that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Islam is built upon five: testifying there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, performing the prayer, giving zakat, making the pilgrimage to the House [Kaaba], and fasting Ramadan."")
Fasting Ramadan is obligatory for:
(a) every Muslim (0: male or female) who:
(b) has reached puberty;
(c) is sane;
(d) is capable of bearing the fast;
(e) and if female, is not in the period of menstruation or postnatal bleeding (nifas).
THOSE NOT OBUGED TO FAST RAMADAN The following are not required to fast:
(1) (non-(a) above) anon-Muslim (0: meaning that we do not ask him to, nor would it be valid if he did (N: though he is punished in the next life for not doing so));
(2) (non-(b)) a child;
(3) (non-(c)) someone insane;
(4) or (non-(d)) someone whom fasting exhausts because of advanced years or having an illness from which he is unlikely to recover.
None of the above-mentioned is obliged to fast or to make up missed fast-days, though someone who misses a fast because of (4) above must give 0.51 liters of food (def: h7.6(A:)) for each fast-day he misses.
The following are not required to fast, though they are obliged to make up fast-days missed (A: making up, according to our school, meaning that one fasts a single day for each obligatory fast-day missed):
(1) those who are ill (N: the illness that permits not fasting being that which fasting would worsen, delay recovery from, or cause one considerable harm with; the same dispensation applying to someone who needs to take medicine during the day that breaks the fast and that be can not delay taking until night);
(2) those who are travelling (def: i1.7);
(3) a person who has left Islam (murtadd, def: 08);
(4) or a woman who is in her menses or period of postnatal bleeding.
If the ill person or traveller take it upon themselves to fast, it is valid, though a fast by someone who has left Islam, or a woman in menstruation or period of postnatal bleeding is not valid.
When not fasting on a day of Ramadan, if a non-Muslim becomes a Muslim, an insane person regains his sanity, or a child reaches puberty, it is recommended but not obligatory that they fast the rest of that day and make up the fast later
A child who reaches puberty While fasting on a day of Ramadan is obliged to fast the rest of the day, and is recommended to make it up.
A woman whose period ends during a day of Ramadan is recommended to fast the rest of the day and is obliged to make up the fast (0: and the fast-days prior to it missed during her period or postnatal bleeding).
If the testimony of a witness (0: that the new moon has been seen during the previous night) is made during a day (N: that was initially) uncertain as to whether it was the the first of Ramadan, then it is obligatory (0: for people) to fast the rest of the day and to make it up later.
A child of seven is ordered to fast, and at ten is beaten for not fasting (N: with the reservations mentioned at f1.2).
Excessive hunger or thirst, meaning likely to cause death or illness, are legitimate excuses not to fast, even when they occur on a day one has already begun to fast, as soon as the fast becomes a hardship.
It is permissible not to fast when travelling, even when the intention to fast has been made the night before, provided that the journey is at least 81 km.lSO mi
one way, and that one leaves town (def: f1S.6) before dawn
Ifone leaves after dawn, one is not entitled to omit the fast
It is preferable for travellers not to fast if fasting would harm them, though If not, then fasting is better.
A woman who is breast-feeding a baby or is pregnant and apprehends harm to herself or her child may omit the fast and make it up later, though if she omits it because of fear (A: of harm) for the child alone (0: not for herself) then she must give 0.51 liters of food (def: h7.6(A:)) in charity for each day missed, as an expiation (A: in addition to making up each day).
SIGHTING THE NEW MOON Fasting Ramadan is only obligatory when the new moon of Ramadan is sighted (0: i.e
in respect to the person who sees it, though for those who do not see it, it only becomes obligatory when the sighting is established by the testimony of an upright witness (def: O24.4))
If it is too overcast to be seen, then (n: the preceding lunar month of) Sha'ban is presumed to last for thirty days, after which people begin fasting Ramadan
If the new moon is sighted during the day (0: before noon on the last of the thirty days), it is considered as belonging to the following night (0: and the ruling for that day does not change).
If the moon is seen in one city but not another, then if the two are close (0: i.e
in the same region), the ruling (n: that the new month has come) holds for both
But if the two are not close, then not (0: i.e
the people far from the place where it was seen are not obligated to fast), not close meaning in different regions, such as the Hijaz, Iraq, and Egypt.
The testimony of a single witness (N: that the new moon has been seen) is sufficient to establish that the month of Ramadan has come, provided the witness is upright (def: O24.4), male, and responsible for the duties of Islam (0: which excludes boys who have reached the age of discernment but not puberty).
If a person knows by calculations of lunar movements or the positions of the stars that the next day is Ramadan, fasting is nevertheless not obligatory (0: for him or the public), though it is permissible for him alone.
If it is difficult to learn which month it is, for someone imprisoned or the like (0: such as someone being held in a dark place who cannot tell night from day, or someone who does not know when Ramadan has come because of being in a land without habitations or people who know when it is), then such a person is obliged to reckon Ramadan as best he can and to fast it
Such a fast is valid if it remains unknown as to whether the month fasted actually coincided with Ramadan, or if it did coincide with it, or if the month fasted occurred after it, though if the month fasted was before Ramadan, it is not valid.
THE CONDITIONS OF A VALID FAST The conditions of a valid fast are:
(a) the intention;
(b) and refraining from things which break the fast.
TIm INTENTION
One must make the intention to fast for each day one fasts
If the intended fast is obligatory, then the intention must:
(a) be specific (0: as to the fast being for Ramadan, a vow, an expiation, or whatever);
(b) and be made in the night prior to dawn.
(n: For Hanafis
the intention for a day of Ramadan (but not a makeup) is valid if made before midway between true dawn and sunset of the day itself (al-Hadiyya al-'Ala'iyya (y4), 171).)
The optimal way is to intend (0: in one's heart) to fast the following day as a current performance of the obligation of Ramadan in the present year for Allah Most High (0: fast and of Ramadan being unanimously considered as integral to the intention, though scholars differ concerning the obligatoriness of intending it as a current performance, an obligation, or for Allah Most High).
One's intention is valid if on the night before a day of uncertainty (N: as to whether it will be the first day of Ramadan), someone one trusts but who does not have all the qualifications of an acceptable witness (def: i1.1O) informs one of having seen the new moon, and relying on this information one intends to fast the next day to fulfill the obligation of Ramadan, and the next day turns out to be Ramadan
But one's fast is not valid if one makes the intention without anyone having informed one of sighting the new moon, no matter whether if one's intention is firm or whether undecided, as when one intends that if the following day is Ramadan, one will fast, but if not, one will not.
One's fast is valid if on the night before 30 Ramadan, one intends that if the following day is of Ramadan, one will fast, but if not, one will not, and then the next day is of Ramadan (0: since it already is Ramadan, and the initial presumption is that it will remain so (dis: e7.6(A:))).
Nonobligatory fasts are valid by merely making the intention to fast before noon (0: without needing to specify the type of fast).
THINGS WHICH INVALIDATE THE FAST Each of the following things invalidates the day's fast when one knows they are unlawful (A: during an obligatory fast) and remembers one is fasting (A: but does them deliberately anyway);
and they obligate one to both make up the fast-day later and fast the remainder of that day:
(1) eating;
(2) drinking (N: and smoking (A: though not if there is some smoke in the air that one unintentionally inhales));
(3) taking snuff (0: up the nose that reaches the sinuses, a ruling likewise applicable to oil or water preparations);
(4) suppositories (0: vaginal or anal);
(5) pouring (0: water, oil, or other) into the ears until it reaches the eardrum;
(6) inserting a finger or something else into the anus or vagina further than the area disclosed when one squats (0: to relieve oneself);
(7) anything that entel's the body cavity, whether stabbed into it (0: such as a knife or spear thrust which penetrates it) or whether medicine (N: though intramuscular or intravenous injections of medicine do not break one's fast);
(8) vomiting (N: if it is deliberate and one is able to prevent it, though if nausea overcomes one, vomiting does not break one's fast);
(9) sexual intercourse (0: if deliberate, even if there is no orgasm), or orgasm from stroking a nongenital region or from masturbation (0: no matter whether such orgasm is produced by unlawful means, like one's own hand (dis: w37), or whether by lawful means, such as the hand of one's wife);
(10) using so much water to rinse out the nose and mouth (0: in ablution (wudu) or the purificatory bath (ghusl)) that some reaches the stomach (0: i.e
if any reaches the body cavity because of using an abundance of water, it breaks the fast, though if some water slips down when an abundance has not been used, it does not break it);
(11) swallowing saliva that has left the mouth, such as when threading a needle and one moistens the end of the thread, and then remoistens it, swallowing some of the saliva that the thread had been previously wetted with;
(12) swallowing saliva that has been qualitatively altered, such as when threading a needle and one wets the end, and some dye from the thread remains in the mouth and is swallowed (A:
so people who use toothpaste should take care to eliminate it from the mouth before dawn on fastdays);
(13) swallowing saliva that has been made impure by contact with filth (najasa), such as when one's mouth is bloodied and one spits out the saliva until it is clear and colorless, but neglects to wash one's mouth out (0: before swallowing the saliva, which breaks the fast because the mouth is still affected by impurity (n: and water is necessary to purify it, as at e14.1O));
(14) allowing phlegm or mucus at the back of the mouth to be swallowed when one could have spit them out (n: though in the Hanafi school this does not break the fast, even if intentional (alHadiyya al-'Ala'iyya (y4), 180));
(15) or to continue making love, even for a moment, after dawn has arrived.
THE CRITERION FOR THINGS WHICHINVALIDATE THE FAST The criterion as to whether something invalidates the fast is (N: whether it comes under anyone of three headings):
(1) a substance, even if not much, that reaches the body cavity through an open passageway (0: substance excluding odors, and open excluding anything else, such as absorption through pores)
(N: The deliberate introduction of anything besides air or saliva into the body cavity breaks the fast, though if the person fasting does so absentmindedly or under compulsion, it does not break it);
(2) sexual intercourse (0: meaning inserting the head of the penis into the vagina);
(3) or orgasm, whether as the result of touching (0: such as kissing, contact, lying between the other's thighs, or something else), or because of masturbation;
-provided that one is aware that these acts are unlawful and that one remembers one is fasting (N: and provided they are done deliberately and voluntarily).
THE EXPIATION FOR VITIATING A FAST-DAYBY SEXUAL INTERCOURSE In addition to making up the fast, an expiation is obligatory for fast-days of Ramadan that are (A: deliberately) vitiated by sexual intercourse.
(0: The legal occasion of the offense is the particular day of fasting, so that if it were committed on two separate days, two separate expiations would be necessary, though if it were committed twice in one day there would be only one expiation.)
The expiation consists of freeing a sound Muslim slave (dis: k32), or if not possible, then to fast the days of two consecutive months
(A: In our school the expiation is only for sexual intercourse, though the Hanafishold it is obligatory for vitiating the fast for other reasons as well.) If this is not possible, then the expiation is to feed sixty unfortunates (N: 0.51 liters of food (def:h7.6 (A:)) to each unfortunate)
If one is unable to do this, the expiation remains as an unperformed obligation upon the person concerned.
The woman who is made love to is not obliged to expiate it.
THINGS THAT DO NOT BREAK THE FAST The fast remains valid if any of the things which break it are done absentmindedly (0: not remembering the fast), out of ignorance (0: that doing the things which break the fast are unlawful.
whether this is due to being a new Muslim, or to being born and raised far from Islamic scholars), or under compulsion
Nor is it broken by:
(1) involuntary vomiting;
(2) having a wet dream, or orgasm as a result of thinking or looking at something (A: unless the latter two usually cause orgasm, in which case one has broken one's fast by not avoiding them);
(3) some water reaching the body cavity as a result of rinsing out the mouth or nose, (dis: i1.18(1O)), provided not much water was used;
(4) saliva carrying down some food particles from between one's teeth, provided this is after having cleaned between them (0: after eating, by using a toothpick or the like between them), if one is unable to spit them out;
(5) gathering saliva in the mouth and swallowing it, bringing saliva as far forward as the tongue (0: but not to the lips) and then swallowing it, or coughing up phlegm from the throat and spitting it out;
(6) the arrival of dawn when there is food in one's mouth which one spits out;
(7) the arrival of dawn when one is lovemaking and one immediately disengages;
(8) or when sleeps all day or has lost consciousness, provided one regains consciousness for at least a moment of the day.
EATING OR DRINKING WHEN UNCERTAIN OFTHE TIME OF DAWN OR SUNSET Making up the fast-day is obligatory ifone eats, thinking it is night, but then finds that it is day; or eats, presuming (N: but uncertain) that the sun has set, and the question (0: as to whether one ate before sunset or after) continues and remains unresolved (dis: e7.6(A:)).
It is not obligatory to make up a fast-day on which one ate on the presumption that dawn had not yet come, and the question (0; as to what the case was) remains unresolved (A: since the initial certainty was that it was night).
INVOLUNTARY ACTS WHICH INVALIDATETHE FAST A fast-day is invalidated by:
(1) insanity, even for a moment;
(2) being unconscious the entire day;
(3) or the appearance of menstrual or postnatal flow.
(N: The insane person is not obliged to make up such a day's fast, while the others are.)
RECOMMENDED MEASURES WHILE FASTING A predawn meal is recommended, even if it is slight or consists of water alone (0: and the time for it begins from the middle of the night onwards)
It is best to delay it to just before dawn, as long as one does not apprehend dawn's arrival while still eating (0: though when one does not know when dawn is, it is not tbe sunna to thus delay it).
It is best to hasten breaking the fast when one is certain that the sun has set
One should break it with an odd number of dates, though if one has none, water is best
It is recommended to say after doing so, ""0 Allah, for You !fasted
and upon Your bounty I have broken the fast
""
It is recommended in Ramadan:
(1) to be especially generous (0: in giving charity);
(2) to improve one's relations with family and relatives;
(3) to recite the Koran much;
(4) to spend periods of spiritual retreat (i'tikaf, def: i3) in the mosque, especially during the last ten days of Ramadan;
(5) to break the fast of others after sunset, even if only with water (0: because of the hadith related by Tirmidhi that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who breaks another's fast earns the same reward as the one who fasted without diminishing the latter's reward in the slightest"");
(6) and if in a state of major ritual impurity Ganaba), to perform the purificatory bath (ghusl) before dawn.
It is recommended to avoid:
(1) slander (def: r2.2), lying, and foul language (N: which are always unlawful, but even worse when fasting);
(2) the pleasures of the senses (0: i.e
those that do not break the fast, such as smelling fragrant plants or looking at them, because of the gratification therein which is incompatible with the wisdom of the fast, even though they are permissible when not fasting) (A: and while it is recommended not to use perfume during a fastday, it does not hurt to use it on the night before);
(3) and medicinal bloodletting (N: or blood donating) or cupping (0: as these, like the fast, weaken a person and could have a synergistic debilitating effect).
If someone abuses one while fasting, one should say to him, ""1 am fasting.""
THINGS THAT ARE UNLAWFUL OROFFENSIVE WHILE FASTING It is unlawful to kiss (0: or embrace, or pet with the hand) on fast-days for those it sexually arouses.
It is unlawful not to eat or drink anything (wisal) between fast-days, though it is not unlawful if one has some water, even a mouthful, before dawn.
It is offensive during the fast to taste food, or to use a toothstick (def: e3) after noon.
It is not offensive during the fastto line the eyes with kohl (def: e4.l(4)) or to bathe.
It is offensive (dis: w38) for anyone (0:
whether fasting or not) to keep silent all day until night (0: when there is no need to) (A: need including the necessity of restraining the tongue from useless talking (dis: rl.l)).
MAKING UP MISSED FAST·DAYS Someone obliged to make up some fastdays of Ramadan is recommended to do so consecutively and immediately.
It is not permissible for a person with some unperformed fast-days of Ramadan to delay making them up until the next Ramadan unless there is an excuse (N: for delaying)
If one delays until the next Ramadan, one must pay 0.51 liters of food (def: h7.6(A:)) (N: to the poor) for each fast-day missed, in addition to making it up
If making up a fast-day is delayed until a second Ramadan comes, then one must pay double this amount for each day
And so forth: every year that passes upon an unfulfilled fast-day adds 0.51 liters to be paid for that day
(0: But if one's excuse for not performing them persists, such as travel or illness, then it is permissible for one to delay making them up as long as the excuse is present, even if it lasts for years
One is not obliged to pay the penalty fee for this delay even if several Ramadans go by, but is merely obliged to make up the missed fastdays).
If someone dies with unperformed fast-days which he could have fasted but did not, then each fast-day is paid for (N: by the responsible family member) with 0.51 liters offood (N: or he can fast for him (A: in place of paying for each day))
(0:
As for someone who dies after two Ramadans elapse upon his missed fast-days, each fast is paid for with 1.02 liters (n: double the above) of food (N: or the family member can both fast a day and pay 0.51 liters for each day (A: Le
the family member may fast in the deceased's stead for the initial nonperformance of the fast-day, though he cannot fast in place of paying the 0.51 liters of food for each year that making up a fast-day was delayed before the deceased's death, because this is the legal expiation for the delay)
As for someone who died before his excuse (n: for not fasting) ceased to exist, nothing at all is obligatory for him).)
*
It is recommended to fast:
(1) on six days of the month of Shawwal, and that they be the six consecutive days immediately following 'Eid al-Fitr (0: their being consecutive and their immediately following the 'Eid are two separate sunnas), though it is permissible to fast them nonconsecutively;
(2) on 9 and 10 Muharram;
(3) on the full moon (lit
""white"") days of every lunar month, which are the thirteenth and the two days that follow it;
(4) on Mondays andThursdays;
(5) on the first nine days of Dhul Hijja;
(6) during the inviolable months, which are four: Dhul Qa'da, Dhul Hijja, Muharram, and Rajab;
(7) (n: and on every other day, a fast described by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) as ""the most beloved fast to Allah"" (Riyad al-salihin (y107), 466)).
The best fast-days, after Ramadan, are those of Muharram, then Rajab, then Sha'ban
(0: In general, the best month for fasting, after Ramadan and the inviolable months, is Sha'ban (A:
there being no objection to fasting an entire month or just part of one).)
It is recommended to fast on the Day of 'Arafa (0: 9 Dhul Hijja), unless one is a pilgrim present at 'Arafa (def: j8), when it is better not to fast
It is not offensive for such a person to fast, though it is better for him not to.
FASTS THAT ARE OFFENSIVE OR UNLAWFUL It is offensive to fast every day of the year (0: besides the two 'Eids and the three days following 'Eid al-Adha (n: these being unlawful to fast (dis: below) rather than offensive)) if this harms one (0: in body or mind) or causes one not to do something one should do (0: for oneself or others, even if merely recommended)
Ifnot, then it is not offensive.
It is unlawful and not valid to fast (0:
whether voluntarily, as a vow, or as a makeup) on the two 'Eids or the three days following 'Eid alAdha.
It is also unlawful and invalid to fast on a day of uncertainty (N: as to whether it is the first day of Ramadan), meaning that on 30 Sha'ban, someone who does not have the necessary qualifi- cations of a witness (def: i1.lO) mentions having seen the new moon of Ramadan
Otherwise (0:
when no one has mentioned seeing it, or when an acceptable witness has), then it is not considered a day of uncertainty.
Fasting on a day of uncertainty is not valid as a day of Ramadan, though it can validly fulfill a vow or a makeup fast
Voluntary fasting on such a day is only valid when one would have f;isted anyway because it falls on a day one habitually fasts, or when one has been fasting each day since before mid-Sha'ban
If neither of these is the case, then it is unlawful and invalid to fast on it.
It is unlawful to fast during the days after midSha'ban unless one would have fasted anyway because they fall on days one habitually fasts, or unless one has been fasting each day since before mid-Sha'ban.
(Nawawi: (n: with commentary by Muhammad Shirbini Khatib)) It is offensive to single out Fridays or Saturdays «Shirbini:) or Sundays for fasting, i.e
to single out one of the above-mentioned days when they do not coincide with days one normally fasts
The fast of someone who usually fasts every other day and whose fast coincides with one of these days or with a day of uncertainty is not offensive, because of the hadith related by Muslim, ""Do not single out Friday for fasting unless it happens to coincide with a fast one of you performs,"" similar days being analogous to Fridays in this respect) (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 1.447)).
Once begun, it is unlawful to interrupt either an obligatory fast-day or an obligatory prayer, whether it is current, a makeup, or vowed;
though if it is nonobligatory (0: whether wholly supererogatory or linked with a particular event or time), then one may interrupt it (0: but it is offensive to do so if there is no excuse).
*
It is sunna, at any time, to make spiritual retreat (i'tibf) in the mosque.
LAYLAT AL-QADR Spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) is especially recommended in Ramadan, particularly in the last ten days of it, seeking Laylat al-Qadr (lit
""the Night of the Divine Decree"") (0: which is, as Allah Most High says, ""better than a thousand months"" (Koran 97:3), meaning that spiritual works therein are better than works of a thousand months Jacking Laylat ai-QadI
Indicating its excellence, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who prays on Laylat al-Qadr in faith and expectation of its reward will be forgiven his previous sins"").
Laylat al-Qadr could be on any night of Ramadan (n: or any other month of the year, according to some (dis: w39))
It probably occurs within the last ten nights, more likely on the oddnumbered ones (N: remembering that the night of an Islamic date comes before the day of that date), the twenty-first and twenty-third of which are the likeliest (n: though most scholars hold it to be the twenty-seventh (Mughni al-muhtaj ita ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 1.450))
On Laylat aI-Qadr it is recommended to frequently repeat, ""0 Allah, You are oft-relenting and love to forgive, so forgive me.""
HOW TO PERFORM SPIRITUAL RETREAT At minimum, spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) consists of:
(a) staying, with the intention of spiritual retreat, for more than the least amount of time that can be considered repose (A: i.e
a moment);
(b) while being Muslim, sane, conscious, and free of major ritual impurity (0: i.e
of menstruation, postnatal bleeding, and major impurity (janaba));
(c) in a mosque, even when this stay is no more than entering the periphery and then leaving by the same entrance (taraddud), though to merely pass through is insufficient, Optimally, the spiritual 'retreat (i'tikaf) should be accompanied by fasting, take place in the Friday congregational mosque (0: because of the size of the group prayer therein, and so as not to have to leave to attend the Friday prayer), and be no less than a day,
VOWING SPIRITUAL RETREAT INPARTICULAR MOSQUES If one vows (def: JIS) to make spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) in:
(1) al-Masjid al-Haram (n: in Mecca);
(2) al·Masjid al-Aqsa (n: in Jerusalem);
(3) or Masjid aI-Medina;
then the vow cannot be fulfilled elsewhere.
Spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) in al-Masjid al-Haram fulfills a vow to make spiritual retreat in either of the other two (n: al-Aqsa or Medina), but not vice versa (N: they do not fulfill a vow to make a spiritual retreat in al-Masjid al-Haram)
Spiritual retreat in Masjid ai-Medina fulfills a vow to do so in al-Masjid al-Aqsa, but not vice versa
If one vows to make a spiritual retreat in any mosque besides these three, the vow can be fulfilled in any mosque whatever (0: since none besides these three is superior to any other).
Spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) is invalidated by lovemaking and by orgasm as a result of touching.
VOWS TO SPEND A CERTAIN CONSECUTIVEPERIOD IN SPIRITUAL RETREAT If one vows to make spiritual retreat for a consecutive period, then one is obligated to do so.
The consecutiveness of such a period is not nullified by leaving the mosque for something necessary such as eating (even when it is possible to do so in the mosque), drinking (provided it is not possible to do so in the mosque), using the lavatory, attending to an illness, the onset of a menstrual period, or similar things; though one's spiritual retreat is interrupted by leaving the mosque to visit a sick person, perform a funeral prayer Ganaza), or attend the Friday prayer Gumu'a).
Touching another with sexual desire is unlawful for someone in spiritual retreat (i'tikaf).
It is not permissible for a wife to make spiritual retreat without her husband's permission.
*
(0: Hajj and 'umra are obligatory because of the word of Allah Most High:
""People owe Allah to make pilgrimage to the House, whoever is able to find a way"" (Koran and, ""Complete the hajj and 'umra for Allah"" (Koran 2;196), meaning, ""Perform both of them completely."")
(n: This section uses the following special vocabulary, in addition to some of the terms previously mentioned at fS.1:
'Arafa: (syn
'Arafat) the name of a plain about thirteen miles to the eastsoutheast of Mecca.
Hajj: the pilgrimage to Mecca.
lhram: the state of consecration that pilgrims enter for hajj and 'umra.
Labbayk: a litany meaning, ""Ever at Your service, 0 Allah, ever at Your service."" al-Masjid al-Haram: the Holy Mosque in Mecca that encompasses the Kaaba.
Safa and Marwa: two hillocks connected by a course adjoining al-Masjid al-Haram.
'Umra: the lesser pilgrimage or visit to Mecca that may be performed at any time of the year.)
Both hajj and 'umra are obligatory, though neither is obligatory more than once in a person's lifetime unless one vows (def: JIS) more than that.
They are only obligatory for someone who:
(a) is Muslim;
(b) has reached puberty;
(c) is sane;
(d) and is able (def: j1.6-lO) to make them.
The hajj or 'umra of someone considered unable (non-(d) above) is valid (0: i.e
if he undertakes the hardship, travels, and stands at 'Arafa (def: jS), it fulfills the obligation), though not that of a non-Muslim, or a child below the age of discrimination (fl.2) who is unaccompanied by a guardian.
It is valid for a child of the age of discrimination to enter the state of ihram with his guardian's permission (0: guardian meaning the person with lawful disposal over the child's property).
It is also valid for the guardian to enter ihram on behalf of an insane person or a child below the age of discrimination, in which case the guardian has his charge do as much as he is able, by having him (0: telling him to) perform the purificatory bath (ghusl), remove clothing that has seams, and put on hajj garments; and forbidding him the things prohibited while in the state of ihram, such as perfumes and the like (def: j3.5), after which he takes him to the various places ofthe hajj rites (0:
it being insufficient for the guardian to go alone), and performs the acts that the charge cannot do himself, such as entering into ihram (n: which the charge, lacking diserimination, is unable to make a legally valid intention for), the two rak'as after circumambulating the Kaaba, and stoning at Mina
(N: But the hajj of someone who has not reached puberty does not fulfill the obligation Islam imposes, f!ince even though it is valid, it is supereroga tory .)
WHO IS CONSIDERED ABLE TO PERFORMTHE HAJJ Those able to perform the hajj are of two types: those able to perform the hajj in person, and those able to fulfill the hajj by sending someone in their stead.
THOSE ABLE TO PERFORM THE HAJJ IN PERSON The conditions for being considered able to perform the hajj in person are:
(a) to be healthy (0: enough to ride there without serious harm);
(b) to
be able to obtain provisions for the trip;
(c) to have enough money to afford water at the going price at the places people travel through because of the water there;
(d) to have transportation suitable to someone like oneself (0: though if one cannotfind any, or if it is more than the usual price (A: usual meaning that the fare to the hajj is no more than the fare to another destination of comparable distance), then one is not obliged to perform the hajj);
(all of the above (0: (b), (c), and (d) apply equally to the journey there and back) (e) to be able to pay for (b), (c), and (d), round trip, with money one has that is in excess of the amount one requires to support the members of one's family and clothe them while one is travelling there and back, and obtain lodgings for oneself;
and that is in excess of any money one owes for debts, even those not yet due (0: scholars concur that a debtor is not obliged to perform the hajj even when his creditor does not mind postponing the debt until after the hajj, and that a person is not obliged to perform the hajj when someone is willing to loan him the money to do so (N: though such a person's hajj would be valid, as previously discussed 01.4)));
(f) and that a route exist that is safe for one's person and property from predators and enemies, whether the latter be non-Muslims or whether highwaymen wanting money, even when the amount is inconsiderable (A: including socalled hajj fees, which are not countenanced by Sacred Law)
If there is no route except by sea, then one must take it if it is usually safe, but if not, then it is not obligatory.
(N: These are the conditions for the obligatoriness of the hajj or 'umra, meaning that if one of them is lacking, the hajj and 'umra are not obligatory for that year, though if one performs them anyway, one's performance validly fulfills the rites which Islam imposes, as mentioned above at j 1.4.)
The above conditions apply equally to a woman, who in addition requires someone to accompany her to protect her, such as a husband, an unmarriageable male relative (mahram, def:
m6.2), or some (0: two or more) reliable women, even if they are not accompanied by any of their unmarriageable male relatives.
If the above conditions are met, but there is no longer time to reach Mecca, then the hajj is not obligatory
But if time remains, it is obligatory.
It is recommended to perform hajj as soon as possible (N: i.e
to perform it the first year that one is able to, and likewise for 'umra)
One is entitled to delay it, but if one dies without performing it after having been able to, one dies in disobedience, and it is obligatory to take out the cost for it from the deceased's estate (n: just as debts are, as at L4.3(1)) to pay for someone to make it up (A: in the deceased's place (dis:
below)).
mOSE ABLE TO PERFORM THE HAJJ BY SENDING SOMEONE IN mEIR STEAD
The second type of being able to perform hajj is when one may fulfill it by sending another in one's place, the necessary conditions for which are:
(a) that one is unable to ride there (0: at all, or is able, but with great difficulty) because of chronic illness or old age;
(b) and that one either has the money (n: to hire someone to go in one's place) or (N: iflacking the money) has someone to obey one (0: by agreeing to perform the rites of hajj for one (N: at their own expense, as a charitable donation)), even if not a family member-in which case one is obliged to either hire someone (N: in the former instance) or give permission to someone (N: in the latter instance) to perform hajj in one's place.
One may also have someone perform a nonobligatory hajj for one undersuch conditions.
'THE PRIORITY OF 'THE OBLIGATORY HAJJOVER ANY O'THER It is not permissible for someone who has not yet performed his own obligatory hajj:
(1) to perform the hajj for someone else;
(2) to perform a nonobligatory hajj;
(3) or to perform hajj in fulfillment of a vow, or as a makeup.
(N: If he does any of these, it counts instead as his own obligatory hajj).
The order of performing hajj (0: or 'umra) must be:
(1) the obligatory hajj first;
(2) then a makeup hajj (def: j3.14:(c)) if any is due;
(3) then a hajj in fullfillment of a vow, if any has been made;
(4) and then a supererogatory hajj, Or one in another person's place.
If one tries to change this order, for example, by commencing a hajj with the intention for a supererogatory performance or a vow when one has not yet made the obligatory hajj, the intention is invalid, and the hajj counts instead as fulfilling the obligatory one
The same is true for the otht;r types (A: i.e
if one intends any of the types in the order just mentioned when a prior type exists unperformed, then one's hajj counts as fulfilling the prior one, regardless of the intention).
WAYS OF PERFORMING THE HAJJ I t is permissible to enter ihram with the intention for any of four ways of performing the hajj, which are, in order of superiority:
(1) hajj before 'umra (ifrad);
(2) 'umra first (tamattu');
(3) hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran);
(4) and the unconditional intention to perform hajj and 'umra (itlaq).
HAJJ BEFORE 'UMRA (IFRAD) Hajj before 'umra (ifrad) means to perform hajj (0: i.e
enter ihram for hajj) first (0:
before subsequently entering ihram for 'umra) at the ihram site for people from one's country (def:
j2), then (0: after having completed one's hajj) to go outside the Sacred Precinct (Haram) and enter ihram for 'umra
(0: There is no special place for the second ihram: if one went to the closest place outside of the Sacred Precinct, it would suffice for this ihram of 'umra.) (N: People generally go to the Mosques of 'A'isha (Allah be well pleased with her) at aI-Tan'im because it is dose.)
'UMRA FIRST (TAMATTU') 'Umra first (tamattu') (N: perhaps the easiest and most practical way to perform hajj in our times, since one does not have to remain in a state of ihram throughout the week or more that one is generally there between the initial 'umra and subsequent hajj) means to perlorm the 'umra first (0: before the hajj) by:
(a) entering ihram for it from the ihram site for people of one's own country;
(b) during the hajj months (def: j1.19);
(c) and then (0: after finishing the 'umra) performing hajj within the same year from Mecca (0: meaning to intend hajj from Mecca (n: by entering ihram there), if one wants to have to slaughter (n: in expiation, as at j12.6(I)), which relieves one of the necessity to return to the ihram site of people of one's country, though if one returns to that site to enter ihram for hajj, then one is no longer obliged to slaughter and one's ihram is valid).
It is recommended to enter ihram for hajj on 8 Dhul Hijja if one is performing 'umra first (tamattu') and has an animal to slaughter
But if one does not have an animal, (0: one enters ihram) on 6 DhulHijja (0: so that one's (N: threeday expiatory) fast (N: in place of slaughtering (def: j12.6(I))) takes place before standing at 'Arafa (A: since in the Shafi'i school, being in ihram for hajj is obligatory during these three days of fasting, though for theHanafi school, these days may be fasted before entering ihram for hajj, after one's 'umra), thus fasting on the sixth, seventh, and eighth, and not on the Day of 'Arafa (N: the ninth) if one was able to fast on the sixth, though if not, then fasting the Day of 'Arafa is mandatory because of the previous inability
If one does not fast it, it is a sin and the delayed fast-day is a makeup, as its obligatory time is before theDayof 'Arafa)
One enters ihram for hajj in Mecca from the door of one's lodgings
Then one proceeds in a state of ihram to al-Masjid al-Haram as a Meccan would (0: to perform a farewell circumambulation (tawaf al-wada', def: jl1.2) of the Kaaba, which is desirable (mustahabb) for non-Meccans who are leaving Mecca to go to 'Arafa
For Meccans, the farewell circumambulation is obligatory when leaving Mecca, even for a short distance).
HAJJ AND 'UMRA SIMULTANEOUSLY (QIRAN) Hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran) means to enter ihram intending both (0: hajj and 'umra) at the ihram site for people of one's country, and then perform only the rites of hajj
(0:
Such that one does not perform an additional circumambulation or a second going between Safa and Marwa (def: j6), but rather once is sufficient to fulfill the obligation of both hajj and 'umra, because the actions of the 'umra have been incorporated into the actions of the hajj
The author mentions a second way of performing hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran) by saying:)
Or the person may enter ihram first for 'umra, and then before beginning his circumambulation (0: even if only by a single step), incorporate into his intention for 'umra the intention to perform hajj, this taking place in the months of hajj.
THE OBLIGATION TO SLAUGHTER OR FAST FORTHOSE PERFORMING THE 'UMRA FIRST (TAMATTlJ') OR HAJJ AND 'UMRA
SIMULTANEOUSLY (QIRAN) A Person performing 'umra first (tamattu') or performing hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran) is obliged to slaughter (N: a shah (def: h2.S) or to fast, as mentioned below), though if the person performing hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran) lives within the Sacred Precinct (Haram) or within 81 km.l50 mi
of it, or if the person performing 'umra first (tamattu') returns to the ihram site for people of his country (N: after his 'umra) to enter ihram for hajj, or lives within 81 km.lSO mi
of the Sacred Precinct-in any of these cases he is not obliged to slaughter.
If one (0: performing 'umra first (tamattu') or hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran)) is obliged to slaughter but:
(1) lacks an animal there (0: i.e
in the Sacred Precinct (Haram), which is the place of the obligation to slaughter, lacks meaning absolutely, as when there is not an animal available that meets slaughter specifications (def: j14.2));
(2) or (0: there is an animal, but one lacks) its price (0: or has the price but needs the money for expenses and the like);
(3) or finds that it is being sold for more than the normal price for that locality and time;
-then one must fast three days of the hajj
(0:
For our school it is insufficient to fast them before the hajj, as opposed to the school of Abu Hanifa, in which it is permissible to fast them before the hajj (A: i.e
when performing the 'umra first (tamattu'), fasting them after having finished the initial 'umra and before entering ihram for hajj).)
It is recommended that these days be before the Day of 'Arafa (0: time permitting, as when one fasts from 1 Dhul Hijja after having entered ihram for hajj
It is unlawful to delay these fast-days till after theDayof 'Arafa), and one must fast seven additional days after returning home (n: making a total of ten fast -days).
The time for current performance of the three fast-days ends after the Day of 'Arafa (0:
and it is not permissible to fast any of them on 'Eid al-Adha or on the three days following the 'Eid), and if one thus delays them, it is obligatory to make them up before the other seven fast-days, by an interval between the three and seven fast-days equal to the interval that would have separated them had they been a current performance, namely, the time taken by the trip (0: from Mecca to home) plus four days (0: equal to the 'Eid and the three days that follow it).
THE UNCONDITIONAL INTENTION TO PERFORMHAJJ AND 'UMRA (ITLAQ) The unconditional intention to perform hajj and 'umra (itlaq) means to merely intend entering into the performance of rites, without specifying at the time of ihram that it is for hajj, 'umra, or hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran).
After this, one may use it (0: the ihram, made unconditional by the intention) as one wishes (0:
meaning to perform hajj only, 'umra only, or hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran) (A: though one may not use the unconditional intention as a way to perform 'umra first (tamattu') without having to either return to the ihram site to enter ihram for hajj, or to slaughter or fast (def: jl.l7))):
THE TIME OF YEAR TO ENTER IHRAM FORHAJJ OR 'UMRA It is not permissible
to enter ihram for hajj other than during its months, namely, Shawwal, Dhul Qa'da, and the first ten nights of Dhul Hijja (A: with their days)
If one enters ihram for hajj during non-hajj months, one's ihram counts for 'umra.
Entering ihram for 'umra is valid at any time of the year except for a person on hajj encamped at Mina for stoning (def: jl0).
*
The sites for entering ihram for hajj or 'umra are as follows:
(1) (N: people going to hajj from the Westby plane must enter ihram before boarding it, or during the flight before it passes the airspace that is even (def: j2.3) with the city of Rabigh, on the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula, this generally being announced on the plane);
(2) Medina residents (N: or those travelling through Medina to Mecca) enter ihram at Dhul Hulayfa; .
(3) residents of the Syria-Palestine region, Egypt, and North Africa enter ihram at al-Juhfa;
(4) residents of al-Tihama in Yemen enter ihram at Yalamlam;
(5) residents of the Najd of Yemen and the Najd ofthe Hijaz enter ihram at Qarn;
(6) and residents of Iraq and Khurasan enter ihram at Dhat 'Irq, preferably at al-'Aqiq.
Someone at Mecca, even if merely passing through, enters ihram for hajj in Mecca, and for 'umra must go (N: at least) to the nearest place outside of the Sacred Precinct (Haram), of which the best is al-Ji'rana, then aI-Tan'im, and then al-Hudaybiya.
Someone residing closer to Mecca than the ihram site is to Mecca should enter ihram (0: for hajj or 'umra) at his residence.
When coming by a route lacking an ihram site, one enters ihram when even with (0: on the left or right) the ihram site that is nearest.
For someone residing farther from Mecca than the ihram site is, to enter ihram at the ihram site is superior (A: than for him to enter ihram at his own residence).
THE EXPIATION FOR NEGLECTING TO ENTERIHRAM AT THE PROPER SITE Someone intending hajj, 'umra, or both, who passes the ihram site (0: intentionally, absentmindedly, or in ignorance ofit) and enters ihram somewhere closer to Mecca, is obliged to slaughter (def: j12.6(I)), though if he returns to the proper site and enters ihram there before having performed a single rite, he is no longer obliged to slaughter.
*
When one wishes to enter ihram, it is recommended (even for a woman in menstruation) to perform the purificatory bath (ghusl), intending bathing for ihram
If there is not much water, one merely performs ablution (wudu).
It is also recommended to shave pubic hair, pluek the underarms, clip the mustache, (0: trim the nails,) clean oneself of dirt, and wash the head.
OBLIGATORY MEASURES BEFORE IHRAM Then (0: if male) one:
(a) sheds any garments that have sewing in them (0: taking them off being obligatory for ihram, which is incomplete if one does not remove them before entering it);
(b) puts on a clean white mantle (Ar
rida', the rectangular piece of cloth worn over the shoulders that covers the upper body of a man in ihram) and wraparound (izar, the cloth worn around the lower body), and sandals (0: that do not enclose the foot, but rather reveal the toes and heels, as opposed to sandals that cover the toes, for wearing such sandals obliges one to slaughter (def: jI2.6(II)));
( c) and it is recommended to perfume the body, though not one's clothes.
The above measures 03.1) apply equally to women, although women do not divest themselves of sewn garments (0: a woman being obliged to cover all of her body except the face and hands, which, in ihram as well as in prayer, are not considered nakedness)
It is recommended that she dye her hands and face with henna (0: a measure that is desirable, and whose nonperformance is without consequence)
(A: But women do not use perfume.)
All of the foregoing are done before entering ihram.
ENTERING IHRAM One then prays two rak'as, provided it is not a time when the prayer is forbidden (def: f13), intending the sunna of ihram
(0: It is sunna to recite al-Kafirun (Koran 109) in the first rak'a, and al-Ikhlas (Koran 112) in the second.)
Then one rises to start travelling to Mecca.
As soon as one begins travelling to Mecca, one has entered ihram.
Ihram (0: which is an integral of hajj and 'umra) is the intention to enter into the performance of the rites (0: of hajj, 'umra, or both (qiran))
One intends in one's heart to perform the hajj for Allah Most High, if one wants to perform hajj; or to perform 'umra if one wants to; or both together if one wants to perform them simultaneously (qiran)
It is recommended that one also pronounce this intention with the tongue.
CHANTING ""LABBA YK"" Then one chants ""Labbayk"" (n: as described below), raising the voice (0: enough to (N: at least) hear oneself, the raising being relative.
For the duration of the time one is in ihram one raises it enough for .those nearby to hear), though a woman should lower her voice when saying it (0: as raising the voice is offensive for a woman) saying: ""Ever at Your service, 0 Allah, ever at Your service
Ever at Your service, You have no partner, ever at Your service
Verily, all praise, blessings, and dominion are Yours
You have no partner"" (0: saying this three times).
Then (0: after chanting the above) one recites the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in a softer voice, asking Allah Most High for paradise (0: saying, ""0 Allah, I ask You for paradise and its blessings,"" and asking for His good pleasure and acceptance (ridwan)) and seeking refuge in Him from hell (0:
saying, ""I take refuge in You from Your wrath, and hell,"" and asking Him for whatever one wishes of the good of this world and the next).
It is desirable to chant ""Labbayk"" for the duration of one's ihram, whether standing, sitting, riding, walking, lying down, and even in a state of major ritual impurity (janaba), or for a woman in menstruation
It is particularly desirable when:
(1) changing from one state, time, or place to another, such as when going uphill or down, or getting on or off a vehicle;
(2) meeting groups of people;
(3) at the approach of dawn, night, or daytime;
(4) after prayer;
(5) and in all mosques.
One does not chant ""Labbayk"" while circumambulating the Kaaba or going between Safa and Marwa (0: as these have their own particular invocations)
It is undesirable to stop chanting it in order to speak, though if someone greets one with ""as-Salamu 'alaykum,"" it is recommended (0:
but not obligatory) to return his greeting.
When one sees something pleasing (0: or displeasing) during ihram, it is recommended to say, ""Ever at Your service, truly, the real life is the life of the hereafter"" (0: and if one sees the like while not in ihram, one says, ""0 Allah, truly, the real life is the life of the hereafter,"" without saying ""Labbayk.""
THINGS UNLAWFUL WHILE IN IHRAM Five things are unlawful (dis: j12.6) when one has entered ihram
(n: Namely:
(1) sewn garments on men (dis: j3.6);
(2) using perfume (j3
7);
(3) removing hair or nails (j3.8);
(4) sexual intercourse or foreplay (j3.13);
(5) and hunting (j3.21).)
SEWN GARMENTS ON MEN The first thing unlawful in ihram is wearing sewn clothing such as shirts, trousers, moccasins (khuff, def: e6), anything else sewn (N: sewn meaning that which is for wearing, not just any sewing, as a patched mantle or wraparound are permissible), and anything that encircles the body as sewn garments do, such as (N: those seamed) by being woven or felted together and the like.
It is unlawful to cover the head with anything, sewn or unsewn, that is generally considered a headeover (0: such as ahat, cloth, bandage(N: or blanket while sleeping)).
It is permissible while in ihram to carry a (N:
sewn) bag or the like, or to tote a basket (0: on one's head, though it is unlawful if one intends it as a headcover)
(A: It is permissible to carry an umbrella held in the hand for protection against the sun.)
It is not permissible to fasten one's mantle by tucking part of it through a hole, tying it together, passing a string through one end and then the other, or by tying a string to each of the two ends (N: though it is permissible to fasten it together with safety pins).
It is permissible to tie one's wraparound (0:
one end to the other) or tie a string over it (0: so that it holds it fast, like a drawstring, and one may likewise use a waistband) (N: the reason for the permissibility (n: of tying the wraparound but not the mantle) being that if the wraparound were to fall it would reveal one's nakedness, unlike the mantle)
(n: Safety pins are permissible to fasten the wraparound, and are useful to make pleats at the waistline (jy safety-pinning two or three tucks of cloth there to gather the wraparound at the waist and leave more freedom of movement for the legs below.) (A: A belt may also be used to hold one's wraparound at the waist.)
PERFUME The second thing that is unlawful after entering ihram is using perfume, such as musk, camphor, or saffron on one's clothing, body, or bedding
It is also unlawful to smell roses, violets, lilies, or anything fragrant; to sprinkle rose water or flower water about; or to use scented oils (N: or scented bar soap), whether to smell them or to apply them to any part of the body.
It is also unlawful:
(1) to apply unscented oils like olive, sesame, and so on to the beard or scalp, unless one is bald (A: in which case it can be used on the skin of the head), though it is permissible to smell them or apply them to any of the body (0: except the hair of the head and face);
(2) to eat food in which the use of a cosmetic is manifest, whether in taste, color, or scent, such as the scent of rose water, the color of saffron or its taste, or the taste of ambergris in cooked grain and the like;
(3) or to use scented perspiration deodorant or eyeliner.
REMOVING HAIR OR NAILS The third thing that is unlawful while in ihram (0: for both men and women, but only if one does so deliberately, knowing that it is unlawful, voluntarily, and remembering that one is in ihram) is:
(1) cutting or plucking hair (0: i.e
removing it by any means whatever), even if only part of a single hair (by shortening it), and whether from the head, underarms, pubes, mustache, or any other part of the body (A: the obligatory expiation for one hair is to give O
51 liters of food to the poor in Mecca, and for two hairs, twice that amount.
For three or more, a full expiation (clef: j12.6(Il)) is obligatory);
(2) or clipping fingernails or toenails, even if only part of one (A: my above remark on expiations also applies to nails).
THE EXPIATION FOR VIOLATING THECONDITIONS OF IHRAM It is necessary to slaughter a shah (def: h2.5) (n: or perform one of the other alternatives mentioned below at j12.6(II)) when one is in ihram and one:
(1) uses perfume;
(Z) wears a prohibited garment (def: j3.6);
(3) removes three or more hairs, fingernails, or toenails (def: jlZ.6(II(1-Z)));
(4) touches another person with desire in a nongenital area;
(5) or applies unscented oil to one's hair (dis: j3.7).
A person obliged to perform such an expiation may fulfill it (A: any time thereafter.) in any of the following ways:
(1) by slaughtering a shah (def: hZ.5) (0:
and distributing its meat to the poor and those short of money in the Sacred Precinct);
(Z) by distributing 6.09 liters of food (def:
h7.6) to the poor in charity, giving 1.015 liters to each person;
(3) or by fasting three days (0: even if unconsecutive) .
ACCIDENTALLY REMOVING A HAIR It is unlawful during ihram to comb one's beard (N: or hair) or run one's fingers through it·if one knows that hair will be pulled out.
When one runs the fingers through one's beard or washes the face and then notices hair in one's hand, then if one knows one pulled it out while doing this, an expiation (def: jlZ.6(1l)) must be paid, though if one knows that it came out by itself, or does not know whether it did or not, then one is not obliged to expiate.
The following things necessitate the expiation (def: jlZ.6(II)), but when done out of need, are not unlawful:
(1) having to cut one's hair because of illness, heat, or lice;
(2) having to wear something sewn because of intense heat or cold;
(3) or having to cover one's head.
SEXUAL INTERCOURSE OR FOREPLAY The fourth thing unlawful while in ihram is sexual intercourse or touching a nongenital area with sexual desire, such as kissing, hugging, or touching lustfully.
If one intentionally has sexual intercourse before finishing one's 'umra, or while on hajj before partial release from ihram (def: j9.13), then:
(a) this nullifies the hajj or 'umra;
(b) it is nonetheless obligatory to complete the hajj or 'umra from the point at which it was spoiled to the end;
(c) it is obligatory to make it up as soon as possible, even if the spoiled hajj or 'umra was merely supererogatory;
(d) and it is obligatory to pay the expiation (def: below) (0: for the male, not the female, who need not do anything, though it is a sin if she participated willingly) (A: the more reliable position is that if the woman was unwilling, none of the above «a),(b), (c), or (d)) app1y to her, though if willing, (a), (b), and (c) apply to her but not (d)).
The expiation for the above U3.14) is to slaughter (A: and distribute to the poor of the Sacred Precinct, immediately):
(1) a camel (0: i.e
a male or female that meets slaughter specifications (def: j14.2)), but if this is not possible (N: within the days ofthat hajj), then one must slaughter:
(2) a cow, but if not possible, then:
(3) seven shahs (def: h2.5), but if not pos sible, then:
(4) one estimates the cost of a camel and how much food (def: h7.6) this would buy, and then gives that much food (N: to the poor in Mecca), but if not possible, then:
(5) one fasts one day for every 0.51 liters of food that would have been given had (4) been done
(N: One may fast anywhere, but it is not permissible to delay it without an excuse.)
A person making up a hajj or 'uThra nullified by sexual intercourse must enter ihram for the makeup hajj or 'umra at the same ihram site as the original (n: nullified) hajj or 'umra, though if one entered ihram for it at a location closer to Mecca (N: than the ihram site (dis: j2.5)), one must enter ihram for the makeup at the (0: prescribed) site (N: for those of one's country) ..
When someone (0: in ihram who intends to make up a nullified hajj) is accompanied on the makeup hajj by the wife he made love to, he is recommended to separate himself from her while they are at the place where they had intercourse.
(N: Such a makeup counts as the original hajj or 'umra would have counted: ifit was obligatory, it counts as the obligatory one; if supererogatory, as supererogatory; and if vowed, as vowed.)
If a man has sexual intercourse after partial release fromihram (def: j9.13), it does not nullify his hajj (n: i.e
does not entail j3.14(a,b,e,d)), though he must pay an expiation (0: of the type discussed at j12.6(1I)).
If one has sexual intercourse absentmindedly (0: forgetting one is in ihram or out of ignorance of its prohibition or because of being forced), then one is not obliged to do anything (A:
i.e
none of j3.14(a,b,c,d).
THE PROHIBITION OF MARRYING WHILEIN IHRAM It is unlawful while in ihram to marry, or to marry someone to another (zawwaja, def:
m3.2(a)) (0: whether one does so oneself or through an agent)
If one does so, the marriage contract is invalid.
It is offensive while in ihram to get engaged to marry, or to serve as a witness for a marriage contract.
HUNTING The fifth thing that is unlawful while in ihram is:
(1) to kill any wild game that may be eaten by Muslims;
(2) or to kill the offspring of matings between game animals that may be eaten by Muslims and game animals that may not be eaten by Muslims.
Someone in ihram is obliged to pay the expiation (def: below) whenever such an animal dies at his hands, is destroyed by an act of his, or is injured, in which case one must expiate in proportion to the part damaged.
THE EXPIATION FOR HUNTING If the animal killed has a domestic counterpart, one may fulfill the expiation in any of the following ways:
(1) to slaughter a head of domestic livestock that is like the wild animal which was killed (0:
like meaning an approximation, not actual resemblance
The criterion is the condition of the animal, not its value
One expiates a game animal that was, for example, large, small, healthy, diseased, fat, thin, or defective, with a head of livestock of the same description, heeding the correspondences.
It is a necessary condition that the wild animal and the head of livestock share, if the animal was defective, the same type of defect, such as blindness (N: though it is permissible, indeed superior, to pay a healthy one for a defective one or a whole one for one that is lacking some part));
(2) to estimate the value of the like head of livestock, and distribute an equal value of food (def: h7.6) to the poor;
(3) or to fast one day for every 0.51 liters of foOd (N: that would have been bought had (2) been done).
If the animal killed does not have a domestic counterpart, then one may fulfill the expiation in any of the following ways:
(1) to distribute funds to the poor which equal the value of the game animal, although if the animal was a pigeon, one is obliged to slaughter a shah (def: h2.5) (0: which is obligatory for killing even a single pigeon);
(2) to buy food equal to the animal's value and distribute it as charity;
(3) or to fast one day for each 0.51 liters of food (N; that would have been bought had (2) been done).
The prohibition of all things unlawful while in ihram applies to both men and women, except for not wearing sewnc10thing (def: j3.6) and not covering the head, which are restricted to men.
A woman, however, may not veil her face in ihram (dis: (j12.6(11(3))))
If she wants to conceal it from people, she may drape something in front provided it does not touch her face (N: such as a veil worn over a cap's visor), though if ittouchesit without her intention, it is of no consequence.
It is permissible when in ihram to scratch one's head or body with one's fingernails as long as this does not remove any hair.
It is also permissible in ihram to kill lice (N: or other insects harmful to humans), though if one kills a louse, it is recommended to expiate its death by giving charity, even if only a single bite of food.
*
It is recommended when one wants to enter Mecca:
(1) to perform the purificatory bath (ghusl) outside of the city with the intention of entering Mecca;
(2) to enter in the daytime, and from the Mu'alla gate of Thaniyyat Kada' (N: a pass from the direction of Jedda);
(3) to walk barefoot, provided one does not apprehend something unclean (najasa);
(4) not to annoy anyone by jostling;
(5) and after entering, to proceed to al-Masjid al-Haram.
WHEN ONE FIRST SEES THE KAABA When one first sees the Kaaba, it is recommended to lift the hands and say: ""0 Allah, increase this house in nobility, honor, reverence, and dignity
Increase those going on hajj or 'umra who honor and reverence it in honor, reverence, and piety
0 Allah, You are Peace, the Source of Peace; 0 Lord, raise us after death in peace."" And then one asks Allah for whatever one wishes of religious matters or those of this world.
Then one enters al-Masiid al-Haram from the Bani Shayba door (0: even if it is out of one's way, as it is sunna) prior to getting one's luggage down or finding a place to stay and so forth (0:
such as deciding to rest or to eat; all this should be put off until after circumambulating the Kaaba).
Rather (n: by turns), some of one's party should stay with the luggage while others go to the mosque (0: to circumambulate), and after they finish, they return to watch the luggage so the rest can go.
(0: The arrival circumambulation (tawaf alqudum) is desirable for anyone who enters alMasjid al-Haram, whether in ihram or not.)
HOW TO CIRCUMAMBULATE THE KAABA Prior to circumambulating the Kaaba one proceeds to the Black Stone (diagram: I) (0: next to the Kaaba's door, on the east corner), drawing near to it
if onc can do so without hurting others by jostling
One faces the Black Stone, places the hand on it, and without a word, kisses the stone thrice and touches the forehead upon it thrice
(0:
Touching, kissing, and placing the forehead on the stone are only sunna for women when the circumambulation area is vacant, whether in the night or day.)
One ceases to chant ""Labbayk"" at this point, not to resume until after having finished both circumambulating the Kaaba and going between Safa and Marwa (def: j6)
One puts the center (N: of the top edge) of one's mantle under the right arm and its two ends over the left shoulder so that the right shoulder is left bare (dis: j5.13, second par.).
One begins circumambulating by first standing facing the Kaaba with the Black Stone on one's right and the Yamani corner (diagram: 8) on one's left, standing back from the stone a little towards the Yamani corner (n: i.e
behind the black stripe in the marble pavement, extending out from the stone, that marks the beginning of one's circumambulation).
One should intend performing the circumambulation for Allah Most High (0:
though this intention is only necessary for a supererogatory or a departure circumambulation, not for an obligatory or an arrival circumambulation, since the intention to perform the rites of hajj or 'umra (def: j3.3) includes the intention for the latter two types of circumambulation).
Then one:
(1) places the hand on the Black Stone, and then kisses it and places the forehead on it thrice, as mentioned above (A: i.e
it is done again here to begin the circumambulation, just as it was done before circumambulation OS.2));
(2) says ""Allahu akbar"" three times;
(3) and adds, ""0 Allah, out of faith in You and to affirm Your book, fulfill Your covenant, and follow the sunna of Your prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace).""
Then one moves sideways (A: as is recommended) Black Stone with all of the body, while facing it.
When past the stone, one turns (0: from facing it) so that the Kaaba is on one's left and then proceeds to circumambulate it
(0: If one did this (N:
kept the Kaaba on one's left while passing the stone) from the beginning and neglected to face the stone, it would likewise be permissible.)
At the Kaaba's door (diagram: 2) one says, ""0 Allah, verily this house is Your house, the sanctuary Your sanctuary, the safety Your safety, and this is the station of him who took refuge in You from flIe"" (N: i.e
the Station of Ibrahim (diagram: 3), though some hold the words mean ""him who takes refuge,"" alluding to oneself).
When one reaches the corner (diagram: 4) by the opening of the Hijr (n: a semicircular wall that stands apart from the Kaaba (diagram: 5)), one says, ""0 Allah, I take refuge in You from doubt, from ascribing partners to You, from discord, hypocrisy, evil traits, and from bad turns of fortune in money, spouse, and children.""
When even with the rainspout (N: called the Spout of Mercy (Mizab al-Rahma), at the top of the Kaaba (diagram: 6)), one says: ""0 Allah, shade me in Your shade on a day when there is no shade but Yours
Give me to drink from the cup of Your prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), a wholesome drink after which I will never thirst.""
Between the third corner (diagram: 7) and the Yamani corner (diagram: 8), one
should say, ""0 Allah, make this a pious hajj, a rewarded dfort, an accepted work, and a transaction that will never perish, 0 All-powerful and Oftforgiving one.""
When one reaches the Yam ani corner, one does not kiss it, but touches it and then kisses one's hand.
One does not kiss any of the Kaaba (0:
meaning that it is not required, though if one kisses any of its parts, it is not offensive, but rather is good) except the Black Stone
Nor does one touch any of it except the Yamani corner, which is the one before the Black Stone.
When one reaches the Black Stone, one has completed a single round (0: provided its conditions (def: j5.16) have been met).
One goes around the Kaaba seven times (0: the seventh ending where one began, at the Black Stone
One's circumambulation is incomplete as long as even a span remains between oneself and the place even with the stone).
TROTTING FOR THE FIRST THREE ROUNDS It is sunna in the first three rounds of circumambulation to hasten one's gait (N: if one can do so
without harming others) (0: taking close steps, without running) which is termed trotting (ramal) (0: and which is desirable for men only, not women).
Both trotting and baring the right shoulder (def: j5.3) are only called for in circumambulations that are followed by going between Safa and Marwa (def: j6)
If one wishes to go between Safa and Marwa after one's arrival circumambulation, then one does the two sunnas (0: both trotting and baring the shoulder at this point, but when one later performs one's going-forth circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada, def: j9.1O), one does not do these two sunnas because that circumambulation is not followed by going between Safa and Marwa (N: if one has already gone between them before)).
But if one wishes to go between Safa and Marwa after the going-forth circumambulation (0: which is superior), one postpones the two (0:
sunnas of trotting and baring the shoulder) until then.
While trotting, one says, ""OAltah, make this a pious hajj, a rewarded effort, and forgive my sins
"" In the last four rounds of one's circumambulation, it is sunna to proceed at one's normal pace, while saying: ""My Lord, forgive me, show me mercy, and pardon that which You know
Verily You are the AlIcpowerful and the Most Generous.
Our Lord, give us what is good in this world and the next, and keep us from the torment of hell.'This supplication is particularly recommended in the odd-numbered rounds of the circumambulation (0: as they are superior
Reciting the Koran while circumambulating is better than making supplications that have not reached us through prophetic hadith, though supplications from hadith are superior to reciting the Koran during it).
14 It is recommended to kiss the Black Stone if!
each round (0: and to place the forehead on it, each three times) and to touch the Yamani corner, particularly in the odd-numbered rounds.
If it is not possible to kiss the Black Stone because of crowds or because one fears to hurt people (0: or be hurt) by jostling, one may touch it with one's hand and then kiss the hand
If this is not possible, one may touch it with a stick (0: or the like, such as a scarf) and kiss the stick
If this too is impossible, then one points to it (0: or the Yamani corner) with the hand (0: and it is sunna to kiss one's hand).
A noteworthy detail here is that there is a buttress at the base of the Kaaba that resembles a ledge and slide
It is part of the Kaaba, and when one kisses the stone, one's head is in the space above the buttress
So one is obliged to keep one's feet motionless until one finishes kissing the stone and straightens up, after which one continues circumambulating.
(N: One may not move one's feet as part of the circumambulation while one's head is within the space above the buttress, as it nullifies that particular round because of the condition (dis: j5.16(i)} that circumambulation be done around the Kaaba, and not within its confines.) If.
when leaning over to kiss the stone, one's feet move even a finger's width towards the Kaaba's door, and after this, one continues circumambulating, then that particular round does not count (0: nor do the others that come after it, if one limits oneself to just those seven, considering the spoiled one as a valid round
But if one adds an extra round (N: to make up for the irivalid one), then one's circumambulation is valid).
It is more precautionary when one has straightened up from kissing the stone, to step back to the left to'l¥ards the Yamani corner 05.2 diagram: 8) enough to ensure that one is where one was before kissing the stone
(N: The same is true of touching the Yamani corner with one's hand.)
THE CONDITIONS OF A VALIDCIRCUMAMBULATION The conditions of a valid circumambulation (0: of any kind, obligatory or nonobligatory) are:
(a) that one's nakedness (def: f5.3) be clothed, because the round is invalid whenever any of one's nakedness shows, even a single hair of a woman's head (0: meaning that the particular The Buttress at the Base of the Kaaba round in which it showed is invalid, provided it was done intentionally
If it happened inadvertently and the woman immediately covered it (A:
immediately meaning after no more than the time required to say ""Subhan Allah""), then it does not invalidate that round, though if she does not cover it until after it is showing, the subsequent round takes the place of the above-mentioned invalid one);
(b) ritual purity (0: from minor (hadath) and maior (janaba) impurity) (n: though for Hanafis
touching a marriageable member of the opposIte sex (N: despite being unlawful) does not nullify one's ablution (Maraqi al-falah sharh Nur al-idah (y126), 17)
and considering the difficulty of avoiding it at a contemporary hajj, taking the dispensation seems a virtual necessity);
(c) to be free from impure substances (najasa) on one's person, clothing, and the place of walking while circumambulating;
(d) that it take place within al-Masjid alHaram;
(e) that one's circumambulation comprise seven full rounds;
(f) that it begin from the Black Stone
as described above, and that one pass by all of the stone with all of one's body, for if one begins from another part of the Kaaba, then the round does not count until one reaches the stone, from whence it begins;
(g) that one keep the Kaaba on one's left and move towards the door (j5.2 diagram: 1-2);
(h) that eaeh round be outside of the Hijr (diagram: 5) sueh that one does not enter the opening between the Hijr and the Kaaba and then exit through the other opening;
(i) and that all of the body of the person circumambulating be exterior to all parts of the Kaaba
such that while walking around it
one does not put one's hand in the space above the buttress, previously mentioned (i5.15)
which violates the condition of being wholly outside all of the Kaaba while making one's rounds.
Everything besides the above conditions is sunna (N: not obligatory), such as trotting in the first three rounds, the various supplications, and the other things previously mentioned.
TWO RAK'AS Af
When one has finished circumambulating, and after putting one's mantle over both shoulders, it is recommended to pray two rak'as for the sunna of circumambulation (0: and it is best to perform them) behind the Station ofIbrahim 05.2 diagram: 3)
In the first rak'a, one recites alKafirun (Koran 109), and in the second, al-Ikhlas (Koran 112).
After this, one supplicates Allah from behind the station (0: if one prays there
Otherwise, one may perform the two rak'as (N: in order of superiority) in the Hijr (diagram: 5), al-Masjid alHaram, the Sacred Precinct, or whenever and wherever one wishes to pray them, and they remain a current performance until the day one dies
It is sunna to recite the suras aloud in these two rak'as if performed at night, and to recite them to oneself if performed during the day
It is desirable to make the supplication related by Jabir, who said that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) prayed two rak'as behind the station (N: of Ibrahim) and then said;
""0 Allah, this is Your city, and al-Masjid alHaram, and Your inviolable house, and J am Your slave, the son of Your slave and bondwoman.
I have come to You with many sins, mistakes, and wicked acts, and this is the station of him who took refuge in You from the fire; so forgive me, verily You are the All-forgiving and Compassionate
0 Allah, You have called Your servants to Your inviolable house, and I have come, asking for Your mercy and seeking what pleases You, and You are the Rewarder, so forgive me and have mercy on me, verily You have power over everything"").
Then one returns to the Black Stone and touches it (0: kisses it, and bows one's head upon it).
*
Then it is recommended to exit through the Safa door of al-Masjid al-Haram if one wishes to go between Safa and Marwa immediately
(0:
It is necessary for the validity of going between Safa and Marwa (N: for hajj) prior to the Day of 'Arafa that one do so after one's arrival circumambulation (tawaf al-qudum) (N: though one may not do so on an 'umra first (tamattu') hajj, for which the initial circumambulation and going between Safa and Marwa are part of one's 'umra (dis: j12.2(c))), nor do so after a supererogatory or farewell circumambulation.) One may postpone it until after the going-forth circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada, def: j9.10) (0: which is superior).
HOW TO GO BETWEEN SAFA AND MARWA One begins from Safa
It is recommended:
(1) for men (0: not women) to climb upon Safa the height of a person, so that one can see the Kaaba through the mosque's door, and to face the Kaaba;
(2) to say: ""La ilaha ilia Llah, A1lahu akbar;' and ""There is no god but Allah alone, without partner
His is the dominion, His the praise, He gives life and causes to die, all good is in His hand, and He has power over everything.
There is no god but Allah alone, without partner.
He kept His promise, give His slave the victory, and routed the Confederates alone
There is no god but Allah
We worship none but Him, making our religion sincerely for Him, though unbelievers be averse"";
(3) to supplicate for whatever one wishes (0:
which is called for here because it is one of the places where prayers are answered
'Umar (Allah be well pleased with him) used to supplicate lengthily here);
(4) and to repeat (2) and (3) a second and third time.
Then one descends from Safa and walks (0: towards Marwa) at one's normal pace until within three meters of the first green marker suspended from the left wall
Here one runs (N:
women walk) until midway to the second green marker, at which midpoint one resumes one's usual pace until one reaches Marwa
One climbs Marwa and says the same invocation as was said at Safa
This is once.
Then one descends from Marwa and returns, walking and running at the proper places, until one reaches Safa
This is twice.
At Safa one says the same invocation and supplication, and then goes back to Marwa, which is three times.
One repeats the process until one has completed seven times, finishing at Marwa.
THE OBLIGATORY ELEMENTS OF GOINGBETWEEN SAFA AND MARWA The obligatory elements (0: i.e
conditions for the validity) of going between Safa and Marwa are four:
(a) to begin at Safa
If one begins at Marwa and walks to Safa, this does not count and one's going between them is not considered to have begun until one reaches Safa;
(b) to traverse the entire distance
It would be invalid if one neglected even a single span or less of the distance
One must begin by putting one's heel against the wall at Safa, and finish at Marwa by putting the toes against the wall there (N: the course has now been enlarged and paved so that one's going between them is complete without having to reach the walls that are currently there
Rather, between the two sides of the paved track (n: the lan'es for going and coming) there is a smaller track for wheelchair patients, and the ends of this smaller track currently represent the minimal distance);
(c) to complete seven times: from Safa to Marwa equals one, from Marwa to Safa is another one, and so on, as mentioned above
If doubts arise while going between them as to how many times it has been-or while circumambulating the Kaaba
how many rounds have been done-then one assumes one has done the least number one is sure of and completes the rest (0: though if the doubts arise after finishing, one net;d not do anything);
(d) and that going between Safa and Marwa take place after the going-forth circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada, def: j9.10) or else after one's arrival circumambulation, provided that standing at 'Arafa does not intervene between the arrival circumambulation and going between Safa and Marwa (dis: j6.1).
THE SUNNAS OF GOING BETWEEN SAFAAND MARWA The sunnas of going betweep
Safa and Marwa are those previously mentioned (j6.2-3), to have ablution (wudu), that one's nakedness (def: f5.3) be clothed, and to say while between Safa and Marwa: ""My Lord, forgive, show mercy, and overlook that which You know
Verily You are the Most Powerful and Generous
0 Allah, our Lord, give us what is good in this world and the next, and protect us from the torment of hell
"" If one recites the Koran (A: while going between them) it is better (0: than anything besides the invocations that have reached us in hadith (A:
i
e
the above), which are better here than reciting the Koran).
It is not recommended to repeat going be- I .
.r-JI)p ';'X; 'iJ j6.6 tween Safa and Marwa.
*
On 7 Dhul Hijja it is recommended for the imam (A: i.e
the caliph or his representative) to give a sermon after the noon prayer (zuhr)in Mecca (0: at the Kaaba), instructing the pilgrims about the rites they will soon perform, and ordering them to go forth on the following day (0: the morning of the eighth) to Mina.
The imam goes forth with them after the dawn prayer (subh) on 8 Dhul Hijja.
He prays the noon, midafternoon, sunset, and nightfall prayers with them at Mina, and they spend the night and pray the following dawn prayer there
When the sun rises over the mountain at Mina that is called Thabir, they proceed to 'Arafa.
Spending the night and staying at Mina during this time are a sunna (0: and not part of the hajj rites
If one does not spend the night at Mina at all, or go there, it does not entail any consequences) that many people no longer do, but corne to 'Arafa at the end ofthe night with lighted candles
This lighting of candles is a disgraceful innovation (0: as is their corning there a day or two before 9 Dhul Hijja, a mistake that contravenes the sunna, and through which they miss many other sunnas).
It is sunna on the way to 'Arafa to say: ""0 Allah, to You I betake myself, seeking Your noble countenance
Forgive me my sins, make my hajj a pious one, show me mercy, and do not disappoint me""; and to do much of chanting ""Labbayk,"" invocation (dhikr), supplication, and Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
Namira (N: the site of a large mosque) just before 'Arafa, they stop, and do not immediately enter 'Arafa
When the time for the noon prayer comes, it is sunna for the imam to give two sermons before the prayer, and then they pray, joining the noon and mid afternoon prayers together
This too is a sunna that few follow.
*
Then they enter 'Arafa after the sunna bath (ghusl) for standing at 'Arafa, chanting ""Labbayk"" in lowliness and humility.
THE SUNNAS OF STANDING AT 'ARAFA It is recommended to stand exposed to the sun (0: and not take shade beneath a tent, umbrella, or other, unless there is an excuse such as harm from exposure) facing the direction of prayer (qibla) with one's heart fully attentive and not occupied with this-worldly matters, and to do much of chanting ""Labbayk,"" reciting the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), asking Allah's forgiveness, supplicating, and weeping, for here tears are shed and mistakes annulled.
The greater part of one's words should be:
""There is no god but Allah alone, without partner.
His is the dominion, His the praise, and He has power over everything."" And one should pray for one's family, friends, and all Muslims.
It is recommended to stand (0: if possible without hurting anyone) by the large round boulders that lie at base of the hill called Jabal alRahma (lit
""Mount of Mercy"")
As for climbing Jabal al-Rahma, which lies in the middle of 'Arafa, there is no merit in doing so (0: above the meI'lt of standing in other parts of 'Arafa)
Standing is valid anywhere in the whole expansive plain, and this bluff is merely a part of it, the same as any other, though standing by the boulders below is better (A: as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did so).
It is better to be mounted, and not fasting.
It is best for women to sit at the edge of the crowd (0: not in the middle of it, because men should not randomly mix with women).
THE OBLIGATORY ELEMENTS OF STANDINGAT 'ARAFA The obligatory elements of standing at 'Arafa are:
(a) to be present (0: while in ihram) in some portion of 'Arafa;
(b) while sane and in full possession of one's faculties;
(c) at some point between the noon prayer (zuhr) on 9 Dhul Hijja and dawn of the following day
(0: It is sunna to remain at 'Arafa until sunset so as to include both night and day.) Anyone who is present and sane during any of this time, even if merely passing through for a moment, has accomplished the hajj (0: as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The pilgrimage is 'Arafa,"" meaning that most of it is 'Arafa).
Someone who misses standing at 'Arafa or who spends it unconscious has missed the hajj, and he releases himself from ihram by performing the rites of 'umra; that is, by circumambulating, going between Safa and Marwa, and cutting his hair, and he is thus released from his ihram.
Such a person is obliged to make up the hajj and to slaughter as do those who perform an 'umra first (tamattu') hajj (def: j12.6(I)).
*
When the sun sets on 9 Dhul Hijja, those on hajj go forth to Muzdelifa, occupied with invocation (dhikr), chanting ""Labbayk,"" proceeding with tranquility and dignity, not jostling or injuring others (though if the way is clear it is desirable to hurry), and they join the sunset and nightfall prayers in the time of the nightfall prayer (,isha) at Muzdelifa
(0: It is necessary to have made the intention to join the prayers while in the time of the sunset prayer.)
When they reach Muzdelifa, they stop, pray, and spend the night there (0: which is best, and optimal
If one cannot spend the night, then the obligation to be present at Muzdelifa can be met by coming there, even for a brief moment, during the second half of the night, for spending the night merely means to be present there during the second half of the night, not actually staying overnight, as opposed to spending the night at Mina (dis: j10.4), which must be for the greater part of the night
If someone misses spending the night at Muzdelifa in the above-mentioned sense, does not return there before dawn, and has no excuse (N:
of those given below), then he is obliged to slaughter as one does for an 'umra first (tamattu') hajj (def: j12.6(I))
But if he misses spending the night there for one of the same reasons which justify not spending the night at Mina (def: jI0.to), then he is not obliged to slaughter
Other valid excuses for not spending the night at Muzdelifa include:
(1) being occupied with standing at 'Arafa because of not having arrived there until after sunset, since it is more important than Muzdelifa;
(2) or going forth from 'Arafa after the middle of the night to Mecca in order to perform the (A: obligatory) going-forth circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada), missing Muzdelifa because of being occupied with it, since it too is more important than Muzdelifa.
In either of these two cases, one does not have to slaughter (A: for having missed Muzdelifa )).
In the morning, the pilgrims pray the dawn prayer at the first of its time.
They also pick up seven pebbles, not one stone broken into seven (0: which is offensive), to throw at the stoning site (AI
jamra, the enclosed round space with a pillar in the middle of it) at Mina, and it is best that these be the size of a broadbean (N: i.e
about the size of a thumbprint).
STOPPING AT AL-MASH'AR AL-HARAM After the dawn prayer, it is sunna to stop by a hill at the last of Muzdelifa (0: in the direction of Mina) called al-Mash'ar al-Haram (lit.
""the Sanctuary Landmark""), which it is recommended to climb if possible
(A: Others hold that aI-Mash'araI-Haramrefers to all of Muzdelifa.) It is desirable to face the direction of prayer (qibla), to do much of chanting ""Labbayk,"" supplication, and invocation (dhikr), and to say, ""0 Allah, as You have brought us to stand in it and shown us to it, so too, give us success in Your remembrance, as You have guided us
Forgive us, and show us the mercy You have promised us by saying (and Your word is the truth):
"" 'And when you move on from 'Arafa, remember Allah at al-Mash'ar al-Haram.
Remember Him, for He has guided you though you were astray
And then go forth from where the people go forth, and seek Allah's forgiveness.
Truly Allah is Oft-relenting and Most Compassionate' (Koran 2:198-99).
""Our Lord, give us what is good in this world and the next, and keep us from the torment of hell
""
When the day lightens considerably, the pilgrims proceed to Mina with gravity and tranquility before the sun rises.
RELEASE FROM IHRAM:THE INITIAL STONING AT MINA When the pilgrims reach the valley of Muhassir near Mina, it is sunna to quicken their step for a distance of a stone's throw
Then they take the middle way which leads to (N: one of the three stoning sites called) Jamrat al-'Aqaba
They stone it as they are when they arrive (0: i.e
if mounted, they stone it mounted, and if on foot, they stone it on foot) with the seven stones picked up from Muzdelifa
These may be picked up from anywhere, not necessarily Muzdelifa, though it is offensive to take them from the stoning sites themselves, latrines (0: or other unclean places), or around mosques (0: which is not merely offensive but rather unlawful if they are taken from grounds included in the endowment (waqf, def:
k30) for the mosque).
When one begins to stone Jamrat al' Aqaba, one ceases chanting ""Labbayk,"" and does not resume it thereafter (0: as its time is over, which was the period of ihram, and stoning Jamrat al-'Aqaba is the first step to release from ihram).
The (0: optimal) way to stone lamrat al' Aqaba is to stand in the middle ofthe valley after the sun is up so that 'Arafa lies to the right, Mecca to the left, and the stoning-site before one, and to throw the pebbles one by one (0: as throwing them two at a time or all at once counts as having thrown one pebble) with the right hand, saying ""Allahu akbar"" with each pebble, lifting the arms high enough when throwing (0: if male, though not if female) that the underarm shows, and to aetually throw the pebbles (0: meaning hard enough to be eonsidered throwing), not merely flick them off the thumb with the forefinger
(n:
The minimal conditions for the validity of stoning are given at j10.8.)
When finished stoning (N: Jamrat al-'Aqaba), one slaughters a voluntary sacrifice animal (hady) driven to hajj or one due by reason of hajj (dis: j12.6); or other sacrifice animal (udhiya, def: j14).
RELEASE FROM IHRAM: CUTrING THE HAIR
Then men have their entire head shaved, which is optimal, though one may confine oneself to (0: removing (A: by any means)) three hairs thereof (0: i.e
from the head, not something else such as the beard or mustache), or may merely shorten it, for which the optimal is to dip a little less than two centimeters from all the hair
.
As for women, it is optimal for them to shorten their hair in the latter way (0: it being offensive for a woman to shave her head).
While having one's hair cut it is best:
(1) to face the direction of prayer (qibJa);
(2) to say ""Allahu akbar"" (0: that is, ""Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, wa lillahi l-hamd"");
(3) for the person shaving to start from the right;
(4) and to bury the hair afterwards (0: a measure recommended for any parts separated from a living being).
Cutting the hair is an integral without which the hajj remains unfinished (0: and which may not be compensated for by merely slaughtering), and a person remains in ihram until it is done
Someone without hair can simply pass a razor over his head (0: which is recommended, not obligatory, because it is a rite whose condition is the existence of a particular site, as is also the case with washing a hand (n: for ablution) when the hand has been amputated (A: i.e
it need not be done if the site does not exist).
After one's hair, has been cut, it is sunna to say, ""0 Allah, for each hair reckon for me a good deed, annul a bad one, and raise me a degree
For- give me, those who shave their hair, those who shorten it, and all the Muslims"").
RELEASE FROM IHRAM: THE GOING-FORTHCIRCUMAMBULATION (TAWAF AL-IFADA) On the same day (A: 10 Dhul Hijja) one enters Mecca and performs the going-forth circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada), which is an integral without which the hajj remains unfinished (0:
the author's expression ""without which the hajj remains unfinished"" meaning that it may not be compensated for by merely slaughtering, though the time it may be performed is anytime thereafter, according to our school
TheHanafis hold it must be done by sunset On 12 Dhul Hijja, and if the sun sets and oile has not performed it, this obliges one to slaughter), and one remains in ihram until one does it
Its obligatory features are as described above (dis: j5.16).
After it, one prays two rak'as (0: intending the sunna of circumambulation (def: j5.I8)).
Then, if one has already gone between Safa and Marwa after the arrival circumambulation (dis: j6.1), one does not repeat it, though if one has not yet done it, one must do so, since going between Safa and Marwa is also an integral without which the hajj is unfinished, and one remains in ihram (0: legally, regarding one's relations with women (dis: j9.13)) until it is performed.
RELEASE FROM IHRAM: GENERAL PROVISIONS The best order in which to perform:
(1) stoning Jamrat al-' Aqaba;
(2) cutting the hair;
(3) and the going-forth circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada);
is (1), (2), and (3) (0: and the sunna is to do all three on this day), though it is valid to do them in some other order.
The time for these three begins at the middle of the night (A: between sunset of 9 Dhul Hijja and dawn of the tenth) on 'Eid al-Adha (0:
though it is best for the stoning to take place after sunrise)
The (0: preferred) time for stoning Jamrat al-'Aqaba ends at the end of the day of the 'Eid (0: at sunset
As for the permissible time, it lasts until the end of the three days after the 'Eid
The best time to stone on 'Eid al-Adha finishes at noon
Thus, the stoning has three times: the best, the preferred, .and the merely permissible), whlIe the time for cutting one's hair and the going-forth circumambulation lasts indefinitely, even if years.
The release from ihram in hajj is in two stages, partial (lit
""first"") and full (""second"").
Partial release from ihram occurs when any two of the three rites of stoning, cutting the hair, and the going-forth circumambulation are performed, whether cutting the hair and stoning, cutting the hair and circumambulation, or stoning and circumambulation
Doing any two of them accomplishes partial release from ihram, rendering permissible all the things that were made unlawful by ihram (def: j3.S) except those relating to women, such as sexual intercourse, getting married, or touching with desire.
Full release from ihram occurs when all three rites have been performed, and it renders permissible everything made unlawful by ihram (0:
though one still has to stone at the three stoning sites and stay overnight at Mina during the days following the 'Eid (Ayam al-Tashriq)).
*
When finished with the going-forth circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada) and going between Safa and Marwa (0: Le
doing the latter if one had not previously performed it after the arrival circumambulation (dis: j6.1)), one is obliged to return to Mina (0: to stay overnight there and stone on the days following the 'Eid (Ayam al-Tashriq)
It is desirable to arrive before noon to perform the noon prayer there as the Prophet did (Allah bless him and give him peace)), and one spends the night there.
One picks up twenty-one pebbles from Mina on the days after the 'Eid (the first of which is the second day of the 'Eid), taking care to shun the three places mentioned above (dis: j9.4(end)).
After the time for the noon prayer has come (0: on 11 Dhul Hijja, the first day after the 'Eid) one stones with the pebbles before performing the noon prayer.
(N: It is well to, mention some, rulings about stoning that enable one to avoid the crowding at Mina on a contemporary hajj
The time for stoning on each of the three days that follow the 'Eid (Ayam al-Tashriq) begins at noon of that day and ends at sunset on the third day after the 'Eid
This means that one may postpone all of one's stoning until the afternoon of the third day, having remained at Mina until then
But in such a case, the correct order is still obligatory: one must begin by stoning with the intention of performing it for the first day, starting at the first stoning site (Jamrat al-Kubra), then the second site (Jamrat al-Wusta), and then the third (J amrat al-'Aqaba)
Then one stones with the intention of performing it for the second day, the first stoning site first, then the second, then the third
And then one stones for the third day, observing the same order.)
THE PROPER SEQUENCE FOR STONING The first site one stones (0; called Jamrat al-Kubra) is the one closest to al-Khayf mosque.
One (A: optimally) walks up to it, keeping it on one's, left and facing the direction of prayer (qibla), stones it pebble by pebble as mentioned above 09.5), and turns from the direction of prayer to avoid others' pebbles, after which one puts the stoning site behind one and again turns to the direction of prayer, to supplicate and invoke Allah humbly and imploringly for as much time as it takes to recite al-Baqara (Koran 2) (N; about an hour).
One then proceeds to the second site (0:
called Jamrat al-Wusta), repeats the stoning procedure, and when finished, supplicates (0: and invokes Allah Most High) for as long as it takes to recite al-Baqara.
Then one goes to the third site, which is Jamrat al-'Aqaba that was previously stoned with seven pebbles on 'Eid al-Adha, and stones it as one did at that time (dis: j9.5), facing it with the direction of prayer (qibla) to the left, though when finished, one does not stand there.
THE SECOND DAY AFTER THE 'EID One is obliged to spend the night at Mina (A: that evening, after sunset on 11 Dhul Hijja).
The following day, the second day after the 'Eid (A: i.e
12 Dhul Hijja), one picks up twentyone pebbles, and after the noon prayer's time has come, one stones the three stoning sites as described above, seven pebbles at each g.jte
It is not permissible to stone for each of the days after the 'Eid until after the noon prayer's time arrives.
The correct sequence of stoning the sites is obligatory: the one closest to al-Khayf mosque first, the middle one second, and Jamrat al' Aqaba third.
It is recommended to take a bath (ghusl) each day for stoning.
mE PERMISSIBILITY OF LEAVING MINA ON mE SECOND DAY
After stoning on the second day after the 'Eid, it is recommended for the imam to give asermon informing people about the permissibility of leaving early (A: on the second day rather than the third) (0: which is permissible provided:
(a) that one's departure takes place after the noon prayer's time has come;
(b) after having stoned the three stoning sites;
(c) that one's departure is from Mina itself, as it is not permissible to leave directly from Jamrat al-'Aqaba, in view of the position that it is not part of Mina;
(d) that one intends leaving while within the boundries of Mina;
(e) and that one leaves before sunset).
Then the imam bids them farewell.
One then has a choice between leaving early on the second day after the 'Eid, or waiting (A: until having stoned on the third day)
If one wishes to leave early, one may do so, provided the departure from Mina occurs before sunset
If the sun sets and one is still at Mina, it is not permissible to leave early, and one is obliged to spend the night there and stone the sites the next day.
If one does not wish to leave early, one stays overnight at Mina, picking up twenty-one pebbles and stoning the sites on the following day after the time of the noon prayer has begun, as previously mentioned.
CONDITIONS FOR THE VALIDITY OF STONING (0: Having mentioned the conditions for stoning in various rulings above, it is well to enumerate all seven together:
(a) that seven pebbles be used;
(b) that they be thrown one by one;
(c) that one's action may be termed throwing, not merely putting the pebbles into the throwingplace;
(d) that what is thrown be some form of stone;
(e) that it be done with the hand, as a bow or foot would be inadequate;
(f) that one aim at the throwing place;
(g) that one be certain that the pebble reaches it, even if it falls out again, for if one doubts that the stone reached it, then that stone does not count;
(the above seven conditions hold for both 'Eid alAdha (dis: j9.5) and for the days following the 'Eid, though the days following the 'Eid require two additional conditions:)
(h) that the stoning be done after the time for the noon prayer arrives;
(i) and that one stone the three sites in the proper sequence (dis: j10.3).)
Then one (0: who has (n: remained at Mina and) stoned on the third day after the 'Eid) leaves (0: after stoning
None of the conditions for leaving early (def: j 10.6) are necessary to leave at this point).
VALID EXCUSES FOR NOT SPENDING THENIGHT AT MINA (0: If there is an acceptable excuse for not spending the night at Mina, then not doing so does not entail any consequences
Excuses include:
(1) having property one fears to lose were one to stay overnight;
(2) fearing for one's person or the funds with one;
(3) having a sick person with one who requires care;
(4) having an illness that makes spending the night a hardship;
(5) or a similar excuse.
People in such circumstances do not have to spend the night, and may leave on the second day after the 'Eid, even after sunset.
These excuses, which permit one to not spend the night at Mina, likewise permit not spending the night at Muzdelifa, in connection with which some other excuses have been previously mentioned (dis: j9.1(1-2)).)
His recommended (N: afterleaving Mina) to spend the night at al-Muhassab, which is by the mountain near the cemetery of Mecca, one's hajj now being finished.
If one wishes to perform the 'umra, one may do so (0: i.e
enter ihram for it) from any point outside of the Sacred Precinct (Haram), as mentioned below in the description of 'umra (def: jI2).
THE FAREWELL CIRCUMBULATION When one wants to return home, one comes to Mecca and performs the farewell cirvtmambulation (tawaf aI-wada') (0: as is obligatory.
It is disobedience to Allah to leave without the farewell circumambulation, and one must return to Mecca to perform it if still within 81 km.l 50 mi
of it
If farther than this, one is not obliged to return, but must slaughter (def: j12.6(l)) (N:
i.e
if one goes by the position that the farewell circumambulation is obligatory, though slaughtering is sunna if one goes by the position (A: the weaker position in the Shafi'i school) that the farewell circumambulation is merely sunna) .
The integrals and conditions of the farewell circumambulation are the same as the obligatory circumambulation (def: j5.16).
The farewell circumambulation is not only for those performing hajj or 'umra, but is required from (A: i.e
obligatory for) anyone leaving Mecca a considerable distance, no matter whether intending to return or not).
After the farewell circumambulation, one prays two rak'as (0: a sunna in our school) and stands at the place between the Black Stone and the door of the Kaaba, and supplicates: ""0 Allah, the house is Your house, the servant Your servant and son of Your two servants
You have carried me on a creature You have made submissive to me, bringing me to Your city and showing me Your grace that I might fulfill Your rites
If You are pleased with me then be the more so, and if not, then bless me now before my residence and the place where I am visited grow far from Your house
Now is the time I depart if You permit me, who seek none but You and no other than Your house, and am not averse to You or Your house.
o Allah, give me good health in body and protect me in my religion
Make my affilirs turn out well and give me the sustenance of obedience to You as long as You let me live
Give me the best of this world and the next, for truly, You have power over everything."" One blesses the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and then walks away normally (0: turning one's back on the Kaaba) without backing away from it (0: while facing it, as many people do, which is offensive because it is a reprehensible innovation (bid'a, def: w29.3))).
One then immediately prepares for departure.
If one stops to stand (0: lengthily), or becomes involved in something unconnected with travel (0: like shopping
paying a debt, visiting a friend or sick person, and so forth), then one's farewell circumambulation is invalid (A: though such things do not nullify it in the Hanafi school) and it is obligatory to repeat it
But if one's activity concerns travelling, such as making one's baggage fast or buying travel provisions and the like (0:
such as a rope with which to tie up one's baggage) then it is permissible.
A woman in her monthly period may depart without a farewell circumambulation, and need not slaughter in expiation (0: though it is sunna for her to come to the door of the mosque and say the supplication mentioned above 011.3).
RECOMMENDED MEASURES FOR lHOSE
STAYING IN MECCA It is recommended to do much of:
(1) pedorming 'umra (0: the whole time one is in Mecca, especially in Ramadan);
(2) looking at the Kaaba (0: as it is said that Allah Most High sends down one hundred and twenty mercies day and night upon the Noble House, sixty for those circumambulating, forty for those praying there, and twenty for those looking at it);
(3) drinking the water of the Well of Zamzam for whatever intention one wishes, religious or this-worldly (0: as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The water of Zarnzam is for whatever it is drunk for."" It is sunna to face the Kaaba while drinking, to breathe three times, and say ""al-Hamdu lillah"" and ""Bismillah"" each time one drinks), drinking one's fill of it;
(4) and visiting the noble places of Mecca (0: which are many, such as the birthplace ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and that of 'Ali (Allah be well pleased with him).
I t is unlawful to take the Slightest bit of the earth of the Sacred Precinct or its stones, or take cups or jugs made from the clay of the Sacred Precinct of Medina.
*
The 'umra consists of entering ihram as one does for hajj (def: j3) (0: resembling the hajj in the obligatoriness of the intention when one enters ihram, in the sunna of bathing (ghusl) for it, and in the necessity of divesting oneself of sewn clothing before or after the intention)
If one is a Meccan (N: or a temporary resident (dis: j2.2)), one must go to (n: enter ihram from at least as far as) the nearest place outside of the Sacred Precinct.
If one is from outside (0: meaning a stranger travelling towards Mecca), then one enters ihram at the ihram site (0: which one passes, meaning the hajj ihram sites (def: j2.1)), as previously mentioned
All of the things unlawful while in ihram for hajj (def: j3.5) are unlawful while in ihram for 'umra.
Then one enters Mecca and performs the circumambulation (def: j5.16) of 'umra, though the arrival circumambulation (tawaf al-qudum) is not called for by Sacred Law (0; at all, since one is performing an obligatory circumambulation).
One then goes between Safa and Marwa (j6), and finally shaves the head or shortens the hair (def: j9.7) (0: the former being preferable for men and the latter for women)
When this has been done, one is released from the ihram of 'umra.
THE INTEGRALS OF HAJJ AND 'UMRA The integrals of 'umra are:
(a) ihram (def: j3);
(b) circumambulation (def: j5.16);
(c) going between Safa and Marwa (def:
j6.4);
(d) shaving or shortening the hair (def: j9
7);
(0: and performing them in the order given, which is a fifth integral).
The integrals of hajj are these four (n: (a), (b), (c), and (d) above) plus standing at 'Arafa (def: j8.4).
The hajj's other requisites (wajibat, dis:
c2.1(A:)) are:
(a) that one enter ihram at the proper site (def: j2.1-2);
(b) stoning the stoning sites at Mina (def:
j9.4, JIO);
(c) staying the night at Muzdelifa (def: j9.1) (N: another position is that this is sunna and not obligatory) ;
(d) staying the nights following the 'Eid at Mina (def: j10.1,4,7);
(e) and the farewell circumambulation (def:
j1l.2).
Everything besides the above is sunna.
THE NONPERFORMANCE OF AN OBLIGATORYPEA TURE OF HAJJ OR 'UMRA Someone who does not perform an integral (N: of hajj or 'umra) remains in ihram until he performs it.
Someone who does not perform some other obligatory feature of them must slaughter in expiation (def: j12.6(I)) (0: if he does not return and perform it before its time is finished, as in such cases as:
(1) returning to enter ihram at the proper site before one starts circumambulating (dis:
j2.5), though if one returns after having begun circumambulating, it does not lift the obligation to slaughter;
09.1), which necessitates slaughtering if one does not return before sunrise, though to do so after sunrise does not lift the obligation to slaughter;
(3) or not spending most of the night at Mina, if one does not return to it before most of the time has passed, though if one does (n: return while most of it remains), then one need not slaughter.
And similarly for the other requisites)
Someone who does not perform a sunna is not obliged to do anything.
BEING PREVENTED BY OTHERS FROMCOMPLETING THE INTEGRALS OF HAJJ OR'UMRA AFTER HAVING ENTERED IHRAM Someone prevented by an enemy (0: nonMuslim or Muslim) from entering Mecca (0: and fulfilling the integrals (A: of hajj or 'umra, including being barred from perforrniilg the obligatory circumambulation (tawaf al-ifada) or going between Safa and Marwa) when there is no alternative route, releases himself from ihram by intending release from it, shaving his head, and slaughtering a sacrifice animal at the place he has been prevented, if an animal is available
If not (0: such as when unable to find an animal at all, or finding one for more than the going price of simi:
lar animals at that place and time), one gives the animal's value in food (A: wheat) (0: as charity to the poor and those short of money in the Sacred Precinct (N: or place one is prevented)); or if unable (0: to give food), one fasts a single day for each 0.51 liters of food (A: wheat) that would have been given had the latter been done (0: fasting the days wherever one wishes
When fasting is the only option possible, one is immediately released from ihram after shaving one's head with the intention of releasing oneself).
If such a· hajj or 'umra was to have been supererogatory, one is not obliged to make it up.
A FULL SUMMARY OF THE EXPIATIONSCONNECTED WITH HAJJ AND 'UMRA (n: Muhammad 'Abdullah Jurdani distinguishes between four categories of expiations relating to hajj and 'umra.
(I) The first category consists of alternatives in a fixed precedence order and predetemined amount (dam tartib wa taqdir), meaning that one must either slaughter a shah (def: h2.5) meeting sacrifice specifications (def: jI4.2), distributing its meat to the poor and those short of money (def: h8.11) in the Sacred Precinct;
or if unable to slaughter (N: from lack of money (def: j1.17(2)) while on the hajj, even if one has enough money back home), then one must fast three days during the hajj and seven more at home, making ten days
(N: If this expiation is for something that should have been performed after standing at 'Arafa (n: (4), (5), (6), or (9) below), the three days ""during the hajj"" may be fasted after one's release from ihram while still in Mecca, or if one fails to do so while there (A: as is obligatory), they become a makeup fast that must be performed before the other seven fasted at home (A: by an interval equal to the days of one's journey home).)
There are nine things which necessitate this type of expiation:
(1) performing an 'umra first (tamattu') hajj (def: j1.15,17);
(2) performing hajj and 'umra simultaneously (qiran, def: j1.16,17);
(3) not standing at 'Arafa (def: j8.4);
(4) to miss stoning (def: j10.8) at the stoning sites of Mina on the three days after the 'Eid, the time for which ends at sunset on the third day (dis: j10.2(N:)) if one does not leave early (def: j10.6);
(5) to miss all three nights at Mina after the 'Eid (def: j10.1A,7), though if one only misses a single night, one distributes 0.51 liters of wheat to the poor of the Sacred Precinct, and if two nights, then double this amount;
(6) to miss spending the night at Muzdelifa (def: j9.1, second par.);
(7) not entering ihram at the proper site (dis: j2.5);
(8) breaking one's vow (def: jI8.5);
(9) or not performing the farewell circumambulation (tawaf al-wada', def:
jI1.2).
(II) The second category consists of expiations in which one is free to choose one of three predetermined alternatives (dam takhyir wa taqdir), namely: to slaughter and distribute a shah as described above (I); to fast three days, even if unconsecutive, wherever one wishes; or to give 1.015 liters of wheat to each of six of the poor or those short of money at the Sacred Precinct.
There are eight things which necessitate this type of expiation:
(1) removal of three hairs (dis: j3.8) at one time and place, meaning that the interval between removing each is not considered long (dis: f4.5), and one has remained at the same place, though if their removal does not occur at a single time and place, one must pay OSlliters of wheat to the poor or fast one day for each hair, even iftheir number exceeds three;
(2) trimming three nails at one time and place, with the same rules and restrictions as just mentioned;
(3) men wearing sewn garments or covering their head (dis: j3.6), or women covering their faces (dis: j3.24);
(4) using oil (def: j3.7(1));
(5) using scent 03.7);
(6) sexual foreplay (n: other than intercourse) (dis: j3.l3);
(7) having sexual intercourse a second time after having spoiled one's hajj (dis: j3.14) by an initial sexual intercourse;
(8) or having sexual intercourse between partial and full release (def: j9.13) from ihram.
(III) The third category consists of expiations in a fixed precedence order of alternatives involving estimate-based substitutes (dam tartib wa ta'dil)
It is necessitated by two things.
(1) The first is being prevented by another from completing all the integrals ofthe hajj or 'umra (def: j12.5), in which case one must release oneselffrom ihram by slaughtering and distributing a shah as described above (1); or if unable to slaughter, one estimates its value, buys food for that amount, and distributes it to the poor ofthe Sacred Precinct (N: or place one is prevented); orifunable to give food, one fasts one day for each 0.51 liters of wheat that would have been given if one had been able to.
(2) The seeond is having spoiled one's hajj or 'umra by sexual intercourse (def: j3.14), in which case one must slaughter a camel, or if unable to, one must perform the alternative one is capable of, of those mentioned at j3.IS.
(IV) The fourth category involves choosing between alternatives consisting of estimate-based substitutes (dam takhyirwa ta'dil) .It is necessitated by two things.
(I) The first is killing a game animal while in ihram
where if there is a domestic animal of similar value (lit
""like""), one has a choice between the alternatives mentioned at j3.22, though ifthere is not, then those mentioned at j3.23.
(2) The second is destroying a tree of the Sacred Precinct, where
if it is large in relation to other trees of its kind, one slaughters and distributes a cow, and if small, one slaughters a sheep
In either case, one has a choice between slaughtering it and distributing its meat to the poor of the Sacred Precinct, estimating its cost and buying wheat to distribute to the poor of the Sacred Precinct, or fasting a day for each 0.51 liters of wheat that would have been bought had the latter been done.
(Mufid 'awam ai-Muslim in rna yajibu 'alayhim min ahkam ai-din (y67), 230-38)) (N: Throughout the above, whenever one is obliged to slaughter an animal, it is permissible to commission (wakala, def: k17) another person to do so by means of the written contracts readily available at a modern hajj, simply paying an amount of money and signing the agreement
They then slaughter for one in the early morning ot the 'Eid and distribute the meat to deserving recipients
Secondly, giving food or wheat to the poor, wherever it is mentioned in connection with expiations, means giving them the type of food that is valid for the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr (def: h7.6), and the remarks made in that section about the Hanafi school permitting other than wheat apply equally here.) (n: In the Hanafi school, slaughtering must take place in the Sacred Precinct, though one may distribute both the meat and other expiations anywhere (al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 1.212,1.224).)
*
It is recommended when one has finished the hajj to visit the tomb of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) (n: in Medina)
(0:
One should enter his mosque with the right foot first, as in any mosque, and say the well-known supplication: ""In the name of Allah, praise be to Allah
0 Allah
bless our liegelord Muhammad, his folk and his Companions, and give them peace
0 Allah, open unto me the gates of Your mercy."")
HOW TO VISIT THE PROPHET'S TOMB It is recommended to pray two rak'as to greet his mosque, and then approach the noble and honored tomb and stand at the head of it with one's back to the direction of prayer (qibla)
One bows one's head and summons to mind reverent awe and humility, then greets the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and blesses him in a normal voice (0: saying: ""Peace be upon you, b Messenger of Allah
Peace be upon you,
0 Prophet of Allah
Peace be upon you, 0 Chosen One of Allah
Peace be upon you, 0 Best of Allah's Creation
Peace be upon you, 0 Beloved of Allah""), after which one supplicates Allah for whatever one wishes
Then one steps half a meter to the right to greet Abu Bakr, and again to the right to greet 'Umar (Allah be well pleased with them)
Then it is recommended to return to one's original place and do much of supplicating Allah, turning to Allah through the Prophet (tawassul, def: w40) (0: concerning one's aims and goals, since he is the greatest intermediary, in intercession and other things), and invoking blessings upon him (Allah bless him and give him peace), after which one supplicates beside the pulpit (minbar) and in the Rawda (N: which is the space designated by the white pillars between the chamber containing
the noble tomb and the pUlpit).
It is unlawful to circumambulate the tomb.
It is offensive to nudge the wall around the tomb with one's back or front, to kiss it, or touch it (0: with one's hand
Proper conduct here is to stand back from it as one would if present during his life (Allah bless him and give him peace)
This is what is right, and what scholars have said and are agreed upon
One should not be deceived by what some common people do in their ignorance of proper manners, for it is reprehensible innovation (bid'a, def: w29.3)).
One of the most disgraceful innovations is the eating of dates in the Rawda.
It is recommended to visit al-Baqi' (0: the cemetery of Medina
It is desirable to go to it every day, for buried there are the wives of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
some of his children, his father's brother 'Abbas, our liegelord 'Uthman ibn 'Affan the successor of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), a number of his Companions (Sahaba), and Imam Malik, founder of the Maliki school of jurisprudence, the bliss and benefaction of Allah be upon them all).
When one desires to travel
one bids farewell to the mosque by praying two rak'as, and to the noble tomb with a visit and supplication.
And Allah knows best.
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(0: Sacrifices are the livestock slaughtered in worship of Allah Most High between 'Eid aIAdha and the last of the three days that follow it.
They are a general hospitality from Allah to believers (A: to whom the meat is distributed
It is unlawful to give any of it to non-Muslims).}
'Eid al-Adha sacrifices are a confirmed sunna (def: c4.1) (N: which is considered obligatory in the Hanifi school) (0: being sunnafor those able to slaughter, though uncalled-for from the poor person who is unable).
It is recommended for someone who intends to sacrifice not to cut his hair or trim his nails on 10 Dhul Hijja until he slaughters (0: these being offensive until he does)
The time for slaughtering begins when it is long enough after sumise to have performed the 'Eid prayer (def: f19) with its two sermons (A: i.e
about forty minutes) (0: even if one does not attend it) and it ends at (A: sunset on) the last of the three days following the 'Eid.
SACRIFICE ANIMAL SPECIFICATIONS Only camels, cattle, sheep, or goats may be slaughtered
At the youngest, camels must be over five full years, cattle and goats over two full years, and sheep over one full year.
A single camel or cow fulfills the sunna for seven (A: men and their families), though a shah (def: h2.S) only fulfills it for one
1t is superior to slaughter a single shah than to have a share in slaughtering a camel.
The best animal to sacrifice is a camel, then a cow, then a sheep, and then a goat
The best kind of shah (h2.S) to slaughter is white, then tawnycolored, then black and white, and then a black one.
n is a necessary condition that a sacrifice animal be free of defects that diminish (A: the quality of) its meat
It is invalid to slaughter: .
(1) a lame animal (0: that has an obvious walking problem that hinders its going to pasture and thus weakens it);
(2) a blind or one-eyed animal (0: whose defect is manifest, as this diminishes its ability to graze);
(3) a sick animal (0: whose infirmity is plain);
(though if these defects are slight, the animal will suffice
It is likewise invalid to sacrifice an animal that is:)
(4) deranged by malnutrition or insane;
(5) mangy or scabrous (0: even when it is not obvious);
(6) with an ear that has been cut off or a piece of it separated, even if not much (0: or one born without an ear);
(7) or missing a considerable part of the haunch or similar meat-bearing portion (0:
though not if it is a slight amount).
It is permissible to sacrifice an animal with a slit in its ear (0: a measure for identification that does not diminish the meat) or one with part or all of a hom broken off.
HAVING ANOTHER SLAUGHTER FOR ONE It is best to slaughter (def: j17.4) the animal oneself (0: if one can slaughter well
If not, then it is obligatory to have someone who can slaughter properly do it for one)
If unable to slaughter well, it is recommended to be present when it is done.
THE INTENTION The intention to sacrifice must be made at the time of slaughtering
(0: It suffices the person who is having another slaughter for him to make the intention when he authorizes the other to do so.)
DISTRIBUTING THE MEAT 1t is recommended that a third of the animal sacrificed be eaten, a third be given away (0:
even if to wealthy Muslims), and a third be given as charity (0: raw, not cooked).
It is obligatory to give away some of the (0:
raw) meat as charity, even if it is not much (0: it suffices to give it to one Muslim), and the hide is given in charity or used at home.
It is not permissible to sell the hide or meat (0: all of the above applying to sunna or voluntary sacrifices)
It is not permissible for a person who has vowed (def: jI8) a sacrifice to eat any of the animal slaughtered.
*
(0: Lexically, 'aqiqa means the hair on a baby's head at birth
In Sacred Law, it means the animal sacrificed when the baby's hair is cut, which is a confirmed sunna (def: c4.I).)
It is recommended for anyone to whom a child is bDrn to shave its hair on the seventh day thereafter (0: meaning any newborn, whether male or female; a baby girl should also have her hair shaved) and give away in charity gold or silver equal to the weight of the hair.
It is also recommended (N: when the baby is first born) to give the call to prayer (adhan, def:f3.6) in its right ear and the caD to commence (iqama) in its left.
THE SACRIFICE If the baby is male, it is recommended to slaughter two shahs (def: h2.S) that meet 'Eid Sacrifice specifications (def: j14.2), while if the baby is female, it is recommended to slaughter one.
(0: The person called-upon to slaughter for a newborn is the one obliged to support the child (dis: mI2.I).)
After slaughtering, the shah is cooked (0: as at any feast) in sweet sauce, but none of its bones are broken (A: it is cut at the joints), and it is recommended to distribute the meat to the poor.
NAME-GIVING It is sunna to give the child a good name such as Muhammad or 'Abd aI-Rahman
(0: It is desirable to name a child even if it dies before being named.) (A: It is sunna for a new Muslim to take a good name like the above, or one of the names of the prophets (def: u3.S) (Allah bless them and give them peace)
) (0: This section is an explanation of what is lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram), the knowledge of which is among the most important concerns of the religion, since knowing it is personally obligatory for every Muslim.)
AVOIDING DOUB1FUL FOODS j16.1 (n: The following hadith and its commentary have been added here by the translator.)
Anas (Allah be well pleased with him) relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) found a date in his path, and said, ""But for fear that it was charity, I would have eaten it."" (Riyad al-salihin (yI07), 277) (Muhammad ibn 'Allan Bakri:) The hadith shows that when a person doubts that something is permissible, he should not do it
The question arises, Is refraining from it in such a case obligatory, or recommended?-to which our Imams explicitly reply that it is the latter, because a thing is initially assumed to be permissible and fundamentally not blameworthy, as long as some prior reason for considering it unlawful is not known about it that one doubts has been removed
For example, when one doubts that one of the conditions for valid slaughtering (def: j 17 .2-4) has been met, conditions which make (N: a particular piece of meat) lawful, the assumption is that it remains unlawful (N: since initially the animal was alive, a state in which it is unlawful to eat, while it only becomes lawful by a specific procedure, i.e.
Islamic slaughtering), so that the meat does not become lawful except through certainty (A: that it has been slaughtered
The case of meats is exceptional in this, since most other foods are initially permissible, and one assumes they remain so unless one is certain something has occurred which has made them unlawful).
In cases of doubt, only likely possibilities are taken into consideration, since it appears probable (n: in the above hadith) that dates for charity were present at the time
As for remote possibilities, taking them into consideration only leads to a blameworthy extremism and departure from how the early Muslims were, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was given some cheese and a cloak (A: by members of a nonMuslim Arab tribe) and he ate the one and wore the other without considering whether they might have mixed the former with pork, or whether the wool came from a slaughtered or unslaughtered animaL Were one to take such possibilities into consideration, one would not find anything lawful on the face of the earth
This is why our colleagues say, ""Complete certainty that something is lawful is only conceivable about rainwater falling from the sky into one's hand"" (Dalil al-falihin It'turuq Riyad al-salihin (y25), 5.37-38).
A..NIMALS LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL TO EAT j16.2 It is permissible to eat the oryx, zebra.
hyena, fox, rabbit, porcupine, daman (n: a Syrian rock badger), deer, ostrich, or horse.
j16.3 It is unlawful to eat:
(1) (N: any form of pork products);
(2) cats or disgusting small animals that creep or walk on the ground such as ants, flies, and the like (0: disgusting being used here to exclude inoffensive ones such as the jerboa, locust, and hedgehog, which are small creeping animals, but are recognized as wholesome, and are pure);
(3) predatory animals that prey with fangs or tusks, such as the lion, lynx, leopard, wolf, bear, simians, and so forth (0: including the elephant and weasal);
(4) those which hunt with talons, such as the falcon, hawk, kite, or crow, except for the barnyard crow, which may be eaten;
(5) or the offspring of an animal permissible to eat and one not permissible to eat, such as a mule (0: which is a cross between one eaten, the horse, and one not eaten, the donkey).
j16.4 It is permissible to eat any aquatic game (sayd al-bahr) except frogs and crocodiles.
OTHER SUBSTANCES UNLAWFUL TO EAT j16.5 It is unlawful to eat anything harmful, such as poison, glass, or earth
(A: If something has been proven harmful, it
is unlawful to consume, while if suspected to be harmful, it is offensIve to.) (n: w41 discusses cigarette smoking.)
j16.6 It is unlawful to eat anything impure (najasa, def: e14.1) (0: whether impure in itself, or because of being affected with something impure, as is the case with (N: befouled) milk, vinegar, or honey).
It is also unlawful to eat substances which are pure, but generally considered repulsive, such as salive or sperm.
j16.7 If forced to eatfrom a unslaughtered dead animal (0: out of fear of losing one's life or fear of an illness growing worse), then one may eat enough (0: the necessary minimum) to avert destruction (0: meaning enough to keep life from ending
One may not eat to repletion from a dead animal unless one believes that confining oneself to the survival minimum entails dangerous consequences, in which case it is obligatory to take the edge off one 's hunger)
If circumstances force one to choose between a dead animal and some permissible food belonging to someone else (0: who is not present), one is obliged to eat of the dead animal.
*
It is not permissible to eat any animal (0:
that Muslims are permitted to eat) until it has been propeJly slaughtered, the only exceptions to which arc fish (def: j16,4) and locusts, which are permissible to eat even when they die unslaughtered.
It is unlawful to eat meat slaughtered by a Zoroastrian, someone who has left Islam (murtadd, def: 08), or an idol worshipper, (0: included with whom are those (zanadiqa) with corrupt convictions about tenets of faith that are well-known as essential parts oflslam (def: books u and v),)or a Christian of the desert Arab tribes (0: the upshot of which is that it is a necessary condition that the slaughterer be of a people whose women , we are permitted to marry, whether Muslims, Jews, or Christians).
It is permissible to slaughter with anything that has a cutting edge; but not a tooth, bone, or claw, whether human or otherwise, attached to the body or not.
The necessary condition for slaughtering any animal which is within one's capacity to slaughter (0: domesticated or wild) is to cut both the windpipe and the gullet (0: windpipe meaning the channel of breath, and gullet meaning the channel of food and drink which lies beneath the windpipe.
It is not necessary for the validity of slaughtering to cut the carotid arteries, which are two blood vessels on the sides of the neck encompassing the windpipe.
If the slaughterer neglects to cut any part of either the windpipe or gullet and the animal dies, it is considered an unslaughtered dead animal, as is an animal with nothing but purely reflexive movement left when one finishes cutting a part of the windpipe or gullet previously missed
If the slaughterer cuts from the back of the neck until he severs the windpipe and gullet, it is a sin because of the excess pain caused (A: though it is valid as slaughtering
Chopping off heads of chickens with a hatchet is offensive, though the meat is lawful).
The slaughterer should cut swiftly and not take his time such that he has to cut two or more times
If he does, and there is no life remaining in the animal on the second swipe, then the animal (A: has died unslaughtered and) is impermissible to eat
The determining factor is whether life remains in the animal when the knife is applied at the beginning of the last stroke (A: the one which successfully severs both the windpipe and gullet), no matter whether this is the second or third).
It is recommended when slaughtering:
(1) to turn the animal towards the direction of prayer (qibla);
(2) to sharpen the knife;
(3) to cut rapidly (0: even faster than is obligatory, such that it does not take two or more swipes, as mentioned above);
(4) to mention Allah's name (0: for the spiritual grace therein, saying ""Bismillah,"" as is sunna) (A: this is obligatory in theHanafi school);
(5) to bless the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace);
(6) and to cut the large blood vessels (0: on either side of the neck).
It is recommended to slaughter camels by thrusting the knife (0: into the hollow at the base of the neck (A: between the two collarbones) above the chest so that one severs them (A: the windpipe and gullet) in this concavity, since it is easier than cutting the throat, for it speeds the exit of the spirit from the body by bypassing the length of the neck, being the preferable way to slaughter any animal with a long neck, such as a duck, goose, ostrich, or giraffe), with the camel left standing, one foreleg bound up.
I t is recommended to slaughter other than camels (0: such as cattle, sheep, goats, or horses (A: by drawing the knife) across the throat at the top of neck) after laying them on their left side.
(0: Slaughtering them this way is only called for to easily enable the slaughterer to hold the knife in his right hand and the animal's head with his left.
It is also sunna for the animal's legs to be bound, except the right hind leg, so the animal will not jerk during slaughtering and cause the slaughterer to miss his mark
The right hind leg is left free in order to pacify the animal by giving it something to move).
It is a necessary condition that the slaughterer not raise his knife-hand while slaughtering (0: while drawing it across the neck).
If he lifts it before completely severing both the windpipe and gullet, and then returns to cut them, the animal is not lawful to eat.
HUNTING As for hunting, a game animal is lawful to eat whenever one hits it with an arrow (A: or according to the Maliki school, shoots it with a rifle or shotgun) or brings it down with a trained hunting animal (A: such as a falcon or dog) (0:
but only if trained), and it dies before one can slaughter it (0: that is, provided that one did not reach it when there was any life left in it besides reflexive motion
If one reaches it while it is alive or any life remains, then one must properly slaughter it), provided that the hunter is not blind, is of a people whose slaughtered food Muslims may eat (def: j17.2), and provided that the animal does not die from being struck by the mere weight of the arrow, but rather dies by its edge (0: meaning that it hits the animal point-first, wounding it).
If the game was brought down by a trained hunting animal, it is a necessary condition that the animal ate nothing of the game.
If the game animal dies from being struck by the weight of the trained hunting animal (A: as in falconing), then the game is lawful to eat.
A game animal is not lawful to eat if:
(1) an arrow hits it and it then drops into water (0: because of the likelihood that it died from drowning (N: if that is probable) rather than from being shot);
(2) it is brought down on a peak which it then falls from (0: because of the likelihood that it died from the fall);
(3) or if it disappears after having been wounded and is found dead (0: because it might have died for some other reason than being wounded (N: though if it is obvious that it died from the wound, it is lawful to eat)).
A camel or other (0: domestic animal such as a cow, sheep, goat, or horse) that strays and cannot be retrieved, or that falls into a well and cannot be gotten out may be made lawful to eat by shooting it (0: because of the impossibility of slaughtering it), no matter where one hits its body (N: provided one mortally wounds it).
And Allah knows best.
*
(0: Lexically, the word vow means any promise
It is legally defined as making obligatory some act of worship that was not originally obligatory in Sacred Law, such as a supererogatory prayer or fast, and the like
There is a difference of opinion among scholars whether a vow in itself is an act of worship or whether it is offensive.
The strongest position is that it is an act of worship when made to perform a pious act (A: since Allah Most High describes the pious as ""fulfilling their vows"" (Koran 76:7)), for it is an intimate discourse with Allah Most High; though it is offensive in the heat of an argument.)
(A: The advantage of a vow is that one may obtain the reward of an obligatory act by fulfilling it
Its drawback is that unlike broken oaths, which may be expiated (dis: 020), there is no way to lift the vowed action: it remains obligatory unless one is physically unable (N: in which case one performs an alternative (n: e.g
giving food in place of fasting) if there is oneill Sacred Law)
For this reason, many pious and learned Muslims avoid making vows.)
A vow (0: to perform some pious act) is only valid:
(a) if made by a Muslim who is legally responsible (mukallaf, def: c8.1);
(b) when it concerns some act of worship (A:
meaning, for the Shafi'is, any recommended act, though for the Hanafi school it can only be an act that is similar in kind to an obligatory form of worship (n: such as prayer, fasting, or hajj));
(c) and is stated in words such as ""I hereby owe Allah to perform such and such,"" or ""1 am hereby obliged to do such and such."" (0; A vow to do something that is merely permissible, such as standing, sitting, eating, or sleeping, is not legally valid because these are not acts of worship; the reason being the hadith related by Bukhari that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) passed a man standing in the sun without seeking shade, whom he inquired about and was told that it was Abu Isra'il, who had vowed to stand while fasting without sitting, taking shade
or speaking; to which he replied, ""Pass by him and have him sit in the shade and speak, but let him finish fasting."" By act of worship, our author means acts that are supererogatory and not obligatory, since an oath to undertake an obligatory act is invalid whether it involves performance of something, such as an obligatory prayer or fast, or nonperformance of something, such as vowing to abstain from wine or fornication and the like
Such vows arc not valid to begin with, as Allah has made these obligatory and ""obligating oneself to do them"" is meaningless.
The obligatory acts which are not valid to vow are restricted to the personally obligatory
As for the communally obligatory (def: c3.2), a vow to do such an act obliges one to fulfill it, because it is an act of worship not originally obligatory in the law, meaning not initially called for from any particular person
)
GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING VOWS A valid vow to do an act of worship makes the act obligatory.
One must fulfill a vow that one has made conditional upon the occurrence of some event, such as by saying, ""If Allah heals my sick friend, I am obliged to do such and such"" (0: of fasting, praying, or charity), which becomes obligatory if the sick person regains his health.
If someone makes a vow by way of argument and in anger, saying, for example, ""If I speak to Zayd, I am obliged to do such and such,"" then if he speaks to Zayd, he has a choice between doing what he has vowed, or else paying the expiation for a broken oath (def: 020).
If one vows to perform the hajj riding but instead does so on foot, or vows to perform it on foot but then does so riding, this accomplishes the vow, though one isobJiged to slaughter (0: as one does for an 'umra first (tamattu') hajj (def:jI2.6(1)).
(N: Because the vowed walking or riding has become one of the obligatory elements of one's hajj, the expiation for its nonperformance is as other unperformed obligatory acts of hajj, and if such a person lacks a shah (def: h2.5) or lacks the money for it, he may fast
As for a person who vows to do something unconnected with the hajj and finds he cannot fulfill it
he performs a valid I alternative if one exists in Sacred Law (dis:j18.0(A:)).
If there is no valid alternative in Sacred Law, he remains responsible for performing the vowed act.)
(0: If one does not fulfill a vow because of being unable to or because of forgetfulness, it is not a sin, but one must slaughter, an obligation that incapacity or forgetfulness does not lift
To summarize, the sin (A: of not fulfilling one's vow) only exists when one is capable of fulfilling it, not when one is incapable, though someone who does not fulfill a vow because of incapacity must slaughter a shah meeting sacrifice specifications (def:j14.2).)
If one vows to go to the Kaaba, Masjid alMedina, or al-Masjid al-Aqsa (n: in Jerusalem), then one is obliged to
If one vows to go to the Kaaba, then one must perform hajj or 'umra (0:
beeause hajj and'umra are what is fundamentally.
intended in Saered Law by going to the Sacred Precinct, and the vow is interpreted according to this convention of the Law as a vow to perform either hajj or 'umra)
If one vows to go to Masjid aI-Medina or al-Masjid al-Aqsa, then one must either perform the prayer or else spend a period of spiritual retreat (i'tikaf, def: i3) in the mosque (0:
i.e
one is entitled to ehoose between prayer or spiri tual retreat).
If one vows to go to some other mosque, the vow does not oblige one to do so (dis: i3.4(end)) (0: since travelling to other mosques is not an act of worship (N: that is, if intended for itself, though if one intends it in order to perform the prayer or for spiritual retreat therein, it is an aet of worship
)).
If one vows to fast for the whole of a particular ycar, one does not have to make up days not fasted on the two 'Eids or the three days following 'Eid al-Adha (dis: i2.3), or the days fasted during Ramadan, or the days a woman misses during her monthly period or postnatal bleeding.
Someone who vows to perform the prayer (A: but does not specify how much) must pray two rak'as.
(0: The legal basis for sale , prior to scholarly consensus (ijma'), is such Koranic verses as the word of Allah Most High, ""Allah has made sale lawfuL,,"" (Koran The more reliable of the two positions reported from our Imam (Allah Most High be well pleased with him) is that this verse is general in meaning, referring to all sales except those specifically excluded by other evidence
For the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade various sales but did not explain the permissible ones, his not doing so proving that the initial presumption for the validity of a sale is that it is lawful
This is also borne out by hadiths such as the one in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was asked what type of earning was best, and he answered, ""The work of a man's own hand, and every pious sale,"" meaning sales free of cheating and deceit
Hakim related this hadith, which he classified as rigorously authenticated (sahih).
Lexically, sale means to transact something for something else: In Sacred Law it means to exchange an article of property for other property in a particular way
Its integrals are six:
(a) the seller;
(b) the buyer;
(c) the price;
(d) the article purchased;
(e) the spoken offer;
(f) and the spoken acceptance.)
(N: Sale (bay'), wherever it is used in the rulings below, refers to both exchanging goods for money and exchanging them for other goods (n:
i.e
barter).)
A sale is not valid unless there is a spoken offer (0: by the seller) and spoken acceptance (0:
by the buyer)
Offer means the statement of the seller or his agent (wakil, def: k17) ""I sell it to you"" or ""I make it yours."" Acceptance means the statement of the buyer or his agent ""I buy it"" or ""I take possession of it"" or ""I accept."" (A: Regarding mu'atah, which is giving the seller the price and taking the merchandise without speaking, as when buying something whose cost is well known, Bajuri notes, ""Nawawi and a group of scholars have adopted the position that sales conducted by it [A: mU'atah] are valid for all transactions that people consider sales, since the determining factor therein is the acceptance of both parties, and there is no decisively authenticated primary text stipulating that it be spoken, so common acknowledgement ['urf, def: f4.5] is the final criterion [A: as to what legally constitutes acceptance]"" (Hashiya al-Shaykh Ibrahim alBajuri (y5), 1.355).)
(N: The category of mu'atah also includes sales conducted by means of vending machines (A: provided it is clear what one is buying before one puts the money in the machine).)
It is permissible for the buyer's acceptance to precede the offer, such as his saying, ""I buy it for so-and-so much,"" and for the seller to reply, ""I sell it to you."" It is also permissible to say, ""SelHt to me for so-and-so much,"" and for the seller to reply, ""I sell it to you."" All of these are unequivocal expressions
Sales can likewise be effected, if the intention exists, by equivocal expressions such as ""Take it for so-and-so much, "" or ""I consider it yours for so-and-so much,"" thereby intending a transaction with the buyer, who then accepts
If one does not intend a transaction by such expressions, then the sale is nothing (0: but empty words, and the buyer is obliged to return the merchandise to its owner if it still exists, or replace it if used upwhile in his possession).
It is obligatory (0: for the validity of the sale agreement that other conditions be met, among them):
(a) that the interval between the offer and its acceptance not be longer than what is customary (0: the criterion being whether it gives the impression that one is averse to accepting, not merely a brief interval, Other conditions include:
(b) that conversation extraneous to the agreement by either of the two parties not intervene between the offer and acceptance, even if inconsiderable, since it gives the impression of nonacceptance;
(c) that the offer and its acceptance correspond, for if the offered price is one thousand, and the buyer ""accepts"" for five hundred, the transaction is invalid;
(d) that neither the offer nor acceptance be made conditional (ta'liq) upon an event extraneous to the agreement, such as saying, ""I sell it to you, should my father die"";
(e) and that the sale not be subject to time stipulations (ta'qit) such as saying, ""I sell it to you for a period of one month"";
-because both (d) and (e) vitiate the necessary intention).
A mute's gesture is as binding as a speaker's words.
THE BUYER AND SELLER The conditions that must exist in the buyer and seller are:
(a) having reached puberty (A: Imam Ahmad permits the buying and selling of minor items by children, even before they have reached the age of discrimination (def: f1.2) and without their guardian's permission);
(b) sanity;
(c) that one's disposal over one's property not be suspended (def: k13);
(d) and that one not be unjustly forced to make the sale
(0: The agreement of someone unjustly forced to sell his property is invalid because of lack of consent, though it is valid if he is justly forced, as when he is ordered to sell his property to repay a debt.)
(e) If a Koran is being purchased for someone, it is obligatory that the person be Muslim.
(0: The same is true of books of hadith and books containing the words and deeds of the early Muslims.
""Koran"" in this context means any work that contains some of the Koran, even a slight amount.) (A: This ruling holds for any religious books, even the Tabaqat of Sha'rani (n: a collection of biographical sketches of Muslims), though theHanafi school permits non-Muslims to buy or· be given the Koran and other Islamic books.)
(f) It is a condition that someone buying weapons be of a people who are not at war with Muslims.
THE OPTION TO CANCEL A SALE AT THETIME OF THE AGREEMENT When a sale is effected, both buyer and seller have the option to cancel at the time of the agreement (khiyar al-majlis), meaning the right to nullify the agreement at any time before they (0:
physically) part company, or both waive the right to cancel, or until one of them cancels the sale.
(0: The option to cancel at the time of the agreement exists at every sale, and for its duration, the ownership of the articles exchanged is suspended (def: k1.5).)
STIPULATING AN OPTION TO CANCEL PERIOD Both the buyer and seller have the right to stipulate an option to cancel period, an interval during which either party may cancel the agreement, of up to three days (0: provided the days are consecutive
The option to cancel period is not valid if the two ?arties stipulate an indeterminate period, or leave it open-ended by merely stipulating ""an option to cancel"" (A: though the buyer has the right to return the article because of defects (dis: kS) regardless of what they stipulate), or when the period is determinately known, but exceeds three days)
The option to cancel may be given (A: depending on what the buyer and seller agree upon) to both parties, or just one of them (0: and not the other, or they may give the option to a third party, since the need for this might arise.
In any case, both buyer and
seller must agree to the conditions)
But such a period may not be stipulated for transactions in which it is unlawful to part company before taking possession of the commodities exchanged (0; by one or both parties) as is the case in exchanging the kinds of foodstuffs and moneys in which usurious gain (riba, dis: k3.1-2) is present, or in buying in advance (salam, dis: k9.2(a)).
If the option to cancel is given to the seller alone, then the merchandise is considered his property during this period (0: meaning that he owns the proceeds earned by the property, and its increments such as its milk, eggs, or fruit, and he is obliged to cover its maintenance and other expenses).
If the option to cancel is given to the buyer alone, then the merchandise is considered his property during this period CO: and the above increments and expenses are his).
If the option to cancel is given to both buyer and seller, then the ownership of the merchandise during this period is suspended, meaning that if the transaction is finalized, it is established that it belonged to the buyer (0: from the time the agreement was first made, together with its increments and expenses), but if the transaction is cancelled, it is established that it belonged to the seller (0: meaning that it never left his ownership).
*
(N: Things here refers to both the merchandise and its price.)
Five conditions must exist in any article transacted
It must:
(a) be pure (0: in itself, or if affected with filth, it must be capable of being purified by washing);
(b) be useful;
(c) be deliverable (0: by the seller to the buyer, meaning that the buyer is able to take possession of it);
(d) be the property ofthe seller orthe person whom the seller has been authorized to represent;
(e) and be determinately known (ma'lum) (0: to the buyer and seller, as to which particular thing it is, how much it is, and what kind it is, in order to protect against chance or risk (gharar), because of the hadith related by Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade the transaction of whatever involves chance or risk)
(n: w42 discusses buying and selling insurance policies.)
PURITY It is invalid to transact something that is impure in itself (najasa, def: e14.1) such as a dog, or something affected with filth that cannot be purified (0: by washing), like milk or shortening, though if it can be, like a garment, then it may be transacted.
USEFULNESS It is invalid to transact something which is not useful (0: whether the reason for invalidity is the article's baseness or the smallness of the amount being dealt with,) such as vermin, a single grain of wheat, or unlawful musical instruments (dis: r40) (0: such as the mandolin or flute, since there is no lawful benefit in them).
DELIVERABILITY It is invalid to transact something undeliverable, such as a bird on the wing or something that a third party has wrongfully taken from one, though if one sells the latter to a buyer who is able to take it back from the third party, the sale is valid; while if the buyer is unable to take it from him, then the buyer has the option to either declare the sale binding or cancel it.
lt is invalid to transact a particular half of a whole object such as a vessel, sword, or garment (0: since the buyer cannot take possession of that part without breaking or cutting the article, involving the lessening and loss of property), or part of anything whose value is diminished by cutting or breaking, though if it does not diminish its value, as with a bolt of heavy cloth, such portions maybe sold.
LAWFUL DISPOSAL OVER THE PROPERTY It is not valid for the owner of an article that has been put up as collateral (def: kll) to sell it without the permission of the person to whom the collateral has been given.
Nor is it valid to sell property belonging to another, unless the seller is the owner's guardian (def: k13.2) or authorized representative (def:k17).
BEING DETERMINATEL Y KNOWN It is not valid to sell property not determinately identified such as ""one of these two garments"" (0: since ""one ofthem"" is not an identification.
Likewise with saying, ""I sell you one of these sheep."" It makes no difference whether all the objects are of equal or unequal value).
It is not valid to transact a particular thing that is not in view (0: meaning that it has not been seen by both buyer and selIer or by one of them) such as saying, ""I sell you the Mervian robe I have up my sleeve,"" or ""the black horse that is in my stable."" But ifthe buyer has seen it before and the article is something that does not generally change within the time that has elapsed since it was last seen, then such sales are valid.
It is permissible to sell something like a pile of wheat that is in plain view when its weight is unknown, or to sell something for a heap of silver that is visible when the silver's weight is unknown, for seeing is sufficient.
The selling and buying of a blind person are not valid
He must commission another to buy and sell for him (A: though the Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali schools permit him to buy and sell for himself)
It is valid for a blind person to buy in advance (def: k9) or for another to buy in advance from him, provided the payment is forwarded to and held by the person being
bought from in advance.
(0: The word riba lexically means increment.
In Sacred Law it is (N: of two types, the first being usurious gain (rib a) in selling, which is) an agreement for a specific recompense whose equivalence to the merchandise is unknown (def: k3.1(a)) according to the standards of the Law at the time of the transaction, or in which the exchange of the two properties transacted is delayed, or one of them is delayed
(N: The second type concerns loans, and consists of any loan by which the lender obtains some benefit (dis: k10.5).) The basis for its unlawfulness, prior to scholarly consensus (ijma', def: b7), is such Koranic verses as:
""Allah permits trade but forbids usurious gain"" (Koran 2:275), and, ""Fear Allah and relinquish what remains of usury, if you are believers"" (Koran 2:278), and such hadiths as that related by Muslim, ""The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed whoever eats of usurious gain (riba), feeds another with it, writes an agreement involving it, or acts as a witness to it."" Another hadith, in al-Mustadrak (n: by Hakim), relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Usurious gain is of seventy kinds, the least of which isas bad as a man marrying his mother ."") (n: w43 discusses taking interest in enemy lands (dar al-harb).)
Gain is not unlawful except in certain exchanges involving (0: human) foodstuffs, gold, and silver (A: or other money) (N: which, is the ruling for usurious gain in sales
As for usurious gain or interest from loans, it is unlawful for any type of property whatever)
The determining factor in the prohibition of usurious gain in foodstuffs is their being edible, and in gold and silver, their being the value of things.
When a foodstuff is sold for a foodstuff of the same kind, such as wheat exchanged for wheat (0;
or when gold is traded for gold), three conditions are obligatory:
(a) exact equivalence in amount (def: k3.5) (0: which must be made certain of, this stipulation precluding exchanges of foodstuffs, gold, or silver in which the amounts are not known, for such sales are not valid even if the two quantities transacted subsequently turnout to be equal, because of the ignorance of their equivalence at the time of the transaction, since ignorance ofit is the same as actual nonequivalence);
(b) that the properties transacted be in the respective possession of buyer and seller before they part company;
(c) and immediacy (N: such that the agreement does not mention any delay in the exchange, even if brief).
When foodstuffs are sold for foodstuffs of a different kind, such as wheat for barley (0: or when gold is sold for silver), only two conditions are obligatory:
(a) that the exchange be immediate;
(b) and that the properties exchanged be in the respective possession of buyer and seller before they part company.
If these two conditions are met, the two commodities exchanged may differ in amount.
TRANSACTING GOLD AND SILVER When gold is exchanged for gold, or silver for silver, conditions k3.1(a,b,c) are obligatory
If gold is exchanged for silver, their amounts may differ, but conditions k3 .2( a,b) are obligatory.
When foodstuffs are sold for gold or silver, the transaction is unconditionally valid (0:
meaning none of the above conditions are necessary).
Equivalence in amount for commodities customarily sold by volume is reckoned according to volume (0: even if weights differ), and for articles customarily sold by weight according to weight
Thus, it is invalid to sell a pound of wheat for a pound of wheat when there is a difference between the two's volume, though it is valid to sell a bushel of wheat for a bushel of wheat even when their weights differ.
Customarily transacted by weight or volume means according to the prevalent custom in the Hijaz during the time of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)
If this is unknown, then according to the custom of the town where the transaction takes place
If the foodstuff is of a kind not customarily exchanged by either weight or volume, and it has no dried storage state, such as cucumbers, quinces, or citrons, then it may not be traded for its own sort.
Equivalence in amount is not applicable to foodstuffs until they are completed, meaning, for fruits, in the dried storage state
It is invalid to trade fresh dates for fresh dates, fresh dates for dried dates, fresh grapes for fresh grapes, or fresh grapes for raisins
Types of dates and grapes not sold as dried dates and raisins may not be exhanged for their own sort
It is also invalid (A:
because of ignorance of their equivalence) to exchange:
(1) flour for flour (0: when they are of the same type);
(2) flourfor wheat;
(3) bread for bread (0: when of the same type);
(4) a pure foodstuff for a mixed one;
(5) cooked food for uncooked, or cooked food for other cooked food, unless the cooking is very slight, such as separating honey (0: from the comb) or milkfat (0: from milk).
It is not permissible to exchange (N: for example) a measure of dates plus one dirham for two dirhams, or for two measures of dates, or for a .measure of dates and a dirham
Nor is it permissible to exchange a measure of dates and a garment for two measures, nor a dirham and a garment for two dirhams.
It is invalid to transact meat for a live animal (0; even when the two are not of the same kind of animal).
*
(0: Prohibited transactions may be invalid, as is usually the case with the prohibited, for prohibition generally entails invalidity; or not, such that the transaction is valid despite being prohibited (dis: c5.2).)
It is invalid to sell the offspring of (A:
expected) offspring, such as saying, ""When my she-camel gives birth, and her offspring in turn gives birth to a camel, I hereby sell you that camel"" (0: i.e
the offspring of the offspring
The reason for invalidity is that it is a transaction of an article that is not owned, known, or deliverable).
Nor is it valid to sell something for a price whose payment is deferred to a time similar to the above (0: that is, till the time the offspring of an offspring is born, because the date of payment is not known).
EITHER-OR SALES It is invalid to make a transaction whose terms include two different possible deals (A:
without specifying which has been agreed upon) such as saying, ""I sell you this for either one thousand in cash or two thousand in deferred payment"" (0: which is invalid because the price is not known), or such as saying, ""I sell you my robe for a thousand, provided you sell me your sword for five hundred"" (0: which is invalid because of the invalid stipulation (dis: below)).
SALES WITH EXTRANEOUS STIPULATIONS It is not valid to make a transaction that includes an invalid stipulation (A: such as a condition that is extraneous to the original agreement which adds to its price) (0: because the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade transactions with such conditions, like stipulating a loan or a second transaction), saying, for example, ""I hereby sell it to you [n: for a thousand] provided you loan me a hundred"" (0: or ""provided you sell me your house for such and such a price"" (A: or ""provided you do not sell it to Soand- so"")
Its invalidity is due to considering both the thousand and the accompanying second deal as the price
Stipulating this invalidates the transaction, and paying this ""price"" is void, it not being determinately known (def: k2.1(e)))
(A: The invalidating factor is stipulating a second transaction, not the mere fact that it accompanies the first transaction, for it is permissible to join two transactions, as discussed at k4.12 below.)
SALES WITH VALID STIPULATIONS The following types of conditions do not invalidate transactions that stipulate them:
(1) a condition to postpone payment, though this requires that the date of payment be specified;
(2) a condition that collateral (def: kll) be put up as security (N: for payment of the price or for delivery of the merchandise);
(3) a condition that a particular individual will guarantee (def: k15) payment;
(4) or other conditions (0: from the seller, the buyer, or both) that the deal requires, such as an option to return the merchandise if defective, and so forth.
It is valid for the seller to stipulate that he is free of responsibility for defects in themerchandise.
By doing so, he is not held responsible for an animal's internal defects which he does not know of, though he remains responsible for all other kinds of defects
(0: The conditions for this ruling are that the defect be internal, be found in an animal, be unknown to the seller, and that it exist at the time of the agreement.)
PAYING NONREFUNDABLE DEPOSITS It is not valid to pay a nonrefundable deposit towards the price of an article, such as paying a dirham for piece of merchandise on the basis that if the buyer decides to keep it, the dirham is part ofthe price, but if he does not, then the seller keeps the dirham for free.
(A: The school of Imam Ahmad permits nonrefundable deposits.)
UNDERCUTITNG ANOTHER'S DEAL It is unlawful to undercut a brother's deal (A: or a non-Muslim's, since there is no difference between Muslims and non-Muslims in rulings concerning commercial dealings) that he has made with a customer, after they have settled on the price (0: meaning to say to someone who has accepted something with the intention to buy it for so-and-so much, ""Return it to its owner and I'll sell you a better one for the same price or less,"" or tell the seller, ""Take it back from him and I'll pay you more for it."" The above restriction after they have settled on the price excludes someone going around taking bids from those who are increasing them, as auctioneers do, which is not unlawful).
It is also unlawful to undercut a brother's price (0; that is, during the option to cancel at the time of the agreement (def: k1.3), or during a stipulated option to cancel period (def; k1.4}) by telling the buyer, ""Cancel the deal and I'll sell you one cheaper."" (0; This also holds for other contracts, such as renting or lending the use of something.)
BIDDING UP MERCHANDISE It is unlawful to bid up the price of a piece of merchandise that one is not really interested in, to fool another bidder.
SELLING GRAPES TO A WINEMAKER It is unlawful to sell grapes to someone who will make winefrom them: (0; Like grapes in this is the sale of dates, bread, wheat, or barley, whenever one knows that this (A; i.e
alcoholic drink) will result, or thinks it will
If there is doubt or if one merely imagines it, then the transaction is merely offensive
(N: Think (zann) means to believe it probable, doubt (shakk) means one is undecided, and imagine (wahm) means to merely consider it possible.) Selling in such cases is unlawful or offensive because it is a means to disobedience, whether certain or suspected (A:
means meaning an instrumental cause, as opposed to something which is not instrumental, such as renting a house to a drunkard, which is not unlawful because it is not a cause, though it is unlawful to rent a building to someone who intends to open a bar, for example)
Tirmidhi relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed whoever drinks wine, gives it to others to drink, sells it, buys it, presses it for another, transports it, receives it, or eats its price.)
If one makes any of the above unlawful transactions (k4.6-9), the agreement is valid (dis:
c5.2).
A VALID SALE COMBINED WITH AN INY ALlD SALE
If one combines something valid to sell with something invalid to sell in one transaction, such as selling one's own garment together with someone else's without his permission, or such as selling wine and vinegar, then the transaction is valid for the portion of the price that covers the valid sale (0: no matter whether the person knew what the case was, or whether he did not and believed the sale permissible, thinking at the time, e.g
that the wine was vinegar) and is invalid for the portion of the price that was not valid (A: and the portion must be refunded to the buyer)
The buyer has the option to cancel the whole agreement if, at the time the deal was made, he did not know it included something impermissible.
JOINING TWO TYPES OF TRANSACTIONS IN ONECONTRACT It is valid to join two contracts of different kinds (0: for example, a sale with a rent agreement) such as saying, ""I sell you my horse and rent you my house for a year for such and such an amount"" (0: though it is not necessary that they be different kinds, for the ruling also applies to two contracts of the same type, such as a partnership (def: k16) linked with financing a profitsharing venture (qirad, def: k22)), or such as saying, ""I marry you my daughter and sell you her house [N: as her proxy, the proceeds being hers] for so-and-so much,"" and the price is considered as proportionately distributed over the two transactions.
(0: The criterion for defect is based on something that is expected to exist (n: in merchandise), whether this expectation results from:
(1) stipulations agreed upon (dis: k4.4(4));
(2) the customary level of quality (dis: f4.5) for merchandise of its type;
(3) or outright deception by the seller.
The author does not mention (1) in this sec· tion, but confines himself to (2) and (3).)
Whoever knows of a defect in the article (0: he is selling) is obliged to disclose it
If he does not, he has cheated (0: the buyer, which is prohibited by the Prophet's statement (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""He who cheats us is not one of us""), though the transaction is valid (A: provided the buyer accepts it, as discussed below).
RETURNING DEFECTIVE MERCHANDISE When a buyer notices a defect in the merchandise that existed when the seller had it, he is entitled to return it (0: though if he is content to accept the defect, he does not have to return it.
He may also return it when the defect occurred after the sale but before the merchandise was delivered, since the merchandise is the seller's responsibility during this period).
The criterion (0: of defectiveness) is:
(a) any flaw that diminishes the article or its value to a degree that hinders a valid purpose;
(b) provided that such an imperfection does not usually exist in similar merchandise.
(0: The former restriction excludes such things as amputation of a surplus digit or a minor nick from the animal's thigh or hock that is inconsequential and does not obviate its purpose, in which case there is no option to return it
The latter restriction excludes defects not generally absent in similar merchandise, such as missing teeth in older animals
There is no option to return such merchandise, even if the value is diminished
)
If the buyer notices a defect in the merchandise after it has been destroyed (0: whether physically, such as an animal being killed, a garment worn out, or food eaten; or whether legally finished, by being no longer permissible to transfer from person to person, as when a site has been made an endowment (waqf, def: k30)))-then a compensation (A: from the seller to the buyer) is obligatory
(0: The buyer is entitled to it because of the impossibility of returning the article due to its no longer existing
Compensation means a part of the article's price whose relation to the whole price is the same as the relation of the value which the defect diminished to the full value of the article if it had been without defect
(N: The difference between price and value is that the value is how much money an article is worth in the marketplace, while the price is whatever the sale agreement specifies, whether this be more or less than the value.) The value in such a case is fixed at the lowest value (A: for articles of its type current in the marketplace) between the time the deal was made and the time the buyer took possession of it.)
The buyer is no longer entitled to seek compensation for such a defect if (0: he notices the defect after) he no longer owns the article because of having sold it or otherwise disposed of it
But if such an article returns to the buyer's possession after this (0: i.e
after having left his ownership, whether as a gift, or returned (A: from a sub"" sequent buyer) because it was defective, or because of a cancelled deal, or he buys it back), then he is entitled to return it (A: to the person who originally sold it to him).
If an additional defect occurs in an article (0: other than the above-mentioned defect (A:
that existed before the buyer received the article)) while it is in the buyer's possession, then the buyer is only entitled to take a compensation (0: from the seller, to compensate for the original defect) and is not entitled to (A: insist that the seller accept) return (A: ofthe article for a full refund).
But if the original seller is willing to accept it back with the (0: new) defect, (A: refunding the original price,) then the buyer is not entitled to (A; keep the article and) demand compensation (0: for the original defect
Rather, the buyer is told, ""Either return it, or else be content with it as it is and you get nothing""; for the harm to the original seller which is what prevents (A: it being obligatory for him to accept) its return no longer exists if the seller is content to take it back, and the merchandise is as if the additional defect never occurred.
Their agreement is implemented if buyer and selIer agree upon:
(1) the seller taking it back with (A: the seller refunding the original price, and the buyer giving him) compensation for the new additional defect;
(2) or the buyer keeping the merchandise, and the seller paying him compensation for the original defect;
since either of these options might satisfy the interests of the two parties
If the buyer and seller disagree about which of these two options should be implemented, the decision goes to whichever of them requests option (2), whether this person is the buyer or the seller, since it confirms the original contract).
If the new defect which occurs while the article is in the buyer's possession is the sole means of disclosing the old defect, such as breaking open a (A: spoiled) watermelon or eggs, and sO forth, then the new defect does not prevent (A:
the obligation of the seller to accept) its return.
But if the new damage exceeds the extent that was necessary to reveal the original defect, then the seller is no longer cOmpelled to accept it back.
It is a necessary condition for (A: cases where the buyer seeks a refund for something he is) returning (0: because of a defect) that the buyer return it immediately upon noticing the defect (0: and his option to return it is cancelled if he delays without an excuse)
On his way back to the seller, he should have two witnesses affirm that he is cancelling the agreement (A: so if the seller is unavailable at the time, the buyer is nevertheless able to prove that he went to return it immediately)
If the defect is noticed while one is praying, eating, using the lavatory, or at night (A:
if the night presents a problem in returning it), then one is entitled to delay returning it until the hindrance preventing one from doing so is no longer present, provided one stops using and benefiting from it
If the buyer delays returning it when capable of doing so, then the seller is no longer obliged to .accept the article back for a refund, or no longer obliged (A: in cases like k5.5 above) to compensate the buyer for the original defect (0: because the delay gives the impression that the buyer is satisfied with the defect) .
(A: The term murabaha applies to sales where the seller states the price in terms of ""the original price plus such and such an amount as profit,"" whether by original price he means the amount he originally paid for the whole lot, or whether he means the proportion of that price represented by the percentage of the lot which he is now selling.)
The seller in murabaha (0: meaning an agreement where the price consists of the original price plus increment) is obliged to inform the buyer of any defect that occurred in the merchandise while in his possession, such as by saying, ""I bought it for ten [0: or ""bought it for one hundred and sell it to you at what I bought it for, plus one dirham's profit on every ten""] but such and such a defect happened to it while I had it."" (0: He is likewise obliged to say, for example, ""Such and such a defect appeared in it that was from the previous owner, and I accepted this
"") The seller in murabaha is also obliged to explain how much time he was given to pay the original price (A: since deferring payment generally raises the price, and merely stating such a raised price without mentioning that it was deferred would give the new buyer a false impression).
(0: The author should have mentioned (A:
that telling the prospective buyer the above information is also obligatory in sales of) discount (A:
on a lot of goods or portion thereof), as when the seller tells someone, ""I sell it to you for what I bought it for, minus one from every eleven."" These rulings likewise apply to agreements stated in terms of, ""I sell you it at the same price the original deal was made for
"") *
It is not permissible (0: or valid) to sell the fruit alone from a tree (A: without the tree, while still on it) before it is ripe, unless the agreement stipulates immediate picking of the fruit
But such a sale is valid without restriction if made after the fruit is ripe, meaning, for fruits that do not change color, to become fit to eat; and for fruits whose color changes, to start to turn the color of ripeness.
If both the tree and the fruit are sold together, the sale is permissible without stipulating that the fruit be picked.
Grain, when green, is subjectto the same rulings as fruit before it is ripe: it may not be sold (0: nor would the sale be valid) unless the agreement stipulates immediate harvest, though there are no restrictions on sales made after the grain is solid and firm.
It is not permissible to sell grain when still in, the husk, or to sell unripe nuts, almonds, or broad beans when these are in the shell
(A: When the latter three are dried, they may be sold in the shell.)
*
Merchandise is the responsibility of the seller before the buyer has taken possession (def: k7.3) of it
If such merchandise is destroyed (Ar.
talifa, to be finished off or used up )by itself or through an act of the seller, then the agreement is cancelled and no payment is due for it
If the buyer destroys such mercnandise, he must pay its price, and his destroying it is considered as having taken possession of it
If a third party destroys such merchandise, the deal is not cancelled but rather the buyer is given a choice to either:
(1) cancel the agreement and make the value (def: kS.4(N:)) (0: of what the third party destroyed) a debt that the third party owes to the seller;
(2) or effect the deal, paying the seller the price (0: if he agrees to effect the deal) and making the third party liable to pay the value (0: to the buyer).
When one buys something, it is not permissible (0: or valid) to sell it until one has taken possession of it
(0: The invalidity of selling
it likewise applies to all transactions disposing of it (A: such as renting it, giving it away, and so forth).
It is also invalid for the seller to dispose of the price in any way before it has been received from the buyer, unless the new transaction is with the same buyer and involves the very same (A: article that is the) price.)
But if the price is a financial obligation (N:
that is, an amount of money, unspecified as to which particular pieces of money it is), the seller may ask for a different sort of payment, provided he has not already accepted the payment, as when he sells something for dirhams, but then accepts gold, a garment, or something else instead of them.
Taking possession means:
(1) for transportable things such as wheat or barley, that they be transported (N: by the buyer or his representative) (0: that is, when he moves the merchandise to a place not belonging to the seller, such as the street or the buyer's house);
(2) for things dealt with by hand, such as a garment or book, that they be taken in hand;
(3) and for other things, such as a house or land, that they be given over (0: i.e
the seller give the buyer control over them, such as by handing the key to him or moving others' belongings off the property).
*
When two parties agree on the validity of a transaction but disagree on its terms, and there is no proof, then they each swear an oath (dis: k8.2) affirming their side of the story
Such a disagreement could be:
(1) the seller saying that he sold it for immediate payment, while the buyer asserts that payment was to be deferred;
(2) the seller stating that he sold for ten, while the buyer maintains it was five;
(3) the seller saying he sold it to the buyer on condition that there be an option to cancel period (def: k1.4), while the buyer asserts that no such option was stipulated;
or similar disputes.
(N: Swearing an oath (def: olS) is a means for urging one's case when there is no proof, meaning no witnesses
When rulings mention, for example, that ""So-and-so's word is believed;"" or ""So-and-so's word is accepted,"" it means that his word is accepted when he swears an oath ill cases where there is no proof presented by either of the two parties
If there is proof, whether from the plaintiff or defendant, it is given precedence over an oath.)
In the oath for such cases, the seller swears first, saying, for example, ""By Allah, I did not sell it to you for such and such an amount, but rather for such and such an amount."" Then the buyer swears, ""By Allah, I did not buy it for such and such, but rather bought it for such and such."" It consists of one oath (A: from each party) which joins the denial of the other's claim with the affirmation of one's own claim, and in which the denial is recommended to precede the affirmation.
When the buyer and seller have sworn, but subsequently reach a solution that both accept, the agreement is not cancelled
But if they cannot reach an accord, they cancel the agreement, or one of them cancels it, or the Islamic magistrate does (0: to end the trouble between them
When the agreement is cancelled, each returns whatever he has accepted from the other).
If either the buyer or seller testifies that a particular agreement is invalid, but the other party says it is valid, then the word of whichever of them asserts it is valid is accepted if he swears an oath (dis: k8.2).
If the buyer comes to the seller with a piece of merchandise that he wants to return because of a defect, but the seller says that it is not the one he sold him, then the seller's word is accepted (0:
when he swears).
If the buyer and seller disagree about a defect in an article that could have occurred while it was in the buyer's possession, but each party asserts that the defect occurred while in the other's possession, then the seller's word is accepted (0:
when he swears).
*
Buying in advance means the sale of described merchandise which is under (A: the seIler's) obligation (A: to deliver to the buyer at a certain time).
THE CONDITIONS FOR THE VALIDITY OFBUYING IN ADVANCE In addition to the conditions for valid sales (def: k1.1-2, k2.1), other conditions (0: seven of them) must be met for buying in advance to be valid:
(a) that the price of the merchandise be received when the agreement is first made
It is sufficient to merely see the price that is being accepted, even when its exact amount is unknown;
(b) that the merchandise bought in advance be a financial obligation (dayn) (0: owed by the seller (N: meaning that buying in advance is not valid for particular individual articles ('ayn) (A:
i.e
""this one"" and no other)) which the seller will deliver when its time comes)
Its delivery may be due from the present onwards, or may be due later through deferment (0: by clearly stating whether it is to be due immediately or deferred) to a specific date (0: which specificity is a necessary condition for the validity of deferring payment)
It is not permissible to say, ""I advance you these dirhams for that particular horse"" (0: which is invalid because of the condition that the merchandise bought in advance
be a financial obligation (dayn), which the above-mentioned horse is not, butis rather a particular individual article Cayn));
(c) that the location to which the merchandise is to be delivered be clearly stipulated (A:
though this is only a condition) in cases in which the buyer pays for it at a place where it cannot be delivered, such as the wilderness,; or to which the merchandise can be delivered, but transporting it there involves considerable difficulty;
(d) that the merchandise bought in advance be determinately known by volume, weight, quantity, or yardage in terms of a familiar measure.
It is not valid for someone to say ""the weight of this stone,"" or ""the capacity of this basket,"" if the (0: stone's) weight or basket's capacity is not known;
(e) that the merchandise be within the seller's power to deliver (def: k2.4) when the time for delivery arrives;
(f) that the merchandise not be generally subject to unavailability
If it is something rare (0:
such as a great quantity of the season's first fruits of a particular kind of produce) or something not typically safe from unavailability, such as ""the fruit of this particular date palm,"" then its sale in advance is not permissible;
(g) that those characteristics of the merchandise over which the buyer and seller might be at cross-purposes be expressly delineated by clear specifications
It is not permissible (0: to buy things in advance which cannot be defined by clear criteria, such as) for jewels or composites like meat pastry (0: composed of wheat, meat, and water, all of which are expected but not delineable in terms of minimal or maximal amounts), ghaliya perfume (0: composed of musk, ambergris, aloes, and camphor), or slippers (0: composed of outer and inner layers and padding), nor articles whose top randomly differs from their bottom, like a lamp or pitcher (0: the top of which is sometimes wider than the bottom, or vice versa) (N:
though the Hanafi school permits such agreements, calling them made to order (istisna'), which they hold includes whatever is customarily bought in this way
They affirm the buyer's option to cancel the agreement when he sees the merchandise, and it is obligatory that the article be described very precisely), nor something substantially processed and altered by fire (A: meaning heat), such as bread or roast meat, since describing it (A: Le.
how much cooking it takes) is impossible in a preciseway.
It is not permissible for the buyer to sell something he has bought in advance until he has received it.
It is not permissible to take some other type of merchandise in place of the article bought in advance (A: that is, when the buyer demands the substitute before the delivery of the original is due, though they may agree on it after that).
If the seller delivers the merchandise specified, or better (0: than what was specified), the buyer must accept it (0: since it is apparent that the seller could not find a way to fulfill his obligation save through this means
If the seiler delivers merchandise that is inferior to what was specified, then the buyer may accept it, as this is voluntarily refraining from demanding his due, but he is not obliged to, because of the loss therein).
*
(A: A loan means repayable financial aid
It does not reter to lending a particular article ('ayn) for someone to use and then return after use, which is termed an 'ariyya (def: kI9).)
Loaning (0: meaning to give something to the borrower on the basis that he will return its equal) is recommended.
Aloan is effected through a spoken offer and acceptance (def: kl.I), such as saying, ""lIoan you this,"" or, ""I advance you it.""
It is permissible to give as a personal loan any article that may be bought in advance (def:
k9.2(b,d,e,f,g)) and nothing else (A: though this restriction does not apply to lending for use ('ariyya, dis: k10.O(A:))).
It is not permissible for the lender to impose as a condition that the loan be repaid on a certain date (N; though for the Maliki school, to stipulate that repayment is obligatory on a certain date is valid and legally binding).
It is not permissible for the lender to impose some condition that will en!lble him to benefit from the loan, such as a condition that the borrower must return superior to what was loaned, or such as saying, ""on condition that you sell me your horse for such and such an amount,"" for these are usurious gain (riba)
But it is permissible for the borrower to return superior to what was loaned without this having been stipulated.
It is permissible for the loan agreement to include the condition of collateral (0: meaning for the recipient to give the lender something as collateral (def: kI1) for what he borrows) or the condition of a guarantor (0: such that the recipient brings someone to guarantee that the loan will be repaid (def: klS)).
The recipient of a loan is obliged to repay the equal of what was lent, though it is permissible for the lender to accept something other than the (A: type of) thing loaned
If the lender gives the recipient a loan and later meets him in another town and asks for it back, the recipient must repay it if it was gold or silver and the like, though if the loaned commodity was something troublesome to carry, such as wheat or barley, then the recipient· is not obliged to pay it back (A: in kind) but is merely obliged to pay back its value.
(0: In Sacred Law collateralis a piece of saleable property put up as security for a financial obligation to cover the amount if it should prove impossible to repay.)
CONDmONS FOR THE VALIDITY OF
Putting up collateral is only valid when done by someone with full disposal over his own property, as security for a financial obligation (dayn, dis: k9.2(b)) that is currently due, such as the price (0: due for merchandise after its delivery), or a personal loan, or for a financial obligation that is currently becoming due (N: such as something's price) during the option to cancel period (def: kl.4)
(0: The collateral's being security for a financial obligation is one restriction on its validity, and for one that is currently due is another
It is not valid to put up collateral for a particular individual article ('ayn) or the use of an article, since (A: the obligation to deliver) a particular article is not a financial obligation (dayn), as the selfsame article cannot be obtained by selling the collateral.)
Putting up collateral is not valid in cases in which the financial obligation is not yet due, such as collateral accepted (0: by a lender) as security for a loan that he will make (0: in the future).
It is necessary (0: for the validity of putting up collateral) that there be a spoken offer (0: by the person putting up the collateral) and spoken acceptance (0: from the person accepting it, just as it is necessary for sales, the conditions mentioned in connection with sales (k1.1) applying equally here).
The agreement is not legally binding until the collateral has been taken possession of with the permission of the person putting it up, who is entitled to cancel the agreement (A: at any point) before the collateral has been taken possession of (def: k7.3).
When the agreement has been effected, if the two parties (A: the collateral's giver and receiver) agree that the collateral should be kept with either of them, or with a third party, this is done
If not (0: if they do not agree), the Islamic magistrate has it kept with an upright person (def: O24.4) (0:
to end the disagreement
But the magistrate is not entitled to place it with either of the two parties without the other's permission).
GENERAL PROVISIONS CONCERNINGCOLLATERAL The collateral must be an article that is permissible to sell (def: k2.1).
, None of the collateral may be separated from the rest of it until the financial obligation has been entirely paid off.
The person who put up the collateral is not entitled to dispose of it in any way which infringes upon the right of the person who has received it as collateral (0: such as transferring its ownership to another) by selling it or giving it away (0: or putting it up as collateral for another person), or to dispose of it in any way that diminishes its value, such as wearing (o: a garment put up that would depreciate by being worn), though he may use it in ways that do not harm (0: the interests of the person who has received it) such as riding it, or living (0: in a house that has been put up as collateral).
.An article put up as collateral for a financial obligation may not (A: at the same time) be put up as collateral for a second financial obligation, even when the second obligation is with the same person who has accepted the article (A: for the firstone).
The expenses for maintaining an article put up as collateral (0: such as fodder for livestock, or the wages of a person watering trees) are the responsibility of the person who put it up, and he may be compelled to pay them to protect the rights of the person receiving it (0: lest it be destroyed)
The person who put it up is entitled to the increments produced by it (0: that are separable from it) such as milk or fruit.
If the
article is destroyed while in the possession of the person who received it as collateral without negligence on his part (A: meaning he took the precautions normal for similar articles), then he is not obliged to pay anything for its loss.
But if destroyed because of his negligence, then he is obliged to pay the article's value to the person who put it up, though its destruction does not eliminate any of the original financial obligation for which the destroyed collateral was put up
(0:
When the collateral has been destroyed and the two parties are at a disagreement,) the final word as to how much the article was worth (A: when there is no proof (dis: k8.2) belongs to the person who received it as collateral (0: provided he swears an oath as to how much it was)
But the final word as to whether the collateral has been returned (A: to its owner after his financial obligation has been paid) belongs to the person who put it up (A: when there is no proof, and he swears).
The benefit of collateral is that the article is sold (A: by the person who put it up) when there is need to pay the amount which is due
If the person who put it up refuses (0: to sell the article when the person who has received it as collateral asks him to), then the Islamic magistrate has him either pay the original obligation or else sell the article
(0: He is given a ehoice between the two alternatives.) If he continues to refuse (0: to sell), then the Islamic magistrate sells it for him
(0: If the person who put it up is absent, then this is established by proof to the magistrate, who sells it for him and gives the person who accepted the collateral his due
If there is no Islamic magistrate and no proof (A: that there is a financial obligation for which the collateral has been put up), then the person who accepted it as collateral is entitled to sell it himself.)
*
(0: Bankruptcy occurs when the Islamie magistrate makes a debtor bankrupt by (N: declaring him so and) forbidding him to dispose of his property (N: such that if he disposes ofit, his disposition is not effected).)
When someone obliged to pay a current debt is being asked to pay it, and he claims that he is unable to (0: while his creditors deny this), then if it is known that he has saleable property, he is kept 'lnder arrest until he provides evidence that he cannot pay
If not (0: i.e
if it is not known that he has saleable property), then he swears an oath (0: that there is no property), and (0: when it is established that he is unable to pay, whether through evidence, or through his oath) he is released (0: and given time) until his cir· cumstances allow him to pay (0: and his creditors may not keep after him, because of Allah's word, ""If there be someone in difficulties, let him have respite until things are easier"" (Koran
2:280)).
But if he has saleable property (0: such as real estate, home furnishings, or livestock) and refuses to pay his debt, then the Islamic magistrate sells it for him and pays his debt
If the proceeds of the sale are insufficient to cover the debt, and he or his creditor asks the magistrate that he be suspended from dealing in his property, then this is done (0: obligatorily, if requested)
When the person is suspended, his disposal over his own saleable property is not legally binding or effective, and the magistrate pays the person's expenses and those of his family (0: whom he is obliged to support (def: mI2.I)) out of this (0:
suspended) property if he is unable to earn enough to pay his expenses.
Then (0: after the person has been suspended) the magistrate sells the property in the most profitable manner and divides the proceeds according to the percentage of the total debt which is owed to each creditor.
If one of the creditors is owed money on a debt which is not yet due, he is not entitled to be paid from the proceeds
(N: Rather, if the bankrupt does not agree to pay the person immediately, the magistrate keeps this person's share until the
debt is due (A: and then pays him).)
If one of the creditors has accepted an article of the bankrupt's property as collateral from him for a debt, he is paid the amount owed to him from the sale of the collateral (0: and if there is money from its sale in excess of what was owed to him, it is distributed among the other creditors).
If one of the creditors finds the very piece of merchandise he sold to the bankrupt person, he may choose between selling it and dividing the profits with the other creditors, or cancelling the deal and taking back the piece of merchandise, provided there is nothing to prevent taking it back such as it being subject to preemption by a part owner (shuf'a, def: k21), or the bankrupt person having made it collateral to another person, or the merchandise's being mixed with merchandise better than it, or some similar objection.
The bankrupt person is permitted to keep a suitable set of clothes and enough food for himself and his dependents to suffice for the day on which his saleable property is divided up
(N: If the bankrupt is then earning enough to suffice himself and his dependents, he is left as is
If not, then he is supported by the Muslim common fund (bayt al-mal), like all poor people
If there is no common fund, he must be supported by all the Muslims.)
*
(0) Suspension is of two types:
(1) The first has been established in Sacred Law for the interests of others, such as the suspension of a bankrupt person in the interests of his creditors, or the suspension of the person putting up collateral from dealing in it, in the interests of the person who has accepted it.
(2) The second has been established in Sacred Law in the interests of the suspended person, which is the type of suspension our author refers to in the following.)
It is not permissible for a child or insane person to dispose of their own property (N: and their doing so is considered legally invalid) (0: to protect them from loss
The fact that a person is a child, male or female, even if at the age of discrimination (def: n.2), negates the legal efficacy of whatever he says, as well as his legal authority over others, both in respect to transactions such as sale, and in respect to religion, such as Islam
His Islam is not valid, since it requires full capacity for legal responsibility (taklif, dis: cB.1)
And this state continues until he reaches puberty, Insanity similarly negates the legal efficacy of whatever the insane person says,as well as his legal authority over others, His Islam is not valid, nor his leaving Islam (def: oB), nor are his dealings, as previously mentioned).
(A: Also suspended from commercial dealings is the foolhardy person (safih), meaning a spendthrift who is chronically careless with his money, In the schools of Shafi'i and Ahmad, this class also includes those who are careless about their religious obligations, as they too are considered too foolish to deal in their own property
)
A guardian conducts such a charge's affairs, the guardian being:
(1) the charge's father;
(2) the father's father, if the fither is deceased;
(0: it is a necessary condition that they be upright (def: O24.4), atleast outwardly, though they need not be Muslim unless the child is Muslim) (3) if neither of them is alive, then the person designated by the guardian's will (wasiyya, def:
L3) to take custody of the charge;
(4) or if no one has been designated by the will, then the Islamic magistrate or his representative.
THE GUARDIAN'S DISPOSAL OF HISCHARGE'S PROPERTY The guardian deals with the charge's property to the charge's best financial advantage (0;
and is entitled to sell it for needs that arise, such as when he does not have enough to cover his charge's expenses and clothing).
If the guardian claims to have spent his charge's property to cover the charge's expenses, or claims that the property has been destroyed (0;
by an aet of God (A: and not through his negligence )), then his word is accepted (0: about it without having to swear an oath)
But if the guardian claims to have given the property to the charge (0: i.e
to the child who has reached maturity or the insane person who has regained his sanity), then his word is not accepted (0:
because of the ease with which he could have legally established that he gave the property to his charge at the time of doing so
If he did not obtain witnesses to observe the property being handed over, he is guilty of remissness for neglecting to have it witnessed).
Suspension from dealings ends (0: without a ruling from the judge) when a child reaches puberty and mental maturity, meaning that he:
(a) is physically mature;
(b) shows religious sincerity;
(c) and is competent to handle his own property.
(0: For an insane person, suspension ends when he regains his sanity, shows religious sincerity, and displays competence in handling his property.
Religious sincerity means that a person performs acts of obedience and avoids disobedience and the unlawful
Competence in handling one's property means that one does not waste it by losing it, for example, in buying something outrageously overpriced
Both of these traits «b) and (c)) are the criteria for maturity according to Imam Shafi'i, as opposed to Abu Hanifa and Malik, who hold that competence in handling property is sufficient.)
A charge is not given his property until his competence in handling it has been tested before puberty in a manner appropriate to him
(0: Thus a merchant's son is tried at striking a bargain in dealings, having been given money to do this, though not actually concluding the deal, which is done by the guardian
A farmer's son is tested at agriculture and managing the expenditures connected with it
An examination is also made of the charge's religion, by observing whether he performs acts of worship , avoids acts of disobedience, shuns the unlawful, and is wary of things that are doubtful (dis: j16, 1), It is necessary that this testing be repeated one or more times.)
If the suspended person reaches puberty or regains his sanity but is corrupt in his religion or incompetent in financial dealings, then his suspension continues and he is not permitted to deal in his property by seIling or anything else, with or without his guardian's permission, though if the guardian permits him to marry, the
marriage is valid.
If the suspended person reaches puberty with religious sincerity and financial competence, but subsequently squanders his wealth, then he is resuspended by the Islamic magistrate, not the guardian
But if the person becomes morally corrupt (A: after having reached puberty), he is not resuspended (N: provided his corruption does not involve spending money on what is unlawful,
though if it does, he is suspended from dealing).
Puberty applies to a person after the first wet dream, or upon becoming fifteen (0: lunar) years old, or when a girl has her first menstrual period or pregnancy.
*
(0: In Sacred Law, a transfer is an agreement that moves a debt from one person's responsibility to another's.)
(n: Given three persons, X (al-muhtal), Y (al-muhil), and Z (al-muhal 'alayhi) (A: where X loans Y a dirham, and Z already owes Y a dirham, so Y transfers the right to collect the old debt(that Z owes him) to X, instead of repaying X for the new debt
Such transfers have six integrals:
(a) Y;
(b) X;
(c) Z;
(d) Y's debt to X;
(e) Z'sdebttoY;
(f) Y's spoken offer and X's spoken acceptance).
It is a necessary condition for the validity of transferring a debt that Y wishes to do so, and that X accepts
It is not necessary that Z wishes it.
(0: The agreement also requires a form, which is the spoken offer and acceptance (def:
k1.1), meaning Y's offer and X's acceptance.)
Such a transfer is not valid unless Z owes Y a debt and Y owes X a debt.
A transfer is valid respecting a legally binding debt (0: owed to X) for another legally binding debt (0: Z owes to Y), provided:
(a) that X and Y know what is being transferred (A: gold, silver, or wheat, for example) for what;
(b) that X and Y know that the two debts are homogeneous in type (A: such as money for money, or wheat for wheat) and in amount (0:
though ifY owes X five, and Z owes Y ten, and Y transfers (A: the right to collect) five of it to X, then this is valid);
( c) and that X and Y know whether the debts are currently due or payable in the future (A: the two debts may differ in this respect if both parties agree).
(0: The validity of a transfer is not affected by the existence of collateral (def: k 11) or of a guarantor (def: klS) as security for one of the debts, but the occurrence of the transfer eliminates (A: either form of) security, the guarantor being relieved of any responsibility and the collateral no longer being collateral.)
k14,4 Through a valid transfer, Y no longer owes X a debt, Z no longer owes Y a debt, and the debt owed to X becomes the responsibility of Z
If X is unable to collect the debt from Z because Z is bankrupt or denies the existence of the debt or for some other reason (0: such as Z's death), then X is not entitled to go back to Y (A: to collect it) (N:
but rather it is as though X has accepted for the debt a remuneration which was subsequently destroyed in his possession).
*
(0: Guarantee lexically means ensuring implementation, and in Sacred Law means to ensure a financial obligation which is another's or ensure the appearance of a particular person whose presence is required.)
(n: Given three persons, P (al-madmun lahu), Q (al-madmun 'anhu), and R (al-damin) (A: where P loans Q a dirham, and R guarantees to P that either Q will repay it or else he, R, will repay it
Such guarantees have five integrals:
(a) R;
(b) P;
(c) Q;
(d) thedebtco;vered;
(e) and the form of the agreement).)
GUARANTEEING ANOTHER'S flNANCIAL
It is a necessary condition for the validity of guaranteeing payment that R have full right to manage his own property
It is not valid from a child, someone insane, or a foolhardy person (def:
k13.1(A:)), though it is valid from someone suspended for bankruptcy.
It is a condition for the validity of a guarantee that R know P, though it is not neces.
sary that P agree to it.
lt is not necessary that Q agree, or that R knowQ.
It is necessary that the guaranteed debt be a financial obligation (dayn, dis: k9.2(b)) that is existent (0: since it is not valid to guarantee a debt before it exists, such as ""tomorrow's expenses"") and is determinately known (0: in terms of amount, type, and description).
It is necessary that R make the guarantee in words (0: or their written equivalent, with the intention) that imply he is effecting it, such as ""I guarantee your debt to: that So-and-so owes you],"" or ""I will cover it,"" or the like
(0: These are explicit expressions in that they mention the guaranteed financial obligation
When it is not mentioned, the expression is allusive, which is valid provided the financial obligation is what is intended, and the speaker knows how much it is.
Otherwise, allusive expressions are not valid.)
It is not valid to base the implementation of a guarantee on a condition, such as saying, ""When Ramadan comes, I hereby guarantee it."" (0: Nor is it valid to make it subject to time stipulations, such as saying, ""I guarantee what So-and-so owes for one month, after which I no longer guarantee it
"")
When a seller has accepted the price of something, it is valid (0: for someone) to guarantee the buyer his money back if the merchandise should prove to belong to another or to be defective.
(0: It is likewise valid for someone to guarantee to the seller that the merchandise will be returned if the price paid for it should turn out to belong to someone other than the buyer.)
P is entitled to collect the guaranteed debt from Rand Q (0: by asking both ofthemoreither for the full amount, or one of them for part of it and the other for the rest of it).
If another guarantor guarantees the debt for R (0: by saying (A: to P), ""I guarantee Q's debt [A: to you] for R""), then P is entitled to collect it from all (A: from Q, R, and the new guarantor).
If P asks for payment from R, then R is entitled to ask Q to pay the debt, provided that Q had given his permission to R before R guaranteed it.
IfP cancels the debt Q owes him, then Ris also free of the obligation to pay P
But ifP cancels R's obligation to cover Q's debt, then Q is not thereby free of the debt he owes P.
If R pays Q's debt to P, then R can collect itfrom Q
provided that Q had given his permission to R before R guaranteed it
But if Q had not (0: given his permission to R to guarantee), then R i, not now entitled to collect it from Q
no matter whether R paid it off with Q's leave or without it.
It is not valid to guarantee delivery of particular articles Cayn) (A: as they are not financial obligations (dis: k9.2(b)), such as something wrongfully taken, or articles loaned for use (0;
i.e
""guaranteeing"" they will be returned to their owner).
GUARANTEEING ANO'IHER'S APPEARANCE It is permissible for R to guarantee that Q will appear in person (0: in court) provided:
(a) that Q owes someone something or is liable to punishment for a crime against another person, such as when the other is entitled to retaliate (def: 01--(3) against Q, or when Q has charged someone with adultery without evidence (def: 013);
(b) and that Q gives R permission to guarantee his appearance.
It is not valid to guarantee Q's appearance if (non-(a) above) Q's crime is against Allah Most High (0: such as drinking, adultery, or theft).
If R guarantees Q's appearance but does not specify when, he is required to produce Q at once
But if R stipulates a certain time, then he is required to do so at that time.
If Q disappears and his whereabouts is unknown, R is not required to produce Q until he knows where Q is.
(A: When R knows where Q is, then) R is given time to travel to where Q is and return
If R does not bring Q, then R is under arrest, though he is not responsible for Q's (Ai unfulfilled) financial obligations.
If Q dies, the guarantee is nullified, though if R is asked to produce Q's body before burial to verify its identity, he is obliged to if able.
Partnership is valid with anyone having full right to dispose of his own property.
COOPERATIVE PARTNERSHIP There are four kinds of partnership (dis: k16.9) of which one alone, cooperative partnership, is valid
It consists of each of the two (A: or more) partners putting up capital, which must be either money or a fungible commodity typically transacted measure for measure (mithli, def:k20.3(I)) (0: as opposed to goods appraised and sold as particular pieces of merchandise (mutaqawwim), which cannot form the basis of a partnership because it is impossible to mix each partner's share with the other's (dis: below)).
It is a condition for the validity of a cooperative partnership that the two shares of capital put up by the partners be intermixed such that it is impossible to tell them apart.
It is a necessary condition that each partner give the other his permission to handle the capital (0: that they have put up in common).
Each partner must deal in a way that realizes their common capital's best advantage and maximal safety
Thus, neither partner may travel with it (0: i.e
the shared capital, because ofthe danger in travelling) or sell for postponed payment (N:
unless the other partner gives him permission, in which case (A: either of) these are permissible).
It is not necessary that the two shares of capital put up by the partners be equal in amount.
Both profits and losses are divided between the two partners in proportion to the percentage of the shared capital each of them put up (0: even if there is a difference in the amount of work that each does)
If they stipulate otherwise, the partnership is not valid (0: such as stipulating that the partner who put up one hundred, for example, gets two-thirds, while the partner who put up two hundred gets one-third; or stipulating that each gets an equal share, despite having put up unequal amounts)
(N: This is in the Shafi'i school
The Hallafisand Hanbalis hold that it is permissible for the distribution of profits to be disproportionate (A: to the amount of capital each invests), correSponding to the disproportionate amount of work each puts into the venture (A: or any other division of the profits which they both agree upon).)
If partner A forbids partner B to handle the shared capital, then B is not entitled to handle it, though A is still entitled to (0: handle both shares, one of which is his by ownership, and the other by permission of his partner) until B forbids him to handle it.
Each partner is entitled to cancel the partnership whenever he wants (0: and it is also cancelled by the death or insanity of either or both partners).
The following types of partnerships are not valid:
(1) manual partnership (sharika al-abdan), such as the partnership of two porters or other workers agreeing to divide their earnings between them (N: though this type of partnership is valid in the Maliki, H""II1(2) well-known partner partnership (sharika al-wujuh) (n: such as of two individuals who put up no capital, but have good reputations among people which create confidence and enable them to purchase trade goods for deferred payment, the profits from the sale of which they agree to divide between them (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73) , 2.212).
(3) and cOl1lprehellSil'l' parmership (sharika al-mufawada) (n: an agreement by which the partners share whatever they each earn from their respective (A: separate) funds and labor
mutually covering the financial liabilities incurred by either (ibid .• 2.212).
*
(n: Given persons X (al-muwakkil) and Y (alwakil) (A: where X gives Y an article to sell for him
This section deals with commissioning others to carry out such requests, which have four integrals:
(a) X;
(b) Y;
(c) the act that is being commissioned (almuwakkal fihi);
(d) and the words by which X commissions Y to do it).)
I t is a necessary condition that both X and Y have full right to perform the act being commissioned, though it is permissible to commission a child to let people into one's house or take a gift to someone.
THINGS ONE MAY COMMISSION OTHERS TO DO X may commission Y:
(1) to conclude contracts on X's behalf (0;
such as a sale
gift
putting up collateral, conducting a marriage contract, guaranteeing payment, or transferring a debt);
(2) to cancel contracts on X's behalf (0: such as cancelling a sale or returning defective merchandise);
(3) to conduct X's divorce;
(4) to make claims (A: by lawsuit against others, as lawyer), do):
(5) to ensure fulfillment of established claims (0: from whoever owes them to X, after they have been established by proof);
(6) or to take
possession of something that is free to take, such as wild game, pasturage, or water (0: by Y conveying it from land which X is permitted to take it from, since this is a way of gaining property just as sale is).
It is not permissible for Y to undertake obligations of worship that X owes Allah Most High, except for:
(1) distributing zakat to deserving recipients (0: or giving food or alms as an expiation, or voluntary charity);
(2) performing hajj (0: or 'umra, which another may perform on the behalf of an invalid or a deceased person);
(3) and slaughtering sacrifices (dis: j12.6(end), j14,3).
It is permissible to commission'Y to perform an obligation (0: to Allah) that consists of inflicting a prescribed legal penalty (hadd) (0:
such as the penalties for the crimes of accusing another of adultery without proof (def: 013), adultery, or drinking), but is not permissible to commission Y to establish that such an obligation exists (0: such as by X telling Y, ""I commission you to affirm [A: in court, by Y submitting X's testimony] that So-and-so has committed adultery,"" or ""that So-and-so has drunk wine"").
It is a necessary condition for the validity of X's commissioning Y that there be:
(a) a spoken proposal (0: indicating X's wish for Y to handle some matter for him) that does not restrict the (A: fact of there being a) commission by giving conditions under which the commission takes effect (0: such as saying, ""lfSoand- so comes, I hereby commission you,"" which is invalid) (A: but rather
a valid commission must be) such as saying, ""I commission you,"" or ""Sell this garment for me"";
(b) and an acceptance (0: by Y
whether this be) in word or deed, i.e
by Y simply doing what he has been asked to
It is not necessary that his acceptance take place immediately.
When X validly commISSIOns Y to do something, X may include stipulations about how it is to be carried out, such as saying, ""I commission you, but don't sell it till after a month."" (A:
The previous ruling prohibits stipulations restricting the fact of Y being commissioned, while here X has already commissioned Y and his stipulations merely govern how Yis to do it.) (0: A temporary commission, such as saying, ""I commission you for one month,"" is also valid.)
Y may not commission another to perform what X has commissioned Y to do unless X either gives Y permission to commission another, or Y cannot undertake the task (0: because he is unable to, or it does not befit him) or is incapable of it because it is too much (A: for a single person to perform).
THE AGENT'S DISCRETIONARY POWERS Y is not entitled to sell an article (A: he has been comissioned to sell) to himself or his underage son, nor (0: is it valid) to sell it:
(1) for less than the current price of similar articles;
(2) for deferred payment;
(3) or for other than the type of money used locally;
thoughY may do these (0: (1), (2), or (3)) if X grants him permission to.
Y's sale of the commissioned article is not valid when X specifies the type of funds he wants as its price, but Y sells it for a different type, such as when X says, ""Sell it for a thousand dirhams,-' but Y sells it for a thousand dinars
But Y's selling it is valid if X specifies the amount he wants and Y sells it for more, provided the type of funds is the same, as when X says, ""Sell it for a thousand,"" but Y sells it for two thousand-unless X has specifically prohibited this (0: in which case the sale would not be valid, as it contravenes X's commission).
If X commissions Y to ""buy such and such a thing for a hundred,"" but Y buys one worth a hundred for less than a hundred, then the purchase is valid
But if Y buys one for two hundred that is worth two hundred (A: when X has commissioned him to buy one for a hundred), then the purchase is not valid
If X tells Y, ""Buy a sheep with this dinar ,"" (0: and describes it in type and so forth, since without such a description, the commission would not be valid), but Y buys two sheep (A: with that dinar) of which each one is worth a dinar, then the purchase is valid and both sheep belong to X, though if the sheep are not each worth a dinar, then the purchase is not valid.
When X commissions Y to sell something to a particular person, it is not permissible (0: or valid) for Y to sell it to another.
When X tells Y, ""Buy this [A: particular] garment,"" and Y buys it and X finds it is defective, then Y may return it for a refund (0: and so may X, since he is its owner)
But when X merely tells Y to ""buy a garment"" (0: without further restriction), then it is not permissible for Y to buy a defective one (0: because the lack of further restrictions is understood to mean being free of defects, and if Y buys a defective one, the purchase is invalid).
It is a necessary condition that the thing'Y is being commissioned to do is determinately known (0: to X and Y) in some respects
Thus, if X says, ""I commission you to sell my property and conduct the divorce of my wives,"" his commission is valid, though if he merely commissions Y to ""handle everything, large or small,"" or ""all of my affairs,"" it is not valid.
Y's responsibility in a commission is that of someone who has been given ,a trust (0: since he represents X, and his possession of the article is like X's), meaning that if (0: X's) property is destroyed without negligence while in Y's possession, Y does not have to pay for it
(0: But when Y is to blame and negligent, as when he uses the article himself or keeps it in a place lacking the normal precautions for safeguarding similar ar· ticles, then he must pay for its loss, as with any trust
)
Y's word (dis: kS.2) is accepted over X's when there is a dispute:
(1) concerning the commissioned article's destruction;
(2) as to whether the article was or was not returned to X;
(3) or whether Y betrayed his trust.
Either X or Y may cancel the commission at any time
If X relieves Y of his commission, but Y does not learn of this and performs it, then what he has done is not legally binding or effective (0:
because he did not have the right to handle the matter).
The commission is cancelled when X or Y dies, loses his sanity, or loses consciousness (Ar.
ughmiya 'alayhi, i.e
through other than falling asleep).
(n: Given persons P (al-mudi') and Q (alwadi') (A: where P deposits an article with Q for safekeeping until such time as P should want it back
Such deposits have four integrals:
(a) the article (al-wadi'a);
(b) the verbal ;:J.greement;
(c) P;
(d) and Q).)
(0: The appropriateness of mentioning deposits for safekeeping after having discussed commissioning others is plain, namely that both the person commissioned and the person with whom something is deposited are bearers of a trust, and do not pay for the loss or destruction of the article in their care unless the destruction is the result of their wrongdoing (A: or remissness in taking normal precautions).)
Deposits for safekeeping are only valid when both P and Q have full right to handle their own property.
Thus, if a child or a foolhardy person (def: k13.1(A:)) deposits something for safekeeping with an adult, he should not accept it
If he does, then he is responsible for it (0: and must cover the cost if it is destroyed) and is not free of the responsibility until he returns it to the child's guardian.
He is not free of the responsibility if he merely returns it to the child.
If an adult deposits something for safekeeping with a child (A: or other person without full disposal over their affairs), then the child is not responsible ifthe article is destroyed through negligence or otherwise (0: as when an act of God befalls it), though if the child destroys the article, he is financially responsible for it.
It is unlawful for Q to accept a deposit for safekeeping when he is not able to protect it
It is offensive for him to accept it if he is able to protect it but cannot trust himself and fears he may betray the responsibility
But if he can trust himself, it is desirable and praiseworthy for him to accept it.
If Q accepts a deposit for safekeeping, he is obliged to keep it in a place meeting the normal specifications for safeguarding similar articles (A:
for his town and times) (0: which varies according to the nature of the article deposited, as each thing has precautions proper to safeguarding it (dis:o14.3).
If Q plans to travel or fears he may die, he must return the deposited article to P
If Q cannot find P or someone commissioned by P (A: to manage P's affairs), then he must deliver it to the Islamic magistrate (A: to keep for P)
If there is none, Q leaves it with a trustworthy person (0:
and he is not obliged to delay his trip), though if he deposits the article with a trustworthy person when there is an Islamic magistrate, he is still financially responsible for it.
If Q fails to take the above measures (A: of returning it to the owner or next most appropriate person available) and he dies without having provided in his will for returning the article, or he travels with it, then he is financially responsible for it
unless he dies suddenly, or looting or fire breaks out in the city, and he travels with it because of being unable to give it to any of the above persons
Whenever P asks for the deposited article, Q is obliged to return it by allowing P to take it (0:
i.e
by relinquishing possession of it, though this does not mean he has to transport it to P).
Q is financially responsible for the deposited article if:
(1) without excuse, he delays allowing P to take it;
(2) he deposits the article for safekeeping with a third party, without having had to travel and when there was no need;
(3) he mixes the deposited property with his own property or with some of P's other property such that the deposited property is no longer distinguishable from what it has been mixed with (0:
as opposed to when the deposited property can be easily distinguished and has not depreciated as a result of being mixed);
(4) he takes the article out of the place of safekeeping to use,.even if he did not use it (0:
because merely taking it out with such an intention is a betrayal of his trust);
(5) he does not keep it in a place meeting the normal specifications for safeguarding similar articles;
(6) or if P has told him, ""Keep it in such and sueh a particular place for safeguarding,"" but he instead puts it in a different place less protected (0: than the one P indicated), even when this second place meets thc normal specifications for safeguarding similar articles (0: though if Q puts it in a different place with protection equal or superior to the place P has indicated, Q is not responsible for it).
Either party may cancel the deposit for safekeeping agreement at any time
The agreement is also annulled when either party dies, loses his sanity, or loses consciousness (Ar
ughmiya 'alayhi, I.e
through other than falling asleep).
Q's responsibility in accepting a deposit for safekeeping is that of someone who has been given a trust (0: meaning that his claims when he swears an oath (N: and neither side has proof (dis: k8.2)) are accepted, as he is a trustee)
His word is accepted over P's when there are disputes about:
(1) whether the deposit for safekeeping was actually made (0: When P claims that it was);
(2) whether the article was returned to P;
(3) or whether and how the article was destroyed (0: when Q claims it was).
Thus if Q says, ""You did not deposit anything with me,"" or ""I returned it to you,"" or ""It was destroyed without negligence on my part,"" then his word is accepted when he swears.
It is a necessary condition for the validity of a deposit for safekeeping that P states it in words such as ""I entrust it to you to keep,"" or ""I entrust it to you to protect."" It is not necessary that Q give a spoken reply to this, but is sufficient for him to simply accept the article.
*
(n: Given persons A (al-mu'ir) and B (almusta'ir) (A: where A lends B an article to use and return after use
This section discusses such loans, which have four integrals:
(a) the article (al-'ariyya);
(b) the verbal agreement;
(c) A;
(d) and B).)
A's lending an article for B to use is valid if A possesses full disposal over his own property and has the lawful right to the article's use, even if he is only renting it (n: though not if someone else has lent him the article without giving him permission to relend it, as at k19.8).
It is permissible to lend anything that can be benefited from while the article itself still remains (0: such that B gets some use out the article, as is usually the case, or else he materially gains from it, as when he borrows a sheep for its milk or its expected offspring, or borrows a tree for its fruit
It is not valid to lend something of no lawful benefit such as a musical instrument (dis:r40), or such things as edibles, which do not themselves exist after use
since their use consists solely in their consumption)
(A: The latter would be a loan (qard, def: k10) repayable in kind, and hence not included in lending for use.)
It is necessary for the validity of lending something for use that either A or B state the agreement in words
(0: The loan is not valid except by either A or B stating it, such as by B telling A, ""Loan me such and such,"" and then A giving it to him
The action alone, between A and B, is insufficient.)
B may then use the article according to the permission given
He may:
(1) do what A has given him permission to;
(2) or do the equivalent (0: in respect to the wear and tear on the article involved) or something less, though not if A has forbidden B to do other than what he has specifically given him permission to do.
If A tells B, ""Plant wheat,"" (A: on land lent), then it is permissible for B to plant barley, though not vice versa (0: since wheat is harder on the soil than barley), while if A merely permits B to plant, without further restriction, then B may plant whatever he wishes.
When A permits B to plant an orchard or build buildings on property he lends B, but later wants the land back, then:
(l) if A had stipulated that B would have to remove the trees or buildings, then B removes them (0: obligatorily, performing what was stipulated, for if B will not, then A may remove them);
(2) but if A had not stipulated this, then if B wishes
he may remove them, though if B does not (0: but rather chooses to keep them there), then A has a choice between leaving them on the land for rent (0: tromB for the land), or else removing them (0: the trees or buildings) and being obliged to pay B a compensation for the loss of value (0:
to the trees (A: or buildings)) caused by removal.
A is entitled to take back the article lent at any time he wishes.
B is financially liable for the article lent (N: even if it is destroyed by an act of God)
If it is destroyed while B is using it for other than what A gave him permission to do with it, even if not through B's negligence, then B is responsible to A for the article's value (A: at the market price current for similar articles on) the day of its destruction (0: and he may either replace it or pay A for it).
But if the loaned article wears out through being used in the way that A gave permission to use it, then B is not financially responsible for it (N: as when B borrows a garment to wear which becomes worn out through use alone).
B is responsible for the measures entailed in returning the article to A.
B may not loan (0: the article lent to him) to a third party (0: without permission).
*
(0: Taking another's property is an enormity (dis: p20), the scriptural basis for its prohibition being Koranic verses such as the word of Allah Most High, ""Do not consume each other's property through falsehood"" (Koran 2:188).)
(n: Given persons X and Y (A: where X takes an article belonging to Y
This section presents the details of X's obligation (dis: p77 .3) to restore Y his property).)
Wrongfully taking (ghasb) means to appropriate what is another's right (0: even if this consists of the right to use something, such as forcing someone sitting in a mosque or marketplace to get up from his place) unjustly.
When X wrongfully takes anything of value from Y, even if the value is inconsiderable, he is obliged to .return it unless this involves destruction to life or lawful property, as when X takes a plank and nails it over a leak in the hull of a ship at sea that is bearing others' property or worthy people or animals (N: meaning those not obligatory to kill (def: e12.8(0: ))).
If the article taken is destroyed while in X's possession or X himself destroys it, then:
(1) if it was fungible (mithli, a homogeneous commodity transacted by weight or measure, an equal amount of which precisely supplies the place of another), then X is financially responsible for replacing it with an equal amount, fungible meaning that which is measured by volume or weight, and which can be validly sold in advance (def:
k9.2(b,d,f,g)) sueh as grain, gold or silver, and so forth, while nonfungible (mutaqawwim, com ..
modities appraised and transacted as particular pieces of merchandise) means everything else, such as livestock and articles of heterogeneous composition, like meat pastry, and so forth;
(2) if the article was fungible (mithli) but it is no longer possible for X to obtain an equal amount to return to Y
then X owes Y its value, which is reckoned at its highest market value between the time X seized it and the time of its subsequent unavailability;
(3) but if the article was nonfungible (mutaqawwim), X owes Y its highest market value during the interval between X's taking it and the time of its destruction.
(N: The foregoing apply to when X has appropriated a physical article or commodity ('ayn)
As for when he has wrongfully appropriated the use of something, the obligation consists of repaying Y the cost of renting a similar article for a similar amount of time
)
X's word (0: provided he swears an oath (N: and neither side has proof (dis: k8.2))) is accepted over Y's when there is a dispute about the destroyed article's value (0: when both agree that it has been destroyed) or about its destruction (A: as to when it occurred, for example)
But Y's word is accepted over X's when there is a dispute about whether or not X returned the article to Y.
If the property returned by X is materially diminished or has depreciated in value because of some new defect, or both, then X is obliged to pay Y compensation for the loss ofvalue (0: while stiII being obliged to return the rest).
But if the article has diminished in value solely because its market price is now less, then X is not required to pay anything.
If the article possesses a utility (0: meaning a rentable utility, as a house does), then X owes Y its rent for the period that X had it, no matter whether he used it or not.
Anyone who obtains the wrongfully appropriated article from X, or subsequently obtains it from the person who got it from X, and so forth
on down, is financially responsible (def: k20.2-6) to Y for it, no matter whether such a person knows of its having been wrongfully appropriated or not.
(N: Given persons X, Y, and Z, where X has wrongfully taken something from Y, and then Z obtains it from X
This ruling describes the compensation due to Y when the article has been dam· aged or destroyed in Z's possession.)
Y is entitled to demand restoration or payment for the loss or depreciation of the article from either X or Z
The obligation to cover this becomes Z's own financial liability-meaning that if Y asks Z for compensation, Z may not in turn demand it from X; though ifY asks X for it, X may it turn demand it from Z-in the following cases:
(1) when Z obtained it knowing that it had been wrongfully appropriated;
(2) when Z obtained it not knowing that it had been wrongfully appropriated, but the means by which Z obtained it would have made him financially responsible for its destruction anyway, as when Z himself wrongfully appropriated it or borrowed itforuse (def: k19) from X
(0: Zisalso financially liable if he bought it from X);
(3) or when Z obtained it not knowing it had been wrongfully taken, and the means by which he got it from X would not otherwise have made him responsible for its destruction except for the fact that he himself precipitated its destruction (A: as when X deposits it with Z for safekeeping and Z destroys it).
*
(n: Given P
0, and R (A: where P and 0 each own part of some dividable piece of real ,estate, and P sells his part to R, a third party
In such a case, 0 can legally force R to sell the parfto him by right of preemption (N: whose purpose is to prevent the harm to 0 that would result if R were to subsequently go to the Islamic magistrate and demand that the property be divided to distin· guish his property from O's)).)
Preemption is only legally binding:
(a) on a portion of real estate (A: that
belonged to P and 0) which can be divided with· out loss of value;
(b) when P has sold his part (A: to R) for recompense.
In such a case, Q may preempt its being sold to R by buying R's share for the price that P and R agreed on
If there are several co-owners in place of Q, they each buy a part of the share proportionate to the percentage of the whole property they respectively own.
(A: If there is disagreement between the parties as to how much P sold it to R for, and there is no proof, then) R is the one to say (A: when he swears (def: kS.2)) how much the price of the part
was.
It is a necessary condition for the preemptive sale that Q effect it with words such as ""I hereby appropriate this property by preemption."" It is also necessary that Q give R the price, that R agree to let Q pay it later, or that the Islamic magistrate rule that Q may buy the property by preemption; in any of which cases Q takes possession of it.
If R paid P with something fungible (mithli, def: k20.3(1)), then Q must pay R an equal amount
If R paid with something nonfungible, then Q must pay its value (A: in the marketplace on) the day of the sale.
There is no preemption if:
(1) the property is divided (N: already, by boundary markers or similar);
(2) the building and trees on the land are sold separately from it;
(3) the property cannot be divided without eliminating its usefulness (non-k21.1(a)), such as a cistern or a narrow walkway;
(4) R acquired it without paying a price for it, as when it has been given to him as a gift;
(5) or if R bought it with a price whose amount was not known (A: such as ""for this pile of silver you see"").
If the building and trees have been sold with the land (A: for one price), then Q also takes them as part of the land he preempts.
Preemption must occur immediately (A:
upon Q's learning of P's having sold the property to R)
When Q learns of it, he must preempt at once (def: f4.5)
If he delays without excuse, he no longer has the right to preempt, unless R bought the property from P for postponed payment, in which case Q has a choice between buying it at once, or waiting until payment is due and then buying it.
If Q learns of the sale while ill, or being detained, he must commission someone (def: k17) to preempt for him
If he does not, he loses the right to preempt, unless he was unable to commission someone, or the person who informed him of the sale was a child or someone unreliable, or he was informed of it while travelling and then started returning in order to preempt; in all of which cases hc may still preempt.
If R has built, or planted trees (A: before Q could prcempt), then Q has a choice between paying R the value of the new buildings (A: or trees) and taking possession of them, or else removing them and paying R for the loss of value (A: to them as a result of being removed).
If R has given away the part of the property (A: that he bought from P), made it a charitable endowment (waqf, def: k30), sold it, or retumedit to P because of a defect, then Q may annul any of these transactions that R has effected.
Q also has the right to take the property from the person who bought it from R, by paying this person the amount for which he bought it.
IfQ dies (A: before he is able to preempt), his heirs can preempt
If some of them decline to do so, the rest of the heirs may still preempt the entire portion, or may relinquish the right to preempt any of it.
*
(n: Given persons X (al-malik) and Y (al' ami!) (A: where X gives Y a sum of money for Y to do business with, on the basis that X will take a percentage of the profits
Such ventures have six integrals:
(a) X;
(b) Y;
(c) the work performed by Y;
(d) the profit (n: divided between them at a given percentage);
(e) the spoken form;
(f) and the venture's capital (n: which is put up by X)).)
Financing a profit-sharing venture (qirad) means for X to give Y money with which to trade, the profits to be shared between them
(0: It is not valid to finance such a venture on the basis that a third party gets any of the profit.)
It is only valid when both parties have full right to manage their own property
It also requires that there be:
(a) a spoken proposal (0: by X, such as ""I finance you,"" or ""I engage you,"" or ""Take these dirhams [N: as a trade loan]"");
(b) an acceptance (0: by Y in words
It is insufficient for him to begin working without saying anything);
and that the invested capital be:
(c) money (lit
""gold or silver"" (A: money taking their place in these rulings));
(d) of known amount;
(e) physically existent (A: i.e
it can be seen and handled, not merely a debt or financial obligation to be collected);
(f) delivered to Y (0: it is not valid to finance a profit-sharing venture on condition that the funds be held by someone other than Y, such as X holding them and paying for what Y buys, since Y might not find X when he needs him);
(g) (A: and that Y be given the funds) in return for (A: X's receiving) a known fraction of the entire profit, such as a half or a third.
Financing a profit-sharing venture is not valid when:
(1) (non-(c) above) the capital put up consists of commodities;
(2) (non-(f)) X holds the funds;
(3) (non-(g)) it is stipulated that either X or Y be specifically entitled to the profits from a certain part of the business (0: such as saying, ""You get the profits from the clothing, and I get the profits from the livestock"");
(4) (non-(g)) either X or Y is guaranteed (N:
for example) ten dirhams of the profit (0: since they might not make more than ten, in which case the second partner would get nothing) (A: rather, they must specify the percentage that each will take);
(5) (non-(g)) it is stipulated that one of them be entitled to all of the profit;
(6) or (non-(f)) it is stipulated that X work with Y in the business.
Y's role is to conduct business and related matters with consideration for their best financial advantage and with circumspection
Y may not sell at a loss, sell for deferred payment, or travel with the capital, and so forth, without X's permission.
The agreement between X and Y is nUllified whenever X stipulates (0: something that is not obligatory for Y in such ventures, such as) that Y buy wheat, mill it, and bake it; that Y buy yarn, weave it, and sell it; that Y not deal except in such and such a rare commodity; or that Y deal exclusively with So-and-so.
When such an agreement is invalid, the transactions Y has conducted are valid, and Y is paid the wages that are usual for such work, unless X had stipulated, ""I get all the profits,"" in which case he takes all of it and Y gets nothing (0: since he worked without expecting anything).
When either X or Y cancels the agreement, loses his sanity, or loses consciousness (Ar.
ughmiya 'alayhi, i.e
through other than falling asleep), then the agreement is annulled and Y is obliged to liquidate the holdings (A: by changing them back into funds).
(A: When neither party has proof,) Y's word (0: if he swears (dis: kS.2)) is accepted over X's when there are disputes:
(1) concerning the amount of capital originally put up;
(2) as to whether or not the capital was restored to X;
(3) concerning the destruction of the holdings;
(4) or as to whether Y betrayed his trust.
If X and Y dispute as to how much of the profit was stipulated (0: as Y's share, as when for example Y says, ""You stipulated half for me,"" and X replies, ""To the contrary, it was onethird""), then each party swears an oath supporting his own claim (0: and when they have sworn, X gets all the profit, and Y receives the wages customary for the work he did).
Y does not own his share of the profit until the venture's final division
(0: His possession of it is only finalized by dividing the profits when the holdings are liquidated and the agreement is ter-minated.)
*
(n: Sharecropping means to farm someone's land for a share ofthe harvest.
In the Shafi'i school, it is not permissible or valid except on strips of land between date groves under certain conditions
such as:
(a) that the landowner provide the seed;
(b) that it be unfeasible to separate working the trees from working the ground;
(c) and that the sharecropper be currently working the trees also, under the above (k23) arrangement.
This section has been left in Arabic below, and rulings from the Hanafi school, which permits sharecropping, have been added by the translator.)
(Ahmad Quduri:) Abu Hanifa (Allah have mercy on him) holds that sharecropping, for one-third or one-fourth of the harvest (or anything less or more), is invalid, though Abu Yusuf and Muhammad (A: the colleagues of Abu Hanifa) hold it to be valid.
Sharecropping, in the view of the latter two, is of four types (A: three of them valid and one invalid)
(n: Given persons X and Y, and the four agricultural variables: land, seed, labor, and oxen (Le
the means of plowing):)
(1) X provides the land and seed, and Yprovides the labor and oxen; which is permissible;
(2) X provides the land, and Y provides the labor, oxen, and seed; which is permissible;
(3) X provides the land, oxen, and seed, and Y provides the labor; which is permissible;
(4) or X provides the land and oxen, and Y provides the seed and labor; which is not valid.
A sharecropping agreement is only valid if the period of the agreement is determinately specified (lit
""known""), and it requires that the total produce be divided between the partners (A:
not a specific number of bushels to one, for example, or on condition that the produce from one part of the land belong to one of them and the produce from another part belong to the other) (alLubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 2.228-30).
*
(n: Given persons P and Q, where Q rents a pack animal from P, or hires P as a guide
The title of this section, Ijara, has the dual significance of renting an article and hiring a person's services.)
(0: Lexically, rent is a name for the rental fee
In Sacred Law it means to take possession of a utility or service for payment under certain con.
ditions
It has four integrals:
(a) the spoken form;
(b) the fee:
(c) the utility or service;
(d) and the persons making the agreement.)
A rental agreement is only valid between two persons entitled to conduct sales (def: k1.2).
It requires both a spoken offer, such as ""I rent this to you,"" or ""the use of it""; and a spoken acceptance.
(0: The agreement must also specify how much the rental fee is.)
There are two types ofrental agreements:
(1) renting anticipated utilities or services described in advance and under obligation to deliver (ijara dhimma);
(2) or renting the use or services of an identified thing or individual who is present (ijara 'ayn).
Rental of something anticipated (ijara dhimma) consists of Q saying, for example, ""I am renting from you a pack animal of such and such a description,"" or ""} am hiring you to tailor a garment for me,"" or ""to provide me with transportation to Mecca."" Rental of something identified and present (ijara 'ayn) consists of Q saying, for example, ""I rent this animal from you,"" or ""I hire you to sew this particular garment for me.""
It is a necessary condition for a valid rental of something anticipated (ijara dhimma) that P accepts the fee for it at the time the agreement is made.
The necessary conditions for a valid rental of something identified and present (ijara 'ayn) are:
(a) that the article (or person whose services are) being rented be a particular individual (0:
meaning visible to the eye, as in sales);
(b) that the article (or person's service) be within P's power to delivcr such that Q can utilize it as intended (0: within one's power to deliver including both the actual ownership of an article and the possession of the right to use it, such that if Q is renting it from P, Q may in turn rent it out toa third party);
(c) that Q have the right to utilize the article (or services of the person hired) as soon as the deal is made;
(d) that the utility for which the article is being rented not entail the article's destruction;
(e) and that the agreement specify a rental period that the rented article will probably outlast, even if it be a hundred years, as in the case of land.
Thus, rental of something identified and present (ijara 'ayn) is invalid when it consists of:
(1) (non-(a) above) hiring the services of ""one of these two servants"";
(2) (non-(a)) hiring someone absent (A:
from the place where the agreement is made);
(3) (non-(b)) renting land for agricultural use when the land is without water and the area's rainfall is insufficient for crops;
(4) (non-(c)) P renting out something (A:
that he is already renting to Q) to a third party for the year following the current one, though Q may rent if for the following year (0: since his rental period is unexpired and the two periods are contiguous);
(5) (non-(d)) wax for fuel;
(6) (non-(e)) or renting out an article unlikely to last, for example, more than a year, for a period longer than that.
(0: Additional) conditions for rental of something identified and present relating to its use or service) are that its utility be:
(a) permissible in Sacred Law;
(b) of some value;
(c) determinately known (0: as to which one it is, its amount, and its utility, meaning that both P and Q know these things), such as saying, ""I rent you this land to raise crops on,"" or ""to build on,"" or ""[A: I rent you this pack animal] to carry such and such a quantity of iron,"" or ""of cotton"";
(d) for a period known (0: to both P and Q);
(e) and for a fee known (0: to both P and Q, in type and amount), even when it is merely seen in bulk, or when it consists of the use of some other utility or service.
Thus, rental of something identified and present (ijara 'ayn) is not valid when the utility for which it is being hired or rented consists of:
(1) (non-(a) above) playing a flute;
(2) (non-(a)) transporting wine, other than to pour it out;
(3) (non-(b)) a hawker's cry that does not require any effort, even if it inereases the demand for the merchandise;
(4) (non-( c)) carrying such and such a quantity (0: on a pack animal) when the nature of the load is unspecified;
(5) (non-(d)) being rented for ""one dirham per month"" when the total period (A: of occupancy, for example) is unspecified (A: though one may renew a valid rent agreement each month, and in such a case the landlord has the right to ask for it in advance);
(6) or (non-(e) hiring someone for the ""fee"" of providing him with food and clothing.
The particulars ofthe utility (N: such as its precise duration) might not become determinately known except through the passage of time, as when renting a house or hiring a wet nurse
In such cases the time must be preestimated (A:
when the agreement is made, as a condition for its validity)
Similarly, the utility or service might not become determinately known except through the work itself, such as when hiring someone to perform hajj in one's place (dis: .il.lO) or the like, in which case the amount of work involved must be preestimated.
If the utility requires both time and work to become determinately known, as is the case with tailoring; building, or teaching someone the Koran, then the utility is preestimated (A: i.e.
st.ated in the rental agreement) with regard to one of these two variables alone
It is not valid to estimate the utility with regard to both, such as Q saying, ""[0: I hire you to] tailor this garment for today's daylight hours"" (0: since the work involved might take more or less time than that).
The necessary things required by Q in order to utilize the article"" such as the key (A: to a house), or the reins, girth, or saddle (A: of a mount), are P's responsiblility to provide
Things that merely enhance or improve the utility for which Q has rented the article are Q's responsibility.
Q is entitled to normal use of the article in obtaining the utility for which he has rented it or an equivalent utility (A: riding it in a differept direction, for example, the same distance as that agreed upon and under the same conditions)
If Q travels farther than the agreed upon destination, then he is obligated to pay the rental fee agreed upon, plus the amount customarily paid for a distance comparable to the excess.
It is permissible (0: only when renting something identified and present (ijara 'ayn)) for Q to pay in advance or to defer payment to the future
If neither party states whether it is to be paid in advance or whether in the future, then it is payable in advance.
When renting anticipated utilities or services (ijara dhimma), it is permissible to let Q use the utility prior to the agreed upon period, or to delay use until after the period.
(0: When renting something identified and present (ijara 'ayn)), if the article being rented is destroyed, the agreement is thereafter cancelled (0: with respect to the future, since the article to be utilized is no longer available then, as opposed to the period that has transpired after the article's delivery, for which Q must pay an appropriate proportion of the agreed upon fee, based on the current market value of similar utilities or services).
(0: When renting an identified and present utility or service (ijara 'ayn),) if a defect occurs (0: in the article being rented, and the defect obviously entails a discrepancy in the rental fee), then Q has the option to cancel the agreement (0:
unless P immediately undertakes to correct or repair the defect, for if he does, Q is not entitled to cancel it)
But if the rental agreement concerns an anticipated utility or service (ijara dhimma) (0:
and the rented article has been destroyed after its delivery), then the agreement is not nullified and Q may not cancel it, but is only entitled to ask P to replace the article so that Q can obtain the utility anticipated.
If the material Q has hired P to work on (A: e.g
when Q hires P to tailor a garment from material Q has given him) is destroyed in P's possession without his negligence, then P is not obliged to pay for its loss.
If Q has rented an article from P and it is ruined in Q's possession without his negligence, then Q is not obliged to pay for its loss.
If P or Q dies while the rental agreement is in effect, it is not cancelled
(0: Rather, if P has died, Q finishes using the article, while if Q has died, then Q's heirs finish utilizing if, Neither party has the right to cancel the agreement in such a case when the article itself still exists.) (A: The death of either party is considered by the Hanafi school to nUllify the agreemen1.)
When the rental period is over, Q must return the article rented and is responsible for the meas.ures (A: and the expenses) entailed in returning it.
When P or Q stipulates a particular rental period or a specific use for the article, then when P has delivered the article to Q, and the period stipulated elapses, or a period elapses that is sufficient for the utility stipulated to have been obtained from the article (0: even if it has not in fact been obtained), then the rental fee is due (0:
from Q, who rented the article under such stipulations), and the article must be returned
(0: This ruling holds for both renting something identified and present (ijara 'ayn) and renting something anticipated (ijara dhimma).)
In an invalid agreement, Q owes P the amoul1t typically paid for renting similar utilities, due whenever he would have owed P the fee agreed upon had the agreement been valid.
*
(n: Given persons X and Y, where X offers Y a dirham to do a certain job.)
When X says, ""lowe whoever builds me a wall a dirham"" (A: or makes a similar offer), this is termed job wages
It is permissible that (A: the particulars of) such a job be unknown, though not the amount of the wage
Whoever then builds the wall for X is entitled to the amount stated, even if they are a group of people.
Whoever works when no wage has been stipulated does not deserve anything
If X gives Y a garment to clean, saying, ""Wash it,"" but does not mention a wage, and Y washes it, then Y deserves nothing (N: unless it is a well known, customary usage that Y should receive a fee, as when Y is a barber or presses clothes and the like).
If Y says, ""You stipulated a wage for me,"" but X denies it, then X's word is accepted (A: when there is no proof (dis: k8.2)) (0: if he swears an oath).
Both X and Yare entitled to cancel their agreement (0: before the job is finished), but if X cancels it after Y has begun work, then X is obliged to pay Y an appropriate portion of the wage agreed upon (0: such that if the job is half done, then X owes Y half the amount, and so forth).
Otherwise (0: if X cancels it before Y has begun, or if Y cancels it himself after having begun), Y gets nothing.
*
(n: Given Z, who finds an article lying on the ground and picks it up.)
When a responsible adult finds a lost and found article it is permissible for him to take (0:
or leave) it.
If he can trust himself to take the proper measures for such articles (dis: below), it is recommended that he pick it up, though if he cannot depend on himself not to betray the trust (A: by simply appropriating the article without telling anyone), then it is offensive for him to take it.
It is recommended that the finder determine the type, description,
and amount ofthe article he has found, its container, and the string with which it was tied (0: it being preferable that he record this in writing so as not to forget), and for him to have witnesses attest to his having found it.
The following two kinds of articles are permissible to pick up for safekeeping (def: k27.5) but u.nlawful to pick up as lost and found (A; to be advertised and then appropriated (def: k27.6)), and should he do the latter, Z is financially responsible for the article:
(1) something lost and found within the Meccan Sacred Precinct (Haram);
(2) or an animal unmenaced by small predators, such as a eamel or a horse lost and found on open range.
In other than these two cases it is permissible for Z to pick up the article, either for safekeeping, or to be advertised and then appropriated.
If Z picks up the article for safekeeping, he is not obliged to advertise having found it, and it remains in his care as a trust (def: k17.14) which he is never entitled to dispose of in any way until he finds its owner, in which case he gives it to him.
If Z wishes to deliver it to the Islamic magistrate, the latter must accept it.
If Z picks up the article within the Meccan Sacred Precinct (Haram) for safekeeping, he is obliged to advertise his having found it (n: as !
below).
If Z picks up an article intending to appropriate it if he cannot find the owner, then he is obliged to advertise its having been found for a (0: full) year on the doors of mosques, in the marketplaces, and the vicinity where he found it, in the manner customary for advertising such things.
At the first of the period he should publicize it morning and evening, then subsequently once a day, then once a week, then once a month, such that the first advertisement is not forgotten and that it is realized that the subsequent notices are repetitions of it (0: and this is what is meant by the customary manner mentioned above)
Z should I mention some of the article's characteristics in the advertisement, but not all of them (A: so that a I would-be claimant is able to prove ownership by describing it in detail) (0: for if Z divulges them all (A: and a pretender takes it), then Z is financially responsible for its loss (A: if the real owner should appear and the pretender cannot be found)).
If the lost and found item is not something major, meaning something unlikely to cause much regret and which will probably be unsought after its loss, then it is not obligatory to advertise it for a whole year, though one must advertise it long enough that its owner will probably have ceased to be concerned about it (N: and this latter is the criterion for advertising most lost and found things, which need not be advertised for a whole year).
When Z advertises a lost and found article for a year, it does not enter his possession until he chooses to appropriate it with a formal statement to that effect (0: and not by the mere intention.
The statement consists of saying, ""I take possession of it,"" or the like)
Z takes possession of it when he chooses to do so (0: by uttering the above words)
If it is destroyed before he chooses to appropriate it, Z is not financially responsible for its loss.
If Z has appropriated the article (N: which thus enters his financial liability), and the owner one day appears, then the owner is entitled to take:
(1) the article itself, if it still exists;
(2) an equal quantity (0: if it was fungible (mithli, def: k20.3(1)));
(3) its market value (0: ifi!
was I10nfungible (mutaqawwim), where market value refers to the going price for similar articles on the day Z formally appropriated it);
(4) or ,if the article still exists but some defect has occurred in it, then the owner takes it back with an appropriate compensation (def:
k5.4) (0: for the new defect that occurred while Z had it).
It is offensive for a corrupt person (def:
O24.3) to pick up a lost and found article
If he does, the article is taken from him and deposited with someone, trustworthy, and a reliable person is dispatched to oversee the corrupt person's advertising (def: k27.6) of the find, after which the corrupt person may appropriate it.
In cases where safekeeping the article is not practicable, as whenit is a watermelon or similar, Z may choose to either eat it or sell it (A: in either case covering the cost if the owner subsequently appears), after which he advertises finding it for a year (0: if itis something major, orless than a year (dis: k27.6, second par.) if minor).
If it is possible to preserve the article, as when it consists of dates (A: which are conserved by drying), then if it is to the owner's advantage to sell it, Z sells it, while if it is to the owner's advantage to dry it, then Zdries it
(0: In such acase, ifZwants to simply donate the cost of drying it to the owner, he does so
Otherwise, he sells part of the lot to cover the cost of drying the rest, in the owner's interests
The difference between this and an animal found, of which all is sold, is that an animal's maintenance requires repeated expenditures that may add up to more than it is worth.)
*
(0: Meaning a child found abandoned without anyone to care for it
The scriptural basis for these rulings is Allah's word:
""And do what is good"" (Koran 22:77), and, ""Cooperate with one another in [works of] piety and godfearingness"" (Koran 5:2).)
To pick up a foundling is a communal obligation (def: c3.2)
A child that is found (N: in a Muslim town) is considered a Muslim, and likewise if found in a non-Muslim town if there is a single Muslim therein, even if he denies the child is his (N: because the religion of someone whose religion is unknown is considered to be that of the people of his own city, and in this case there are two religions, with Islam given precedence, as it !
always surpasses and is never surpassed.
Moreover, considering the child a Muslim is a cause for his own happiness and salvation, as he will be raised in Islam).
If money is found with the child or under his head, it belongs to him.
If the finderis a resident, trustworthy, and Muslim, then the child remains with him, and he is obliged to have witnesses attest to his having found the child and whatever was found with him (0: such as clothing or money).
The finder spends the money found with the child for its own expenses with the permission of the Islamic magistrate
If there is no Islamic magistrate, then the finder spends it anyway, but has witnesses attest to the amount of the expenditures.
If no money was found with the child, then its expenses are paid for by the Muslim common fund
If there is no money in the Muslim common fund (N: or no Muslim common fund), then the finder may borrow money to cover its expenses as a financial obligation to be later repaid by the child.
If the finder is a corrupt person (def:
O24.3(A:)) or a non-Muslim, then if the child is considered a Muslim (dis: k28.1), he is taken from the finder.
If two people find the child and disagree about whom the child should remain with, then the one who is a resident and wealthy is given preference.
(A: Adoption is unlawful in Islam when it means giving a child one's own name, a share of one's estate division (irth, def: L1.0), and so on
But when it merely means giving the child a home and other advantages provided by family life until it grows up, then it is a charitable act rewarded by Allah
And Allah knows best.)
(0: The scriptural basis for competitions and races entailing prize money is the word of Allah Most High, ""And make ready against them whatever force and lines of horses you can"" (Koran 8:60).
Muslim relates from 'Uqba ibn 'Amir that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Force means marksmanship,"" repeating this three times.)
Races with prize money for the winner are permissible between horses, mules, donkeys, camels, or elephants, provided that the animals competing are of the same species, though it is not, for example, permissible to have such a race between a camel and a horse.
It is a necessary condition for such a race that the participants know which animals will be ridden, the amount of the prize, and the distance to be run.
The prize money may be put up by both contestants, either one, or by a third party
If the prize money is put up by either contestant or by a third party, then the race is unconditionally permissible, and the winner takes all (N: regardless whether he was the one who put up the money or whether it was the other person).
But if the prize money is put up by both contestants, then it is a necessary condition that a third rider enter the contest with a mount equal to theirs (A: in speed, stamina, and so forth,) who puts up no money (N: so that it may be distinguished from gambling
If all three put up the money, then it is necessary that there be a fourth contestant with them who does not pay, and so on)
(A: Similarly, bets from one side alone, such as saying, ""I will give you ten dinars if what you have said proves to be correct,"" are lawful when the other party bets nothing.)
Here, the winner takes all
If two riders finish together, they divide the prize.
COMPETITIONS IN MARKSMANSHIP FORPRIZE MONEY It is also permissible to compete for prize money in competitions of skill at archery, spear throwing, or other military weaponry, when the prize is put up by both contestants, either one, or a third party, though if put up by both, it is necessary that a third marksman enter the contest, as mentioned above (A: meaning one comparable to the others in marksmanship, who puts up nothing).
It is a necessary condition for the validity of such a competition that the following details be specified before the contest:
(a) who will be shooting;
(b) the number of shots per bout, how many shots are needed to win, and the criterion for a hit (A: that is, in archery, whether the arrow must stick or whether it need merely leave a mark);
(c) the distanct: to the target;
(d) and which of the contestants is to begin.
It is not permissible to conduct contests for prize money that involve birds, footracing, or wrestling (0; since they are not military weaponry or equipment).
RULINGS CONCERNING GAMES (N: As for games:
(1) every game played by two or more people that relies on luck, conjecture, and guessing is unlawful, no matter whether money is stipulated or not;
(2) paying prize money in every game that encourages and assists fighting for Allah (jihad, def: 09) is permissible if the terms of the competition conform to the rulings discussed above in this section (k29.1-4);
(3) every game not of the preceding two types is permissible if no money is paid therein;
(4) and any of the above-mentioned things whieh are permissible become unlawful if they prevent one from performing a religious or thisworldly duty.)
* k30,0 ESTABLISHING AN ENDOWMENT (WAQF) (0: Lexically, waqfmeans to be retained, In Sacred Law, it refers to the retention of any property that can be benefited from while the property itself still remains, by suspending disposal of it;
with the financial proceeds of it going to some permissible expenditure
The scriptural basis for it is the hadith related by Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said.
""When a human being dies, his work comes to an end, except for three things: ongoing charity, knowledge benefited from, or a pious son who prays for him, "" from which scholars understand ongoing charity as meaning an endowment (waqf).)
(n: Given persons P (al-waqif) and Q (almawquf 'alayhi) (A: where P owns, for example, an apartment building that he makes an endowment (waqf), the rent of which will henceforth go to Q, and P stipulates that Q must supervise the upkeep of the building
This section deals with such endowments).} k30.1 Establishing an endowment is an act of worship.
k30.2 Establishing an endowment is not valid unless the following conditions are met:
(a) that P have full nghtto manage his own property (0: full right to manage his own property including the non-Muslim, whose endowment is legally valid, even if it is for a mosque);
(b) that the endowment concern a particular identified article ('ayn) (0: it being invalid to make the mere ""right to use something"" an endowment, because it is not a particular article);
(c) that the article have a (0: lawful) use;
(d) that it remain existent (0: for a period in which it would be feasible to rent or hire it out), such as real estate or an animal (0: or clothing, weapons, Korans, or books
It is not permissible to make an endowment of something that cannot be utilized except by using it up, such as food);
(e) that the beneficiary be some particular party (0: such as the poor, for example) besides P himself, whether the endowment is an act ofworship, as when the beneficiary is mosques (0: or Islamic schools), one's relatives, or the general good; or whether it is merely permissible, such as an endowment that benefits the wealthy, or Jewish and Christian subjects ofthe Islamic state;
(f) and that the endowment be formally established by words that effect it such as ""I make it an endowment,"" or ""I restrict [0: such and such a thing to benefit So-and-so],"" or ""I give [A: such and such] as nonsaleable charity."" High (0: not P or Q) (N: meaning that even thQugh everything is the property of Allah, the article is now dissevered from its metaphorical human ownership), while Q owns the proceeds from it and its utilities (0: and all the benefits that come from it after the endowment has been made, such as rent, the fruit of trees, or offspring
Q may dispose of these as an owner would, as this is the purpose of the endowment
He may utilize the endowment either personally, or through another by loaning it for use or renting it out).
k30.4 The interests ofthe endowment (O:.i.e
its concerns, condition, upkeep (N: and supervisi/ m)) are looked after by whoever P stipulates, whether himself or Q or a third party
If P does not stipulate (0: that anyone in particular look after it), then the responsibility belongs to the Islamic authority (N: by himself, or through the person he appoints to do so).
k30.S The proceeds of the endowment (0: such as the produce of an acreage endowment, or the rent of a property endowment) are disposed of as P stipulates, in terms of (A: for example):
(1) proportionality of shares (0: between recipients as to the amount each receives, such as having stipulated twice as much for males as females, or vice versa, or equal shares for each);
(2) precedence (0: in some receiving the proceeds before others when they are a group, through a condition that determines who deserves to receive it);
(3) inclusiveness (0: of (A: all) recipients, as by saying, ""I make this an endowment for my children and their children,"" where the word and implies that each person must be given a share);
(4) priority (0: such as saying, ""I make this an endowment for the benefit of Islamic scholars, without restriction, and after that [A: if there are no more to be given a share] to the poor,"" or ""I make this an endowment for the benefit of Zayd, and then 'Amr,"" where if one dies, the next one receives his share);
(5) or other conditions (0: such as the proceeds going to those most closely related to P (N:
of his offspring) ,and then the less closely related).
k30.6 (n: The following are examples ofinvalidity of establishing an endowment due to lack of one of the conditions mentioned at k30.2 above.)
An endowment is not valid when it consists of:
(1) (non-k30.2(b)) a debt (N: that someone owes to P);
(2) (non-(b)) ""One of these two houses"";
(3) (non-(d)) food;
(4) (non-(d)) sweet basil (A: which used to be spread on floors as an air freshener) (0: since it quickly deteriorates) (N: i.e
if it is uprooted, though if it is growing, it is valid to make it an endowment);
(5) (non-(e)) when its beneficiary is unidentified by P, or unknown (0: since the endowment cannot be implemented
It is thus invalid if P stipulates ""whoever Zayd says"" as the beneficiary), or is P himself (0: including P stipulating that the proceeds of the endowment be used to payoff his debts, or when P eats of its produce, or utilizes the endowment for his own benefit, any of which invalidates the endowment);
(6) ( non-( c)) when the proceeds are directed to an unlawful use, such as building a church (dis:
011.5(7)) (0: or purchasing lamps for a church, or building walls around it, since this assists disobedience to Allah
Rafi'i says, ""The same is true of an endowment for printing the Torah or New Testament, which is invalid because the Jews and Christians have altered the texts and interpolated spurious material, it not being permissible to occupy oneself with printing their scriptures because doing so is to participate in their disobedience to Allah"");
(7) (non-(f)) when the beginning or end of the endowment's being in effect are subject to conditions such as saying, ""I make it an endowment starting from the first of next month,"" or ""for one year,"" or ""provided that I am entitled to sell it"" (0: or ""on condition that I may take it back whenever I wish"");
(8) or (non-(e)) when (n: P stipulates, as a priority order of beneficiaries, ""0, then R,"" and) o is not an eligible recipient-1>uch as P stipulating himself as the first beneficiary-but R is an eligible recipient, as when P stipulates (A: after himself) ""and then the POOL"" k30.7 If P designates a particular recipient (0:
or group of recipients), it is a necessary condition for the validity of the endowment that the recipient accept it
If he refuses it, this invalidates the endowment.
k30.8 If P designates a particular person (lit.
""Zayd"") as an endowment's beneficiary, but does not stipulate anyone after him, then the endowment is valid, and after the particular person is gone, its beneficiaries are the poor ofP's relatives.
(n: As when X gives Y a gift.)
*
Gift giving is recommended
It is superior to give gifts to one's relatives than to nonrelatives.
When giving gifts to one's children, it is recommended to give each child the equal of what the others are given.
Gift giving is only valid under the following conditions:
(a) that X have full right to manage his own property;
(b) that the gift be something permissible to sell (def: k2.1);
(c) that X give it with spoken words that effect it;
(d) and that Y accept it with a spoken reply.
Y does not own the gift until he takes possession (def: k7.3) of it, before which X may take it back
It is not valid for Y to take possession of the gift without X's permission
In cases where X gives Y an article that is already being kept with Y (0: as when Y has it as a trust for safekeeping, or has borrowed it), or X has put up the article as collateral for Y, and now simply gives Y the article, then it is necessary that Y obtain X's permission to take possession of the gift, and that enough time elapse for Y to reach the gift (0: ifitis distant) and take possession of it.
Once Y has taken possession of the gift, X is no longer entitled to take it back
An exception to this is when one gives a gift to one's child, or their descendant, in which case one may ta,ke the gift back, unless such a receiver has sold it in the meantime, and the article has subsequently returned to him (0: by sale or gift), in which case one may no longer take it back.
If X gives Y something and stipulates that Y give him something determinately known in return, this is valid, but is a sale (A: not a gift)
If X stipulates that Y give him something in return that is not determinately known, then the gift is invalid
If X does not stipulate that anything be given him in return, then Y is under no obligation to him.
*
(n: This section, which begins, ""To free a slave is an act of worship,"" deals with a system of ownership that Islam did not invent but found fully established and not possible to instantly abolish, so it rather encouraged its elimination in steps, with incentives
It closed all avenues for obtaining new slaves except the capture of war prisoners, the soldiers of whom the caliph had the option to enslave or not; it encouraged the freeing of slaves by the tremendous reward from Allah Most High; and it materially helped slaves to purchase their freedom by providing them the money to do so from zakat funds (dis: h8.15)
Like previous references to slaves, the following four sections have been left untranslated because the issue is no longer current, unlike the times of our author Ibn Naqib, whose rulers, the Mamelukes of Egypt, were themselves slaves who legally belonged to the Islamic state, a fact sufficient to show the fallacy of understanding slavery in the Islamic milieu in terms of the institution that existed in nineteenth-century America and elsewhere in the West (dis: w13).)
(n: Sections Ll, L2, and L3 have been moved here from their original place at the end of last book
They deal with bequests, meaning testamentary disposition of one's property (wasiyya) such as to say, ""1 bequeath such and such to Soand- so""; while sections L4 through LlO form the original content of book L, and deal with estate division (irth).)
(A: The difference between bequests (wasiyya) and estate division (irth) is that a bequest is the act of a living person disposing of his own property, even if it is to be implemented after his death, while estate division occurs after his death according to the Koranic rules of inheritance
Because a bequest is the act of a living person with his own money, it is legally valid for a Muslim to bequeath up to a third of his property to a non-Muslim (dis: L3.13(1))) and similarly valid for a non-Muslim to bequeath his property to a Muslim
Nawawi says:
""A bequest is legally valid from any legally responsible free person, even if non-Muslim"" (Mughni al-muhtaj ita ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 3.39).
But it is invalid and unlawful for a non-Muslim to inherit property through estate division from a Muslim (dis: L5.2), or vice versa
The determining factor in the permissibility of a Muslim and non-Muslim inheriting from each other is whether the property comes by way of a bequest (wasiyya) made by the deceased before his death, in which case it is permissible, or whether it comes by way of estate division (irth) made after the deceased's death according to the Koranic rules of inheritance
in which case the difference between their respective religions prevents it.)
(0: Our author only mentions bequests at this point (n: at the end of book k, as mentioned above) before estate division because of the fact that a person first makes bequests, then dies, and then the estatc is divided
The scriptural basis for
the validity of bequests, prior to the consensus of scholars, is the word of Allah Most High, "" ..
after any bequest which has been made, and after any debts"" (Koran 4:12).)
(n: Given persons X (al-musi), Y (al-wasiyy), and Z (al-musa lahu) (A:
where X has made provision in his will for Z to receive a bequest (wasiyya) of a sum of money, and X appoints Y as his executor to make sure this is done).)
A bequest made by X is valid if he is legally responsible (mukallaf, def: eS.1), even if he is a spendthrift.
The discussion is in two parts (n: namely, section L2, on X's appointing Y as the executor, and section L3, on the bequest itself).
*
(0: Appointing an executor means for X to put Y in charge of his property and young children, bequests, paying his debts
or collecting his property from others
The verbal form is
""1 appoint So-and-so to execute such and such a bequest
"")
The necessary conditions for the validity of X appointing Y as the executor of his bequest are that Y be:
(a) legally responsible (mukallaf, def: c8, 1);
(b) upright (def: O24.4) (0: meaning the uprightness of Islam, as it is not valid under any circumstances for Y to be a non-Muslim if X is a Muslim);
(c) and that Y have the knowledge and capacity to properly undertake the bequest.
The following examples of X appointing Y as the executor of his bequest are legally valid:
(1) when X appoints Y as his executor at a time when Y is not legally eligible to be it, but by the time of X's death, Y is eligible (0: by fulfilling all the above (L2.I) conditions);
(2) when X appoints a group of two or more people as his executors (0: and if he does so, then if he does not stipulate that each of them must manage their respective role, but rather says that they are to manage the legacy collectively, or does not say anything, then they must cooperate and not manage the work, maintenance, and dealings as separate individuals
Cooperate in such a case means that their acts proceed from the decision of the group, and does not mean, for example, that when they buy something they must all conduct the transaction together
Rather, if all agree to permit something, it is sufficient for one of them to take the matter in hand and carry it out);
(3) when X appoints (n: for example,) W, and then after him, Y (N: or vice versa) (0: saying, ""I appoint W as executor until Y comes, but when Y arrives, he is the executor,"" or ""I make W executor for one year, and when it has passed, then Y is the executor"");
(4) or when X appoints Y as executor.
authorizing him to appoint in tum whomever he chooscs as exccutor of the bequest (0: if the person fulfIlls the conditons (L2.1)).
'X's appointing Y as the executor of his bequest is not legally effective until Y accepts this responsibility after X's death, even if this acceptance is not immediately thereafter.
Both X and Yare entitled to cancel the appointment of Y as executor of the bequest whenever they wish (0: unless (A: after X's death) Y feels it almost certain that the property will be lost through a wrongdoer appropriating it, in which case Y may not withdraw as executor, meaning it is unlawful for him to do so
In such a case, if Y withdraws of his own choice, he is not thereby free of having to execute the bequest, though he is not obliged to continue therein without remuneration, but does so for a fee.)
It is not legally valid to appoint an executor unless the bequest consists of some good work or pious act such as paying off a debt, making up a hajj (dis: j1.9), looking after the welfare of one's children, and so forth (0: excluding actions that are not dispositions of property, such as marrying off the children) (A: and excluding acts of disobedience such as those mentioned above at k30.6(6)).
When X's father is still alive and fit for guardianship (def: m13.2), X may not appoint Y to look after the welfare of his children.
*
X may devote one-third or less of his financial resources to bequests, but not more than this, one-third meaning a third of his property as it stands at the time of his death (0: not before or afterwards).
(A: If there are no Myslim heirs, or if the existent Muslim heirs do not deserve the whole estate, such as when the sole eligible estate division heir is a husband or wife (dis: L6.3-4), then the Hanafi school permits disposing of more than a third of one's property in bequests (dis: w44), more than a third meaning everything in excess of what one's eligible heirs deserve by estate division (irth).)
(n: Tne ruling in the Shafi'i school is that such an excess may not be disposed of in bequests, but rather is given to the Muslim common fund (bayt ai-mal) if it exists, as mentioned below (U.3(0:) and L9.1).)
If X's heirs (def: lA.4) are not poor, it is recommended for X to devote a full one-third to bequests, but if not (0: i.e
if his heirs are not well off, as when they do not have any money at all, or have some, but not enough for their expenses, and the other two-thirds (A: of the estate that constitutes their obligatory shares) which they deserve is insufficient), then it is not recommended for X to devote a full one-third to bequests.
If X wills more than one-third in bequests, then his dispositions are not valid regarding the portion in excess of one-third when he has no one (0: in particular) to lawfully inherit the rest (A:
who, ifthey existed, could give permission for the excess, as discussed below)
(0: In cases where there are no heirs, the Muslim people have better right to X's property, and no one may waive this right.)
Nor are Xs bequests in excess of one-third valid when he has an heir, but the heir refuses to authorize the excess, though if the heir (N: or group of heirs unanimously) permits it, such a bequest is valid
It is not valid for the heir to authorize the excess or refuse to do so until after X's death.
Charitable expenditures made by X in his will (0: such as an endowment (waqf, def: k30), gift, and so forth) are considered as part of the bequeath able one-third.
Bequests concerning obligatory expenditures are also considered from the bequeathable one-third, provided that X has stipulated that they come from it
(0: Though if the bequeathabk third does not cover these (A: despite X having stipulated that they come from it), then the excess is paid from the remaining two-thirds
Obligatory expenditures include such things as paying debts, making up the hajj (dis: jl.9), paying zakat (A: for any year that the deceased neglected to pay it), expiations, and the fulfillment of vows that would have been binding had X been well.) But if X did not stipulate (0: that these obligatory expenditures come from the bequeathable one-third), then they come directly from the other two-thirds.
Current charitable dispositions of property made by X during his life, such as establishing an endowment (waqf, k30), giving a gift, or others, are considered as personal expenditures pf his own money (0: and he could spend it all witL' out any objection) if made while he was in sound health
But if X makes such current dispositions under any of the following circumstances, when these are linked with his death, then the dispositions are considered as having come from the bcqueathable one-third:
(1) in the final illness which brought about X's death;
(2) in military combat;
(3) while travelling on rough seas in a storm;
(4) as a final request before being killed;
(5) or (0: if female) X dies while giving birth, or afterwards before separation of the placenta.
If otherwise
(0: meaning if the current charitable disposition was not made under any of the above circumstances, or was, but the circumstance was not linked with X's death,) then the disposition is not taken from the bequeathable one-third.
(N: We distinguish between the above-mentioned current dispositions (n:
such as gifts, endowments, and donations), and between bequests by noting that current dispositions are effective before X's death, while bequests are effective after
Current dispositions are normally implemented even if X uses up all his money,
while bequests-unless X's heirs unanimously agree to allow otherwiseare restricted to one-third of the estate
An exception to permitting current dispositions to amount to as much of X's property as he wishes is when they are effected during his death illness (n: or other L3.6 circumstance), in which case they are limited to one-third of the estate, just as bequests are.)
If one-third of the estate does not cover the cost ofthe (N: current) dispositions which Xmade during his (N: final) illness, then (0: if these have been given in some order) they are implemented first thing first, then second, then third, and so on.
(N: Thus, if during his death illness, X said to his three friends P, Q, and R, ""I give P a gift of 100 dinars, Q 100 dinars, and R 100 dinars,"" but it turns out that X's total estate is only 600 dinars, then his gifts to P and Q are valid, but we take back his gift to R, which is not valid because it exceeds the 200 dinars that is a third of the 600 dinars constituting the whole estate
This is what is meant by implementing them in order.)
The bequeathable one-third of the estate
is divided (0: proportionally (N: if shares vary)) between all the recipients X designates when:
(1) (N: in cases of death illness current dispositions.
such as gifts) X did not state them in any particular order (N: such as by saying (n: in a situation like the above example) to P, Q, and R, ""I give you each a hundred dinars,"" in which case the bequeath able one-third is divided between them);
(2) or (N: in cases where X has explicitly made bequests) the bequeathable one-third will not cover all the bequests, whether they were made separately or not.
(N: All of the above (L3.6-8) only holds if the heirs do not agree to permit more than one-third of the estate for bequests or current dispositions, since if they unanimously agree, it may exceed a third, even if it takes the whole estate.)
Bequests made to nonspecific individuals such as the poor are effective when X dies
(0:
They own the property without the fact of ownership depending on their accepting it.)
When X bequeaths something to Z, a particular individual, the ownership of the article bequeathed is suspended, meaning that if Z accepts it after X's death, even if after some time has passed, then Z has owned it from the moment X died; but if Z declines to accept it, then X's heirs own it
If Z accepts it, but then refuses it before having taken possession of it (def: k7.3), this cancels his ownership ofit, though if he refuses after having taken possession of it, it does not cancel his ownership (0: as his refusal is meaningless in such a case).
It is permissible to make the implementation of a bequest subject to a condition, whether the condition is something occuring before X's death (0: such as his saying, ""If Z enters So-andso's house, I bequeath to him such and such of my property,"") or after (0: such as his saying, ""If Z enters So-and-so's house after my death, I bequeath to him such and such of my property"").
THINGS WHICH MAY BE BEQUEATHED ""!;f"""".Y
\..
It is permissible to bequeath any of the following:
(1) the right to utilize something (0: while not bequeathing the actual thing);
(2) particular things;
(3) something not yet existent, such as ""what this tree will bear"";
(4) something not determinately known (0:
whether it be an unknown thing (A: such as ""the contents of this box""), or something unknown in amount);
(5) something undeliverable (non-k2.4);
(6) something not currently owned (0: at the time the bequest is made, but which X owns at the time of his death);
(7) or something impure (najasa, def: e14.1) that has a lawful use, such as a (0: trained hunting) dog, or oil contaminated with impurity;
though not something impure that is without lawful use, such as wine or pigs.
THOSE TO WHOM BEQUESTS ARE VALID It is permissible for X to bequeath something to Z even if Z is:
(1) a non-Muslim at war with Muslims (A:
and with still better right when Z is an ordinary non-Muslim);
(2) a Jewish or Christian subject of the Islamic state;
(3) an apostate from Islam;
(4) the person who kills X;
(5) X's heir (def: L4.4), provided X's other heirs permit him to receive it (0; though ifthey do not, then the bequest is not carried out);
(6) or to a person yet unborn, in which case the bequest is paid to the person (0: i.e
guardian) who knows of the unborn's existence at the time X makes the bequest, provided that the child is either born alive within six months of the time the bequest is made, or is born alive more than six months and less than four years after the bequest is made, during which time the mother has had no husband (0: from whom the pregnancy could have resulted).
CANCELLING ONE'S BEQUESTS If X makes some article a bequest but then changes his mind, his taking it back is valid, annulling his bequest
X's doing any of the following is also considered taking it back (A: and cancels the bequest):
(1) X's loss of ownership (0: of the bequeathed article) such as by sale or gift;
(2) X's subjecting the article to loss of ownership by putting it up as collateral, offering it for sale, or making another bequest that stipulates that it be sold;
(3) or when the name of the article changes, such as wheat being ground into flour, flour made into dough, yam woven into fabric, or when X mixes a particular article with other goods.
IfZdies before X, thenX's bequest to him is invalid
If Z dies after X but before Z accepts the bequest, then Z's heirs may accept or reject it.
*
(0: Estate division refers to the share allotted to each heir by Sacred Law
The scriptural basis for estate division,prior to the consensus of scholars, consists of the Koranic verses on inheritance (Koran 4:11-12, 4:176) and hadiths such as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Give the obligatory shares of the estate to those who deserve them,and the rest belongs to the closest male to the deceased."" Encouragement to master the knowledge of estate division comes from such hadiths as the one from Ibn Mas'ud (Allah be well pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Learn estate division and teach it to people, for I am someone who will be taken from you, and this knowledge will be taken from you and calamities win ensue, until two men will one day disagree about the obligatory apportionment and will not find anyone to judge between them."")
(n: To work an estate division problem, one should:
(a) determine the amount of the deceased's estate after deducting the L4.2-3 expenses;
(b) make a list showing which of the deceased's heirs mentioned at IAA exist;
(c)
eliminate from the list any heirs with preventives L5 .1--4;
(d) on a sheet of paper, copy the parenthesized introductory paragraph (""N:
summary of --'s share,"") for every eligible heir that exists, such as the deceased's:
(1) husband (dis: L6.3);
(2) wife (L6A);
(3) father (L6.5);
(4) mother (L6.6);
(5) daughter (L6.7);
(as mentioned at L6.8, the shares of the above-named family members are not eliminated by anyone, though the shares of those named below may be eliminated by the existence of certain other heirs) (6) son's daughter (L6.9);
(7) full sister (L6.1O);
(8) half sister from the same father (L6.1l);
(9) grandfather (father's father only) (L6.13);
(10) grandmother (L6.18);
(11) half brother or half sister from the same mother (L6.20);
(12) and then the others (sons and so forth) mentioned at L6.22;
(e) read section L7 and cross off the list of heirs those whose shares are eliminated by the other existent heirs;
(f) if any universal heirs (def: UO.S) exist, see which of them eliminates the shares of the other universal heirs, as at LIO.6;
(g) make a table of the heirs remaining (after (e) and (f) above) like the tables shown at L6.6, where one writes the type of heir, the fraction each deserves (with the universal heir receiving the remainder, if any), and then atthe top writes the total shares (this being the common denominator of the fractions), after which one calculates the shares that go to each;
(h) if the fractions (of those besides the universal heir) add up to more than one (Le
the total estate), then one must adjust for this as shown at L8.2;
(i) but if the fractions add up to less than the total estate and there is no universal heir to inherit the rest, then one must redistribute the shares as described at L9.1-2.
One may practice and test one's skill at estate division by reading through the present section and doing the problems depicted in the tables, though to do all the problems one must have (or memorize) a full worksheet that contains all the information mentioned in (d), (h), and (i), above, plus the rules concerning universal heirs discussed at L10.l--4
Finally, it is best to check one's answers with an Islamic scholar, preferably a teacher from whom to take instruction, since this is a subject that is easier to acquire from its masters than from books.)
EXPENSES DEDUCTED FROM THE ESTATE PRIORTO ESTATE DIVISION The first thing (0: obligatorily) taken from X's property is the expense of preparing his body (0: such as the cost ofthe water to wash him, the washer's fee, cost of the shroud and perfume placed therein, pallbearers' fees, and so forth) and of hurying him
These expenses are deducted before X's debts are paid, his bequests fulfilled, or his estate divided, unless there is a financial obligation due on the property itself, such as:
(1) when there is zakat (A: due from any year X neglected to pay it before his death);
(2) when some of the property has been put up as collateral (dis: kl1.2);
(3) or when X dies bankrupt with unpaid-for merchandise among his property (A: which must be returned to the seller before paying other expenses from X's property).
After the above are paid, the following measures are taken (A: and the sequence given is obligatory) :
(1) X's debts are paid (N: though if a government takes non-Islamic estate taxes, these are deducted from the main part of the estate (A:
before debts or bequests, as any other loss would be));
(2) then X's bequests (def: 1.1-3) are carried out (0: from a third of what remains after debts);
(3) and then X's remaining property is divided between his estate division heirs.
HEIRS X's male heirs consist of:
(1) X's son;
(2) .x:'s son's son, son's son's son, and on down;
(3) X's father;
(4) X's father's father (A: the term grandfather throughout the book of inheritance refers only to this paternal grandfather), father's father's father, and on up;
(5) X's full brother, or half brother from X's father or mother;
(6) the son of X's full brother, or son of X's half brother from the same father;
(7) X's father's full brother, or father's half brother from the same father;
(8) the son of X's father's full brother or father's halfbrotherfrom the same father;
(9) and X's husband.
X's female heirs are:
(1) X's daughter;
(2) X's son's daughter, son's son's daughter, son's son's son's daughter, and on down;
(3) X's mother;
(4) X's grandmother (whether she is the mother of X's father or mother), great-grandmother, and on up;
(5) X's full sister, or half sister from the same father or mother;
(6) and X's wife.
EXTENDED FAMILY MEMBERS WHO DO NOTNORMALLY INHERIT The following extended family members may not inherit from X's estate (except under the conditions discussed at L10.8):
(1) X's daughter's children (0: male or female);
(2) X's mother's brother's sons;
(3) X's sister's children, the sons or daughters of X's daughter's children, or the sons or daughters of X's sister's children;
(4) X's brother's (0: whether full brother's, or half brother's from either parent) daughters;
(5) X's father's brother's (0: whether full brother's, or half brother's from the same father) daughters;
(6) X's father's half brother from the same mother;
(7) X's mother's father;
(8) X's mother's brother or sister;
(9) X's father's sister;
(10) or anyone related to X through one of the above.
*
(0: Preventive means that if someone is an estate division heir (def: U.4) but one of the following characteristics exists in him, then he may not inherit.) (A: In calculating the estate division, an heir who is made ineligible by a preventive is considered nonexistent
Such a person is a nonheir, and as such is eligible for a bequest (def:
L1.0) if X wills him one.)
(n: Given X, the deceased; and Z, his heir.)
The first preventive is killing
Whoever kills X may not inherit from him, no matter whether the killing was:
(1) lawful, as in retaliat!on (def: 03) or imposing a criminal penalty;
(2) without lawful right;
(3) accidental;
(4) intentional;
(5) direct (0: such as Z shooting while hunting, and the shot hitting X);
(6) or when Z is a causal factor in X's death, such as testifying to an act of X's that calls for retaliation against X, or such as digging a well into which X falls.
To summarize, whoever has a hand in X's death, no matter how, cannot inherit from him.
The second preventive is being nonMuslim:
a Muslim may not inherit from a nonMuslim, and a non-Muslim may not inherit from a Muslim (dis: Ll.O).
The third preventive is slavery.
The fourth is uncertainty as to who died first, such as when X and Z both drown or both die in the collapse of a building, and it is not known who died before the other
In such a case neither may inherit from the other.
*
The six obligatory shares mentioned in the Koran (Koran 4:11-12) are one-half, one-fourth, one-eighth, two-thirds, one-third, and one-sixth.
They go to ten categories:
(1) X's husband;
(2) X's wife;
(3) X's father;
(4) X's mother;
(5) X's daughters;
(6) X's son's daughters, or the daughters of X's son's son, son's.son's son, and on down;
(7) X's sisters;
(8) X's father's father;
(9) X's mother's or father's mother;
(10) X's half brothers or half sisters from the same mother.
(N: A summary of X,S husband's share:
-1/2 if there is no inheriting descendant.
-1/4 if there is an inheriting descendant.
-The husband's share is not eliminated by anyone.)
X's husband:
(1) receives one-half the estate when X has no child who may inherit (0: even if the child is from a different husband) (N: the word child (AT.
walad) including both males and females (A: of all ages)), and X's son has no child who may inherit;
(2) but receives one-fourth the estate when X has a child who may inherit (0: whetherfrom X by this husband or a different husband, and whether male or female), or when X's son has a child who may inherit.
(N: A summary of X's wife's share:
-1/4 if there is no inheriting descendant.
-1/8 if there is an inheriting descendant.
-The wife's share is not eliminated by anyone.)
X'swife:
(1) receives one-fourth the estate when X has no child to inherit (0: even if by a different wife) and X's son has no child to inherit;
(2) but receives one-eighth the estate when X has a child to inherit, or X's son has a child to inherit (0: whether X's son is from her or from another wife).
If there are two, three, or four wives, they jointly receive the one-fourth or one-eighth (0:
meaning that the share apportioned to one wife is given to two or more (A: to divide up between them)).
(N: A summary of X's father's share:
-1/6 ifthere is an inheriting descendent.
-Universal heir (def: LIO.5) if there is no male inheriting descendant.
-The father's share is not eliminated by anyone.)
X's father:
(1) receives one-sixth of the estate when X has a son to inherit, or when X's son has a son to inherit (0: or when X has a daughter or X's son has a daughter, who may inherit (N: though in such a case, the father takes (A: the sixth plus) the remainder of the estate as universal heir (n: as discussed next)));
(2) but is universal heir (0: by himself, meaning he takes the whole estate if there are no others who have an obligatory share coming; or if there are such others, he receives the remainder of the estate after they have received their shares) when X has no son to inherit and X's son has no son to inherit.
(N:AsummaryofX'smother'sshare:
- 1/6 if there is an inheriting descendant, or if there are two or more of X's brothers or sisters.
- 1/3 of the remainder after deducting the share of X's husband or wife in cases where the heirs include both X's father and the husband or wife, but no inheriting descendant.
- 1/3 of the estate when none of the abovementioned heirs exists.
- The mother's share is not eliminated by anyone.)
X'smother:
(1) receives one-third of the estate when all three of the following are the case:
(a) X has no child (male orfemale) who may inherit, nor does X's son;
(b) X does not have two or more brothers or sisters, whether full brothers or sisters, or half brothers or sisters from either parent;
(c) and the heirs do not include X's husband and X's two parents, or X's wife and two parents (A: of which X's mother is one);
(2) she receives one-sixth of the estate when (non-(a) above) X has a child who may inherit, or when (non-(b)) X has two or more brothers or sisters;
(3) and she receives one-third of the remainder after deducting the share of X's husband or wife when:
-(non-(c) above) the heirs include X's husband and two parents, in which case she receives one-third of the remainder after X's husband receives his share of one-half, meaning she receives a sixth of the estate, as that is a third of the remainder, and X's father receives the rest:
shares: *6 husband In 3 mother 116 1 father universal heir 2 (*common denominator of 112 and 1/6) -or (non-(c) above) when the heirs include X's wife and two parents, in which case she receives one-third of the remainder after X's wife receives her share of one-fourth, meaning that the mother receives one-fourth of the estate, as that is a third of the remainder, and the father receives the rest:
shares: 4 wife 114 1 mother 114 1 father universal heir 2
(N: A summary ofX's daughter's share:
-]/2 if there are no other ofX's sons or daughters (n: whetherfull or half brothers or sisters to her).
-2/3 for her to share equally (ifthere are no sons) with other daughters, if any.
--She is co-universal heir (def: L10.3) with X's son( s) if existent, meaning that they jointly constitute the universal heir, dividing this share so that each male receives twice the amount of each female (A: since men are obliged to support women in Islam (dis: mIl) and not vice versa).
-The daughter's share is not eliminated by anyone.)
(1) X's sale daughter (0: who is without a co-universal heir such as her brother, and without someone else on her own level, such as her sister) receives half of the estate.
(2) Two or more daughters jointly receive two-thirds.
(N: It is important to remember for the persons named in the following rulings that the share of any of them who is related to X through an inheriting heir is eliminated by the existence of that heir (dis: L7.4-6), except for X's half brother from the same mother, whose share is not eliminated by the mother's existence.)
(N: A summary of the share of X's son's daughter:
-Her share is eliminated if X's son exists (n: an example of the above rule).
-112 if X has no daughter, son's son, or any other daughter of a son.
-2/3 for her to share equally with the other daughters of X' s son( s), if X has no daughter( s) or son's sones).
-116 when there is a sole daughter (def: L6
7(1)).
-She is co-universal heir (def: LlD.3) with X's son's son(s) (A: in the absence of X's daughter, dividing this share so that each male receives twice the share of each female).
-Her share is eliminated when X has two or more daughters
) When X'ssole daughter (def:L6.7(1)) exists, X's son's daughter(s) (A if there are more than one, they share) receives one-sixth of the estate, which with the sole daughter's share of one-half, makes two-thirds eN: which is the maximum that may go to the category of daughters).
(N: A summary of the share of X's full sister:
-112 if there are no other full brothers or sisters.
-2/3 for her to share equally with other full sisters.
-She is co-universal heir (def: LlD.3) with full brother(s) if any, each male receiving twice the share of each female.
-She is universal heir through X's daughter(s) (def: UDA).
-Her share is eliminated if X's father or X's son exists
) (1) X's sole full sister (N: meaning no other full brothers or sisters exist) receives one-half of the estate.
(2) Two or more such sisters (N: when there are no full brothers) jointly receive two-thirds.
(n: L6.12 discusses X's full sister(s) with X's daughters
)
(N: A summary of the share of X's half sister from the same father:
-1/2 in the absence of X's full brother, full sister, other half sister from the same father, and half brother from the same father.
-2/3 for her to share equally with other half sisteTe s) from the same father, when there are no full brothers or sisters, and no half brothers from the same father.
-1/6 when there is X's sole full sister.
--She is universal heir through X's daughters or X's son's daughters (def: UOA), provided there are no full brothers or sisters, or half brothers from the same father.
--She is co-universal heir (def: UO.3) with X's half brother(s) from the same father, the male receiving twice the share of each female.
-Her share is eliminated if X's father or son exists
) (1) X's sole half sister from the same father receives one-half of the estate.
(2) Two or more such paternal half sisters jointly receive two-thirds.
(3) When such a half sister, or two or more, exists with X's sole full sister, then the half sister( s) (A: jointly, if more than one) receives onesixth, which, with the half that goes to the full sister, makes two-thirds.
X's full sister(s) is universal heir through X's daughter(s) (def: UOA)
If X has no full sisters, X's half sisters by the same father are the estate's universal heirs through X's daughter(s) (UOA).
An example of the former is when the heirs are X's daughter and full sister
The daughter receives one-half (dis: L6.7(1)), and the sister receives the rest (A: as universal heir):
shares: 2 daughter 1/2 1 full sister universal heir 1 Another example is when there are X's two daughters, a full sister, and a paternal half sister, in which case the two daughters .jointly receive two-thirds (dis: L6.7(2)), and the full sister receives the rest (A: as universal heir), while the paternal half sister's share is eliminated (A: by the full sister's universal heirship):
shares: 3 2 daughters 2/3 2 full sister universal heir 1 half sister eliminated D
(N: summary of X's grandfather's (father's father's) share:
-His share is eliminated if X's father exists.
-1/6 if X has an inheriting male descendant.
-He is universal heir in the absence of both X's father and any inheriting male descendant.
-If X's brother(s) or sister(s) exists, then:
(1) when there is no other heir who has an obligatory share coming, then the grandfather receives whichever pf the following two alternatives yields the maximum:
-1/3 of the estate;
- or dividing the estate with X's brother(s) or sister( s) as if he were one of them, the male receiving twice the share of the female
If only X's sister(s) exists, then she becomes co-universal heir (def:
LID.3) with him;
(2) but when there are one or more other heirs who have an obligatory share coming besides the brother(s) or sister(s), then the grandfather receives whichever of the following three alternatives yields the maximum:
-1/6 of the estate;
-1/3 of the remainder after the (non-brotherlsister) heir( s) receives their share;
-or dividing the estate with X's brother( s) or sister( s) as if he were one of them, the male receiving twice the share of the female
If only X's sister(s) exists, then she becomes co-universal heir (LID.3) with him.)
As for the grandfather, sometimes X's brothers or sisters exist with him and sometimes they do not.
When they do not, then the grandfather receives one-sixth of the estate if X's son or son's son (0: or X's daughters or son's daughters) exist (N: but in such a case he takes the sixth plus the rest as universal heir); while the grandfather is the universal heir (def: Ll0.5) in the absence of X's son or son's son (N: or daughter or son's daughter).
When X's (full or paternal half) brothers or sisters exist, then sometimes there are other inheriting heirs (dis: L6.15) and sometimes not (L6.l4).
When (besides X's brother(s) or sister(s)) the grandfather's cosurvivors do not include other inheriting heirs, the grandfather divides the estate with the brothers (A: and sisters) as if he were one of them, and (if there are only sisters) is couniversal heir (def: LlG.3) with the sisters.
But sueh a division is only effected when it does not result in less than one-third of the estate going to the grandfather
If it would result in less than a third for him, then his obligatory share is one-third of the estate, and the brothers or sisters divide the rest between them, the males receiving the share of two females
This is illustrated by the following examples (A: in each of which the grandfather receives at least a third):
(1) X's grandfather and one sister:
shares: 3 grandfather 2 sister 1 (2) grandfather and two sisters:
shares: 4 grandfather 2 sister 1 sister 1 (3) grandfather and three sisters:
shares: S grandfather 2 sister 1 sister 1 sister 1 (4) grandfather and four sisters:
shares: 6 grandfather 2 sister 1 -sister 1 sister 1 sister 1 (5) grandfather and one brother:
shares: 2 grandfather 1 brother 1 (6) grandfather and two brothers:
shares: 3 irandfather 1 brother 1 brother 1 (7) grandfather, brother, and sister:
shares: 5 grandfather 2 brother 2 sister 1 (8) grandfather, brother, and two sisters:
shares: 6 grandfather 2 brother 2 sister 1 sister 1 In each of the above examples, the grandfather divides the estate with them, the male receiving the share of two females.
When (besides X's brothers or sisters) the grandfather'S cosurvivors include anotherinheriting heir, then the heir is given his share, and the grandfather receives the maximal amount of three possibilities:
(a) division (A: meaning to divide it with the brothers or sisters as in the above examples);
(b) a third of the remainder (A: taking a third of what remains after the (non-brother/sister) heir has taken his share);
(c) or one-sixth of the estate (A: as the estate stands before the above-mentioned heir has received his share).
This ruling may be illustrated by (n: the following four examples):
(1) X's husband, grandfather, and brother, where division is better for the grandfather.
show why division «a) above) is better, we may compare the three possibilities «a), (b), and (c)) for this example:
(a) division:
shares: 4 husband 1/2 (dis: L6.3(l)) 2 grandfather 1 brother 1 (b) third of remainder (after the husband's share ):
shares: 6 husband 1/2 3 grandfather 1/3 remainder 1 brother universal 2 (c) sixth of estate:
shares: 6 husband 1/2 3 grandfather 1/6 estate 1 brother universal 2 The comparison reveals that division, giving the grandfather 1/4, is better than the other alternatives, which only give him 1/6, and so division is the alternative that must be implemented.)
(2) X's two daughters, two brothers, and grandfather, where a sixth of the estate is better for him
(n: Comparison:
( a) division:
shares: 9 daughter 2/3 (dis: L6.7(2)) 3 daughter 2/3 (dis: L6.7(2)) 3 grandfather 1 brother 1 brother 1 (b) third of remainder (after the daughters' share):
shares: 9 daughter 2/3 3 daughter 2/3 3 grandfather 1/3 remainder 1 brother universal 1 brother universal 1 (c) sixth of estate:
shares: 12 daughter 2/3 4 daughter 2/3 4 grandfather 1/6 estate 2 brother universal 1 brother universal 1 The comparison reveals that a sixth of the estate is better than the other alternatives, which only give him 1/9, and so the former is the alternative that must be implemented.)
(3) X's wife, three brothers, and grand-father, where a third of the remainder is better for him
(n: Comparison:
(a) division:
§hares: Hi wife 1/4 (dis: L6.4(1)) 4 grandfather 3 brother division 3 brother division 3 brother division 3 (b) third ofremainder (after the wife's share):
shares: 12 wife 1/4 3 grandfather 1/3 remainder 3 brother universal 2 brother universal 2 brother universal 2 ( c) sixth of estate:
shares: 36 wife 1/4 9 grandfather 1/6 estate 6 brother universal 7 brother universal 7 brother universal 7 The comparison reveals that a third of the remainder, which gives the grandfather 1/4, is better for him than division with the brothers (which gives him 3/16), or a sixth of the estate, so he must receive a third of the remainder.)
(4) X's two daughters, mother, grandfather, and brothers, where a sixth of the estate is better for him
(n: Comparision:
(a) division:
shares: 6 daughter [ 2/3 (dis: L6.7(2)) 2 daughter [ 2/3 (dis: L6.7(2)) 2 mother 1/6 (dis: L6.6(2)) 1 grandfather division 1 brothers division 1 (b) third of remainder (after the shares of the daughters and mother):
shares: 18 daughter 2/3 6 daughter 2/3 6 mother 1/6 3 grandfather 1/3 remainder 1 brothers universal 2 (c) sixth of estate:
shares: 6 daughter 2/3 2 daughter 2/3 2 mother 1/6 1 grandfather 1/6 1 (In this case, there is no one who can eliminate the shares of the inheriting heirs above, who have used up the estate so that there is nothing left for the universal heir (the brothers) to inherit (dis:L10.5):)
brothers eliminated 0 The comparison shows that a sixth of the estate is better for the grandfather than a third of the remainder, which would give him 1116, or division with the brothers, which would give him 1112 or less, and so he must receive a sixth of the estate.)
If both X's brothers and half brothers from the same father exist with the grandfather, the brothers add the number ofthe half brothers' shares with their own shares in calculating their own versus the grandfather's, but then the brothers receive both their own shares and the half brothers' shares
(A: The latter are eliminated (dis: L7.3) by the brothers, but are initially reckoned in as a dispensation for the brothers.)
This may by illustrated by the following example, in which there is X's grandfather, brother, and half brother from the same father.
(initial division) grandfather 1 brother 1 half brother 1 shares: 3 division but then, because the brother eliminates the half brother's share, shares: 3 grandfather 1 brother 2 half brother eliminated o and this is the actual division, In a second, similar case, if there is a sister, half brother from the same father, and grandfather, then (A: the half brother's share is reckoned with the sister's share versus that of the grandfather, and) her portion of the estate is brought up to one-half (A: which is the maximum she may receive, as at L6,l0(1)) from the (n: additive) amount, and the rest goes to the half brother (A: since the grandfather already has his share, and she may receive no more than her obligatory share of one-half), (n: To illustrate, first we make a plain diviSion, the males receiving the share of two females:
shares: 5 grandfather 2 sister 1 half brother 2 Then, as in the previous case, we give the half brother's share to the sister, since there is none to eliminate her full share of one-half (dis:L6,10(1)).
shares: 5 grandfather 2 sister 3 half brother 0 But since this gives the sister more than her maximal share of one-half, the surplus is returned to the half brother, and this is the final division.
Here, for convenient redivision, we multiply the case's shares by two:
(2 X 5) shares: 10 grandfather 4 sister 5 half brother 1 which is the actual division.)
When there is a sister (0: full sister or half sister from the same father) and grandfather, the sister does not nonnally receive a particular obligatory share (0: since she is co-universal heir (def: L10.3) with the grandfather), except in the following case (Ar .
al-akdariyya, lit
""the murkiest"") in which there is X's husband, mother, grandfather, and sister.
shares: 6 husband 1/2 (dis: L6.3(1)) 3 mother 113 {dis: L6.6(1}) 2 grandfather 116 (dis: L6.15(c)) 1 But at this point, the estate has been used up, despite the fact that the sister deserves her share of one-half, and no one can eliminate it:
sister 1/2 (dis: L6.10(l)) 3 so we redivide the estate by adding the three shares that the sister deserves to the initial division's six shares, which become nine (A: this procedure being an adjustment (,awl, def: L8.l) for not being able to give everyone full shares, one which proportionately distributes the deficit to all recipients) .
(6 + 3 =) shares: 9 husband 3 mother 2 grandfather 1 sister 3 But this results in the grandfather receiving less than if he were to divide the remaining estate with the sister (n: which is impermissible because of ruling L6.15), and so the grandfather and sister add their shares to together (equalling four) and divide them, the male receiving the portion of two females
(n: Here, for convenient redivision, we multiply the case's shares by three:
(3 x 9 =) shares: 27 husband 9 mother 6 grandfather 8 sister 4 and this is the actual division.)
(N: A summary of the share of X's grandmother (whether she is X's father's mother or mother's mother, or, if both exist, they share the portion):
-1/6 if X's mother does not exist.
-Her share is eliminated if X's mother exists.
-Her share is eliminated by the existence of X's father if X is descended from her through the father.)
(1) X's grandmother (or great -grandmother) gets one-sixth of the estate when:
-she is A, E, and so on, up that line (n: on the chart above);
-she is C, G, and so on, up that line;
--or when she is H, and so on, up that line.
(2) If there are two grandmothers/greatgrandmothers on the same level (A: level II, for example), they jointly get one-sixth to share between thein, such as when both C and A exist, or when both G and H exist.
(3) If one of two surviving grandmothersl great-grandmothers is closer (A: on a closer level) to X, then:
(a) if the closer of the two is on X's mother's side (n: the left of the chart) then she eliminates the share of the farther of the two
For example, the existence of A eliminates G's share;
(b) but if the closer of the two is on the father's side (n: the right of the chart), she does not eliminate the share of the one on the mother's side who is farther from X
Rather, both jointly receive the sixth to divide between them
For example, C does not eliminate E.
As for great-grandmother F, she does not inherit, as she is an extended family member who may not inherit (A: being related to X through B, who may not inherit (dis: L4.5(7.10))).
(N: A summary of the share of X's half brother or sister from the same mother:
-116 if there is just one of them, when none of X's inheriting male ancestors (A: father on up) exists!
nor any inheriting descendants.
-113 if there are two or more of them, to share between them, but which is divided so that males and females receive equal shares.
-Their share is eliminated by the existence of any of X's inheriting male ancestors or inheriting descendants
) (1) X's half brother or sister from the same mother receives one-sixth if alone.
(2) When there are two or more of them, they jointly receive one-third
This amount is divided with equal shares going to male and female alike.
To summarize all of the foregoing:
(1) One-half of the estate is the obligatory share of five types of heir:
-X's husband, under certain circumstances (dis:L6.3(1));
-X's (sole) daughter (L6.7(1));
-X's son's daughter (L6.9(N:));
-X's (sole) full sister (L6.10(1));
-and X's (sole) half sister from the same father (L6.11 (1)).
(2) One-fourth of the estate is the obligatory share of two types of heir:
-X's husband, under certain circumstances (L6.3(2));
-and X's wife (L6.4(1)).
(3) One-eighth of the estate is the obligatory share of X's wife, under certain circumstances (L6.4(2)).
(4) Two-thirds of the estate is the obligatory share of four types of heir:
-two or more of X's daughters (L6.7(2));
-two or more of X's son's daughters (L6.9(N:));
-two or more of X's full sisters (L6.10(2));
-and two or more or X's half sisters from the same father (L6.11(2)).
(5) One-third of the estate is the obligatory share of:
-X's mother, under certain circumstances (L6.6(1));
-two or more of X's haIf brothers or sisters from the same mother (L6.20(2));
-and it may be the share of the grandfather when X's brothers exist (L6.14, second paL).
(6) One-sixth of the estate is the
obligatory share of seven types of heir:
-X's father (L6.5(1));
-X's grandfather (L6.13(N:) and L6.15(c));
-X's mother (L6.6(N:));
-X's grandmother (L6.18(1));
--one or more daughters of X's son when X's daughter also exists (L6.9);
--one or more of X's half sisters from the same father when X's sole full sister also exists (L6.1l(3));
-and X's sole half brother from the same mother
(L6.20(1)).
(N: A summary of the other heirs' shares:
(1) X's son is universal heir.
(2) X's son's son:
-is eliminated by X's son;
-and is universal heir in the absence of X's son.
(3) X's full brother:
-is eliminated by the existence of an inheriting male descendant;
-is eliminated by X's father;
-and is universal heir in the absence of both an inheriting male descendant and father.
(4) X's half brother by the same father:
-is eliminated by any inheriting male descendant;
--is eliminated by X's father;
-is eliminated by X's full brother;
-and is universal heir in the absence of all these.
(5) The son of X's full brother is the same as X's full brother «3) above), but eliminated by him.
(6) The son of X's half brother by the same father is the same as (5) above, but eliminated by him.
(7) The brother of X's father:
-is eliminated by any ofthe following: X's father, grandfather, brothers, and their sons;
-and is universal heir in the absence of all of these.
(8) The son of the brother of X's father is the same as (7) above, but eliminated by him.)
*
The share of X's half brother from the same mother is eliminated by the existence of four types of heir:
-X's inheriting-descendant (male or female);
-the descendant (male or female) of X's son;
-X's father;
-or X's grandfather.
The share of X's full brother is eliminated by three:
-X'sson;
-X's son's son;
-or X's father.
The share of X's half brother from the same father is eliminated by four:
-X'sson;
-X's son's son;
-X's father;
-or X's full brother.
The share of the son of X's son is eliminated by X's son, and likewise the son of the son of X's son, and on down: each is eliminated by the existence of a son closer to X (A: meaning fewer generations from X, even if the one who is closer is from a different one of X's sons).
X's grandmother or great-grandmother does not inherit if X's mother exists.
Neither X's grandfather (A: i.e
father's father) nor grandmother or great -grandmother on the father's side may inherit when X's father exists.
When X's daughters receive a full twothirds of the estate (dis: L6.7(2)), then the daughters of X's son do not inherit, unless they are made co-universal heirs (def: L10.3) by the existence of a male who is at the same distance (A:
number of generations) from X as they are, or by one who is farther from X than they
When they are co-universal heirs, the male receives the share of two females.
For example, if there are two daughters and a daughter of X's son, the two daughters take twothirds and the son's daughter receives
nothing.
But if there also exists with her X's son's son, or son's son's son, then she (A: as co-universal heir (def: L10.3) with him) gets the rest of the estate with him, the male receiving the share of two females (N: and such a male is nicknamed her blessed brother (akh mubarak)).
Similarly, when X's full sisters receive two-thirds of the estate (dis: L6.1O(2)), then X's half sisters from the same father do not inherit, unless they have a brother to make them couniversal heirs, the male receiving the share of two females.
Someone who does not inherit to begin with (N: due to the existence of a preventive (def:i5)) cannot eliminate the share of anyone (A:
such a person being as if nonexistent in figuring the estate division).
Someone who may inherit, but whose share has been eliminated by another, can not eliminate the share of anyone, although such a person's existence may diminish the share of someone, as when there exist X's half brothers from the same mother, and X's father and mother.
]n such a case, the half brothers do not inherit (dis:L6.20(N:)), but their existence diminishes the mother's share from a third to a sixth (dis:L6.6(2)).
*
(A: Adjustment ('awl) is used in cases where the estate is not enough-to give everyone their full shares, and proportionately distributes the deficit to all the heirs in an equitable way.)
Whenever the shares deserved by heirs exceed the number of available shares, the number of shares is additively increased to the number needed.
An example is the case (al-mubahala) in which there are X's husband, mother, and full sister:
shares: 6 husband 1/2 (dis: L6.3(1)) 3 sister 1/2 (dis: L6.10(1)) 3 but at this point, the estate has been used up despite the fact that the mother deserves her share of one-third, and no one can eliminate it:
mother 1/3 (dis: L6.6(1)) 2 so we redivide the estate by adding the mother's portion (n: two shares) as an adjustment:
(6 + 2 =) shares: 8 husband 3 sister 3 mother 2 and this is the actual division
(n: L6.17 furnishes another example of adjustment.)
*
(n: This section has been moved here from its original place after L10.7 below.)
If X has no (A: universal heir) relatives (def: L10.5), then (A: the remainder of) his estate goes to the Muslim common fund (bayt aI-mal) as an inheritance to the Muslims, provided the Islamic ruler is just.
If the Islamic ruler is not just (A: or not existent), then it (A: the excess) is redistributed among the inheriting heirs in proportion to their relative shares, except for X's husband or wife, who may not receive any of the redistributed amount.
(N: Three illustrations of redistribution 'follow:
(1) X's sister and grandmother:
shares: 6 sister 1/2 (dis: L6.10(1)) 3 grandmother 1/6 (dis: L6.18(1)) 1 But at this point, the obligatory shares are less than the estate, so we redistribute the excess estate in proportion to the heirs' respective shares by reducing the shares of the case to four, which is the number of the existing heirs' shares:
(3 + 1 =) shares: 4 sister 3 grandmother 1 and this is the solution, and is how we redistribute in cases that require it, when there is neither a husband nor wife among the heirs
As for when there is a husband or wife, the examples below furnish illustrations of the division.
(2) X's wife, half brotherfrom the same mother, and grandmother:
shares: 12 wife 1/4 (dis: L6.4(1))) 3 half brother 116 (dis: L6.20(1)) 2 grandmother 1/6 (dis: L6.18{1)) 2 But here, the obligatory shares are still less than the estate, in which there are five remaining shares:
excess 5 So, excluding the wife as mentioned above (L9.1 (end)), we divide the excess between the half brother and grandmother in proportion to their respective shares, namely two-to-two, which means a half-and-half division of the excess five shares, For convenient division of these five shares, we first multiply the case's total shares by two:
(12 x 2=) shares: 24 wife 6 half brother 4 grandmother 4 excess ------ 10 and then we divide the ten excess shares between the half brother and grandmother, while the wife gets only her original share (dis: L9.1 (end)):
and this is the solution.
(3) X's wife, mother, and half brother from the same mother:
shares: 12 wife 1/4 (dis: L6.4(1)) 3 mother 1/3 (dis: L6.6(1)) 4 half brother 1/6 (dis: L6.20(1)) 2 But the obligatory shares are still less than the estate, in which there are three remaining shares:
So, excluding the wife, as before, we divide the excess between the mother and half brother in proportion to their respective shares, namely four-to-two, which means a two-to-one division of the three excess shares:
shares:
and this is the solution.)
*
(A: A universal heir ('asaba) is someone who takes the remaining estate, if any, after heirs deserving obligatory shares have taken them
When there are no such heirs, the universal heir takes all
There are three types of universal heir:
(1) universal heir by oneself ('asaba bi nafsihi);
(2) co-universal heir Casaba bi ghayrihi);
(3) and universal heir through the existence of another Casaba ma'a ghayrihi).)
(n: The following three definitional entries have been added to this section by the translator
)
UNIVERSAL HEIR BY ONESELF (Hasanayn Muhammad Makhluf:) The universal heir by oneselfis X's male relative who is not related to X through a female, whether this be because:
(1) there is no one between him and X, as is the case with X's father or son;
(2) or whether because there is someone between him and X, but not a female, such as X's grandfather (the father of Xs father), Xs son's son, X's full brother, or X's half brother from the same father.
CO-UNIVERSAL HEIR The co-universal heir is any female deserving an obligatory share who requires someone else in order to become a universal heir, and with whom she participates in this universal share.
It is a class confined to four types of women, those whose share if alone is one-half, and if there are more than one is two-thirds
They are:
(1) X's daughter;
(2) X's son's daughter;
(3) X's full sister;
(4) and X's half sisterfrom the same father.
Whenever a male exists with one of these four who is universal heir by himself (def: LIO.2), of the same generation as her and of the same strength (N: i.e
both are full or halfsiblings), she becomes co-universal heir with him and inherits by the universal share, not her obligatory share
They divide the universal share so the male receives the portion of two females.
UNIVERSAL HEIR THROUGH TfJE EXISTENCE
OF ANOTHER The universal heir through the existence of another is any female deserving an obligatory share who requires someone else to become a universal heir, but with whom she does not share this universal share.
These are only two people from among those who deserve obligatory shares:
(1) X's full sister;
(2) and X's half sister from the same father;
provided that X's brother, who would form a couniversal heir (def: LIO.3) with them (A: in which case they would not be a universal heir through another) does not exist, and provided that either of the above two females exists with X's daughter( s) or son's daughter(s) , and on down (A: these being the someone else needed to make them a universal heir through another) (al-Mawarithfialshari'a al-Islamiyya (y80), 99,102,103).
The universal heir is a person who takes the whole estate if there is no other heir, or takes any of it that is in excess of the obligatory portions which are given to heirs, when they also exist
If there is nothing in excess of the heirs' obligatory shares, then the universal heir does not receive anything.
Their order (A: these being the universal heirs by themselves (def: LIO.2)) in closeness to X (A: such that the eXIstence of someone at the first of the list eliminates the universal heirship of anyone following him) is:
(1) X's son;
(2) X's son's son;
(3) X'sson's son's son, and on down, no matter how many generations;
(4) X's father;
(5) X's father's father;
(6) X's father's father's father, and on up, no matter how many generations;
(7) X's full brother;
(8) X's half brother from the same father;
(9) the son of X's full brother;
(10) the son of X's half brother from the same father;
(11) the brother of X's father;
(12) the son of the brother of X's father, this son's son, and on down;
(13) the brother of X's father's father;
(14) and then (13)'s son, this son's son, and on down.
When there is no universal heir, and no heir inheriting an obligatory portion that the excess estate could be redistributed to (dis: L9.1), then the estate is divided between the extended family members (def: lA,S) such that each of them takes the place of the person through whom they are related to X
For example:
(1) X's daughter's child takes the share of X's qaughter;
(2) X's sister's child takes the share of X's sister;
(3) X's brothers' daughters take the share of the brothers;
(4) the daughters of X's father's brother take the latter's share;
(5) X's mother's father takes her share;
(6) X's mother's brother or sister takes her share;
(7) and X's father's half brother or sister from the same mother takes the father's share.
No universal heir may inherit (A: a universal share) when there is a universal heir who is closer to X than he is.
No one constitutes a co-universal heir (def: L10.3) with his sister except:
(I) X's son (N: with X's daughter);
(2) X's son's son (N: with X's son's daughter);
(3) and X's brother (A: with X's sister).
Each of them constitutes a co-universal heir with his sister, the male receiving the pOJ;tion of two females.
(N: In addition to being co-universal heir with X's son's daughter «2) above),) X's son's son (N: or son's son's son, and on down) is (n: also) couniversal heir with the daughters of his father's brother who are of the same generation as he, and those of his father's sisters and the daughters of his father's father's brother(s) who are above him (N:
of a closer generation to X), provided they (A:
those closer to X than he) have no obligatory shares coming
(N: Because if they do, then they take their share and are not co-universal heirs with him
This may be illustrated by the following example:
(1) X's husband, daughter, son's daughter, son's son's daughter, and son's son's son:
shares: 12 husband 1/4 (dis: L6.3(2)) 3 daughter 1/2 (dis: L6.7(1)) 6 son's daughter 1/6 (dis: L6.9) 2 son's son's daughter 1 son's son's son universal 1 But if there were two of X's daughters in the above case, we would have to divide the estate as follows:
shares: 12 husband 3 2 daughters 2/3 (dis: L6.7(2))) 8 Here, the son's daughter does not have an obligatory share coming, since the two daughters have taken the full two-thirds, and so the son's daughter (dis: text above) is co-universal heir with the son's son's daughter and son's son's son:
son's daughter 1 son's son's daughter universal 1 son's son's son 1
A person who is a universal heir does not participate in the .share of someone who has an obligatory share coming, except in the following case (al-musharraka):
Given X's husband, mother (or grand-mother, for the result is the same), two half brothers from the same mother, and a full brother:
shares: 6 husband 1/2 (dis: L6.3(1)) 3 mother 1/6 (dis: L6.6(2)) 1 2 half brothers 1/3 (dis: L6:20(2)) 2 in which case the estate has been used up and nothing remains for the brother:
full brother universal o (N: But the full brother is closer to X than the half brothers, and should not be eliminated by their share, so an exception is made and the half brothers and full brother are made co-universal heirs:)
shares: 6 husband 3 mother 1 2 half brothers universal 2 full brothers universal 2 (N: It is important to remember in such eases that the universal share is divided so the males and females receive equal shares (dis: L6.20(2)).)
When a pe(son both deserves an obligatory share and is a universal heir, then he inherits both of these.
An example is when the son of X's father's brother (A: who is universal heir (dis: L6.22(8))) is also X's husband (A: deserving· a husband's share (dis: L6.3)); or when the son of X's father's brother is also X's half brother from the same mother.
*
(0: The legal basis for marriage, prior to scholarly consensus (ijma'), is such Koranic Who Should Marry mI.I verses as.
""Marry such women as seem good to you"" (Koran 4:3), and hadiths such as, ""Marry one another, that you may increase,"" which was related by Shafi'i.)
A man who needs to marry (0: because of desire for sexual intercourse) and has enough money (0: for the brides's marriage payment (mahr, def: m8), for clothiI!g for the season of the year in which he marries, and the expenditures of one day) is recommended to do so (0: to protect his religion, no matter whether he is occupied with religious devotions or not)
One who needs to marry but does not have enough to pay for these expenses is recommended not to marry, but rather to suppress his sexual desire by fasting (0: and if it is not suppressed by fasting, then he should marry, borrowing the money to pay the bride's marriage payment if she will not accept his owing it to her).
It is offensive for someone who does not need marriage (0: being undesirous of it because of a physical defect or other reason) to marry when he does not have enough money to cover the expenses
Marriage is not offensive for a man who has enough money, even when there is something that might prevent him from doing so such as old age or a chronic illness, though it is superior for him to devote himself to worship instead
If he does not devote himself to worship (0: being occupied with enjoyments and not thinking of worship at all) then marriage is better (0: since someone whose lack of sexual desire is not due to a physical defect may later have such desire, as opposed to someone whose lack of desire is because of such a defect, to whom this will not happen).
As for a woman, if she needs to marry, it is recommended for her to do so, though if she does not, (0; not feeling any sexual desire within herself, and she is engaged in worship,) then it is offensive for her to do so
(N: Though such a woman needs a husband or unmarriageable relative to travel and so forth (dis: m10.3).)
DESIRABLE CHARACfERISTICS IN A BRIDE mlA It is recommended for a man to marry a virgin (0: unless there is a reason not to, such as sexual incapacity or needing someone to take care of his children) (A: though it is permissible to marry a nonvirgin even if she has not previously married (dis: p12.1(3(n:)))) who is fertile (0:
which in a virgin is inferable from her relatives), attractive, intelligent, religious, of a good family, and not a close relative
(0: In Sharh al-Minhaj, Ibn Hajar notes that when one must choose between the above characteristics, the order of preference should be:
(1) religiousness, which takes precedence over anything else;
(2) intelligence;
(3) a good character and disposition;
(4) fertility;
(5) a good family;
(6) virginity;
(7) beauty;
(8) and then that which fulfills some other relevant interest.)
*
(0: It is recommended for a guardian to offer his marriageable female charges in marriage to righteous men
It is sunna:
(1) to intend by one's marriage to fulfill the sunna and protect one's religion, since one is only rewarded for it if one intends some form of obedience to Allah, such as remaining chaste or having a pious son;
(2) for the marriage contract to be made in a mosque;
(3) and for it to take place on Friday, at the first of the day, and in the month of Shawwal.)
LOOKING AT ONE'S PROSPECTIVE BRIDE The sunna when one wants to marry a woman is to look at her face and hands (0: as the face indicates her beauty, and the hands her robustness of body
Tirmidhi reports from alMughira that when he got engaged to a woman, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Look at her, for it is likelier to last between you,"" meaning that love is likelier to last, and tenderness) before getting engaged to her, even if the woman does not give her permission to do so (0:
since the Lawgiver's permission is sufficient).
Such a person is entitled to repeat looking at her (A: as many times as he Wishes) (0: when he needs to make sure of how she looks, so he does not come to have regrets after getti,ng married.
And she is entitled to do the same) but he may not look at other than her face and hands
(0: If unable to go see her, he should send a reliable woman to go see her for him, as such a woman would be likely to notice more than he, and she may describe her to him, this being an exception to the unlawfulness of describing a woman to a man who is not one of her unmarriageable kin.)
LOOKING AT MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX It is unlawfulfor a man to look at a woman who is not his wife or one of his un marriageable kin (def: m6.1) (0: there being no difference in this between the face and hands or some other part of a woman (N: if it is uncovered), though part excludes her voice, which is not unlawful to listen to as long as temptation is unlikely
Allah Most High says, ""Tell believers to lower their gaze"" (Koran 24:30).
A majority of scholars (n: with the exception of some Hanafis
as at m2.8 below) have been recorded as holding that it is unlawful for women to leave the house with faces unveiled, whether or not there is likelihood of temptation
When there is likelihood of temptation, scholars unanimously concur that it is unlawful, temptation meaning anything that leads to sexual intercourse or its usual preliminaries
As for when there is real need (dis: m2.11), looking is not unlawful, provided temptation is unlikely).
(A: Being alone with a woman who is not one's wife or unmarriageable kin is absolutely unlawful, though if there are two women and a man, the man and the woman are no longer considered alone.)
A man may look at his wife (N: or vice versa) including her nakedness (def: f5.3), though it is offensive for either husband or wife to look at the other's genitals.
A man may look at his unmarriageable female relatives (def: m6.1), and a woman look at her unmarriageable male relatives (m6.2), viewing any part of the body (N: that shows e.g
while they are working) except what is between the navel and knees.
As for a woman looking at to: a man) other than her husband or unmarriageable male relatives, it is unlawful, just as a man's looking at her is.
It is unlawful for a woman to show any part of her body to an adolescent boy or a non-Muslim woman (n: unless the latter is her kinswoman (def: m6.1(1-12)), in which case it is permissible (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfa;: al-Minhaj (y73), 3.132))).
(n: The following rulings from theHanafi school have been added here as a dispensation (dis: c6.3).)
(Ahmad Quduri:)
(1) It is not permissible for a man to look at a woman who is not his wife or unmarriageab1e relative except for her face and hands «Maydani:)
because of the necessity of her need to deal with men in giving and taking and the like)
If a man is not safe from lust, he may not look at her face except when it is demanded by necessity.
(2) A man may look at the whole body of another man except for what is between the navel and (A: including) the knees (A: as the knees are considered nakedness by Hanafis
though not by Shafi'is).
(3) A woman may look at the parts of a man that another man is permitted to look at.
(4) A woman may look at the parts of another woman that a man is permitted to look at of another man.
(al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88) , 4.162-63)
Whenever looking is unlawful, so is touching (0: whenever meaning the part; i.e
whatever is unlawful to look at is also unlawful to touch).
(N: And any permissible looking that leads to temptation is unlawful.) (A: Ordinary people sometimes mistakenly assume that theHanafi position that touching a woman does not nullify one's ablution (wudu) means they permit men shaking hands with women who are not wives or unmarriageable relatives, something which is unlawful, and which neither the Hanafi school nor any other holds to be permissible.)
DOCTORS TREATING PATIENTS OFHIE OPPOSITE SEX Both (0: looking and touching) are permissible for medicinal bloodletting, cupping, and medical treatment (N: when there is real need
A Muslim woman needing medical attention must be treated by a Muslim woman doctor, or if there is none, then by a non-Muslim woman doctor
If there is none, then a male Muslim doctor may treat her, while if none of the above are available, then a male non-Muslim doctor
If the doctor is of the opposite sex, her husband or an unmarriageable male relative (def: m6.2) must be present
It is obligatory to observe this order in selecting a doctor)
(A: The same rules apply to Muslim men with regard to having a doctor of the same sex and religion: the same sex takes precedence over the same religion.)
(0: Necessary treatment of her face or hands permits looking at either
As for other parts of the body, the criterion for permissibility is the severity of the need for treatment, meaning that there must be an ailment as severe as those permitting dry ablution (def: e12.9), and if the part concerned is the genitals, the need must be even more acute (N: though it includes gynecological examinations for women with fertility problems, which are permissible).
PERMISSIBLE LOOKING AT A MARRIAGEABLEMEMBER OF THE OPPOSITE SEX Looking at a woman is permissible for testimony in court, for commercial dealings (0: with a marriageable man, or noncommercial dealings, as when he wishes to marry her), and so forth (0:
such as obligatory or recommended learning (def:
a4, a6)), in which cases looking is permissible to the degree required
(0: It is not permissible to exceed the degree required, as when looking at part of the face is sufficient, in which case looking at the rest of it is not permissible, as it exceeds the amount required.)
RULES FOR PROPOSING MARRIAGE ORACCEPTING A PROPOSAL It is unlawful to propose marriage, openly or allusively, to another's wife when she is in the waiting period of an unfinalized (A: i.e
less than threefold (dis: n9.0(N: )) divorce (0: because she is still considered as a wife is).
As for a woman who is in any of the following types of waiting period (def: n9), it is unlawful for a suitor to propose openly to her, though not for him to hint at it:
(1) the waiting period of a finalized (threefold) divorce;
(2) the waiting period after having had her husband release her for payment (def: n5);
(3) or the waiting period to remarry after her husband's death (def: n9.11).
(0: Proposing allusively is only permissible in such cases because of the husband's lack of authority over her
To propose openly means to decisively indicate one's desire to wed, such as by saying, ""I want to marry you,"" while to propose allusively means to employ words that could indicate a desire to marry or something else, such as ""1 am desirous of you,"" or ""You are beautiful,"" for these do not necessarily imply a desire for marriage.)
(0: The rulings regarding the lawfulness or unlawfulness of a woman's accepting a marriage proposal are the same as those for proposing to her (def: m2.12-13).)
It is unlawful to propose marriage to a woman to whom another has already done so, if the first proposal has been openly accepted, unless the first suitor gives his permission
(0:
And like his permission in the legality of another proposing to her is when the first suitor has shown himself disinclined, such as by having given up, or when enough time has elapsed to give others the impression that he no longer wants to marry, or when the woman's guardian (def: m3.4) becomes averse to him.) But if the first suitor's proposal was not openly accepted, then a second suitor may propose to her
(0: It is also permissible for one to take the initiative and propose to a woman when one does not know whether or not she is engaged, or whether the first proposal was plainly accepted or not.)
Whoever is asked about what kind of person a prospective groom is should truthfully mention his failings (0: meaning his defects and mistakes
This is obligatory (N: but only to the degree necessary (A: to protect the person who is asking)), as Nawawi has stated in al-Adhkar (dis:r2.20(2))).
It is .recommended to give a short address when (0: i.e
before) making a marriage proposal (0: address meaning words begun by praising Allah and concluded with a supplication and moral exhortation
If one wants to be brief, one may simply say, ""Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)
I enjoin you to fear Allah
I have come to you to engage your noblest [A: mentioning her name]."" Then her guardian gives a similar address).
It is also recommended to give another brief address when (0: i.e
just before) the marriage contract is made, saying (0: i.e
it is recommended for the guardian to say, before the contract is formally effected), ""I marry her to you according to the command of Allah Most High, to kindly retain or graciously release."" *
Marriage has integrals (A: which are five in number:
(a) the spoken form;
(b) the witnesses;
(c) the bride's guardian;
(d) the groom;
(e) and the bride).
THE SPOKEN FORM The first integral is the explicitly stated spoken form (0: comprising a spoken offer by the guardian and its acceptance by the groom, like other, nonmarital transactions, Its necessary conditions are the same as those of valid sale (def:k1.1(a,b,c,d,e))), the form being valid in languages other than Arabic even when one is able to speak Arabic, The spoken form is not valid if allusive
Nor is it valid without:
(a) a statement (N: from the guardian) that effects it, namely ""I marry you"" (n: i,e
to her, the Arabic zawwaja meaning to marry someone to another);
(b) and an immediate spoken acceptance (A: by the groom), namely ""I marry her,"" or HI accept her marriage."" (N: The spoken form, when the other integrals exist, is what is meant by the term marriage contract, not an actual written document, though it is sunna to write it
Extraneous conditions added to the marriage contract, such as that the husband observe monogamy or the like, are not binding, being meaningless, though they do not invalidate the marriage agreement, which remains effective
)
THE WITNESSES The second integral is that the marriage have witnesses, it not being valid unless two witnesses are present who are:
(a) male (0: since a marriage witnessed by a man and two women would not be valid (A:
though it would be valid in the Hanafi school));
(b) sound of hearing;
(c) sound 9f eyesight;
(d) familiar with the language of the two contracting parties;
(e) Muslims;
(f) and upright (def: O24.4) witnesses, even if their uprightness is merely apparent (0: since marriages take place among average, common people, and if they were made responsible to know the inward uprightness of witnesses, it would cause delays and difficulties
Apparent uprightness means the person is outwardly known to be upright, even if he is inwardly unknown).
THE BRIDE'S GUARDIAN The third integral is the (A: bride's) guardian (0: since a woman may not conduct her own marriage
Ibn Majah relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Let no woman marry a woman to another or marry herself to another
"" Daraqutni related this hadith with a chain of transmission meeting the standards of Bukhari and Muslim)
The marriage agreement is not valid without a guardian who is:
(a) male;
(b) legally responsible (mukallaf, def: c8.l);
(c) Muslim;
(d) upright (def: O24.4);
(e) and of sound judgement.
The following may not be a bride's guardian:
(1) (non-(a) above) a woman;
(2) (non-(b)) a child or insane person;
(3) (non-(c)) a non-Muslim;
(4) (non-(d)) a corrupt person (def: O24.3) (0: though the opinion of most later scholars is that a corrupt person may be a guardian);
(5) or (non-(e)) someone whose judgement is unsound because of old age or weakmindedness (0: whether innate or acquired
Old age includes someone with severe pain or illnesses which distract him from realizing what is most advantageous for his charge and her interests, since such a person would be incapable oflearninghow suitors really are and whether they are an appropriate match (def: m4) for the bride)
It is of no consequence if the guardian is blind.
A non-Muslim responsible for a non-Muslim bride may be her guardian (0: provided he does not violate the rules of his own religion), though a Muslim may not .
(n: If the bride has no Muslim guardian and there is no Islamic magistrate to act as one, she may authorize a male Muslim who has the qualifications of an Islamic judge (def: O22.1)--or ifthere is none, then a male Muslim who is legally upright (def: O24.4)-to act as her guardian in marrying her to the groom (Mughni al-rnuhtaj ita rna'rifa rna'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 3.147).)
THE ORDER OF LAWFUL GUARDIANSHIPAMONG THE BRIDE'S RELATIVES The male relatives of a free woman are the Ones who may marry her to another, and the order (0: as to who has the right to be her guardian) is her:
(1) father;
(2) father's father (0: and on up);
(3) brother;
(4) brother's son;
(5) father's brother;
(6) her father's brother's son (0: and so on, in the same order as the universal heirs in estate division (def: L10.6(12-14));
(7) and then the Islamic magistrate (A: i.e.
the judge (qadi)).
None of the above may marry her to someone when a family member higher on the list exists
If there are two of equal standing (A: two brothers, for example) and one is related to her through two parents while the other is related to her through the father alone, then the one related to her through both parents is the guardian
If both are equal in this respect, precedence is given to the oldest, most learned in Sacred Law, and most godfearing.
But if the other (A: less deserving of two would-be guardians who are of equal affiliation to her) marries her to the groom, the marriage is valid
If both insist on being the one, they draw lots to see who will do it, though if the loser marries her to the groom, the marriage is also legally valid,
If a guardian does not have the right to be a guardian because of the existence of one of the above-mentioned preventives (dis: m3.4(1-5)), the guardianship devolves to the next family member in the m3.7 order oflawful guardians.
THE BRIDE'S RIGHT TO MARRY A SUITABLEMATCH OF HER CHOICE Whenever a free woman asks to marry a suitor who is a suitable match (def: m4) (0: by telling her guardian, ""Marry me to him""), the guardian must marry her to him (0: whether she is a virgin or nonvirgin, and whether prepubescent or not)
The Islamic magistrate (A: i.e
judge) marries her to such a groom if the guardian:
(1) in the presence of the magistrate refuses to marry her to the groom;
(2) is on a journey farther than 81 km.lSO mi.
from home;
(3) or is in a state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram) (0: for hajj, 'umra, or both) (dis: j3.20).
In such eases, the guardianship does not devolve to the next most eligible in the m3.7 order of lawful guardians
If (non-(2) above) the guardian is on a journey of less than 81 km./SO mi
from home, the bride may not be married to someone without the guardian's leave.
COMMISSIONING ANOTHER TO EFFECT THEMARRIAGE AGREEMENT The guardian may commISSion another (def: k17.S-6) to marry his charge to someone, though it is not permissible to commission someone who himself lacks the requisite conditions (m3.4(a,b,c,d,e)) to be a guardian.
The groom too may commission someone to accept the marriage agreement on his behalf, provided the person commissioned is someone who would be legally entitled to accept such a marriage for himself
(0: A child, for example, may not accept a marriage for himself, let alone someone else, nor maya woman be commissioned for this, nor someone in a state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram).)
Neither the guardian of the bride nor his agent may state the marriage offer (def: m3.2(a)) for the guardian's own marriage (A: to her)
If her guardian wants to marry her, as when, for example, he is the son of her father's brother, then he lets a different son of the father's brother stand in as guardian
If there is no one in his own degree (A: of relation to her), then the Islamic judge stands in as guardian.
No one may state both the proposal and its acceptance (def: m3.2(a,b)) for one marriage, except the bride's grandfather when marrying his son's daughter to his (A: other) son's son.
GUARDIANS WHO MAY MARRY A VIRGINTO A MAN WITHOUT HER CONSENT Guardians are of two types, those who may compel their female charges to marry someone, and those who may not.
(1) The only guardians who may compel their charge to marry are a virgin bride's father or father's father, compel meaning to marry her to a suitable match (def: m4) without her consent.
(2) Those who may not compel her are not entitled to marry her to someone unless she accepts and gives her permission.
Whenever the bride is a virgin, the father or father's father may marry her to someone without her permission, though it is recommended to ask her permission if she has reached puberty
A virgin's silence is considered as permission.
As for the nonvirgin of sound mind, no one may marry her to another after she has reached puberty without her express permission, no matter whether the guardian is the father, father's father, or someone else.
No guardian may marry a woman to someone who is not a suitable match (def: m4) without her acceptance and the acceptance of all who can be guardians (def: m3.7)
If the Islamic magistrate is her guardian, he may not under any circumstances marry her to someone who is not a suitable match for her.
If the bride selects a suitor who is not a suitable match for her, the guardian is not obliged to marry her to him
If she selects a suitable match but her guardian chooses a different suitor who is also a suitable match, then the man chosen by the guardian takes precedence if the guardian is one who may lawfully compel her to marry (def:m3.13(1)), while the one she selects takes precedence when the guardian may not lawfully compel her to marry (m3.13(2)).
*
(N: The definition of a suitable match should not be misunderstood as a recommendation for whom to marry
It is merely a legal restriction to protect a woman's interests when the father or grandfather of a virgin marry her to someone without her consent (dis: m3.13,15)
As for when she wishes to marry someone who is not a suitable match, and her guardian has no objection, there is nothing wrong or offensive in her doing so.)
Suitability concerns lineage, religiousness, profession, and being free of defects that permit annulling the marriage contract (def: m7)
(N: As for color, it is of no consideration in suitability.)
The following are not suitable matches for one another:
(1) a non-Arab man for an Arab woman (0:
because of the hadith that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Allah has chosen the Arabs above others"");
(2) a corrupt man (def: O24.3) for a virtuous woman (0: though it is sufficient for the would-be husband to have given up his wrongdoing);
(3) a man of a lowly profession for the daughter of someone with a higher profession, such as a tailor wanting to marry a merchant's daughter (A: though an Islamic scholar is a suitable match for any level whatever);
(4) or someone with a defect that permits annulling the marriage (def: m7) for someone without such defects.
Being wealthy has nothing to do with suitability (0: for money comes and goes, and those with self-respect and intelligence do not take pride in it), nor does being elderly.
The marriage agreement is invalid whenever a guardian marries his charge to someone who is not a suitable match for her, if done without both her acceptance and the acceptance of all who are eligible as guardians (def: m3
7) and are on the guardian's level of relation to her (A:
such as his brothers)
But if both these parties agree, then the bride's relatives further from her than the guardian may not object.
When the father or father's father see that the best advantage is to be served by marrying a young boy (or girl) to someone, they may do so, though they are not entitled to marry the child to someone with a physical defect (dis: m7) that legally permits annulment of the marriage.
If a person is foolhardy (safih, def:
k13.1(A:) or continuously insane, but needs to marry, then his father, grandfather, or the Islamic magistrate may marry him to someone
If they grant permission to the foolhardy person to marry himself, his marriage is valid, though if he does so without their leave, it is invalid.
It is obligatory for a woman to let her husband have sex with her immediately when:
(a) he asks her;
(b) at home (0: home meaning the place in which he is currently staying, even if being lent to him or rented);
(c) and she can physically endure it.
(d) (0: Another condition that should be added is that her marriage payment (mahr, def:
mS) has been received or deferred to a term not yet expired.
As for when sex with her is not possible, such that having it would entail manifest harm to her, then she is not obliged to comply.)
If she asks him to wait, she is awaited, to a maximum of three days
(0: She does not ask to wait because of not having finished her period or postnatal bleeding, for there is no physical harm entailed in her complying as she is, though if she fears that such foreplay with him will lead to actual copulation (A: which is unlawful under such circumstances), then she may refuse, as that is not obligatory)
(n: w45 discusses wives' other duties to husbands.)
THE WIFE'S RIGHT TO INTERCOURSE (Imam Ghazali:) One should make love to one's wife every four nights, as is fairest, since the number of wives one may have is four, and one may wait this long to do so, though one should make love to her more or less than this, according to the amount she needs to remain chaste and free of want for it (N: if one is able), since it is obligatory for a husband to enable her to keep chaste (Ihya' 'uium ai-din (y39), 2.46).
THE WEDDING NIGHT The first time they sleep together, it is recommended for the husband to grasp his bride's forelock and supplicate Allah for an increase in blessings (baraka) (0: such as by saying, ""May Allah bless each of us in their partner"").
THE HUSBAND'S RIGHTS A husband possesses full right to enjoy his wife's person (A: from the top of her head to the bottoms of her feet, though anal intercourse (dis:p75.20) is absolutely unlawful) in what does not physically harm her.
He is entitled to take her with him when he travels.
CONTRACEPTION The husband is permitted to practice coitus interruptus (n: w46 discusses the relation of this to other methods of contraception) in lovemaking with his wife (0: meaning to make love to her until he feels an impending orgasm, when he withdraws to ejaculate outside the vagina) though it is better not to (0: it being considered offensive in our school (dis: w46.2) because it is a means to prevent reproduction).
The husband is entitled to insist that his wife undertake both the measures necessary for having sex with her such as the purificatory bath (ghusl) after her monthly period, and those necessary to full enjoyment of her such as the purificatory bath after major ritual impurity Ganaba), shaving her private parts, and removing filth.
*
(N: It is unlawful for one to marry one's ancestors, descendants, parents' descendants, or the first generation of one's grandparent's offspring, meaning one's paternal or maternal aunts (n: or uncles, if one is female)
One's unmarriageable kin (mahram) are those one is forbidden to marry forever.)
It is unlawful (0: meaning both sinful and legally invalid) for a man to marry his:
(1) mother;
(2) grandmothers (0: from his mother's or father's side) and on up;
(3) daughters;
(4) daughters of his children, children's children, and on down;
(5) sisters;
(6) daughters of brothers or sisters, their children's daughters, and on down;
(7) mother's sisters, grandmother'S sisters, and on up;
(8) father's sisters, father's father's sisters, and on up;
(9) wife's mother;
(10) wife's grandmother;
(11) the wives of his father, father's father, and on up;
(12) the wives of his children, children's children, and on down;
(all of whom «9) through (12)) are unlawful for him to marry by the mere fact of marriage
As for a man's wife's daughter (N: from a different husband), she is not unlawful for him to marry until he has had sexual intercourse with her mother.
Were he to divorce the mother before intercourse, it would be permissible for him to marry the daughter) (13) (n: and all those considered as unmarriageable kin to him through his having been breast-fed by a particular wet nurse in infancy, as at n12.2).
(N: It is unlawful and invalid for a woman to marry her:
(1) father, grandfather, and on up;
(2) son, son's son, daughter's son, and on down;
(3) brother;
(4) father's brother, meaning the brother of any male ancestor;
(5) mother's brother, meaning the brother of any female ancestor;
(6) brother's son, sister's son, or any other descendants of brothers or sisters;
(7) the husband of her mother, grandmother, and on up;
(8) the husband of her daughter or other female descendant;
(9) her husband's father, grandfather, and on up, and husband's son and descendants;
(10) (n: and unmarriageable kin to her through her having been breast·fed by a particular wet nurse in infancy, as at n12.2).
It is unlawful for a man to marry both:
(1) a woman and her sister;
(2) a woman and her father's sister;
(3) or a woman and her mother's sister.
(N: But if a man is no longer married to one of the above and the waiting period (def: n9) has expired, then he may marry the other.)
The same categories of relatives who are unlawful for one to marry because of one's kinship relation to them are also unlawful to one by ""foster relationship,"" through having been breast-fed by a particular wet nurse in infancy (dis: n12.2) (N: since someone nursed in infancy by a woman is prohibited to marry those whom her offspring and her husband's offspring are prohibited to marry).
It is unlawful for a Muslim man to marry:
(1) a Zoroastrian woman;
(2) an idol worshipper;
(3) an apostate from Islam (murtadd, def: oS);
(4) or a woman with one parent
who is Jewish or Christian, while the other is Zoroastrian.
(5) (N: It is not lawful or valid for a Muslim man to be married to any woman who is not either a Muslim, Christian, or Jew; nor is it lawful or valid for a Muslim woman to be married to anyone besides a Muslim.)
It is unlawful for a man who has divorced his wife by public imprecation (def: nll) to remarry her (N: though she is not considered his unmarriageable kin (mahram), and he may not look at or be alone with her).
It is unlawful to marry a woman who is in a state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram, def: j3) (N: for hajj or 'umra), or in her waiting period (def: n9) after marriage to another.
It is unlawful for a free man to marry more than four women
It is fitter to confine oneself to just one.
The following types of marriage are legally invalid:
(1) to marry by ""trading daughters [or sisters]"" (A: such that the marriage of each by the guardian of the other supposedly takes the place of the woman's marriage payment (mahr));
(2) to have a ""temporary marriage"" (mut'a), meaning to marry a woman for a stipulated period (0: whether specified, such as a month, or unknown, such as ""until So-and-so comes"");
(3) or to marry a woman after her threefold divorce solely to cohabit and thus permit her (dis:
n7.7) to remarry her previous husband (A: which is an enormity (dis: p29)), though if the marriage agreement is made for this reason but does not expressly stipulate it, then it is legally valid (dis:
c5.2).
*
In any of the following circumstances, the husband or wife has the option to annul the marriage agreement immediately, if this is done in the presence of the Islamic magistrate (0: or a third party chosen to judge between them (dis: 021.4), provided that he is a mujtahid (def: O22.1(d)) and there is no Islamic judge), even when the partner annulling the marriage has the same defect whose existence in the spouse has motivated him or her to annul it (0: as when, for example, both are insane):
(1) one finds that the spouse is not sane, or has elephantiasis or leprosy;
(2) the husband finds that the wife's vagina is closed or nearly so because of an abnormal growth of flesh or bone;
(3) or the wife finds that the husband is impotent, or that his penis has been dissevered.
The agreement may also be annulled when the defect occurs after making the marriage agreement, except when a husband's impotence occurs after he has had sexual intercourse with his wife, in which case annulment is no longer possible.
When a husband (N: impotent from the beginning) acknowledges his impotence, the magistrate postpones action on the case for one year from the day it is first submitted to his consideration
If the husband has intercourse with her during the year, then she is not entitled to annul the marriage, though if he does not, then she may annul it
In cases of impotence, her above-mentioned prerogative of annulling the marriage ""immediately"" means after this period of one year.
When a marriage is annulled before sexual intercourse, the woman does not receive her marriage payment (mahr) (N: no matter whether the defect is in her or in him (A: as opposed to divorce before sexual intercourse, as discussed at mS
7)).
When a marriage is annulled after intercourse because of a defect that occurred after it, the full marriage payment stipulated by their agreement must be pajd to her.
When a marriage is annulled (N: after sexual intercourse) because of a defect that occurred before intercourse (0: whether simultaneously with the marriage agreement or after it but before intercourse), then the bride is only given the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides (def: m8.8).
If any of the following occurs before intercourse has taken place, then the marriage is immediately annulled:
(1) one of a couple who are idolators becomcs a Muslim;
(2) one of a Zoroastrian couple becomes Muslim;
(3) the wife of a Jew or Christian becomes a Muslim;
(4) both husband and wife lcave Islam;
(5) or one of them does.
But when one of the above things
happens after intercourse, then a waiting period (def: n9) must intervene before the marriage is annulled
If both husband and wife (A: are, or) become Muslim before the waiting period finishes, then their marriage continues
And if not, then the marriage is considered to have been over since the change of religion first took place.
When a (A: non-Muslim) man who has more than four wives becomes Muslim, he is obliged to choose just four of them (A: and the others' marriages are annulled).
(0: The marriage payment is the money or property a husband must pay a woman to marry her.)
It is sunna to name the amount of the marriage payment in the marriage agreement (0: to prevent discord)
If it is not mentioned, it does not hurt (0: the validity of the marriage, though if unmentioned in the agreement, it is considered to be the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides (def: m8.8)
There is complete scholarly consensus on the validity of a contraet that does not mention it, though it is offensive not to).
A guardian may not marry his prepubescent daughter to someone for less than the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides, nor marry his prepubescent son to a female who is given more than the amount typically received
If he does either of these, the amount stipulated is void and the amount typically received is paid instead (0: in both these cases, as a necessary condition for the validity of the marriage contract).
Nor maya foolhardy man (def: k13.1 (A:)) marry a woman for more than the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides.
Anything that may be lawfully used as a price (def: k2) may be given as marriage payment.
It may be paid immediately or deferred, and may be an individual article ('ayn), a financial obligation (dayn), or the use or benefit of something.
The bride possesses the marriage payment when it has been expressly stipulated (0: in the marriage agreement, whether validly stipulated or invalidly
If valid, she owns the amount stated, while if invalid, she owns the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides (def: m8.8)
She may dispose of it when she accepts it, and her ownership of it is finalized when her husband has sexual intercourse with her (0: after which none of it is refundable), or when one of them dies before they have had intercourse.
If payable immediately, the bride may refuse to have sexual intercourse until her husband gives her the marriage payment, though if she allows him to have intercourse with her before she accepts the amount, she may no longer refuse to have intercourse (N: but may demand the amount).
If the couple is separated (A: by having annulled the marriage (dis: m7.4)), before intercourse because of an act on the bride's part, as when she becomes a Muslim (0: 'and the husband remains non-Muslim), or she leaves Islam (0: and the husband remains Muslim), then she is not entitled to any of the marriage payment
But if it is because of an act on the husband's part, as when he becomes Muslim; leaves Islam, or divorces her, then she receives only half of the marriage payment;
or the husband may ask for half of it back (0: if she has already accepted it), provided the article given as payment still exists
If it does not, he receives half of the lowest market value of similar articles between the time of the marriage agreement and when the article ceased to exist
If the article was diminished while in the bride's possession, the husband has a choice between taking it back in its defective condition, or accepting half of its value.
THE AMOUNT TYPICALLY RECEIVED ASMARRIAGE PAYMENT BY SIMILAR BRIDES The amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides (mahr al-mith\) means that which would be desirable to a woman like her (0: a woman like the bride, under normal circumstances), like her meaning a woman of her relatives resembling her in such characteristics as age, intelligence, beauty, wealth, being virgin or nonvirgin, and in having the same hometown
(0:
Her relatives living therein are taken as the standard, and not those living elsewhere, since the amount typically received varies in different towns
Rafi'i holds that if all of them live in another town, they are nevertheless more suitable to be taken as the standard than nonfamiIy women from the same town.) If the bride is superior to them (0: respecting the above characteristics) or inferior, then this is taken into consideration (0:
meaning she deserves a marriage payment that suits how she is)
If she has no female relatives related to her through her father, then those like her refers to her maternal relatives (0: i.e
the mother's relatives, such as the bride's grandmother or mother's sister)
If none of the above exist, then the standard for comparison is the marriage payment of those women of the same town who resemble the bride.
WHEN A HUSBAND IS UNABLE TO PAYTHE MARRIAGE PAYMENT mB.9 When a husband proves financially unable to give his wife the marriage payment (A: if it has not been deferred) before the first time they have sexual intercourse, then the bride may annul the marriage, though if he proves unable afterwards, she may not.
If husband and wife disagree (A: in court.
when neither side has proof) as to whether he has given her (0: all, or part of) the marriage payment, then the wife's word is accepted over the husband's (dis: kB.2)
But if they disagree as to whether they have had sexual intercourse, the husband's word is accepted over the wife's.
A man is obliged to pay a woman the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar brides (def: m8.8) when the marriage was (N: consummated, but) invalid, or when a man forces a woman to fornicate with him
When a woman voluntarily fornicates with a man, she does not receive any marriage payment.
AMENITY PAYMENT Whenever a woman is divorced (0: before having had intercourse) and the marriage payment is reduced to one-half (dis: m8.7), she does not receive an amenity payment (def: below)
But she is entitled to one when the marriage payment is not reduced to one-half, such as when:
(1) she receives no marriage payment because of having allowed her guardian to choose a spouse for her and then having been divorced before intercourse and before any payment was stipulated;
(2) or when she receives the full marriage payment, as when she is divorced after intercourse.
An amenity payment is an amount (N: paid by the husband) determined by the Islamic judge through his own personal reasoning (0: it being obligatory that both the husband and wife agree to it, and sunna that it not be less than thirty dirhams (n: 88.94 grams of silver) or something worth that much, and that it amount to less than half the marriage payment), in view of the circumstances of both parties (0: such as how rich or poor the husband is, and the wife's lineage and other characteristics previously discussed).
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The wedding feast is a sunna (A: whose time never expires, though it is recommended to be after intercourse)
The sunna is for the meal to consist of a sheep or goat (shah, def: h2.S), though it is permissible to serve whatever food is readily available.
THE OBLIGATION TO ATTEND It is obligatory for whoever is invited to attend (0: and whoever does not respond to the invitation has disobeyed Allah and His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace)), whether fasting or not
If one attends, it is recommended to eat, though not obligatory
If one is performing a voluntary fast and attends, and it is not burdensome for the host, then it is best to complete one's fast, though if this would weigh on the host, it is better for one to eat
It is only obligatory to respond to such an invitation if the following conditions are met:
(a) that the host not have invited the rich to the exclusion of the poor;
(b) that the invitation be for the first day of the wedding feast, for if the host celebrates it for three days, it is not obligatory to respond if invited on the second day, and offensive to do so on the third;
(c) that the motive for attending not be fear of the host or desire for the prestige of having attended;
(d) that no one will be there who will hurt one, or whose company is unsuitable (0: because of their vileness, for example, such as people devoid of morals or character);
(e) and that there will be nothing blameworthy there such as flutes, wine, silk-covered sitting mats, or pictures of animate life (dis: p44) on the ceiling, walls, upright pillows (0: not those lying flat (dis: below)), or draperies; or clothing inscribed with something blameworthy, and so forth (0: since a person who attends in the presence of such things is as though accepting and acquiescing to what is condemnable)
But if the blameworthy thing will be removed through one's attending, or if the above-mentioned pictures are on the ground, a carpet, or pillows people lean upon (N: or other humiliated deployment, which is lawful), or if the living figures are decapitated, or there are pictures of (n: vegetative life such as) trees, then one must attend.
Strewing sweets and the like around at marriage agreements or picking them up is not offensive, but it is better not to.
It is obligatory for both husband and wife to treat each other well (0: since Allah Most High says, ""Women deserve the like of what they are obliged to give, in kindness"" (Koran 2:228)), and for each to give the other what they must (0:
meaning that both spouses are required to, the husband giving her the expenditures he is obliged to (def: mIl), and the wife giving herself to him and obeying him concerning his rights therein) without intentional delays or displaying resentment.
It is unlawful for a man to house two wives in the same lodgings unless they both agree.
PERMITTING ONE'S WIFE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE (A: A husband may permit his wife to leave the house for a lesson in Sacred Law, for invocation of Allah (dhikr), to see her female friends, or to go to any place in the town
A woman may not leave the city without her husband or a member of her unmarriageable kin (def: m6.2) accompanying her, unless the journey is obligatory, like the hajj
It is unlawful for her to travel otherwise, and unlawful for her husband to allow her to.) (n: In theHanafi school, it is not unlawful for her to travel beyond city limits without a husband or member of her unmarriageable kin unless the distance to her intended destination exceeds ca
77 km.!
48 mi
(al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab (y88), 1.105).)
The'husband may forbid his wife to leave the home (0: because of the hadith related by Bayhaqi that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to allow someone into her husband's house if he is opposed, or to go out if he is averse"").
But if one of her relatives dies, it is preferable to let her leave to visit them.
TAKING TURNS WITH WIVES A husband with more than one wife is not obliged to spend his nights with them in turns but may keep away from them (A: all) without sin.
But he may not begin spending the night with one of them unless he chooses her by drawing lots.
Whenever he spends the night with one wife, he is obliged to spend nights with the others, giving equal time to each one
When a husband intends to begin staying with his wives (A: after an intermission or absence), the wife whose lot is drawn is the first with whom he spends the night
All are included in taking turns, whether a wife in her period or postnatal bleeding, one who is ill, or one who cannot have intercourse because of a vaginal birth defect.
The minimal amount of time for one turn is a night and day, whether the day comes before or after the night; while the maximum is three days (A: and nights
The minimal turn for theHanafi and Maliki schools is whatever all can agree upon)
It may not be more than three days (A:
except by their leave)
The basic turn of someone who makes their living by day is the night, with the day being an adjunct, while for someone who makes their living at night, such as a watchman, the basic turn is the day.
In staying the night, the husband is not obliged to have sexual intercourse with the wife, though it is recommended to have intercourse (and share all other marital enjoyments) with all one's wives on an equal basis.
If the husband wants to take one of his wives on a journey with him, he may not do so unless he draws lots to see who it will be
If he draws lots (A: and takes the winner with him), then when he returns, he does not need to make up the turns which the other wives missed while he was on the journey
If he did not draw lots but just chose a wife to travel with him, this is a sin, and on his return he must give equal time to the other wives for the time they missed.
It is permissible for one of the wives to give her turn to another wife, if the husband agrees
If one of them gives him her turn, then he may give it to whomever he wants
If the wife later chooses to take her turn back, she returns to her usual place in the order of taking turns as it stands on the day she takes it back.
It is not permissible for a husband to enter the quarters of a wife during another wife's turn without business there, though if he stops in during the day because of something he needs, or during the night because of something absolutely necessary (A: such as bringing her supper), then he may enter
Otherwise he may not.
If he prolongs such a visit, then he is obliged to make up the turn of the wife whose turn it originally was.
If a man marries a new wife when he already has another, he interrupts the succession of turns to spend time with the new wife
If she is a virgin, then he stays with her seven days and need not make them up with the other wives
If she is a nonvirgin, then he may choose to either spend seven days with her and make up (0: to the others the number in excess of three days), or spend three days with her and not make up the time with the others
In such cases it is recommended to let the new wife choose the alternative she prefers
If the husband stays with her for seven days at her request
he must make up all seven days with the others, though if he stays seven days without her having requested it, he need only make up four with the others.
The husband is entitled to leave horne during the day to fulfill his needs and obligations.
DEALING WITH A REBELLIOUS WIFE When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness in his wife (nushuz
dis: p42) (0;
whether in words, as when she answers him coldly when she used to do so politely
or he asks her to come to bed and she refuses
contrary to her usual habit; or whether in acts, as when he finds her averse to him when she was previously kind and cheerful)
he warns her in words (0: without keeping from her or hitting her, for it may be that she has an excuse
The warning could be to tell her, ""Fear Allah concerning the rights you owe to me,"" or it could be to explain that rebelliousness nullifies his obligation to support her and give her a turn amongst other wives, or it could be to inform her, ""Your obeying me [def: (3) below] is religiously obligatory"")
If she commifs rebelliousness, he keeps from sleeping (0: and having sex) with her without words, and may hit her, but not in a way that injures her, meaning he may not (A: bruise her,) break bones, wound her, or cause blood to flow
(0: It is unlawful to strike another's face.) He may hit her whether she is rebellious only once or whether more than once, though a weaker opinion holds that he may not hit her unless there is repeated rebelliousness.
(N: To clarify this paragraph, we mention the following rulings:
(1) Both man and wife are obliged to treat each other kindly and graciously.
(2) It is not lawful for a wife to leave the house except by the permission of her husband, though she may do so without permission when there is a pressing necessity
Nor maya wife permit anyone to enter her husband's home unless he agrees, even their unmarriageable kin
Nor may she be alone with a nonfamily-member male, under any circumstances.
(3) It is obligatory for a wife to obey her husband as is customary in allowing him full lawful sexual enjoyment of her person
It is obligatory for the husband to enable her to remain chaste and free of want for sex if he is able
It is not obligatory for the wife to serve her husband (dis: w45.1); if she does so, it is voluntary charity.
(4) If the wife does not fulfill one of the above-mentioned obligations, she is termed ""rebellious"" (nashiz), and the husband takes the following steps to correct matters:
(a) admonition and advice, by explaining the unlawfulness of rebellion, its harmful effect on married life, and by listening to her viewpoint on the matter;
(b) if admonition is ineffectual, he keeps from her by not sleeping in bed with her, by which both learn the degree to which they need each other;
(c) if keeping from her is ineffectual, it is permissible for him to hit her if he believes that hitting her will bring her back to the right path, though if he does not think so, it is not permissible
His hitting her may not be in a way that injures her, and is his last recourse to save the family;
(d) if the disagreement does not end after all this, each partner chooses an arbitrator to solve the dispute by settlement, or divorce.)
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(0: Support means the financial rights of a wife.)
(A: The rulings of this section are not recommendations for how much to spend, but rather define the minimum permissible, which a stingy husband may not lawfully spend less than
Extra spending on one's wife is charity.)
FOOD The husband is obliged to provide his wife's sustenance day by day
If affluent, he must daily furnish her with one liter of the grain that is the staple food ofthe town in which they live
(0:
By the grain that is the staple food of the town, the author means if people eat it
If not, then whatever they eat, even ifit is hardened, dried white cheese.
If the wife asks for something other than the staple food of the town, the husband does not have to provide it for her, and if he gives her something besides the staple, she need not accept it
The staple food is what is obligatory.) If he is not affluent, then he is obliged to provide 0.51 liters of grain a day for his wife; while if between affluence and nonaffluence, he must provide 0.77 liters per day.
He is also obliged to cover the expenses of grinding it into flour and baking it into bread (0:
even when she is used to doing it herself, as there would otherwise be need for this expenditure), and to buy the foods that normally accompany bread to make it savory and agreeable, as much as is customary in the town of meat, oil, and so forth (0: such as dates, vinegar, and cheese
The obligatory measures differ with the seasons, it being necessary in each season to provide that which is proper to it
Fruits might predominate in one season, and thus be Obligatory
As for the obligatory amount of meat, one sees how much is customarily consumed in town per week).
If husband and wife agree that he give her compensation in place of the above-mentioned (0: grain and other things she is entitled to, the compensation being in money or clothing), this is permissible.
ARTICLES FOR PERSONAl.
HYGIENE
The wife in entitled to what she needs of oil for her hair, shampoo (lit
""sidr""), and a comb (0: to keep her hair clean, ofthe kind and amount th ..
tis customary in town, in order to prevent harm to herself
If oil scented with rose or violet is the custom of the town, it must be provided, though not things which are merely cosmetic and not for cleanliness, such as eyeliner or henna, which need not be provided, though the husband may provide them if he wishes
It is also obligatory for him to provide deodorant (lit
""litharge"") or the like to stop underarm odor if water and soap will not suffice), and the price of water for her purificatory bath (ghusl) when the reason for it is sexual intercourse or the end of postnatal bleeding, though not if the reason is the end of her monthly period or something else (dis: m11.1).
COSMETICS AND MEDICINE The husband is not obliged (N: but rather is recommended) to pay for his wife's cosmetics, doctor's fees, the purchase of medicine for her, and similar expenses (A: though he must pay for expenditures connected with childbirth).
CLOTIiING
A wife is entitled to the kind of clothing that is customary in town for dressing oneself (0:
and not just anything termed clothing will suffice.
What is obligatory is the amount necessary for the woman, which varies according to whether she is tall or short, thin or fat, and with the hot or cold climate of various towns
In the summertime, it is obligatory to provide her with a head covering, shift, underdrawers, shoes, and a shawl, because of her need to go out; and the same in the wintertime, plus a cloak quilted with cotton to protect her against the cold
If she needs two cloaks because of the extreme cold, it is obligatory to provide them
If she needs fuel because of the severity of the winter, it is obligatory to buy the necessary wood and coal) and (0: he must also provide the amount customary in town of the) bedding, blankets, and pillows that are suitable for someone of his ineome
(0: She also deserves cooking implements, and utensils for eating and drinking).
It is obligatory for the husband to give his wife the expenditures for her support at the first of each day, and to provide her clothing at the first of each season (0: meaning the beginning of winter and summer).
If he gives her clothing for a season, and it
wears out before the end of the season, he is not obliged to furnish new clothing, though if it lasts beyond the season, he is nevertheless obliged to provide new clothing for each new season
The wife is entitled to dispose of the clothing as she wishes, whether by selling it or other (0: means of disposal, such as giving it away, the reason being that it is her own property).
HOUSING AND SERVANTS The wife is entitled to housing of the same quality as that of similar women
(0: The standard of housing depends on the wife herself, while the standard for her clothing and support takes the state of the husband into consideration
The difference is because the expenditures for her support and c\othing become her own property and are not merely for her use, while housing is solely for use (N: meaning that while she can take compensation in phice of food or clothing and buy some other kind, she cannot rent a different house)
In any case, she is obliged to stay in the lodgings her husband arranges for her.)
If she had servants in her father's house, the husband is obliged to provide servants for her.
THE CONDITIONS THAT ENTITLE A WIFETO SUPPORT The husband is only obliged to support his wife when she gives herself to him or offers to, meaning she allows him full enjoyment of her person and does not refuse him sex at any time of the night or day
She is not entitled to support from her husband when:
(1) she is rebellious (nashiz, def:
m10.12(N:)) (0: meaning when she does not obey him) even if for a moment;
(2) she travels without his permission, or with his permission but for one of her own needs;
(3) she assumes ihram for hajj or 'umra (def: j3);
(4) or when she performs a voluntary fast without her husband's permission (0: though if he allows her to fast and does not ask her to break it, he must provide her support).
SUPPORT FOR A WOMAN IN HERPOSTMARITAL WAITING PERIOD As for a woman in her postmarital waiting period (def: n9), she is entitled to housing during it no matter if it is because of her husband's death, a divorce in which the husband may take her back, or a threefold, finalized divorce
As for her support (A: in terms of food) and clothing:
(1) it is not obligatory to provide her with it during the waiting period after (N: a threefold divorce, a release for payment (def: nS), or) her husband's death;
(2) it must be provided in the waiting period of a (A: not yet threefold) divorce in which her husband may take her back;
(3) and if a woman in the waiting period of a threefold divorce is pregnant, she is given support each day (A: until the child is born, after which she is entitled to support and wages for taking care of it), but if not pregnant, she is not entitled to support.
If the husband and wife disagree (A: in eourt, when neither has proof (dis: kS.2)) about whether she received her support from him, her word is aecepted over his
If they disagree as to whether she allowed him full enjoyment of her person, then his word is aecepted over hers unless he admits that she first made herself available to him, but claims she then refused, in which case her word is accepted over his.
Whenever the husband negleets to provide his wife's support for a period of time, the amount he should have paid remains a debt he owes to her.
The wife is entitled to annul their marriage whenever the husband is unable to provide her with the support obligatory for a nonaffluent person to pay (def: ml1.2) and provide clothing or housing for her.
H she wishes, she may choose to bear with him (0: supporting herself with her own money).
and it (0: the amount the husband is unable to pay) remains a financial obligation that he owes her
(0: If she does not wish to tolerate his financial incapacity, she cannot annul the marriage by herself, but must establish her husband's inability to support her before the Islamic judge, who annuls the marriage or allows her to do so, since he is the one who judges the matter (A: and if there is no judge, she has two persons (def: 021.4) decide)).)
The wife is not entitled to annul the marriage when the husband is unable to provide foods besides the staple food, support her servant, or provide the support that must be provided by an affluent person or person between affluence and nonaffluence (def: m11.2).
It is obligatory for one to support the persons listed below, whether one is rp.ale or female, when one has money in excess of one's own living expenses and (n: if male,) those of one's wife (0:
meaning enough for a day and night, oneself taking priority over others, followed by one's wife, who takes precedence over other family members):
(1) one's father, father's father, and on up;
(2) one's mother, grandmothers (from either parent's side) and on up (0: it making no difference what their religion is (A: since the religion of the family members is of no consequence in any of the rulings of this section));
(3) and one's children, male and female, their children, and on down.
(0: Money in excess of one's own living expenses and those of one's wife means one is obliged to sell (A: if necessary to fulfill the obligation to support the above-mentioned persons) whatever must be sold when one has to pay debts, including real estate and other property.)
But supporting the above-mentioned persons is only obligatory when:
(a) there is poverty (0: a restriction applicable to both support of one's ancestors and one's descendants, meaning that it is necessary in order for it to be obligatory to support one's ancestor that the ancestor be poor, since if he has enough money, one need not support him);
(b) and incapacity (0: to earn a living) due to chronic illness, being a child, or to mental illness.
(0: This condition is only applicable to support of one's offspring, not of one's ancestors
If an (A:
impoverished) ancestor (A: such as one's father) were able to earn a living from a job suitable to him, it would nevertheless be obligatory for one to support him, and he would not be called upon to gain a livelihood, because of the extreme respect due to him, as opposed to one's descendant, whom one need not support if the descendant is able to earn his own living, but who rather is called upon to do so himself.
The upshot is that the support of whoever has enough money for their own support is not obligatory upon another family member, no matter whether the former is mentally ill or sane, a child or adult, chronically ill or well; because he does not deserve charity in such a conditionwhile a descendant able to earn an adequate living does not deserve support from his ancestors.)
A child is obliged to support his father's wife (A: if the father cannot).
When a person has both ancestors and children (A: deserving support) but does not have enough for all, then (0: after himself and then his wife) he gives precedenee (A: in order) to:
(1) his mother;
(2) his father;
(3) his young son (0: or daughter);
(4) and then to his adult children (A: if they are unable to earn).
The amount of such support must be enough to suffice, though (N: if this much is not paid) it does not become a debt owed by the person who should have given it
(0: It is no longer obligatory after its time has passed (A: but if the deserving person borrows money to support himself during this period, the person who should have supported him is obliged to pay the debt), even though the person who was obliged to give it has committed a sin by thus allowing the time to pass.)
When a father who is poor needs to marry, then a son who is financially able must provide him with the means to keep chaste by finding him a wife (0: i.e
by giving her the marriage payment (mahr, def: mS)
It is not permissible to marry him to a deformed or aged woman).
Whoever owns an animal is obliged to pay for its maintenance.
(0: The restoration and maintenance of property without a living spirit, such as a canal or house, is not obligatory for its owner
Mutawalli explains this by the fact that such maintenance is an augmentation to the property and as such is not mandatory, as opposed to livestock, whose owner must feed them, since to neglect to do so would entail harm for them
Other scholars explain the difference in terms of the sacredness of animate life, which the author of al-Istiqsa' (n: 'Uthman ibn 'Isa Marani) says is the reason that it is wrong for someone to prevent living things from drinking surplus water (dis: p69) , while it is not a sin to neglect watering crops.)
*
(0: The meaning of child care in Sacred Law is the protection of someone who does not possess discernment and cannot manage for himself, whether a child or a mentally ill adult, by seeing to his interests through such things as bathing him, washing his clothes, or grooming him; or securing an infant in the cradle, turning him over to sleep, and protecting him from death or harm
It entails a kind of authority and control and may be possessed by either men or women, though women have a better right to it, since they are tenderer towards children, more patient in carrying out the demands of the task, more discerning in raising children, and more steadfast in staying with them.
The following discussion first centers on who best deserves the custody of a child, in order of precedence, and then treats the characteristics of the guardian and ward.)
The person with best right to custody of a child (A: in order) (0: when there is a dispute concerning who should have it) is:
(1) the mother;
(2) the mother's mother, mother's mother's mother, and on up, such that the one of the generation closest to the child takes precedence;
(3) the father;
(4) the father's mother, father's mother'S mother, and on up, where again, the one of the generation closest to the child takes precedence;
(5) the father's father;
(6) the father's father's mother, her mother, and on up, where the one of the generation that is closest takes precedence;
(7) full sister;
(8) full brother (0: though when the siblings are all male or all female and there is a disagreement over who should have custody, they draw lots to see who will get it
When both males and females exist, females take precedence);
(9) the child's half brothers or sisters from the same father;
(10) the half brothers or sisters from the same mother;
(11) the mother's sister;
(12) the daughters of the full brothers;
(13) the sons of the full brothers;
(14) the daughters of the half brothers from the same father;
(15) the sons of the half brothers from the same father;
(16) the daughters of the half brothers from the same mother;
(17) the sons of the half brothers {rom the same mother;
(18) the fathe:.:'s sister;
(19) the father's brother;
(20) the daughters of the mother's sister;
(21) the daughters of the father's brother;
(22) and then the son of the father's brother.
The necessary conditions for a person to have custody of a child are:
(a) uprightness (def: O24.4) (0: a corrupt person may not be a guardian, because child care is a position of authority, and the corrupt are unqualified for it
Mawardi and Ruyani hold that outward uprightness (def: m3.3(f) is sufficient unless there is open wrongdoing
If the corruptness of a child's mother consists of her not performing the prayer (sal at) , she has no right to custody of the child, who might grow up to be like her, ending up in the same vile condition of not praying, for keeping another's company has its effects);
(b) sanity (0: since a mother uninterruptedly insane has no right to custody, though if her insanity is slight
such as a single day per year
her right to custody is not vitiated by it);
(c) and if the child is Muslim, it is a necessary condition that the person with custody be a Muslim (0: because it is a position of authority, and a non-Muslim has no right to authority and hence no right to raise a Muslim
If a non-Muslim were given charge of the custody and upbringing of the child, the child might acquire the character traits of unbelief (kufr)).
(A: It is offensive to send one's children to a day-care center run by nonMuslims.
It is unlawful to send Muslim children to Christian schools, or those which are designedly atheist, though it is not unlawful to send them to public schools in which religion is not mentioned (N: in a way that threatens the students' belief in Islam).)
A woman has no right to custody (A: of her child from a previous marriage) when she remarries (0: because married life will occupy her with fulfilling the rights of her husband and prevent her from tending the child
It makes no difference in such cases if the (A: new) husband agrees or not (N: since the child's custody in such a case automatically devolves to the next most eligible on the list (dis: m13.I)), unless the person she marries is someone (A: on the list) who is entitled to the child's c!Jstody anyway (0: as opposed to someone unrelated to the child, since such a person, even if willing, does not deserve custody because he lacks the tenderness for the child that a relative would have).
When a child reaches the age of discrimination (0: which generally occurs around seven or eight years of age) he is given a choice as to which of his parents he wants to stay with (0: since the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) gave a young boy the choice between his father and his mother
The child is only given such a choice when the necessary conditions for child custody (def: m13.2) exist in both parents
If one of them lacks a single condition, then the child is not given a choice, because someone lacking one of the conditions is as though nonexistent).
If the child chooses one of the parents, he is given to the care of that one, though if a son chooses his mother, he is left with his father during the day so the father can teach him and train him.
(0: Other possible outcomes of such a choice are when the child chooses both parents, in which case they draw lots to See who receives custody of him;
or when he chooses neither, in which case the mother takes precedence since the custody is hers, and the child has not chosen someone else.) If the child subsequently chooses the other parent, he is given to the care of them (0: for he might want to stay with one of them at one time and with the other at another, just as one desires food at one time but not another
Or the child's intention might be to maintain good relations with both sides
The author restricts the permissibility of such cases of transferring the child's custody from one to another by saying:) unless it is apparent that the child is merely enamored with going back and forth or is weakminded (0: indicating his lack of discernment
In such cases his choice is not followed, and he remains with whomever he was with before reaching the age of discernment).
*
(0: Thc legal basis for the permissibility of divorce is the Koran, sunna, and consensus of Muslims
As for the Koran, Allah Most High says, ""Divorce is two times ..
"" (Koran 2:229).
And as for the sunna, there is the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith, ""No permissible thing is more detested by Allah than divorce."" Our sheikh, Bajuri, says the meaning of permissible in the hadith is offensive, since it is permissible, meaning lawful, though detested by Allah.
Its integrals are five;
(a) the spoken form;
(b) the wife;
(c) the authority to effect it;
(d) the intention;
(e) and the person who effects it (A; i.e
the husband).)
Divorce is valid from any:
(a) husband;
(b) who is sane;
(c) has reached puberty;
(d) and who voluntarily effects it.
A divorce is not valid from:
(1) (non-(c) above) a child;
(2) (non-(b)) someone insane;
(3) or (non-(d)) someone who is wrongfully coerced to do it, as when one is threatened with death, dismemberment, being severely beaten, or even mere verbal abuse or a slight beating if the person being coerced is someone whose public image is important and would thereby suffer
(0:
Someone being forced should use words that give a misleading impression (def: r10.2) for his ostensible ""divorce."")
A statement of divorce is legally effective when pronounced by a person whose mental faculties are lacking because of something inexcusable such as having become intoxicated or having needlessly taken some mind-altering drug (0:
though someone who takes such a drug out of need for medical treatment is considered as an insane person, in that his statement of divorce is not legally effective).
The person conducting the divorce may effect it himself or commission another (def:
k17.5-6) to do so, even if the person commissioned is a woman.
The person commissioned may effect the divorce at any time (0: provided the one who commissions him does not cancel the commission before the divorce takes place (dis: k17.16)), though when a husband tells his wife
""Divorce yourself,"" then if she immediately says, ""I divorce myself,"" she is divorced, but if she delays, she is not divorced unless the husband has said, ""Divorce yourself whenever you wish."" *
A free man has three pronouncements of divorce (0: because of the word of Allah Most High, ""Divorce is two times, then retain with kindness or graciously release"" (Koran 2:229), and when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was asked about the third time, he said, ""It is Allah's having said, 'or graciously release' "").
It is offensive to make a pronouncement of divorce when there is no need (0: need including when the wife has displeasing qualities or morals), to make three pronouncements (N:
even if separate) being more offensive, and combining them in one interval of purity between menstruations even more offensive.
There are various categories of divorce:
sunna, unlawful inn.ovation, and that which is neither sunna nor unlawful innovation.
The sunna is to make a pronouncement of divorce in an interval between menstruations in which no sexual intercourse with the wife has taken place.
Unlawful innovation consists of either making a pronouncement of divorce during the woman's menstrual period when this is not for payment (0: from the wife in exchange for the husband's releasing her from marriage (def: n5), though if the divorce is in exchange for a sum paid by the wife, it is not unlawful innovation because it implies that she accepts that the waiting period should be thus prolonged (dis: n9.7)))-or else making the pronouncement during an interval between menstruations in which they have had sexual intercourse
If one effects such a divorce, it is recommended to take the wife back (0: if one did not pronounce it the full number of (n: three) times).
Neither sunna nor unlawful innovation means the divorce of a wife who is prepubescent, postmenopausal, pregnant, or one with whom one has not yet had sexual intercourse.
*
The words that effect a divorce may be plain or allusive
Plain words effect the divorce whether one intends divorce by them or not, while allusive words do not effect it unless one intends divorce by them.
Using plain words to effect a divorce means expressly pronouncing the word divorce (0: or words derived from it)
When the husband says, HI divorce you,"" or ""You are divorced,"" the wife is divorced whether he has made the intention or not.
(A: Here and in the rulings below, expressions such as ""The wife is divorced,"" or ""The divorce is effected,"" mean just one of the three times (def: n9.0(N:)) necessary to finalize it, unless the husband thereby intends a two- or threefold divorce (dis: n3.5) or repeats the words three times.)
Using allusive words to effect a divorce includes:
(I) the husband's saying, ""You are now alone,"" ""You are free,"" ""You are separated,"" ""You are parted,"" ""You are no longer lawful to me,"" ""Rejoin your kin,"" ""You are footloose,"" and the like;
(2) his saying, ""I am divorced from you"";
(3) or when he commissions the wife to pronounce the divorce, and she says, ""You are divorced"";
(4) when someone asks, ""Do you have a wife?"" and he says ""No"" (5) or when the husband writes words that effect the divorce (0: no matter whether able or unable to speak at the time of writing, or whether he is present or absent, or whether he writes in plain or allusive words).
When one intends divorce by any of the above, the words effect it, but if one does not, they do not.
When a husband is asked, ""Have you divorced your wife?"" and he says ""Yes,"" then she is divorced (0: even if he does not intend).
If the husband says, ""You are divorced,"" and thereby intends a two- or threefold pronouncement, then whatever number he intends is effected, this rule holding for all words that effect divorce, whether plain or allusive
(0; The proof that a single pronouncement can validly effect a threefold divorce is the hadith classified as rigorously authenticated (sahih) by Ibn Hibban that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), when Rukana divorced his wife and then said, ""I did not intend it except as one time,"" made him swear an oath to that effect, and then returned her to him
If a single pronouncement could not effect a threefold divorce, there would not have been any point in the Prophet's making him swear the oath (Allah bless him and give him peace).)
If a husband tells his wife, ""You are divorced in sha' Allah l if Allah wills],"" or ""if Allah does not will,"" or ""unless Allah wills,"" then the divorce is not effe<-1.ed.
*
It is permissible to make the efficacy of a divorce conditional
If the husband makes the divorce conditional on something, and the event occurs, then the wife is divorced
If he says, ""If your monthly period begins, you are divorced,"" then she is divorced when her menstrual flow appears.
If the husband says, ""If you leave the house without my permission, you are divorced,"" then gives her permission to go out, and she does but then goes out a second time without permission, she is not divorced.
If he says, ""Anytime you go out without my permission you are divorced,"" then if she leaves at anytime without permission, she is divorced.
When a husband makes a divorce conditional on one of his own acts but then does the act not remembering
that he made it a condition, or does the act because he is forced to, the wife is not divorced.
When the husband makes a divorce conditional on another person's act, such as by saying, ""If So-and-so enters the house, you are divorced,"" and the person enters before or after he knows it is a condition, whether remembering it or not, then if the person named is not someone who would mind ifthey were divorced (0: meaning it is no problem for him if it happens, and he would not be saddened if it did, because oflack of friendship for them), then the wife is divorced.
But if the person knows it is a condition and enters forgetfully, then if he is someone who would mind if they were divorced, the wife is not divorced.
If the husband, tells his wife, ""If you enter that house, you are divorced,"" and she is subsequently divorced from him with a finalized divorce, after which he remarries her, and she then enters the house, then she is not divorced.
*
(0: A release for payment means a separation in return for remuneration given to the husband (A: which is a finalized cancellation of the marriage agreement, differing from a threefold divorce by the fact that they may remarry in such a case without her marrying another husband first (dis: n7.7)).)
A release for payment is valid from any person whose divorce is valid (def: nl.l)
;ijU,
Release is offensive except when:
(1) the husband or wife fear they will not be able to keep within Allah's limits (0: i.e
those that Allah Most High has made obligatory upon them (dis: m10.I)) while the marriage lasts;
(2) or when the husband swears that a threefold divorce is incumbent upon him if he performs some action, but then finds he needs to do it (0: since he cannot clear himself from the oath without giving her a release), so he releases her, marries her (0: with a new agreement, a new marriage payment (mahr), and upright witnesses), and then does the act on which the divorce was conditional (0: though it is fitter to do it before the new marriage, as the oath is nullified as soon as they are unmarried), for then its performance does not necessitate a threefold divorce.
If the husband is foolhardy (A: meaning suspended by the court from dealing in his own money because of chronic carelessness (dis:k13.1 (A:))).
his granting a release is valid
though his guardian accepts the compensation.
A release for compensation is not legally valid from a wife who is foolhardy.
A release is validly effected by both the words for divorce and the words for release.
such as ""You are divorced for a thousand,"" or ""I release you for a thousand,"" and ifthe wife says ""1 accept, ,
then she is separated from him and she owes him the thousand
She is also released when the husband says, ""If you give me a thousand, you are divorced."" and then she gives him it, or when she savs
""Divorce me for a thousand,"" and he says, ""You are divorced,"" in which case she is released and owes him the thousand.
Anything that may be used as a marriage payment (def: mB.4) may be used as recompense for a release
If a husband releases his wife for something not determinately known (nonk2.1( e)) or without lawful value (non-k2.3) such as wine, then she is released in exchange for the amount typically received as marriage payment by women like her (def: mB.8).
A release enacted by words that effect it is a divorce in plain words (A: in not needing the intention (dis: n3.2), (N: in having a waiting period (def: n9).) and in being a finalized cancellation of the marriage, though as previously mentioned (nS.D(A: )), the partners may remarry each other (N: even if before the end of the waiting period) without the wife first having to marry another).
*
(A: Doubt means that one does not remember exactly what one said or did
As for when one is ignorant of rulings about divorce or the consequences of one's actions, it is not an excuse, and one must ask those who know.)
Whoever does not know whether he has divorced his wife or not has not divorced her
It is more godfearing in such a case to take the wife back.
If one does not know whether one has divorced one's wife once or whether more than once, then one has divorced her the least number one is certain of.
When a husband divorces his wife with a threefold divorce during his deathbed illness (def:
L3.6(1-4)), she does not inherit (A: a wife's estate division share (def: L6.4)) from the division of his estate (A: though if it is less than a threefold divorce, she inherits).
*
(0: Lexically, to take back means returning, and in Sacred Law it means the return of a woman who is in her waiting period (def: n9) from an unfinalized, non-threefold divorce to the state of marriage.)
When a free man pronounces divorce upon his wife once or twice after previously having had sexual intercourse with her, then if the divorce is not (A: a release) for compensation (def: nS), he may take her back at any time before the end of her waiting period (def: n9), whether she wishes to return or not
Or he may finalize the divorce during this period (A: by pronouncing it a third time).
If the husband or wife dies (A: during the waiting period (N: of an unfinalized, nonthreefold divorce)), then the spouse inherits his or her obligatory share from the deceased's estate division (dis: L6)
though it is not permissible for the husband to have sexual intercourse with, look at, or physically enjoy the wife before he takes her back.
When a divorce occurs before the husband has made love to the wife, or afterwards (A: in a release) for compensation from her, then he may not take her back (A: without remarrying her).
Returning the wife to marriage is only valid by explicitly stating it, such as by saying, ""I return her,"" ""I take her back,"" or, ""I retain her."" (N: The Hanafis consider the husband's touching her with desire, such as kissing her, to be a valid return to marriage.)
It is not a necessary condition (0: but is sunna) to have the return attested to by witnesses.
When a husband takes a wife back, she returns with whatever number (A: oftimes of saying ""I divorce you"") remains to complete a threefold divorce
(A: If, for example, he has said it twice, then she only has one time left.)
When a free man has pronounced a threefold divorce, the divorced wife is unlawful for him to remarry until she has married another husband in a valid marriage and the new husband has copulated (dis: p29) with her, which at minimum means that the head of his erect penis fully enters her vagina.
*
(0: In Sacred Law, forswearing means that the husband swears he will not have sexual inter- course with his wife, either for an unrestricted period or for more than four months.)
Forswearing one's wife is unlawful
It consists in the husband swearing an oath by Allah (def: 018) that for more that four months (0:
more than four months including oaths in which no time period is stipulated) he will not have sexual intercourse with his wife, or swears that if he does, then he is obliged to divorce her, fast, pray, or something else.
A husband is not considered to have forsworn his wife (A: in the above unlawful sense) when he forswears sexual intercourse for four months or less, or when he is impotent.
*
(0: Meaning the period in which a woman waits (N: before she may remarry) to verify that she is not pregnant, or out of mourning for her deceased husband.)
(N: If the waiting period finishes after a once- or twice-pronounced divorce.
the wife is free to marry another man or to remarry the husband with a new contract- returning to the latter with the number of times left (one or two) needed to enact a threefold, finalized divorce (dis: n7.7); while ifthe waiting period of a less-than-thrice-pronounced divorce has not yet expired, the husband may take her back (def: n7) without a new contract.)
(n: The husband's obligation to support her during the waiting period is discussed at m11.10 above.)
There is no waiting period for a woman divorced before having had sexual intercourse with her husband.
A waltmg period is obligatory for a woman divorced after intercourse, whether the husband and wife are prepubescent, have reached puberty, or one has and the other has not.
Intercourse means copulation (def: n7
7)
If the husband was alone with her but did not copulate with her, and then divorced her, there is no waiting period.
When a waiting period is obligatory (0:
upon a woman, because of divorce or annulment of marriage), then if she is pregnant, the waiting period ends when she gives birth, provided two conditions are met:
(a) The first is that she has given birth to all she was carrying
If carrying two or more children, it is necessary that she have given birth to all, whether live or stillborn, and whether fully developed or an undeveloped fetus which midwives (0: two or more) swear is the beginning of a human form
Whenever there is less than six months between two births, the babies are considered twins
There is no maximal number that may be born, as it is possible for a woman to give birth to four or more babies from one pregnancy.
(b) The second condition is that the child is from the husband whom the waiting period is for.
If the woman is pregnant from committing adultery (def: n11.2(0:)) (0: or from a marriage which was invalid, after which the husband divorced her) the waiting period does not end when she gives birth, but rather (N: ·after giving birth), she completes the waiting period of a woman who has been divorced (def: n9.6).
The minimal duration of a pregnancy (A:
from which a live child is born) is six months, while the maximum is four years.
If a woman is not pregnant and has menstrual periods, her waiting period ends when three intervals between menstruations have finished
A part of an interval between menstruations is considered the same as a whole interval.
Thus, if the woman's husband divorced her and her menses began an instant later, her waiting period would end after two more intervals between menstruations had' finished and a third menstruation begun.
If a woman is divorced during her menstrual period, she must wait until the end of three intervals between menstruations
When her fourth menstruation begins, her waiting period is over.
There is no difference in respect to the above rulings (n9.6-7) whether a woman's menstrual periods are close together or far apart, close together, for example, meaning a woman whose period lasts a single day and night, and who has fifteen days between periods
Were such a woman divorced just before the end of an interval between menses (A: by a single moment), then her waiting period would finish in thirty-two days and two moments (0: one of which would be part of the waiting period, i.e
the one in which the divorce occurred, and the second of which would not be part of it, namely, that in which it became evident that the waiting period was over by the onset of a subsequent menstruation)
If such a woman were divorced at the end of a menstrual period, her waiting period would be forty-seven days plus a moment
These are the shortest possible waiting periods.
An example of a woman whose periods are far apart is one whose menstruation lasts fifteen days, and whose intervals between menses last, for example, a year or more
Such a woman must wait for three intervals between menstruations, even if it takes years (N: though medicine may be taken to induce or regulate menstruations).
The waiting period for a woman who does not menstruate, whether prepubescent or postmenopausal, is three months.
If a woman normally menstruates, but her periods have stopped for some reaSOn such as breastfeeding or the like, or without apparent reason, then she must wait until the age of menopause, after which her waiting period is three months
(N: In the Maliki school, such a woman must wait nine months, and if neither pregnancy nor menses appear, she is considered to be as if menopausal, and her waiting period is three more months, making a total of one entire year in which there is no menstrual flow.)
All of the above rulings apply to the waiting period for divorce (N: or release (def: nS).
THE WAITING PERIOD FOR A DECEASED HUSBAND If a woman's husband dies, even if during the waiting period of a nonfinalized divorce, then if she is pregnant, her waiting period ends when she gives birth, as previously mentioned (n9.3).
But if not (0: i.e
if the deceased's wife is not pregnant from him), her waiting period is four months and ten days, no matter whether she normally menstruates or not (N: and no matter whether the husband has had sexual intercourse with her or not).
THE LODGINGS OF A WOMAN IN HER WAITING PERIOD A woman in her waiting period is obliged to remain in the home JO: and neither the husband nor his family may force her out; nor may she leave
If the husband agrees to allow her to leave when there is no necessity, it is still not permissible).
A woman in the waltmg period of an unfinalized, less than threefold divorce is under the husband's authority and may not leave without his permission
If in the waiting period of a finalized divorce (N: or release (def: n5)) (0: or annulment,) or after her husband's death, a woman may leave home during the day to fulfill her needs (N: including work, if she has no means of support) and obligations.
The waiting period must take place in the same lodgings where the divorce occurred, and the woman may not be moved to other quarters unless there is a real necessity, such as fear (0: for her person or property), or when the landlord objects (0: such as when the house in question was on loan to the husband and its time has expired), or because of considerable annoyance to the woman from neighbors or the husband's relatives, or annoyance to them from her-in all of which cases she may move to the nearest available housing.
It is unlawful for the husband of a woman in her waiting period to be alone with her or share the same housing (N: i.e
he must move out) unless she is in a (0: separate) wing of the house (0: with its own kitchen, restroom, cistern, and stairs to the roof, in which case it is permissible to share the housing, which is as if it were two neighboring houses).
AVOIDING ADORNMENT AFTER A HUSBAND'SDEATH OR A FINALIZED DIVORCE It is obligatory for a woman whose husband has died (N: while she was his wife, or died while she was in the waiting period of an unfinalized divorce from him) to avoid adornment during the subsequent waiting period
It is recommended for a woman to do so during the waiting period of a finalized divorce
It is unlawful for a woman to avoid adornment longer than three days for the death of anyone besides her husband.
A voiding adornment means not to enhance her beauty, wear jewelry or cosmetics, and so forth
A woman avoiding adornment should not wear solid colors (N: if intended to beautify) such as blues, greens, reds, or yellows; or style her hair or use cosmetics for body, clothes, or food (A: such as saffron in rice)
She may wear silk, wash her hair (N: or comb it, Or bathe) for cleanliness, or pare her nails during this period.
THE END OF THE WAITING PERIOD If the husband of a woman in her waiting period takes her back but divorces her again before having had sexual intercourse with her, then a new waiting period starts over from the beginning (N: though it is unlawful for him to do this merely to prolong her waiting period).
If a husband releases his wife for payment (def: nS), remarries her during the release's waiting period, but divorces her before having had sexual intercourse, then she merely finishes the remainder of the release's waiting period.
When a woman claims that her waiting period has expired (0: if it does not comprise a particular number of months, but rather consists of a number of intervals between menstruations, or of giving birth) within an amount of time in which it could have possibly ended, then her word is accepted (dis: k8.2).
If news of a husband's death reaches a woman after his death by four months and ten days, her waiting period is already over (0: since her knowledge of his death is not a condition for the waiting period).
The husband of a woman who bears a child (0: no matter whether his marriage to her is valid or invalid) is considered to be the child's father whenever it is (N: legally) possible that the child could be his, meaning that:
(a) the woman gave birth to the child six months plus a moment after the marriage agreement;
(b) she gave birth to it less than four years from when she and her husband could last have possibly met and had sexual intercourse, even if they were living at a distance from one another, and even if the husband does not know whether he had sexual intercourse with her
(A: These conditions are for the child's protection against being disowned, and only concern what can be established in court
Hence, if the husband and wife were living apart at a distance at whic4 they could possibly have travelled and met, for the child's sake the court presumes the child to be the husband's);
( c) and the husband is at least nine and a half years old.
The husband is not legally considered the child's father when the child could not possibly be his, such as when:
(1) (non-(a) and (b) above) the wife gave birth to the child in less than six months or more than four years since intercourse;
(2) (non-(b)) the husband is absolutely certain he did not have sexual intercourse with her;
(3) (non-(c)) the husband is under the above-mentioned age;
(4) or the husband's genitals have been dissevered.
Whenever a husband is absolutely certain that a child which is legally considered his (def:n10.2) is not his, by knowing that he never had intercourse with the wife at all (0: or did, but less than six months or more than four years before the birth), then he is obliged to deny paternity by public imprecation (li'an, def: nl1.3) (0:
immediately, because denying paternity of a child immediately is like the return of defective merchandise (dis: k5.7)
He does so by going to the Islamic judge and saying, ""This child is not mine
"" If he delays, his denial is no longer valid
As for the public imprecation itself, he may perform it at an y time thereafter
If he claims that he was ignorant of the necessity of denying paternity, or the obligatory character of its immediacy, and he is someone who might well be ignorant of it, then his claim (A: of ignorance) is accepted when he swears an oath to that effect
Denial of paternity likewise entails charging the wife with adultery, and this too is obligatory immediately).
If a husband is not absolutely sure that the child is from someone else, it is unlawful for him to deny paternity (0: as mere doubts that have arisen in his mind are of no consequence) and unlawful to charge his wife with adultery
(0: It is also unlawful for him to publicly imprecate (def:
n11.3) against her in such a case, even when he knows she has committed adultery, because the child would suffer harm through his mother being charged with adultery and its being established against her by public imprecation, the child being disgraced by this and gossip circulated about him, The child need not endure this harm merely to satisfy the husband's revenge, who may separate from her by divorce.)
When a child is legally considered (def:
to be from a husband who is entitled to deny paternity but delays doing so without excuse and subsequently wants to deny it by publicimprecation, we (0: i.e
the judge) do not allow him to do so (0: because denial of paternity must take place immediately, as mentioned above (n1OA), and his delay obviates the possibility of denial), But if the husband intends to deny paternity immediately, we implement his intention.
Anyone who charges his wife with adultery (0: in plain words, as when he says, ""You adulteress,"" or allusively, as when he says, ""I did not find you a virgin,"") and who is thereby liable to be punished for accusing another of adultery without witnesses (dis: 013.1), may prevent the punishment by public imprecation against her (Wan, def: n11.3), provided he:
(a) has reached puberty;
(b) is sane;
(c) does so voluntarily;
and provided his wife:
(d) is legally innocent of adultery (A: meaning there is neither a confession from her nor four eyewitnesses (dis: nl1.2(0:)));
(e) and that she is capable of sexual intercourse:
A husband who accuses his wife of adultery is disciplined (ta'zir, def: 017) by the magistrate and not allowed to imprecate against her when her adultery is already legally established (0: whether by her own admission, or by proof, meaning that four upright witnesses (O24.4) have looked at her when she was copulating and seen the adulterer's penis in her vagina), or when (N:
adultery is impossible, such as when) the person accused is a mere infant.
PUBUC IMPRECATION (U'AN) Public imprecation consists of the Islamic magistrate (0: or his equivalent) telling the husband to repeat four times, ""I testify by Allah that I am truthful in charging her with adultery"" (0:
and it is necessary to identify her by her first and family name, though if she is present he says, ""this wife of mine."" and points to her); and ifthere is a child
""and that this child [0: or if absent
""the child she gave birth to from adultery""] is not from me."" The fifth time
after the magistrate warns him
enjoins him to fear Allah (0: reminding him that the punishment of the hereafter is worse than punishment in the present life)
and after he has put his hand in front of the husband's mouth
the husband adds, ""And may the curse of Allah be upon me if I am lying.""
When the husband has done this, he is no longer liable to be punished for accusing another of adultery without witnesses, he has denied paternity of the child, and his wife is divorced from him and unlawful for him to marry, be alone with, or look at, forever
She is now liable to be punished for adultery.
The wife in such a case may avoid being punished for adultery by public imprecation against the husband
Upon being ordered by the magistrate, she says four times, ""I testify by Allah that he is lying about what he has charged me with."" The fifth time, after being warned by the magistrate of the severity of the consequences, as described above, she says, ""And may the wrath of Allah be upon me if he is telling the truth."" When she has done this, she is no longer liable to be punished for adultery.
(0: Public imprecation is legally valid in a non-Arabic language even when the speaker knows Arabic, because the imprecation is a kind of oath or attestation, either of which may be given in any language.)
*
An infant becomes the ""child"" of the female who breast-feeds him (A: in respect to being unable to marry her, to the permissibility of looking at her and being alone with her, and in his ablution (wudu) not being nullified by touching her) when:
(a) the milk comes from a female at least nine years old, whether it is occasioned by sexual intercourse or something else;
(b) and she breast-feeds a child who is less than two full years old;
(c) in at least five separate breast-feedings (0: a restriction that excludes anything less than five, which is of no consequence
Separate breastfeedings means whatever is commonly acknowledged (def: f4.5) to be separate).
In such a case:
(1) it is unlawful for the wet nurse to marry the child and its subsequent descendants (0: by familial relation or by suckling) exclusively (0:
exclusively meaning that only the child's descendants become unlawful for her to marry, not the child's ancestors (N: or brothers));
(2) she becomes the child's ""mother,"" and it is unlawful for the child to marry her, her ancestors (0: by familial relation or by suckling), her descendants (0: who become as if they were the child's brothers and sisters), or her brothers and sisters (0: though the child is not forbidden to marry the latters' children).
If the wet nurse's milk was occasioned by a pregnancy from her husband, then:
(1) the child she nurses becomes the husband's ""child,"" and the husband may not marry the child or its descendants (0: by familial relation or by suckling, since they are now as if his grandchildren) exclusively;
(2) and the husband becomes the child's ""father,"" and it is unlawful for the child to marry him, his ancestors, his descendants, or his brothers and sisters.
Upon becoming unmarriageable kin through suckling, marriage between the abovementioned persons is prohibited, and it is permissible for the respective members of the oppositt';
sex to look at each other as they do with their familial unmarriageable relatives (dis: m2.5), and to be alone with them (0: though other kinds of rulings applicable to natural relatives, such as inheritance (def: IA-6) or having to support them (mI2) are not applicable to unmarriageable kin by suckling).
*
(0: Injurious crimes includes not only those committed with injurious weapons, but those inflicted otherwise as well, such as with sorcery (def: x1.36)
Killing without right is
after unbelief, one of the very worst enormities, as Shafi'i explicitly states in (n: Muzani's) The Epitome.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""The blood of a Muslim man who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah is not lawful to shed unless he be one of three: a married adulterer, someone killed in retaliation for killing another, or someone who abandons his religion and the Muslim community,""' and in another hadith, ''Thc killing of a believer is more heinous in Allah's sight that doing away with all of this world."" Allah Most High says:
""..
and not to slay the soul that Allah has forbidden, except v\lith right"" (Koran 6:151), and, ""0 you who believe, retaliation is prescribed for you regarding the slain ..
"" (Koran 2: 178).)
Retaliation is obligatory (A: ifthe person entitled wishes to take it (dis: 03.8)) against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right
(0: Intentionally is a first restriction and excludes killing someone through an honest mistake, while purely excludes a mistake made in a deliberate injury (def: 02.3), and without right excludes cases of justifiable homicide such as lawful retaliation.)
The following are not subject to retaliation:
(1) a child or insane person, under any circumstances (0: whether Muslim or non-Muslim.
The ruling for a person intermittently insane is that he is considered as a sane person when in his right mind, and as if someone continuously insane when in an interval of insanity
If someone against whom retaliation is obligatory subsequently becomes insane, the fuB penalty is nevertheless exacted, A homicide committed by someone who is drunk is (A: considered the same as that of a sane person,) like his pronouncing divorce (dis:n1.2));
(2) a Muslim for killing a non-Muslim;
(3) a Jewish or Christian subject of the Islamic state for killing an apostatefrom Islam (0:
because a subject of the state is under its protection, while killing an apostate from Islam is without consequences);
(4) a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring;
(5) nor is retaliation permissible to a descendant for (A: his ancestor's) killing someone whose death would otherwise entitle the descendant to retaliate, such as when his father kills his mother.
Injurious crimes (0: of all types, whether killing or something less) are of three types:
(1) an honest mistake;
(2) a mistake made in a deliberate injury;
(3) or purely intentional.
An honest mistake is an act such as shooting an arrow at a wall and hitting a person (0: or shooting at a person and hitting someone else), or slipping from a height and falling on someone.
The criterion for it is that the act is intended but not the person, or neither the act nor the person is intended.
A mistake made in a deliberate injury is when one intends an injury that is not generally fatal, such as hitting someone with a light stick in a nonvital spot (A: from which the person dies) and the like.
Purely intentional means to intend an injury of the type that is generally fatal, whether with a blunt instrument or a sharp one.
*
Retaliation is obligatory (A: if those entitled wish to take it (dis: 03.8)) when there is a (N:
purely) intentional injury (def: 02.4) against life or limb.
Retaliation is obligatory in return for injuries (A: part for commensurate part) whenever the retaliatory injury can be (0: fully) inflicted without exceeding the extent of the original injury, such as (A: when the retaliatory injury is on) an eye, eyelid, the soft part of the nose, the ear, tooth
lip
hand, foot, finger
fingertip, penis, testicles, vulva, and the like; provided that the retaliatory injury is like the original, meaning that a right member is not taken for a left, an upper one for a lower, nor a functional member for a paralyzed one
(N: Nor is there retaliation for nonfatal bUllet wounds in the stomach or chest, for example, because such injuries cannot be reproduced without risk of greater damage than the original
for which reason they call for an indemnity (dis: 04.15) alone.) There is no retaliation for (0: breaking) a bone (A: though payment is due to cover the cost of treatment and so forth).
Females are entitled to retaliate against males, children against adults, and lower class people against upper class; whether the retaliation is a life for a life, or limb for a limb.
It is not permissible to exact retaliation against someone without the presence of the caliph (def: 025) or his representative (0: meaning that it is necessary to have the permission of one of them because of the danger and lack of knowledge involved in exacting retaliation oneself.
as it requires the judgement and personal reasoning of a ruler
If someone takes retaliation without the caliph's permission, then it is valid (A:
i.e
suffices the demand for it) but the person who took it is disciplined (def: 017) for arrogating the caliph's prerogative, since administering retaliation is one of his functions, and to encroach upon it is wrong).
If a person who is entitled to retaliate is able to do so proficiently (0: being a strong man who knows how to do it), he is allowed to
If not, he is ordered (N: by the ruler or his representative) to have another do it.
If two (0: or more) people are entitled to exact retaliation against the offender, it is not permissible for just one of them to insist on doing so (0: though if they choose one of themselves to exact it, this is permissible, and the one chosen is considered as the other's eommissioned agent.
The two may not take retaliation together, as this amounts to torturing the person being retaliated against)
If each insists that he be the one, they draw lots to see who will do it.
There is no retaliation against a pregnant woman until she has given birth and the infant is able to suffice with another's milk.
Whenever someone who is entitled to exact retaliation decides instead to forgive the offender and take an indemnity (def: 04) from him, then retalition is no longer called for, and the deserving person is entitled to the indemnity
If some of a group of people who are entitled to retaliaton agree to forgo it, as when a murder victim has children and one of them forgives the murderer, then retaliation is no longer obligatory, and the group deserves an indemnity from the offender.
(A: Or the indemnity may also be waived.)
When someone kills a group of people or maims them one after another, retaliation is exacted for the first individual attacked, and the other deserving parties receive an indemnity
If the offender injures them all at once, then those entitled to retaliate against him draw lots to determine who will do so.
When a group of people together murder a single person, they are all killed in retaliation, no matter whether the amount of injury inflicted by each upon the victim is the same or whether it differs.
There is no retaliation against anyone for an injury or death caused by someone who did so intentionally but in conjunction with someone who did so by mistake.
When an injurious crime is caused by a nonfamily member in cooperation with the victim's father, retaliation is only taken against the nonfamily member (dis: 01.2(4)).
Retaliation is also obligatory (dis: 03.8) for every wound that cuts to the bone, such as a cut on the head or face that reaches the skull, Or a cut to the bone in the upper arm, lower leg, or thigh.
To the bone means that it is known that a knife or a needle, for example, has reached the bone, not that the wound actually exposes the bone to view.
*
(A: The rulings below concern the maximum that the victim or victim's family may demand
If both sides agree on an indemnity of lesser amount, or nothing at all
this is legally valid and binding.)
An indemnity is obligatory (N: though it may by waived by deserving recipients, like retaliation) in cases of death caused:
(1) by an honest mistake (def: 02.2);
(2) by a mistake made in a deliberate injury (O2.3);
(3) or intentionally , if those entitled to retaliate agree to forgo retaliation (dis: 03.8).
The indemnity for killing a male Muslim is 100 camels.
(N: Shafi'i scholars early converted the pastoral equivalents to gold dinars (n: one dinar equalling 4.235 grams of gold (dis: w15)), the amount due in the rulings below being the weight of the gold, regardless of its current market value.) (A: The stronger position in the Shafi'i school is that indemnities should be reckoned in camels, after which both parties may agree on a lesser amount or another form of payment.)
THE INDEMNITY FOR A PURELY INTENTIONALKILLING The indemnity for cases of purely intentional homicide (def: 02.4) is made severe in three ways:
(a) it must be paid immediately;
(b) it is due from the offender himself;
(c) and the amount paid is (N: 1,333.3 gold dinars (n: 5,646.6 grams of gold) or else:) 30 shecamels in their fourth year, 30 she-camels in their fifth year, and 40 pregnant she-camels.
THE INDEMNITY FOR DEATH BY MISTAKEIN A DELIBERATE INJURY When the killing is a mistake made in a deliberate injury (def: O2.3), the indemnity is only made severe in one respect, namely that the payment consists of the three types of camel mentioned above (n: or 5,646.6 grams of gold), while it is less severe in that:
(a) payment is deferred (def: O4.11);
(b) and is due (N: not from the offender, but) from those of the offender's extended family who are required to pay ('aqila, def: O4.10).
THE INDEMNITY FOR A DEATH CAt;SED BY AN HONEST MISTAKE
When the killing occurred through an honest mistake (def: O2.2), the indemnity is less severe in three ways:
(a) payment is deferred;
(b) it is due from those of the offender's extended family who are required to pay (def: O4.10);
(c) and the amount paid is (N: 1,000 gold dinars (n: 4,235.0 grams of gold) or:) 20 shecamels in their second year, 20 she-camels and 20 he-camels in their third year, 20 she-camels in their fourth year, and 20 she-camels in their fifth year.
But no matter whether the killing was a mistake or intentional, the three-types-of-camelindemnity (def: O4.3(c) must be paid if the person killed was:
(1) an unmarriageable kin by birth relative of the killer (def: m6.1(1-8) and m6.2(1-6));
(2) slain in the Sacred Precinct in Mecca;
(3) or killed during one of the sacrosanct months of Dhul Qa'da, Dhul Hijja, Muharram, or Rajab.
Defective animals may not constitute payment.
It is permissible for deserving recipients to accept payment other than camels if both parties agree.
(A: For the rulings below, one multiplies the fraction named by the indemnity appropriate to the death or injury's type of intentionality and other relevant circumstances that determine the amount of a male Muslim's indemnity (def:O4.2-6 and O4.13).)
The indemnity for the death or injury of a woman is one-half the indemnity paid for a man.
The indemnity paid for a Jew or Christian is one-third of the indemnity paid for a Muslim
The indemnity paid for a Zoroastrian is one-fifteenth of that of a Muslim.
When a miscarriage results from someone having struck the stomach of a pregnant woman (0: or other part of her, or when someone frightens her, resulting in a miscarriage), the indemnity for the fetus is a male or female slave worth one-twentieth of the indemnity payable for killing the fetus's father, or one-tenth that of its mother
(A: The indemnity is whatever they agree upon.)
The members of the offender's extended family who are liable for certain kinds of in- demnities consist of the offender's universal heirs, excluding his father, father's father (0: and on up), his son, son's SOO (0: and on down)
(A:
Meaning that they consist of those mentioned at L10.6(7-14).)
Those of the extended family who are poor (A: poor meaning someone who has enough for himself but no more), prepubescent, or insane are not obliged to pay (N: anything in conjunction with the other members)
If the offender is Muslim, then his non-Muslim relatives are not obliged to pay, as is also the case if the offender is non-Muslim and his relatives are Muslim.
When the extended family is obliged to, they must pay the entire indemnity of 100 camels (N: or the gold equivalents) within three years.
Every required extended family member who is well-off is obliged to pay one-half dinar (n: 2.1175 grams of gold) at the end of each year, while every member who is between affluence and poverty is obliged to pay a quarter dinar (n: 1.05875 grams of gold), If any of the indemnity remains to be paid after three years (N: or if the offender has no family to pay it), it is paid by the Muslim common fund (bayt ai-mal)
If there is none, the offender himself must pay.
When the indemnity due is less than a full indemnity (A: full meaning that which is due for a Muslim male (def: 04.2-6)), as when it is for a wound, miscarriage, female, or a Jewish or Christian subject of the Islamic state, then:
(1) if it consists of one-third or less of a full indemnity, it must be paid within one year;
(2) if it consists of two-thirds or less of a full indemnity, then one of the thirds must be paid in the first year, and the rest in the second year;
(3) and if it amounts to more than two-thirds of a full indemnity, then the two-thirds must be paid within two years and the rest in the third year.
THE INDEMNITY FOR BODILY INJURIES If a nonpaired body part of aesthetic value and utility (A: a tongue, for example) is dissevered, then a full indemnity is paid, meaning the indemnity due if the member's owner were killed (def: 04.2-6), 04.9).
The same is due for each pair ofIimbs: if both are cut off, a full indemnity is paid, while if only one is cut off, then half the full indemnity
The same is true for the faculties of sense (A: such as hearing): for each faculty the injury eliminates, there is a full indemnity
Thus, a full indemnity is paid for cutting off two ears, and a half indemnity for one
This also holds for a pair of eyes, lips, jaws, hands, feet, buttocks, testicles, eyelids, the nipples of a female, vulval labia, the soft part of the nose, the tongue, head of the penis, or whole penis
A full indemnity is also paid for injuries which paralyze these members, or for injuring the peritioneal wall between vagina and rectum so they become one aperture, or for flaying a pcrson, breaking his back, or eliminating the use of his mind
hearing
vision, speeeh
sense of smell, or taste.
The indemnity for each finger is ten camels, and five for each tooth (N: or 10 and 5 percent respectively of the equivalent gold values (def: O4.3-5), depending on the relevant circumstances (dis: O4.9(A:))).
As for wounds on the body
their indemnity consists of a fraction of the full indemnity proportionate (A: by the caleulation of the Islamie magistrate) to the extent of the damage.
The indemnity for wounds on the head or face, when not to the bone, is also such a proportionate fraction, though if such wounds are to the bone
as mentioned above (03.13)
the indemnity is five camels (dis: 04.14(N:)).
There are other injuries which I prefer to omit for the sake of brevity.
There is no indemnity obligatory for killing a non-Muslim at war with Muslims (harbi).
someone who has left Islam, someone sentenced to death by stoning (A: for adultery (def: (12)) by virtue of having been convicted in court, or those it is obligatory to kill by military action (N: such as a band of highwaymen).
*
An expiation is due to Allah Most High from anyone who kills someone unlawful to kill, whether the killing is through a mistake or is intentional, and no matter whether retaliation (def: 03) or an indemnity (04) is obligatory or not.
The expiation consists of freeing a slave (def: k32), or if one cannot, then two consecutive months of fasting
(0: There is no difference in this precedence order whether the killer is legally accountable or not, as when he is a child or insane, in which case the guardian must free a slave on his behalf
(A: Though if a child fasts, it fulfills the expiation.))
(0: There is no expiation for killing someone who has left Islam, a highwayman (def: 015), or a convicted married adulterer, even when someone besides the caliph kills him.)
*
When a group of Muslims rebel against the caliph (khalifa, def: O25) and want to overthrow him, or refuse to fulfill an obligation imposed by Sacred Law such as zakat, and rise in armed insurrection, he sends someone to them and redresses their grievances if possible.
If they obdurately refuse to obey him (0: no matter whether he is just or unjust, as Nawawi mentions in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, citing the consensus of Muslims (ijma', def: b7) that it is unlawful to revolt against caliphs and fight them, even if they are corrupt), he fights them with (0: military) weaponry that does not cause general destruction, as do fire and mangonel (0:
for the aim is to suppress them, not destroy them), and does not pursue those who retreat, or kill the wounded.
Therc is no financial responsibility for what they destroy of ours nor what we destroy of theirs in such military action.
They are subject to Islamic laws (0:
because they have not committed an act that puts them outside of Islam that they should be considered non-Muslims
Nor are they considered morally corrupt, for rebels is not a pejorative term, but rather they merely have a mistaken understanding), and the decisions of their Islamic judge are considered legally effective (0: provided he does not declare the lives of upright Muslims (def:O24.4) to be justly forfeitable) if they are such as would be effective if made by our own judge.
If they do not rebel by war, the caliph may not fight them.
*
Someone whom a Muslim is trying to kill is entitled to kill the Muslim, though it is not obligatory to
Someone whom a non-Muslim or animal is trying to kill is obliged to defend himself.
If an aggressor is trying to take one's money or property, it is permissible to defend it but not obligatory
If the aggressor intends one's womenfolk (0: such as one's wife or son's wife), it is obligatory to defend them.
To defend means to use the minimum amount of force required
If one knows that shouting will repel the aggressor, one may not strike him
If a hand is enough, a stick may not be employed, If a stick will do, a sword may not be used
If cutting the other's hand will suffice, one may not kill him
(0: Mawardistatesthat this precedence order is for crimes that are not indecencies.
As for when an aggressor is raping someone whom it is unlawful for him to have sexual interCOurse with, it is permissible to kill him forthwith.)
Someone who knows (0: i.e
believes) that an aggressor cannot be dissuaded by anything short of killing him may kill him and is not accountable for it.
When one has warded off an aggressor, it is unlawful to take further measures against him.
*
(0: Leaving Islam is the ugliest form of unbelief (kufr) and the worst
It may come about through sarcasm, as when someone is told, ""Trim your nails, it is sunna,"" and he replies, ""I would not do it even if it were,"" as opposed to when some circumstance exists which exonerates him of having committed apostasy, such as when his tongue runs away with him, or when he is quoting someone, or says it out offear.)
When a person who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostatizes from Islam, he deserves to be killed.
In such a case, it is obligatory for the caliph (A: or his representative) to ask him to repent and return to Islam
If he does, it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed.
If he is a freeman
no one besides the caliph or his representative may kill him
If someone else kills him, the killer is disciplined (def:
(17) (0: for arrogating the caliph's prerogative and encroaching upon his rights, as this is one of his duties).
There is no indemnity for killing an apostate (0: or any expiation, since it is killing someone who deserves to die).
If he apostatizes from Islam and returns several times, it (0: i.e
his return to Islam, which occurs when he states the two Testifications of Faith (def: 08.7(12))) is accepted from him.
though he is disciplined (017).
(A: If a spouse in a consummated marriage apostatizes from Islam, the couple are separated for a waiting period consisting of three intervals between menstruations
If the spouse returns to Islam before the waiting period ends, the marriage is not annulled but is considered to have continued the whole time (dis:m7.4).)
ACTS THAT ENTAIL LEAVING ISLAM (0: Among the things that entail apostasy from Islam (may Allah protect us from them) are:
(1) to prostrate to an idoL whether sarcastically, out of mere eontrariness, or in actual conviction, like .that of someone who believes the Creator to be something that has originated in time
Like idols in this respect are the sun or moon, and like prostration is bowing to other than Allah, if one intends reverence towards it like the reverence due to Allah;
(2) to intend to commit unbelief, even if in the future
And like this intention is hesitating whether to do so or not: one thereby immediately commits unbelief:
(3) to speak words that imply unbelief such as HAllah is the third ofthree:' or ""'I am AlIah""unless one's tongue has run away with one
or one is quoting another
or is one of the friends of Allah Most High (wali, def: w33) in a spiritually intoxicated state of total oblivion (A: friend of Allah or not, someone totally oblivious is as if insane, and is not held legally responsible (dis: k13.1(O:))), for these latter do not entail unbelief;
(4) to revile Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace);
(5) to deny the existence of Allah, His beginningless eternality, His endless eternaIity, or to deny any of His attributes which the consensus of Muslims ascribes to Him (dis: vI);
(6) to be sarcastic about Allah's name, His command, His interdiction, His promise, or His threat;
(7) to deny any verse of the Koran or anything which by scholarly consensus (def: b7) belongs to it, or to add a verse that does not belong to it;
(8) to mockingly say, ""I don't know what faith is"":
(9) to reply to someone who says, ""There is no power or strength save through Allah"": ""Your saying 'There's no power or strength, etc.' won't save you from hunger"";
(10) for a tyrant, after an oppressed person says, ""This is through the decree of Allah,"" to reply, ""I act without the decree of Allah"";
(11) to say that a Muslim is an unbeliever (kafir) (dis: w47) in words that are uninterpretable as merely meaning he is an ingrate towards Allah for divinely given blessings (n: in Arabic, also ""kaflr"");
(12) when someone asks to be taught the Testification of Faith (Ar
Shahada, the words.
""La ilaha ill Allahu Muhammadun rasulu Llah"" (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)), and a Muslim refuses to teach him it;
(13) to describe a Muslim or someone who wants to become a Muslim in terms of unbelief (kufr);
(14) to deny the obligatory character of something which by the consensus of Muslims (ijma', def: b7) is part of Islam, when it is well known as such, like the prayer (salat) or even one rak'a from one of the five obligatory prayers, if there is no excuse (def: u2.4);
(15) to hold that any of Allah's messengers or prophets are liars, or to deny their bcing sent;
(n: 'Ala' ai-Din 'Abidin adds the following:
(16) to revile the religion of Islam;
(17) to believe that things in themselves or by their own nature have any causal influence independent of the will of Allah;
(18) to deny the existence of angels or jinn (def: w22), or the heavens;
(19) to be sarcastic about any ruling of the Sacred Law;
(20) or to deny that Allah intended the Prophet's message (Allah bless him and give him peace) to be the religion followed by the entire world (dis: w4.3-4) (al-Hadiyya al-'Ala'iyya (y4), 423-24).)
There are others, for the subject is nearly limitless
May Allah Most High save us and all Muslims from it.)
*
(0: Jihad means to war against non-Muslims, and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion
And it is the lesser jihad
As for the greater jihad, it is spiritual warfare against the lower self (nafs), which is why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said as he was returning from jihad, ""We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad."" The scriptural basis for jihad, prior to scholarly consensus (def: b7) is such Koranic verses as:
(1) ""Fighting is prescribed for you"" (Koran 2:216);
(2) ""Slay them wherever you find them"" (Koran 4:89);
(3) ""Fight the idolators utterly"" (Koran 9:36);
and such hadiths as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and perform the prayer, and pay zakat
If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions from me, except for the rights ofIslam over them
And their final reckoning is with Allah"";
and the hadith reported by Muslim, ""To go forth in the morning or evening to fight in the path of Allah is better than the whole world and everything in it."" Details concerning jihad are found in the accounts of the military expeditions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), including his own martial forays and those on which he dispatched others
The former consist of the ones he personally attended, some twentyseven (others say twenty-nine) of them
He fought in eight of them, and killed only one person with his noble hand, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, at the battle of UhuJ
On the latter expeditions he sent others to fight
himself remaining at Medina, and these were forty-seven in number.)
Jihad is a communal obligation (def:c3.2)
When enough people perform it to successfully accomplish it, it is no longer obligatory upon others (0: the evidence for which is the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""He who provides the equipment for a soldier in jihad has himself performed jihad,"" and Allah Most High having said:
""Those of the believers who are unhurt but sit behind are not equal to those who fight in Allah's path with their property and lives
Allah has preferred those who fight with their property and lives a whole degree above those who sit behind.
And to each
Allah has promised great good"" (Koran 4:95).
If none of those concerned perform jihad, and it does not happen at all, then everyone who is aware that it is obligatory is guilty of sin, ifthere was a possibility of having performed it
In the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) jihad was a communal obligation after his emigration (hijra) to Medina
As for subsequent times, there are two possible states in respect to non-Muslims.
The first is when they are in their own countries, in which case jihad (def: O9.8) is a communal obligation, and this is what our author is speaking of when he says, ""Jihad is a communal obligation,"" meaning upon the Muslims each year.
The second state is when non-Muslims invade a Muslim country or near to one, in which case jihad is personally obligatory (def: c3.2) upon the inhabitants of that country, who must repel the non-Muslims with whatever they can).
jihad is personally obligatory upon all 'those present in the battle lines (A: and to flee is an enormity (dis: pH)) (0: provided one is able to fight
If unable, because of illness or the death of one's mount when not able to fight on foot, or because one no longer has a weapon, then one may leave
One may also leave if the opposing non-Muslim army is more than twice the size of the Muslim force).
Jihad is also (0: personally) obligatory for everyone (0: able to perform it, male or female, old or young) when the enemy has surrounded the Muslims (0: on every side, having entered our territory, even if the land consists of ruins, wilderness, or mountains, for non-Muslim forces entering Muslim lands is a weighty matter that cannot be ignored, but must be met with effort and struggle to repel them by every possible means.
All of which is if conditions permit gathering (A:
the above-mentioned) people, provisioning them, and readying them for war
If conditions do not permit this, as when the enemy has overrun the Muslims such that they are unable to provision or prepare themselves for war, then whoever is found by a non-Muslim and knows he will be killed if captured is obliged to defend himself in whatever way possible
But if not certain that he will be killed, meaning that he might or might not be, as when he might merely be taken captive, and he knows he will be killed ifhe does not surrender, then he may either surrender or fight
A woman too has a choice between fighting or surrendering if she is certain that she will not be subjected to lin indecent act if captured
If uncertain that she will be safe from such an act, she is obliged to fight, and surrender is not permissible).
WHO IS OBLIGED TO FIGHT IN JIHAD Those ealled upon (0: to perform jihad when it is a communal obligation) are every ablebodied man who has reached puberty and is sane.
The following may not fight in jihad:
(1) Someone in debt, unless his creditor gives him leave:
(2) or someone with at least one Muslim parent
until they give their permission;
unless the Muslims are surrounded by the enemy, in which case it is permissible for them to fight without permission.
It is offensive to conduet a military expedition against hostile non-Muslims without the ealiph's permission (A: though if there is no caliph (def: 025), no permission is required).
Muslims may not seek help from nonMuslim allies unless the Muslims are considerably outnumbered and the allies are of goodwill towards the Muslims.
THE OBJECTIVES OF JIHAD Thc caliph (025) makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians (N: provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the nonMuslim poll tax (jizya, def: 01 L4)-which is the significance of their paying it, not the money itself-while remaining in their ancestral religions) (0: and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax (0: in accordance with the word of Allah Most High, ""Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden-who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book-until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled"" (Koran 9:29), the time and place for which is before the final descent of Jesus (upon whom be peace)
After his final coming, nothing but Islam will be accepted from them
for taking the poll tax is only effective until Jesus' descent (upon him and our Prophet be peace), which is the divinely revealed law of Muhammad, The coming of Jesus does not entail a separate divinely revealed law, for he will rule by the law of Muhammad, As for the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""I am the last, there will be no prophet after me,"" this does not contradict the final coming of Jesus (upon whom be peace), since he will not rule according to the Evangel, but as a follower of our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)).
The caliph fights all other peoples until they become Muslim (0: because they are not a people with a Book, nor honored as such, and are not permited to settle with paying the poll tax (iizya))) (n: though according to the Hanafi school, peoples of all other religions, even idol worshippers, are permitted to live under the protection of the Islamic state if they either become Muslim or agree to pay the poll tax, the sale exceptions to which are apostates from Islam and idol worshippers who are Arabs, neither of whom has any choice but becoming Muslim (al-Hidaya sharh Bidaya al-mubtadi' (y21)
6.48--49)).
THE RULES OF WARFARE It is not permissible (A: in Jihad) to kill women or children unless they are fighting against the Muslims
Nor is it permissible to kill animals, unless they are being ridden into battle against the Muslims, or if killing them will help defeat the enemy
It is permissible to kill old men (0: old man (shaykh) meaning someone more than forty years of age) and monks.
It is unlawful to kill a non-Muslim to whom a Muslim has given his guarantee of protection (0: whether the non-Muslim is one or more than one, provided the number is limited, and the Muslim's protecting them does not harm the Muslims, as when they are spies) provided the protecting Muslim has reached puberty, is sane, and does so voluntarily (0: and is not a prisoner of them or a spy).
Whoever enters Islam before being captured may not be killed or his property confiscated, or his young children taken captive.
When a child or a woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman's previous marriage is immediately annulled.
When an adult male is taken captive, the caliph (def: 025) considers the interests (0: of Islam and the Muslims) and decides between the prisoner's death, slavery, release without paying anything, or ransoming himself in exchange for money or for a Muslim captive held by the enemy.
If the prisoner becomes a Muslim (0: before the caliph chooses any of the four alternatives) then he may not be killed, and one of the other three alternatives is chosen.
It is permissible in jihad to cut down the enemy's trees and destroy their dwellings.
TRUCES (0: As for truces, the author does not mention them
In Sacred Law truce means a peace treaty with those hostile to Islam, involving a cessation of fighting for a specified period, whether for payment or something else
The scriptural basis for them includes such Koranic verses as:
(1) ""An acquittal from Allah and His messenger..."" (Koran 9:1);
(2) ""If they incline towards peace, then incline towards it also"" (Koran 8:61);
as well as the truce which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made with Quraysh in the year of Hudaybiya, as related by Bukhari and Muslim.
Truces are permissible, not obligatory
The only one who may effect a truce is the Muslim ruler of a region (or his representative) with a segment of the non-Muslims of the region, or the caliph (025) (or his representative)
When made with other than a portion of the non-Muslims, or when made with all of them, or with all in a particular region such as India or Asia Minor, then only the caliph (or his representative) may effect it, for it is a matter of the gravest consequence because it entails the nonperformance of jihad, whether globally or in a given locality, and our interests must be looked after therein, which is why it is best left to the caliph under any circumstances, or to someone he delegates to see to the interests of the various regions.
There must be some interest served in making a truce other than mere preservation of the status quo
Allah Most High says, ""So do not be fainthearted and call for peace, when it is you who are the uppermost"" (Koran 47:35).
Interests that justify making a truce are such things as Muslim weakness because of lack of numbers or materiel, or the hope of an enemy becoming Muslim, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce in the year Mecca was liberated with Safwan ibn Umayya for four months in hope that he would become Muslim, and he entered Islam before its time was up.
If the Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud
It is not permissible to stipulate longer than that, save by means of new truces, each of which does not exceed ten years.
The rulings of such a truce are inferable from those of the non-Muslim poll tax (def: 011);
namely, that when a valid truce has been effected, no harm may be done to non-Muslims until it expires.)
A free male Muslim who has reached puberty and is sane is entitled to the spoils of battle when he has participated in a battle to the end of it.
After personal booty (def: O10.2), the collective spoils ofthe battle are divided into five parts.
The first fifth is set aside (dis: O10.3), and the remaining four are distributed, one share to each infantryman and three shares to each cavalryman.
From these latter four fifths also, a token payment is given at the leader's discretion to women, children, and non-Muslim participants on the Muslim side.
A combatant only takes possession of his share ofthe spoils at the official division
(A: Or he may choose to waive his right to it.)
As for personal booty, anyone who.
despite resistance, kills one of the enemy or effectively incapacitates him, risking his own life thereby, is entitled to whatever he can take from the enemy, meaning as much as he can take away with him in the battle, such as a mount, clothes, weaponry, money, or other.
As for the first fifth that is taken from the spoils, it is divided in turn into five parts, a share each going to:
(1) the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and after his death, to such Islamic interests as fortifying defenses on the frontiers, salaries for Islamic judges
muezzins, and the like;
(2) relatives of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) of the Bani Hashim and Bani Muttalib clans, each male receiving the share of two females;
(3) orphans who arc poor;
(4) those short of money (def: h8.11);
(5) and travellers needing money (h8.18).
A formal agreement of protection is made with citizens who are:
(1) Jews;
(2) Christians;
(3) Zoroastrians;
(4) Samarians and Sabians, if their religions do not respectively contradict the fundamental bases of Judaism and Christianity;
(5) and those who adhere to the religion of Abraham or one of the other prophets (upon whom be blessings and peace).
Such an agreement may not be effected with those who are idol worshippers (dis:
o9.9(n:)), or those who do not have a Sacred Book or something that could have been a Book.
(A: Something that could have been a Book refers to those like the Zoroastrians, who have remnants resembling an ancient Book
As for the psuedoscriptures of cults that have appeared since Islam (n: such as the Sikhs, Baha'is, Mormons, Qadianis, etc.), they neither are nor could be a Book, since the Koran is the final revelation (dis: w4).)
Such an agreement is only valid when the subject peoples:
(a) follow the rules ofIslam (A: those mentioned below (O11.5) and those involving public behavior and dress, though in acts of worship and their private lives, the subject communities have their own laws, judges, and courts, enforcing the rules of their own religion among themselves);
(b) and pay the non-Muslim poll tax Gizya).
THE NON-MUSLIM POLL TAX The minimum non-Muslim poll tax is one dinar (n: 4.235 grams of gold) per person (A: per year)
The maximum is whatever both sides agree upon.
It is collected with leniency and politeness, as are all debts, and is not levied on women, children, ortheinsane.
Such non-Muslim subjects are obliged to comply with Islamic rules that pertain to the safety and indemnity oflife, reputation, and property
In addition, they:
(1) are penalized for committing adultery or theft, though not for drunkenness;
(2) are distinguished from Muslims in dress, wearing a wide cloth belt (zunna:r);
(3) are not greeted with ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" ;
(4) must keep to the side of the street;
(5) may not build higher than or as high as the Muslims' buildings, though if they acquire a tall house, it is not razed;
(6) are forbidden to openly display wine or pork, (A: to ring church bells or display crosses,) recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals and feastdays;
(7) and are forbidden to build new churches.
They are forbidden to reside in the Hijaz, meaning the area and towns around Mecca, Medina, and Yamama, for more than three days (when the caliph allows them to enter there for something they need).
A non-Muslim may not enter the Meccan Sacred Precinct (Haram) under any cir- cumstances, or enter any other mosque without permission (A: nor may Muslims enter churches without their permission).
It i, ohligatory for the caliph (def: 025) to protect those of them who are in Muslim lands just as he would Muslims, and to seek the release of those of them who are captured.
If non-Muslim subjects of the Islamic state refuse to conform to the rules of Islqm
or to pay the non-Muslim poll tax, then their agreement with the state has heen violated (dis: 0 I l.1 I) (A:
though if only one of them disobeys, it concerns him alone).
The agreement is also violated (A: with respect to the offender alone) if the state has stipulated that any of the following things break it, and one of the suhjects does so anyway
though if the state has not stipulated that these break the agreement, then they do not; namely, if one of the subject people:
(1) commits adultery with a Muslim woman or marries her:
(2) conceals spies of hostile forces;
(3) leads a Muslim away from Islam;
(4) kills a Muslim;
(5) or mentions something impermissible about Allah, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), or Islam.
When a subject's agreement with the state has been viOlated, the caliph chooses between the four alternatives mentioned above in connection with prisoners of war (09.14).
*
The legal penalty is obligatorily imposed upon anyone who fornicates or commits sodomy (A: provided it is legally established (def:
nll.2(0:))) when they;
(a) have reached puberty;
(b) are sane;
(c) and commit the act voluntarily;
no IT.atter whether the person is a Muslim, nonMuslim subject of the Islamic state, or someone who has left Islam.
If the offender is someone with the capacity to remain chaste, then he or she is stoned to death (def: 0]2.6), someone with the capacity to remain chaste meaning anyone who has had sexual intercourse (A: at least once) with their spouse in a valid marriage, and is free, of age, and sane
A person is not considered to have the capacity to remain chaste if he or she has only had intercourse in a marriage that is invalid, or is prepubescent at the time of marital intercourse, or is someone insane at the time of marital intercourse who subsequently regains their sanity prior to committing adultery.
If the offender is not someone with the capacity to remain chaste, then the penalty consists of being scourged (def: O12.5) one hundred strip€s and banished to a distance of at least 81 km.l50 mi.
for :me year.
Someone who commits fornication is not punished if he says that he did not know it was unlawful, provided he is a new Muslim or grew up in a remote (0: from Islamic scholars) wilderness, though ifneither of these is the case, such a person is punished.
An offender is not scourged in intense heat or bitter cold, or when he is ill and recovery is expected (until he recovers), or in a mosque, or when the offender is a woman who is pregnant, until she gives birth and has recovered from childbed pains
The whip used should be neither new nor old and worn-out, but something in between.
The offender is not stretched out when scourged, or bound (0: as his hands are left loose to fend off blows)
or undressed (0: but rather an ankle-length shirt is left upon him or her), and the scourger does not lay the stripes on hard (0: by raising his arm, such that he draws blood)
The scourger distributes the blows over various parts of the body, avoiding the vital points and the face.
A man is scourged standing; a woman, sitting and covered (0: by a garment wrapped around her)
If the offender is emaciated, or sick from an illness not expected to improve, then he or she is scourged with a single date palm frond (0; upon which there are a hundred strips, or fifty
If a hundred
such an offender is struck once with it.
and if fifty, then twice), or with the edge of a garment.
If the penalty is stoning, the offender is stoned even in severe heat or cold, and even if he has an illness from which he is expected to recover
A pregnant woman is not stoned until she gives birth and the child can suffice with the milk of another.
*
When a person (who has reached puberty and is sane) voluntarily:
(a) accuses another person of adultery or sodomy, whether the accusation is in plain words or allusive words intended as an accusation;
(b) and the accused is someone who could be chaste (def: O13.2) and is not the offspring of the accuser;
then the accuser is subject to the penalty for accusing a person of adultery without four witnesses (A: which, if it concerns his spouse, he may obviate by public imprecation (dis: nl1.1)), no matter whether he is a Muslim, non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state, someone who has left Islam, or is of a group that has a truce with Muslims.
Someone who could be chaste in this context means someone who has reached puberty, is sane, free, Muslim, and has not committed an act of fornication (0: that is punishable) (A: meaning it has not been legally established (def:r,11.2(0:)) ).
The penalty for making such an accusation without witnesses is to be scourged (def: 012.5) eighty lashes.
Accusations in plain words include such expressions as ""You have committed fornication,"" and the like, while allusive words means such expressions as ""You lecher,"" or ""You wretch."" If the latter terms are accompanied by the intention to accuse, they amount to an accusation, though if not, they do not
The accuser is the one whose word is accepted (A: when there is no proof, if he swears an oath) as to what he intended by such allusive words.
If someone aCC\lses a whole group of people of adultery who eould not possibly all be guilty, such as saying, ""All the people in Egypt are adulterers,"" he is disciplined (def: 017)
But when his accusation is not impossible, such as saying, ""The So-and-so clan are adulterers,"" then he must bear a separate penalty for every single person in the group.
Someone who twice accuses someone of adultery without witnesses is punished only once.
Someone who accuses a person of adultery and is punished for the accusation
but then again accuses the person of the same act of fornication is merely disciplined (def: 017).
When someone accuses a person who could possibly be chaste (def: O13.2) of adultery, but the accuser has not yet been punished at the time the accused subsequently commits an act of fornication, then the accuser is not punished.
The penalty for accusing a person of adultery without witnesses is only carried out when the Islamic magistrate is present, and the accused requests that it be carried out
If the accused forgives the offender, there is no punishment.
When an accusation has been made, if the accused dies (A: before the aeeuser has been punished), then his right (A: to demand that the punishment be carried out) is given to his heirs.
*
A person's right hand is amputated.
whether he is a Muslim, non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state, or someone who has left Islam, when he:
(a) has reached puberty;
(b) is sane;
(c) is acting voluntarily;
(d) and steals at least a quarter of a dinar (n:
1.058 grams of gold) or goods worth that much (A:
at the market prices current) at the time of the theft;
(e) from a place meeting the security requirements normal (A: in that locality and time) for safeguarding similar articles (def: O14.3);
(f) provided there is no possible confusion (dis: O14.2(3)) as to whether he took it by way of theft or for some other reason.
If a person steals a second time, his left foot is amputated; if a third time, then his left hand; and if he steals again, then his right foot
If he steals a fifth time, he is disciplined (def: 017)
If he does not have a right hand (N: at the first offense), then his left foot is amputated
If he has a right hand but loses it after the theft (0: by an act of God) but before he has been punished for it, then nothing is amputated
After amputation, the limb is eauterized with hot oil (A: which in previous times was the means to stop the bleeding and save the criminal's life).
A person's hand is not amputated when:
(1) (non-(d) above) he steals less than the equivalent of] .058 grams of gold;
(2) (non-(e)) he steals the article from a place the does not meet normal requirements for safeguarding similar articles (dis: below);
(3) or (non-(f)) when there is a possible confusion as to why he took it, as when it was taken from the Muslim common fund (bayt ai-mal) (0:
provided the person is Muslim, since he might have intended to use it to build mosques, bridges, or hospices), or when it belongs to his son or father.
A place that meets normal security requirements for safeguarding similar articles means a place appropriate for keeping the thing, this varying with the type of article, the different countries, and with the justness of the ruler or lack of it, as well as the ruler's relative strength or weakness
A suitable place for safeguarding fine clothes, money, jewels, and jewelry, for example, is a locked box; the place for trade goods, a locked warehouse with guards; the place for livestock, a stable; the place for pallets and bedding, a shelf in the house; and the place for a shroud, the grave.
If two persons jointly steal the equivalent of 1.058 grams of gold, then neither's hand is amputated.
A freeman's hand may not be amputated by anyone besides the caliph or his representative (def: 025).
There is no amputation for forcible seizure (0: meaning someone relying on foree (N: to take people's money, who has a gang nearby to abet him in this)), snatching (0: meaning someone who depends on running away and is unarmed), or betraying a trust (0: of something entrusted to him, such as a deposit for safekeeping), or appropriating something by disavowal (A:
i.e
denying that the victim loaned or entrusted him with such and such a thing), (0: because of the Prophet's (Allah bless him and give him peace) saying, ""There is no amputation for someone who seizes by force, snatches and runs, or betrays a trust,"" a hadith Tirmidhi classified as rigorously authenticated (sahih))
(A: But if one of the abovementioned persons is a repeated offender whom it is in the interests of society to kill, the caliph may kill him.)
The caliph is obliged to summon whoever uses a weapon (0: though force suffices to be considered a weapon, or taking money by dint of one's fists) and makes people afraid to use the road (0: no matter whether in the wilderness, a village, or in the country; meaning he frightens those who pass along the way by means of his strength or weapons)
If the highwayman responds to the summons before he has injured anyone, then he is only disciplined (def: O17).
If he steals the equivalent of 1.058 grams of gold under the previously mentioned conditions (O14.1), both his right hand and left foot are amputated.
(A: The difference between a highwayman and someone who takes by forcible seizure (dis: O14.6) is that the latter does so within earshot of help, while the offense of the highwayman is far greater because he menaces the lifeline of the community, its trade routes.)
If a highwayman kills someone, he must be executed, even when the person entitled to retaliation (def: O3) agrees to forgo it
If the highwayman robs and kills, he is killed and then left crucified for three days
If he wounds or maims someone, retaliation is taken against him, though it may be waived by those entitled to take it.
(N: The penalty for highway robbery, such as mandatory execution, crucifixion, and amputating the hand and foot, is cancelled if the highwayman repents (A: desists, and gives himself up) before he has been apprehended, though he is still liable to retaliation (def: 03) by parties entitled to it (A: for injuries or deaths he caused to victims) and is financially responsible for restoring the money he has taken.)
*
Any beverage that intoxicates when taken in large quantities is unlawful both in small and large quantities, whether it is wine, (A: fermented) raisin drink, or something else.
The penalty for drinking is obligatorily enforced against anyone who:
(a) drinks;
(b) has reached puberty;
(c) is sane;
(d) is Muslim;
(e) does so voluntarily;
(f) and knows it is unlawful (A: the restrictions mentioned above (012.4) about the ignorance of the prohibition of adultery also applying here).
The penalty for drinking is to be scourged forty stripes, with hands, sandals, and ends of clothes
It may be administered with a whip, but if the offender dies, an indemnity (def: 04.4) is due (A: from the scourger) for his death
If the caliph (def: 025) increases the penalty to eighty stripes, it is legally valid, but if the offender dies from the increase, the caliph must pay an adjusted indemnity, such that if he is given forty-one stripes and dies, the caliph must pay 1141 of a full indemnity.
Someone who commits adultery several times (0: or drinks several times, or steals several times) before being punished is only punished once for each type of crime.
The penalty for a crime is not obviated by the offender's having repented for it, with the sole exception of the highwayman, who is not penalized at all (dis: O15.3) if he repents before he is caught.
It is not permissible to drink an intoxicant under any circumstances, whether for medicine (0: or in bread, or to cook meat with it,) or out of extreme thirst, with the sole exception of when one is choking on a piece of food and there is no other means of clearing it from one's throat save by drinking the intoxicant, in which case it is obligatory
(0: Sheikh aI-Islam (A: Zakariyya Ansari) states, ""It may not be used for medicine or extreme thirst, though there is no prescribed penalty for doing so, even when something besides it is available."" The prohibition of using it for medicine or extreme thirst refers to when it is unadmixed, as opposed to when it is compounded with something else that renders it completely indistinguishable, such that no taste, color, or odor of it remains, in which case it is permissible.)
NONALCOHOLIC INTOXICANTS (Muhammad Shirbini Khatib:) The term beverage (dis: O16.1) excludes plants, such as hashish, which hashish users eat
The two sheikhs (A: Rafi'i and Nawawi) report in their section on foods the position of Ruyani that eating it is unlawful, though no legal penalty is fixed for it (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz alMinhaj (y73), 4.187).
(al-Mawsu'a al-fiqhiyya:) Just as any beverage that intoxicates when taken in large quantities is also unlawful in small quantities, so too it is absolutely unlawful to use any solid substance detrimental to mind or body which produces languor or has a narcotic effect, this prohibition applying to the amount that is deleterious of it, not to the minute, beneficial amounts prescribed to treat illnesses, for such substances are not unlawful in themselves, but unlawful because they are deleterious (Mawdu' al-ashriba
Tab'a tamhidiyya Ii mawdu'at al-Mawsu'a al-fiqhiyya, no
1 (y134), 49).
Someone who commits an act of disobedience to Allah Most High that entails neither a prescribed legal penalty nor expiation, such as bearing false witness, is disciplined to the extent the caliph (def: 025) deems appropriate
(0: He exercises his own legal reasoning (ijtihad) and does what he thinks should be done, whether imprisonment and beating, either one separately, or mere verbal reprimand
He may not administer a more severe degree of punishment than what he feels is strictly necessary
)
Disciplinary action may not reach the amount of the least prescribed legal penalty
For example, a freeman (0: if scourged) may not receive forty stripes.
If the caliph sees fit not to take any disciplinary action, this is also permissible (0: when it concerns a right owed to Allah Most High, for the ruler is entrusted with using his own legal reasoning.
But if it concerns a right owed to a fellow human being who has demanded that it be fulfilled (A: such as when someone has been cheated) it is impermissible to do nothing
If a person is entitled to have another disciplined, but instead forgives him, the ruler may nevertheless discipline him).
(0: A father or grandfather (and on up) is entitled to discipline those under his care when they commit an act that is unbecoming
And so maya mother with her child
A husband is entitled to discipline his wife for not giving him his rights (def: m5.1)
A teacher may discipline a student.
(A: Spanking a student, for example, is permissible if there is a valid lawful purpose to be served thereby, and the student's guardian has given the teacher permission
) ) *
(A: An oath is a solemn statement to do or refrain from something, or that something is true, such that if things tum out otherwise, the swearer must make an expiation (def: O20.2).)
An oath is only valid from a person (0:
whether Muslim or non-Muslim) who:
( a) has reached puberty;
(b) is sane;
(c) makes the oath voluntarily;
(d) and intends an oath thereby.
The oath of someone whose tongue runs away with him and who unthinkingly swears an oath, or someone who intends a particular oath but unintentionally swears something else, does not count and is an unintentional oath (A: which is mentioned in the Holy Koran (n: at 5:89)).
An oath is only validly effected if sworn by a name of Allah Most High, or an attribute of His entity (dhat).
(N: It is offensive to swear an oath by other than Allah if one merely intends it as an asseveration of one's statement, though it is unlawful to do so if one intends reverence to the thing sworn by.)
There are some names of Allah Most High that are applied to no one but Him, such as Allah, the All-merciful, the All-vigilant, and Knower of the Unseen
An oath sworn by any of these is valid without restriction.
Other names of Allah may be conditionally applied to other than Him, such as Lord (Rabb) (n: rabb bayt meaning, for example, home owner), the All-compassionate (al-Rahim) (n:
rahim al-qa/b meaning softhearted), or the Omnipotent (ai-Qadir) (n: qadir 'alayhi meaning capable of it; the second term of each of these examples indicating that Allah is not meant)
An oath sworn by such names is validly effected unless the swearer specifically intends something else.
Other of Allah's names are applied to both Him and His creatures, such as the Living (al-Hayy), the Existent (al-Mawjud), or the Seeing (al-Basir)
An oath sworn by such names is not validly effected unless the swearer specifically intends it as an oath.
An oath sworn by the attributes of Allah that are inapplicable to creatures, such as Allah's glory, His exaltedness, His endless etemality, or the Koran, is validly effected without restriction.
An oath sworn by divine attributes that are sometimes used to allude to creatures, such as Allah's know/edge, His power, or His right, is validly effected unless the swearer intends something else by them, such as meaning by know/edge the things known, by power the things under its sway, or by right (n: the) acts of worship (n: that are His right), in which cases an oath has not been validly effected.
An oath is validly effected when a person says, ""I swear by Allah that ..
,"" or ""I've sworn by Allah that
.
,"" unless the person merely intends to inform.
Unless one particularly intends it as an oath, an oath is not :validly effected when the following expressions are used: ""I will not do such and such, by the life of Allah,"" or ""I resolve by Allah,"" or ""by the covenant of Allah,"" ""His guarantee,"" ""His trust,"" ""His sufficiency,"" or ""I ask you by Allah,"" or ""I swear by Allah that you must do such and such."" *
If one swears, ""I will not eat this wheat,"" but then makes it into flour or bread (A: and eats it), one has not broken one's oath.
If one swears, ""I will not drink from this river,"" but then drinks its water from a jug, one has broken one's oath.
If one swears, ""I will not eat meat,"" but then eats fat, kidneys, tripe, liver, heart, spieen, fish, or locusts, one has not broken one's oath.
If one swears, ""I will not enter the house,"" but then does so absentmindedly, in ignorance of its being the house, under compulsion, or by being carried in, then one's oath is not broken and is still in effect.
When a person swearing an oath about something (0: in the future, affirming or denying that it will occur) includes the expression in sha' Allah (""if Allah wills"") before finishing the oath, then the oath is not broken in any event if he thereby intends to provide for exceptions
But if he merely says it out of habit, not intending to make an exception to his oath, or if he says it after having finished swearing the oath, then the exception is not valid (0: because when an oath has been completed, its efficacy is established and not I eradicable by a statement of exception).
An expiation is obligatory for someone who swears and breaks an oath
If the swearer is entitled to expiate by the expenditure of property (def: O20.2( 1-3)), it is permissible for him to do so before or after breaking the oath
But if it consists of fasting, then he may only do so after breaking the oath.
The expiation consists of (N: a choice of any) one of the following:
(I) to free a sound Muslim slave;
(2) to feed ten people who are (N: poor or) short of money (def: h8.8-1l) each 0.51 liters of grain (0: though it is not a condition that it be grain, but rather the type of food payable for the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr (def: h7.6), even if not grain (A: and theHanafi school permits giving its value in money));
(3) or to provide clothing of any kind for ten such persons, even if it consists of a wraparound or clothing previously washed, though not if ragged.
If one is unable to do any of the above, one must fast for three days
It is better to fast them consecutively, though permissible to do so nonconsecutively.
(0: Someone eligible to receive zakat funds or expiations because of being poor (def:
hS.S) or short of money (def: hS.ll) may expiate I broken oaths by fasting.)
*
To undertake the Islamic judgeship is a communal obligation (def: c3.2) (0: for those capable of performing it in a particular area)
If only one competent person exists who can perform it, then it is personally obligatory for him to do so
If he refuses, he is compelled to accept (0:
though he is only obliged to accept the judgeship when it is in his own home area, not when it is elsewhere, for this would be like a punishment, involving as it does wholly leaving one's home).
Such an individual person may not take a salary for it--(N: because in respect to him it has become personally obligatory, and it is not permissible to take a wage for something personally obligatory, as opposed to something that is a communal obligation (A: for which accepting a wage is permissible ))-unless he is needy (0: in which case the Muslim common fund gives him enough to cover his expenses and those of his dependents, without wastefulness or penury
But if he agrees to judge without being paid (N: i.e
in expectation of the reward from Allah), it is better for him).
It is permissible to have two or more judges in the same town.
It is not valid for anyone besides the caliph (def: 025) or his representative to appoint someone as judge.
It is permissible for two parties to select a
third party to judge between them if he is competent for the judgeship (def: O22.1) (0: provided the case does not concern Allah's prescribed penalties, (A: and they may select such a person) even when a judge exists)
It is obligatory for them to accept his decision on their case, though if either litigant withdraws his nomination before the third party gives his judgement, the latter may not judge.
*
The necessary qualifications for being an Islamic judge (qadi) are:
(a) to be a male freeman;
(b) to have full capacity for moral answerability (takliL def: c8.1);
(c) to be upright (O24.4);
(d) to possess knowledge (0: of the rulings of Sacred Law, meaning by way of personal legal reasoning (ijtihad) (A: from primary texts), not merely by following a particular qualified scholar (taqlid) (A: i.e
ifhe follows qualified scholarship, he must know and agree with how the rulings are derived, not merely report them)
Being qualified to perform legal reasoning (ijtihad) requires knowledge of the rules and principles of the Koran, the sunna (A: in this context meaning the hadith, not the sunna as opposed to the obligatory), (N: as well as knowledge of scholarly consensus (ijma·
def: b7)), and analogy (def: III below), together with knowing the types of each of these
(A: The knowledge of each ""type"" below implie, familiarity with subtypes and kinds, but the commentator has deemed the mention of the category as a whole sufficient to give readers a general idea.)
(I) The types of Koranic rules include, for example:
(1) those ('amm) of general applicability to different types of legal rulings;
d(Il)) Justice (2) those (khass) applicable to only one particular ruling or type of ruling;
(3) those (mujmal) which require details and explanation in order to be properly understood;
(4) those (mubayyan) which are plain without added details;
(5) those (mutlaq) applicable without restriction;
(6) those (muqayyad) which have restrictions;
(7) those (nass) which unequivocally decide a particular legal question;
(8) those (zahir) with a probable legal signification, but which may also bear an alternative interpretation;
(9) those (nasikh) which supersede previously revealed Koranic verses;
(10) and those (mansukh) which are superseded by later verses.
(II) The types of sunna (A: i.c
hadith) include:
(1) hadiths (mutawatir) related by whole groups of individuals from whole groups, in multiple contiguous channels of transmission leading back to the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace), such that the sheer number of separate channels at each stage of transmission is too many for it to be possible for all to have conspired to fabricate the hadith (A: which is thereby obligatory to believe in, and denial of which is unbelief (kufr));
(2) hadiths (ahad) related by fewer than the above-mentioned group at one or more stages of the transmission, though traced through contiguous successive narrators back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
(n: If a hadith is transmitted through just one individual at any point in the history of its transmission, the hadith is termed singular (gharib)
If it is transmitted through just two people at any stage of its transmission, it is termed rare ('aziz)
If its channels of transmission come through only three people at any point of its history, it is termed wellknown (mashhur)
These designations do not directly influence the authenticity rating of the hadith, since a singular hadith, for example, might be rigorously authenticated (sahih), well authenticated (hasan) (N: hadiths of both types being obligatory for a Muslim to believe in, though someone who denies them is TI1erely considered corrupt (fasiq), not an unbeliever (kaflr)), or not well authenticated (da'if), depending on thereliability ratings of the narrators and other factors weighed and judged by hadith specialists);
(3) and other kinds; (n: Yusuf Ardabili mentions the following in his list of qualifications for performing legal reasoning (ijtihad):)
(4) hadiths (mursa!) from one of those (tabi'i) who had personally met (N: not only met, but actually studied under) one or more of the prophetic Companions (Sahaba) but not the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace) (n: hadiths reported in the form, ""The Prophet said [or did] such and such,"" without mentioning the Companion who related it directly from the Prophet);
(5) hadiths (musnad) related through a contiguous series of transmitters back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace);
(0) hadiths (muttasil) related through a contiguous series of transmitters (n: either from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), such a hadith being termed ascribed (marfu'), or else only from one of the Companions, such a hadith being termed arrested (mawquf));
(7) hadiths (munqata') related through a chain of transmitters of whom one is unknown (n:
though if two or more are unknown, it is not considered merely incontiguous (munqata'), but rather problematic (mu'dal);
(8) the positive and negative personal factors Uarh wa ta'dil) determining the reliability ratings of the individual narrators of a hadith's channel of transmission;
(9) the positions held by the most learned of the Companions (Sahaba) on legal questions, and those of the scholars who came after them;
(10) and on which of these positions there is scholarly consensus (def: b7), and which are differed upon (Kitab aI-an war Ii a 'mal al-abrar fi fiqh aI-Imam al-Shafi'i (yll), 2.391).
(n: The English glosses and remarks on the meanings of the above hadith terminology are from notes taken by the translator at a lesson with hadith specialist Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut.)
(III) Types of analogical reasoning (qiyas) include:
( 1) making an a fortiori analogy between acts p and q, where if p takes a ruling, q is even likelier to take the same ruling
For example, if saying ""eff!"" to one's parents is unlawful (n: as at Koran 17:23), one may analogically infer that beating them must also be unlawful;
(2) making an analogy between acts p and q, where if p takes a ruling, one may infer that q is equally likely to take the same ruling
For example, if it is unlawful to wrongfully consume an orphan's property, then it must also be unlawful to destroy his property by burning it up;
(3) and making an analogy between acts p and q, where if p takes a ruling, one may infer that it is likely, though less certain, that q takes the same ruling (A: because of a common feature in the two acts which functions as the basis ('ilIa) for theanalogy)
For example, if usurious gain (rib a) is unlawful in selling wheat (dis: k3.1), then it is also unlawful in selling apples, the basis for the analogy being that both are food.
The meaning of knowledge of the above matters is (A: for a judge) to know part of what is connected with the Koran, sunna (A: i.e
hadith), and analogy, not complete knowledge of the Book of Allah, total familiarity with the rules of the sunna, or comprehensive mastery of the rules of analogial reasoning but rather that which is pertinent to giving judgements in court (A: though an absolute expert in Islamic legal reasoning (mujtahid mutlaq) such as Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, or Ahmad, is obliged to know what relates to every subject matter in Sacred Law)
He must know the reliability ratings of hadith narrat.ors in strength and weakness
When two primary texts seem to contend, he gives precedence to:
(I) those of particular applicability (khass) over those of general applicability (""amm);
(2) those that take restrictions (muqayyad) over those that do not (mutlaq);
(3) those whieh unequivocally settle a particular question (nass) over those of merely probabilistic legal significance (zahir);
(4) those which are litetal (muhkam) over those which are figurative (mutashabih);
(5) and those which supersede previous rulings, those with a contiguous channel of transmission, and those with a well-authenticated channel of transmission, over their respective opposites.
He must also have knowledge of the Arabic language its lexicon grammar word morphol ogy and rhetoric.
He must likewise know the positions of the scholars of Sacred Law regarding their consensus and differences, and not contradict their consensus (A: which is unlawful (dis: b7.2)) with his own reasoning.
If no one possesses the above-mentioned qualifications, and a strong ruler appoints an unfit Muslim to the bench such as someone who is immoral, or who (A: is incapable of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) and) merely follows other qualified scholars (taqlid), or a child, or a woman, then the appointee's decisions are implemented because of necessity, so as not to vitiate people's concerns and interests (A: and this is what exists in our day, when the conditions for an Islamic judge are seldom met with));
(e) sound hearing;
(f) sound eyesight;
(g) and the faculty of speech.
(0: The author did not mention the necessary condition of being a Muslim, evidently feeling that uprightness ( (c) above) was sufficient to imply it.)
It is recommended that the judge be stern without harshness, and flexible without weakness (0: so the litigants do not despise or disdain him, for otherwise, people entitled to rights would not be able to obtain them).
If the judge needs to appoint another person to handle a part of his caseload because it is too heavy for him, then he may assign someone to deal with the extra cases if the person himself is qualified to be a judge
If the judge does not need to, he may not appoint such a person without special permission (A: from the regional ruler).
If the judge needs a court secretary, he must be Muslim, upright (def: O24.4), sane, and learned (0: meaning familiar with writing up plaintiffs' cases, recording what is done in each case and the judge's decisions, and must be able to distinguish between writing it correctly and incorrectly.
The above four conditions are obligatory, there only remaining to be mentioned that the secretary must be male and free).
The judge should not have a doorkeeper (0: if there is no crowd), though if he needs one, the doorkeeper must be sane, reliable, and unbribable.
When not in the area of his jurisdiction, the judge may not give legal decisions, aJJPoint others, or hear evidence (0: or claims).
He may not accept gifts except from someone who customarily gave him gifts before he became judge, who is not a plaintiff, and whose gifts are not more lavish than those given before the judge's appointment
(0: The same is true for entertaining the judge as a guest, as well as lending articles to him which are of rentable value, such as lending him lodgings.) It is better for a judge not to accept any gifts
(0: And whenever gifts are not lawful to accept, he does not legally own them but must return them.)
A judge may not decide cases involving his son (0: son's son, and on down) or his father (0:
father's father, and on up, or cases involving his partner in a shared enterprise).
He should not decide cases when angry, hungry, thirsty, overwrought, exultant, ill, tired, flatulent, annoyed, or when the weather is irritatingly hot or cold (0: it being offensive for a judge to decide a case in any state that affects his temperament for the worse), though if he does, his decision is implemented.
The judge should not sit in a mosque to decide cases (0: lest voices be raised therein, and because he might need to bring in the insane, children, a woman in her period, or non-Muslims; for which reasons sitting in a mosque to decide cases is offensive)
But if his sitting in the mosque (0: in prayer, spiritual retreat (i'tikaf), or awaiting group prayer) happens to coincide with the coming of two litigants, then he may judge between them (0: without it being offensive).
The judge should sit with tranquility and gravity (0: as it creates greater respect for him and makes it likelier that he will be obeyed)
He should have witnesses present and scholars of jurisprudence to consult with on points of difficulty.
If a case is not clear, he should postpone giving a decision on it
He may not merely imitate another's decision on a case (A: but must be capable of expert legal reasoning (ijtibad) himself).
The judge handles the cases on a firstcome- first-served basis, one case per turn
If two arrive at the same time, they draw lots to see whose case will be heard first.
The judge (0: obligatorily) treats two litigants impartially, seating both in places of equal honor
attending to each, and so forth, unless one is a non-Muslim, in which case he gives the Muslim a better seat
He may not treat either litigant rudely, nor prompt one (0: as to how to state his case).
The judge may intercede with one of them on behalf of the other (0: meaning to ask the two parties to settle their differences, which is what a judge's ""intercession"" is
It does not take place until after the truth has been established, which obviates his unfairly inclining to either one) and he may also pay one litigant what the other owes him.
4 (N: When assigned to a new jurisdiction,) the judge first looks into the cases of the imprisoned, then orphans, and then of lost and found items.
*
If a plaintiff makes a claim that is not true, the judge considers it as if he had not heard it (0:
and need not ask the defendant about it).
When a claim is true, the judge asks the defendant, ""What do you say?"" If the defendant admits the claim is true, the judge does not give a decision on the case (A: there being no need to) unless the plaintiff asks him to
But if the defendant denies the claim, then if the plaintiff has no proof, the defendant's word is accepted if he swears an oath to that effect
(0: This is when the claim does not involve blood (A: Le
retaliation (def: (3) or indemnity (04))
If it does, then if there is obscurity in the matter, the plaintiffs word is accepted (N: provided fifty separate oaths are sworn by and distributed over all those entitled to take retaliation).) The judge does not have the defendant swear an oath unless the plaintiff requests it
If the defendant refuses to swear, then the judge has the plaintiff swear (A: that his claim is true), and when he does, he is entitled (0: to what he -has claimed) (A: from the defendant).
But if the plaintiff also refuses to swear, the judge dismisses both of them (0: from his presence)
If the defendant is silent (0: not responding to the claim against him) then the judge should say, ""Would that you would answer, for unless you do, I'll give the plaintiff the opportunity to swear an oath."" If the defendant does not, then the plaintiff may swear an oath, and if he does, he is entitled to his claim.
If the judge knows the truth of the claim (0: against the defendant), and it concerns one of the prescribed penalties of Allah Most High, meaning for fornication, theft, rebellion, or drinking, then he may not sentence the defendant on that basis alone (0: on the basis of his knowledge of one of the above crimes
It is related of Abu Bakr Siddiq (Allah be well pleased with him) that he said, ""Were I to see someone who deserved a prescribed legal penalty, I would not punish him unless two witnesses attested to his deserving it in front of me."") But when the judge knows the truth about something other than prescribed legal penalties, he must judge accordingly (0: the necessary condition for which is that he plainly state that he knows, such as by saying, ""I know what he claims against you to be true, and have judged you according to my knowledge"")
.
When the judge does not know the language of the litigants, then he refers to upright (def: O24.4) persons familiar with it, provided they are a number (0: two or more) sufficient to substantiate the claim (def: O24.7-10).
Court Claims O23.2
If a judge gives a decision on a case but then learns of an unequivocal text relating to it (0:
from the Koran or mutawatir hadith (def:O22
l(d(II))))) , a consensus of scholars, or an a fortiori analogy (022.1( d(I1I))) , that controverts his decision, then he reverses it..
A court claim is not valid except from a plaintiff possessing full right to deal with his own property.
It is not valid to litigate over something that is not determinately known (def: k2.1(e)), though some exceptions to this exist, such as claiming a bequest.
If the plaintiff is claiming a financial obligation (dayn), he must mention its type, amount, and description.
If he is claiming some particular article (' ayn) (0: such as a house), he must identify it
If he is unable to (0; as when the article is portable, and out of town), then he must describe it (0: with a description that would be valid for buying in advance (def: k9.2(d,g))).
If a defendant denies a claim against him (A: and the plaintiff has no proof)
then his denial is accepted (A: provided he swears on oath), as also when he says, ""lowe him nothing.""
If the claim is for a particular article that is currently in the possession of one of the litigants, then the word of the person who has it is accepted when he swears an oath that it is his
If the article is in the possession of both litigants (0: together, and there is no proof as to whose it is; or when it is in the possession of neither, such as when a third party has it), then each swears an oath (0: that it does not belong to the other) and half the article is given to each ofthem.
When another person owes one something, but denies it, then one may take it from his property without his leave (0: whether one has proof of it Or not)
But ifthe person aeknowledges that he owes it to one, one may not simply take it from him (0: because a debtor may pay back a debt from whatever part of his property he wishes).
*
It is a communal obligation (def: c3.2) to both witness (A: i.e
observe) legal events and to testify to having witnessed them
If there is only one person to do so, then it is personally obligatory upon him, in which ease he may not accept payment for it, though if it is not personally obligatory, he may accept a fee.
Legal testimony is only acceptable from a witness who:
(a) is free;
(b) is fully legally responsible (mukallaf, def:
c8.1) (0: as testimony is not accepted from a child or insane person, even when the child's testimony regards injuries among ehildren that oeeurred at play);
(e) is able to speak;
(d) is mentally awake;
(e) is religious (0: meaning upright (O24.4) (A: and Muslim), for Allah Most High says, ""Let those of rectitude among you testify"" (Koran 65:2), and unbelief is the vilest form of corruption, as goes without saying);
(f) and who is outwardly respectable (0:
respectability (muru'a) meaning to have the positive traits which one's peers possess in one's particular time and place
Sheikh ai-Islam (A:
Zakariyya Ansari) says, ""Respectability is refraining from conduct that is unseemly according to standards commonly acknowledged among those who observe the precepts and rules of the Sacred Law."" It is according to standards commonly acknowledged (def: f4.5) because there are no absolute standards for it, but rather it varies with different persons, conditions, and places.
Such things as eating and drinking (A: in the marketplace) or wearing nothing on one's head may vitiate it (A: though the latter is of no consequence in our times)
as maya religious scholar's wearing a robe or cap in places where it is riot customary for him to do so).
The testimony of an absentminded person (0: meaning someone who often makes mistakes and forgets) is not acceptable (0: because he is unreliable ).
Nor is testimony acceptable from someone who:
( I) has committed an enormity (0: meaning something severely threatened against in
an unequivocal text from the Koran or hadith (dis:
book p) (N: though if someone who commits such an act then repents (def: p77) and is felt to be sincere in this, he regains his legal uprightness and his testimony is accepted, provided he is tested after his repentance long enough to believe in its genuineness) ;
(2) persists in a lesser sin (0: because it then becomes an enormity, as opposed to when one does not persist therein
A lesser sin is one that has not been severely threatened against in an unequivocal text);
(3) or is without respectability (def:O24.2(f)), such as a street-sweeper, bathhouse attendant, and the like.
(A: A legally corrupt or immoral person (fasiq) is someone guilty of (1) or (2) above.)
(A: Normal uprightness ('adala) for purposes other than giving testimony in court means that one avoids (1) and (2) above, while (3) concerns court testimony alone (N: i.e
uprightness for testimony in court means a person is none of the above).)
The testimony of a blind person is accepted about events witnessed before he became blind, though not events witnessed after, unless they are public events that are discussed among people, or when someone says something the blind person hears (0: such as a divorce, for example), and he takes the speaker by the hand and conducts him to the judge and testifies as to what he has said.
The testimony of any of the following is unacceptable:
( I) a person testifying for his son (0: son's son, and on down) or his father (0: father's father, and on up);
(2) a person who stands to benefit (0: by his own testimony);
(3) a person who stands to avoid loss to himself through his testimony;
(4) a person testifying about his enemy;
(5) or a person testifying about his own act.
The testimony of the following is legally acceptable when it concerns cases involving property, or transactions dealing with property, such as sales:
(1) two men;
(2) two women and a man;
(3) or a male witness together with the oath of the plaintiff.
If testimony does not concern propcrty, such as a marriage or prescribed legal penalties, then only two male witnesses may testify (A:
though the Hanafi school holds that two women and a man may testify for marriage).
If testimony concerns fornication or sodomy, then it requires four male witnesses (0:
who testify, in the case of fornication, that they have seen the offender insert the head of his penis into ber vagina).
If testimony concerns things which men do not typically see CO: but women do), such as childbirth, then it is sufficient to have two male witnesses, a man and two women, or four women.
*
en: This section has been added here by the translator because the caliphate is both obligatory in itself and the necessary precondition for hundreds of rulings (books k through 0) established by Allah Most High to govern and guide Islamic community life
What follows has been edited from al-Ahkam al-sultaniyya wa alwilayat al-diniyya by Imam Abul Hasan Mawardi, together with three principal commentaries on Imam Nawawi's Minhaj al-talibin, extracts from which are indicated by parentheses and the initial of the commentator, Ibn Hajar Haytami (H:), Muhammad Shirbini Khatib (K:), or 'Abd ai-Hamid Sharwani (S:).)
(Mawardi:) The reason the office of supreme leadership has been established in Sacred Law is to fulfill the caliphal successorship to prophethood in preserving the religion and managing this-worldly affairs
The investiture of someone from the Islamic Community (Umma) able to fulfill the duties of the caliphate is obligatory by scholarly consensus (def: b7), though scholars differ as to whether its obligatory character is established through reason or through Revealed Law
Some say that it is obligatory by human reason, because of the agreement of rational individuals to have a leader to prevent them from wronging one another and to come between them when conflict and arguments arise.
Without authorities, there would be a chaos of neglected people and a disorderly mob
Others hold that it is obligatory not through reason, but rather through Sacred Law, for the caliph performs functions that human reason might not otherwise deem ethically imperative, and which are not entailed by reason alone, for reason merely requires that rational beings refrain from reciprocal oppression and strife, such that each individual conform with the demands of fairness in behaving towards others with justice and social cohesion, each evaluating their course with their own mind, not anyone else 's, whereas Sacred Law stipulates that human concerns be consigned to the person religiously responsible for them
Allah Mighty and Majestic says, ""You who believe, obey Allah and obey the Prophet and those of authority among you"" (Koran 4:59), thereby obliging us to obey those in command.
namely the leader with authority over us
Abu Hurayra relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said.
""Leaders shall rule you after me, the godfearing of them ruling you with godfearingness and the
profligate ruling you with wickedness
So listen to them and obey them in everything that is right; for if they do well, it will count for you and for them, and if they do badly
it will count for you and against them."" (al-Ahkam al-sultaniyya wa al-wilayat al-diniyya (y87),5-6)
(H: The caliphate is a communal obligation (def: d.2) just as the judgeship is (S: because the Islamic community needs a ruler to uphold the religion, defend the sunna, succor the oppressed from oppressors, fulfill rights, and restore them to whom they belong).)
THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A CALIPH (Nawawi:) Among the qualifications of the caliph are that he be:
(a) Muslim (H: so that he may see to the best interests of Islam and the Muslims (K: it being invalid to appoint a non-Muslim (kafir) to authority.
even to rule non-Muslims.) (S: Qadi 'lyad states that there is scholarly consensus (def: b7) that it is not legally valid to invest a non-Muslim as caliph
and that if a caliph becomes a nonMuslim (dis: 08.7) he is no longer caliph, as a]so when he does not maintain the prescribed prayers (A: meaning to both perform them himself and order Muslims to) and summon the people to them, and likewise (according to the majority of scholars) if he makes reprehensible innovations (bid'a, def: w29.3) (A: by imposing an innovation on people that is offensive or unlawful)
If the caliph becomes a non-Muslim, alters the Sacred Law--(N: such alteration being of two types, one of which consists of his changing the Law by legislating something which contravenes it while believing in the validity of the provisions of the Sacred Law, this being an injustice that does not permit rebellion against him, while the other consists of imposing rules that contravene the provisions of the religion while believing in the validity of the rules he has imposed, this being unbelief (kufr) (A: it is questionable whether anyone would impose such rules without believing in their validity ))-{)r imposes reprehensible innovations while in office, then he loses his authority and need no longer be obeyed, and it is obligatory for Muslims to rise against him if possible, remove him from office, and install an upright leader in his place
If only some are able, they are obliged to rise up and remove the unbeliever (A: whether they believe they will succeed or fail), though it is not obligatory to try to remove a leader who imposes reprehensible innovations unless they believe it possible
If they are certain that they are unable to (A: remove an innovator), they are not obliged to rise against him
Rather, a Muslim in such a case should emigrate from his country (N:
if he can find a better one), fleeing with his religion (A: which is obligatory if he is prevented in his home country from openly performing acts of worship)));
(b) possessed of legal responsibility (def:
cS.l) (K: so as to command the people, it being invalid for a child or insane person to lead);
(c) free (K: so that others may consider him competent and worthy of respect);
(d) male (K: to be able to devote himself fulltime to the task, and to mix with men, the leadership of a woman being invalid because of the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith, ""A people that leaves its leadership to a woman will never succeed"");
(e) of the Quraysh tribe (K: because of the (H: well-authenticated (hasan)) hadith related by Nasa'i, ""The Imams are of the Qura ysh, ..
a harlith adhered to by the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and those after them, this qualification beingobligatory when there is a member of Quraysh available who meets the other conditions) (H: though when there is not, then the next most eligible is a qualified member of the Kinana tribe, then of thc Arabs, thcn ofthe non-Arabs);
(f) capable of expert legal reasoning (ijtihad) (H: as a judge must be (def: 022.1(d)) and with even greater need (K: so as to know the rulings of Sacred Law, teach people, and not need to seek the legal optmon of others concerning uprecedented events), scholarly consensus (def:
b7) having been related concerning this condition, which is not contradicted by the statement of the Qadi (A: 'Iyad) that ""an ignorant upright person is fitter than a knowledgeable corrupt one,"" since the former would be able to refer matters requiring expert legal reasoning to qualified scholars.
and moreover the remark applies to when the available leaders are not capable of legal reasoning (S: while possessing the other qualifications for leadership));
(g) courageous (K: meaning undaunted by danger, that he may stand alone, direct troops, and vanquish foes);
(h) possessed of discernment (H: in order to lead followers and see to their best interests, religious or this-worldly, discernment meaning at minimum to know the various capacities of· people), sound hearing and eyesight, and the faculty of speech (K: so as to decisively arbitrate matters);
(i) (H: and be upright (def: O24.4) as ajudge must be, and with even greater need
But it is valid, if forced to, to resort to the leadership of a corrupt person, which is why Ibn 'Abd ai-Salam says, ""If there are no upright leaders or rulers available, then the least corrupt is given precedence"").
THE THREE WAYS A CALIPH MAY BE INVESTEDWITH OFFICE The caliphate may legally be effected (K:
through three means, the first of which is):
(1) by an oath of fealty (H: like the one sworn by the prophetic Companions to Abu Bakr (Allah be well pleased with them)) which, according to the soundest position, is (H: legally binding if it is) the oath of those with discretionary power to enact or disolve a pact (ahl ai-hail wa al-'aqd) of the scholars, leaders, and notables able to attend (K: since the matter is accomplished through them, and all the people follow them
It is not a condition that all those with discretionary power to enact or dissolve a pact be present from every remote region, or that there be a particular number present, as the author's words seem to imply, but rather, if discretionary power to enact or dissolve a pact exists in a single individual who is obeyed, his oath of fealty is sufficient.) (H: As for an oath of fealty from common people without discretionary power to enact or dissolve a pact, it is of no consequence) and they (H: those pledging fealty) must possess the qualifications necessary to be a witness (K: such as uprightness and so forth (def: O24.2)) (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73) , 4.129-31, and Hawashi alShaykh 'AM aI-Hamid al-Sharwani wa al-Shaykh Ahmad ibn Qasim al-'Abbadi 'ala Tuhfa al-muhtaj bi sharh al-Minhaj (y2), 9.74-76).
(Mawardi:) When those with power to enact or dissolve a pact meet to select the caliph, they examine the state of the available qualified candidates, giving precedence to the best of them and most fully qualified
whose leadership the public will readily accept and whose investiture people will not hesitate to recognise
When there is only one person whom the examiners' reasoning leads them to select, they offer him the position
If he accepts, they swear an oath of fealty to him and the supreme leadership is thereby invested in him, the entire Islamic Community (Umma) being compelled to acknowledge fealty to him and submit in obedience to him
But if he refuses the caliphal office, not responding to their offer, he is not forced to comply-as investiture comes of acceptance and free choice, not compulsion and constraint-and they turn to another qualified candidate (al-Ahkam al-sultaniyya wa al-wilayat al-diniyya (y87), 7-8);
(2) (Nawawi:) and (H: the second means (K:
through which it may be effected is)) by the caliph appointing a successor (H: meaning someone after him, even if it be his descendant or ancestor, for Abu Bakr appointed 'Umar (Allah be well pleased with them) as his successor, and scholarly consensus (def: b7) was effected in recognizing its legal validity
This type of investiture consists of the caliph appointing a successor while still alive, to succeed him after death
Though actually his successor during his life, the successor's disposal of affairs is suspended until the caliph dies).
If the caliph appoints a group to select a successor from among themselves, it is as if he had appointed a successor (K: though the successor is not yet identified) (H: resembling an appointment in it being legally binding and Obligatory to accept the outcome of their choice) and they choose one of their number (K: after the caliph's death, investing the person they select with the caliphate) (H: because 'Umar appointed a committee of six to choose his successor from among themselves:
'Ali, 'Uthman, Zubayr, 'Abd ai-Rahman ibn 'AwL Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
and Talha, and after his death they agreed upon 'Uthman, (Allah be well pleased with them));
(3) and (H: the third means is) through seizure of power by an individual possessing the qualifications of a caliph (H: meaning by force, since the interests of the whole might be realized through such a takeover, this being if the caliph has died, or has himself obtained office through seizure of power, i.e
when he lacks some of the necessary qualifications.) (S: As for when the office is wrested from a living caliph, then if he himself became caliph through seizure of power, the caliphate of his deposer is legally valid
But if he became caliph through an oath' of fealty (def:O25.4(1)) or having been appointed as the previous caliph's successor (def: O25.4(2)), then the deposer's caliphate is not legally valid)
A takeover is also legally valid, according to the soundest position, by someone lacking moral rectitude (dis: o25.3(i)) or knowledge of Sacred Law (O25.3(f)) (K: meaning the caliphate of a perSOn lacking either condition is legally valid when the other conditions exist) (H: as is the takeover of someone lacking other qualifications, even if he does not possess any of them (S: besides Islam, for if a non-Muslim seizes the caliphate, it is not legally binding, and so too, according to most scholars, with someone who makes reprehensible innovations, as previously mentioned (dis:O25.3(a))).
The caliphate of someone who seizes power is considered valid, even though his act of usurpation is disobedience, in view of the danger from the anarchy and strife that would otherwise ensue).
THE OBLIGATORY CHARACI'ER OF OBEDIENCETO THE CALIPH (K: Itis obligatory to obey the commands and interdictions of the caliph (N: or his representative (def: O25.7-10)) in everything that is lawful (A: meaning it is obligatory to obey him in everything that is not unlawful, offensive, or merely in his own personal interests), even if he is unjust, because of the hadith, ""Hear and obey, even if the ruler plaeed over you is an Ethiopian slave with amputated extremities,"" and because the purpose of his authority is Islamic unity, which could not be realized if obeying him were not obligatory
It is also obligatory for him to give sincere counsel to those under him to the extent that it is possible.)
THE INY ALIDITY OF A PLURALITY OF CALIPHS (K: It is not permissible for two or more individuals to be invested with the caliphate (H: at one time), even when they are in different regions, or remote from one another, because of the disunity of purpose and political dissolution it entails
If two ar.e simultaneously invested as caliph, neither's caliphate is valid
If invested serially, the caliphate of the first of them is legally valid and the second is disciplined (def: 017) for committing an unlawful act, together with those who swear fealty to him, if they are aware of the first's investiture as caliph) (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 4.132, and Hawashi al-Shaykh 'Abd aI-Hamid aI-Sharwani wa al-Shaykh Ahmad ibn Qasim al-'Abbadi 'ala Tuhfa al-muhtaj bisharh al-Minhaj (y2), 9.77-78).
DELEGATING AUTHORITY TO THOSE UNDERTHE CALIPH (Mawardi:) The authority delegated to a minister of state may be of two kinds, full or limitary.
(1) Full ministerial authority is when the caliph appoints as minister an individual who is entrusted with independently managing matters through his own judgement and implementing them according to his own personal reasoning (ijtihad).
Appointing such an individual is not legally invalid, for Allah Most High says, quoting His prophet Moses (Allah bless him and give him peace), .
And appoint for me a minister from my family, Aaron my brother; fortify me through him and have him share my task"" (Koran 20:29-32), and if valid respecting the task of prophethood, it is valid a fortiori regarding the function of the caliphate
Another reason is that the direction of the Islamic Community (Umma), which is the caliph '$ duty, cannot be fully conducted alone without delegating responsibility; for him to appoint a minister to participate therein is sounder than attempting to manage everything himself, a minister to help keep him from following mere personal caprice, that he may thus be further from error and safer from mistakes.
The conditions necessary for such a minister are the same as those for a caliph
excepting lineage alone (dis: O25.3(e)), for the minister must implement his views and execute his judgements, and must accordingly be capable of expert legal reasoning (ijtihad)
He must also possess an additional qualification to those required for the caliphate, namely, by being specially qualified to perform the function he is appointed to.
(2) Limitary ministerial authority is a lesser responsibility and has fewer conditions, since the role of personal judgement therein is confined to the views of the caliph and their implementation, this minister being, as it were, an intermediary between the caliph, his subjects, and their appointed rulers; delivering orders, performing directives, implementing judgements, informing of official appointments, mustering armies, and informing the caliph in turn of important events, that the minister may deal with them as the caliph orders
He is an assistant in carrying out matters and is not appointed to command them or have authority over them
Such a ministry does not require an appointment but only the caliph's permission.
When the caliph appoints a ruler over a region or city, the ruler's authority may be of two kinds, general or specific
The general may in turn be of two types, authority in view of merit, which is invested voluntarily; and authority in view of siezure of power, invested out of necessity.
Authority in view of merit is that which is freely invested by the caliph through his own choice, and entails delegating a given limitary function and the use of judgement within a range of familiar alternatives
This investiture consists of the caliph appointing an individual to independently govern a city or region with authority over all its inhabitants and discretion in familiar affairs for all matters of government, including seven functions:
(1) raising and deploying armies on the frontiers and fixing their salaries, if the caliph has not already done so;
(2) reviewing laws and appointing judges and magistrates;
(3) collecting the annual rate (khiraj) from those allowed to remain on land taken by Islamic conquests, gathering zakat from those obliged to pay, appointing workers to handle it, and distributing it to eligible recipients;
(4) protecting the religion and the sacrosanct, preserving the religion from alteration and substitution;
(5) enforcing the prescribed legal meaures connected with the rights of Allah and men;
(6) leading Muslims at group and Friday prayers, whether personally or by representative;
(7) facilitating travel to the hajj for both pilgrims from the region itself and those passing through from elsewhere, that they may proceed to the pilgrimage with all necessary help;
(8) and if the area has a border adjacent to enemy lands, an eighth duty arises, namely to undertake jihad against enemies, dividing the spoils of battle among combatants, and setting aside a fifth (def: 010.3) for deserving recipients.
Authority in view of seizure of power, invested out of necessity, is when a leader forcibly takes power in an area over which the caliph sub- sequently confirms his authority and invests him with its management and rule
Such a leader attains political authority and management by takeover, while the caliph, by giving him authorization, is enabled to enforce the rules of the religion so that the matter may be brought from invalidity to validity and from unlawfulness to legitimacy
And if this process is beyond what is normally recognized as true investiture of authority with its conditions and rules, it yet preserves the ordinances of the Sacred Law and rules of the religion that may not be left vitiated and compromised (al-Ahkam al-sultaniyya wa al-wi/ayat aldiniyya (y87) , 25-39).
*
And Allah Most High and Glorious knows best what is correct (0: meaning that He knows best what actually corresponds to the truth, in word and deed, the author thereby denying the claim to know better
There is scholarly disagreement as to whether the truth (A: about the rule of Allah for a particular ruling) is really one or multiple (A: many scholars holding that all positions of qualified mujtahids on a question are correct).
In fact, it is one, the Imam who is right about it (Allah be well pleased with them all) receiving two rewards, one for his attempt and one for being correct, while the one who is not is mistaken, receiving a reward for his effort and being excused for his mistake
All of which applies to particular rulings of Sacred Law (furu'), as opposed to fundamentals of Islamic faith (usul, def: books u and v), in which the person wrong about them is guilty of serious sin, as is anyone who contradicts the tenets of the orthodox Sunni Community (Ahl alSunna wa al-Jama'a)).
*
(n: The first of the books translated as appendices to our basic text 'Umdat al-salik concerns the enormities alluded to above in the context of court testimony (dis: O24.3), and has been edited from the Kitab al-kaba'ir [Book of enormities] of Imam Dhahabi, who defines an enormity as any sin entailing either a threat of punishment in the hereafter explicitly mentioned by the Koran or hadith, a prescribed legal penalty (hadd), or being accursed by Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace)
)
In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate.
O Lord, facilitate and help
The sheikh, Imam, and hadith master (hafiz, def: w48.2(end)) Shams ai-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Uthman Dhahabi (may Allah forgive him) said:
Praise be to Allah for true faith in Him
His books, messengers, angels, and decrees
Allah bless our prophet Muhammad, his folk, and those who support him, with a lasting blessing that will grant us the Abode of Permanence near to Him.
This is a book useful in knowing the enormities, both in general and in detail
May Allah by His mercy enable us to avoid them
Allah Most High says, ""If you avoid the enormities of what you have been forbidden, We shall acquit you of your wrongdoings and admit you to a generous place to enter"" (Koran 4:31).
In this text, Allah Most High promises whoever avoids the enormities to admit him to paradise.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The five prescribed prayers, and from one Friday prayer to another entail forgiveness for what is between them as long as you do not commit the enormities."" So we are obliged to learn what they are, that the Muslim may avoid them.
*
Ascribing associates to Allah Most High means to hold that Allah has an equal, whereas He has created you, and to worship another with Him, whether it be a stone, human, sun, moon, prophet, sheikh, jinn, star, angel, or other.
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Allah does not forgive that any should be associated with Him, but forgives what is other than that to whomever He wills"" (Koran 4:48).
(2) ""Surely, whoever ascribes associates to Allah, Allah has forbidden him paradise, and his refuge is hell"" (Koran 5:72).
(3) ""Of a certainty, worshipping others with Allah is a tremendous injustice"" (Koran 31:13).
The Koranic verses concerning this are very numerous, it being absolutely certain that whoever ascribes associates· to Allah and dies in such a state is one of hell's inhabitants, just as whoever believes in Allah and dies as a believer is one of the inhabitants of paradise, even if he should be punished first.
*
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Whoever intentionally kills a believer, his recompense shall be hell, abiding therein forever, and Allah shall be wroth with him, damn him, and ready for him a painful torment"" (Koran 4:93).
(2) ""Whoever takes a life other than to retaliate for a killing orfor corruption in the land is as if he had slain all mankind"" (Koran 5:32).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""When two Muslims meet with drawn swords, both the slayer and the slain go to hell."" Someone said, ""0 Messenger of Allah, that is for the slayer
But why the slain?"" And he replied, ""Because he meant to kill the other."" *
Sorcery is an enormity because the sorcerer must necessarily disbelieve (dis: x.136), and the accursed Devil has no other motive for teaching a person witchcraft than that he might thereby ascribe associates to Allah (shirk).
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""A sorcerer will never prosper wherever he goes"" (Koran 20:69).
(2) "" ..
But the devils disbelieved, teaching people sorcery"" (Koran 2:102).
And Allah Most High says, concerning Harut and Marut, (3) ""The two do not teach anyone before telling them, 'We are only a temptation, so be not unbelievers,' but they learn from these two that which they use to separate a man from his wife"" (Koran 2:102).
*
Allah Most High says:
(1) But a generation followed them who dissipated the prayer and pursued [their] lusts, and they shall find Ghayy [n: a ""valley in hell"" (Tafsir al-Jalalayn (y77), 402], save he who repents ..
"" (Koran 19:59--QO).
(2) ""Woe to those who pray, unmindful of their prayers"" (Koran 107:4-5).
(3) ""'What has brought you to hell?' And they shall say, 'We were not of those who prayed' "" (Koran 74:42-43).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The agreement that is between us and them is the prayer: whoever leaves it has disbelieved [dis: w18.2-5]."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Woe unto polytheists, who do not pay zakat and are disbelievers in the hereafter"" (Koran 41:6-7).
(2) ""Those who hoard gold and silver, spending it not in the way of Allah, give them glad tidings of a painful torment, the day they are roasted upon it in the fire of hell"" (Koran 9:34-35).
*
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Your Lord decrees that you shall worship none but Him and treat your parents well, and if one or both of them reach old age with you, say not 'Uff!' to them nor upbraid them, but speak noble words and lower the wing of humility to them out of mercy"" (Koran 17:23-24).
(2) ""And We enjoin man to be good to his parents"" (Koran 29:8).
p6,2 The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Shall I not tell you of the worst of the enormities?
..
"" and one of those he mentioned was undutiful behavior to one's parents, *
Allah Most High says:
""0 you who believe: fear Allah and forgo what remains of usurious gain if you are believers.
If you will not, then know of a declaration of war [against you] from Allah and His messenger"" (Koran 2:278-79),
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""May Allah curse him who eats of usurious gain (rib a) or feeds it to another [A: curse (la'n) meaning to put someone far from the divine mercy]
"" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Verily, those who wrongfully eat the property of orphans but fill their bellies with fire, and shall roast in a blaze"" (Koran 4:10).
(2) ""Approach not the orphan's property, save in exchange for that which is better"" (Koran
6:152).
If the orphan's guardian is poor and consumes some of his charge's property without exceeding what is permissible, there is no harm in it (A: no harm (1a ba's) being a technical term in Sacred Law meaning that it is better not to)
What is in excess of the permissible is absolutely unlawful.
(N: Scholars say that the guardian may lawfully only take whichever is less: the amount he needs, or else the wage typically received for work comparable to that performed for the orphan.)
The criterion of the permissible is what is customary among people who are true believers free from base, ulterior motives.
*
Some scholars hold that lying about the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is unbelief (kufr) that puts one beyond the pale of Islam
There is no doubt that a premeditated lie against Allah and His messenger that declares something which is unlawful to be permissible or something permissible to be unlawful is pure unbelief
The question (A: as to when it is an enormity rather than outright unbelief) only concerns lies about other than that.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""A lie about me is not the same as a lie about someone else: whoever intentionally lies about me shall take a place for himself in hell."" (2) ""Whoever relates words purportedly from me, thinking it is a lie, is a liar.""
It is clear from this that narrating a forged (mawdu') hadith is not permissible.
(Ibn Kathir:) As for detecting forged hadiths, there are many signs that enable one to do so, such as internal evidence of forgery in wording or content, including poor grammar, corrupt meaning, the mention of incredible rewards for inconsiderable efforts, or inconsistency with what is established in the Koran and rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith
It is not permissible for anyone to relate such a hadith except by way of condemning it, to warn one of the ignorant public or common people who might be deceived by it.
There are many types of individuals who forge hadiths, induding those with corrupt convictions about basic tenets of Islamic faith, as well as devotees who believe they are doing good by making up hadith-like stories that encourage others to do good, avoid bad, or perform meritorious acts, that such stories may be acted upon (al-Bahith alhathith sharh lkhtisar 'ulum al-hadith (y61), 78).
S (n: Having discussed lies and forgeries, we must strictly distinguish them from the hadith category called not well authenticated (da'if, lit
""weak""), sotermed because of such factors as having a channel of transmission containing a narrator whose memory was poor, one who was unreliable, unidentified by name, or for otherreasons
Such hadiths legally differfrom forgeries in the permissibility of ascribing them to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and in other ways discussed at w48 below.)
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Whoever breaks a fast-day of Ramadan without an excuse or dispensation could not requite it by fasting a lifetime, were he to do so [A:
meaning that making up that day, while obligatory, does not remove the sin, though repentance does]."" The above hadith is not well authenticated.
(2) ""The five prescribed prayers, and from one Friday prayer to another or from Ramadan to Ramadan, expiate the sins between them as long as the enormities are avoided."" (3) ""Islam is based on five things: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, performing the prayer, giving zakat, fasting Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to the House (Kaaba)."" *
Allah Most High says, ""On that day, whoever turns his back to them, unless pretending flight in order to reattack, or separating to join another unit, will bear the wrath of Allah and his refuge will be hell, a terrible end"" (Koran 8:16).
*
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Approach not fornication, it is surely an indecency and evil as a way"" (Koran 17:32).
(2) ""The fornicator and fornicatress, scourge them each a hundred stripes and let not pity for them take you"" (Koran 24:2).
(3) ""The fornicator shall not wed other than a fornicatress or idolatress
The fornicatress, none shall wed her but a fornicator or idOlator
That is unlawful for believers"" (Koran 24;3).
(n: The latter verse ""was revealed when some poor Muslim emigrants in Medina were considering marrying the polytheists' prostitutes, who were wealthy, so that the prostitutes could provide for them
One opinion is that the Koranic prohibition concerned these people alone
A second position is that it was a general prohibition, but was superseded by the revelation of the subsequent verse, 'And marry those of you who are without spouses' (Koran 24:32)."" (Tafsir al-Ja/a/ayn (y77), 457))
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever fornicates or drinks wine
Allah takes his faith from him as a man takes a shirt off over his head."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""The dispute [lit
""way against""] is only with those who oppress people and wrongfully commit aggression in the land: these will have a painful torment"" (Koran 42:42).
(2) ""They did not forbid each other the evil that they did, and how wicked was what they would do"" (Koran 5:79).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""All of you are trustees, and each is responsible for those entrusted to his care."" (2) ""Any superior who misrules his followers shall go to hell
,.
(3) ""There will come corrupt, tyrannous rulers:
whoever confirms their lies and assists them in their oppression is not of me, nor I of him, and shall not meet me at my watering place in paradise
"" (4) ""He who shows no mercy will not be shown any
"" (5) ""The worst of your rulers shall be those whom you detest and who detest you, whom you curse and who curse you."" They said, ""0 Messenger of Allah, can we not throw them out?"" And he replied, ""No, not as long as they maintain the prescribed prayer [dis: O25.3(a(A:))] among you."" (6) ""You'll be anxious to lead, and this will be a source of remorse to you on the Day of Judgement."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""They will ask you about wine and gambling
Say: There is great sin therein' "" (Koran 2:219).
(2) .
0 you believe: wine, gambling, idols, and fortune-telling arrows are but filth of the Devil's handiwork, so shun them ..
"" (Koran
5:90).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Scourge whoever drinks wine
If he drinks it again, scourge him again
If he drinks it again, scourge him again
If he drinks it a fourth time, kill him."" (N: The ruling of this hadith was later superseded, for the Prophet (Allah bless'him and give him peace) was brought a drunkard for a fourth time, but did not kill him, showing that execution had been superseded, though the hadith remains a proof that the crime of drunkenness is an enormity.)
(2) ""Allah has cursed wine, and whoever drinks it, pours it, sells it, buys it, presses it for another, presses it for himself, carries it, accepts its delivery, or eats its price."" (3) ""Whoever drinks wine in this world shall be forbidden it in the next."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Moses said, 'I surely seek refuge in my Lord and yours from every arrogant person who disbelieves in the Day of Reckoning' "" (Koran 40:27).
(2) ""Assuredly, Allah loves not those who hold aloof out of pride"" (Koran 16:23).
(3) ""Such is the Final A bode
We grant it to those who seek not exaltation in the land, nor corruption"" (Koran 28:83).
(4)
Turn not your cheek from people out of pride, nor walk haughtily through the land, for Allah loves no one who is conceited and boastful"" (Koran 31:18).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(l) ""Tyrants and the arrogant will be raised on the Last Day as grain strewn underfoot that people will walk upon."" (2) ""No one with the slightest particle of arrogance in his heart will enter paradise."" A man remarked, ""But a man likes his clothes to be nice and his sandals good."" The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Verily, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty
Arrogance is refusing to acknowledge what is right and considering others beneath one."" (3) Allah Most High says, ""Greatness is My garment and haughtiness My mantle: whoever vies with Me for them I will throw into helL"" (4) Salama ibn al-Akwa' recounts that a man was eating with his left hand in the presence of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
The Prophet told him, ""Eat with your right,"" to which the man replied, ""I cannot,"" though nothing stopped him but arrogance
The Prophet said, ""May you not be able to."" And the man could never lift his right hand to his mouth again.
The wickedest arrogance is that of someone who exalts himself over people because of his learning and gloats to himself about his superiority.
The knowledge of such a person is of absolutely no benefit to him
Whoever learns Sacred Knowledge for the sake of the next world is unsettied by his learning, his heart is humbled and his ego lowered
Such a person lies in wait for his selfishness and never gives it free rein
He constantly takes his ego to task and corrects it
Were he to neglect it, it would diverge from the right path and destroy him
The person who seeks knowledge to take pride in it or to gain a position of leadership, looking disdainfully at other Muslims, thinking them fools and making light of them-all this is the most enormous arrogance, and ""no one with the slightest particle of arrogance in his heart will enter paradise."" *
Allah Most High says, ""Shun the abomination of idols, and shun false testimony"" (Koran 22:30).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""On the Day of Judgement, the feet of the person who bore false witness will not stir from their place before their owner is condemned to hell."" (2) ""Shall I tell you of the worst enor, mities?-worshipping others with Allah, showing disrespect to parents, giving a false statement, and testifying to the truth of a falsehood."" And he kept repeating it until we were telling ourselves [N: out of sympathy for him because of the strain ofrepeating it], ""If only he would be sHent."" *
In more than one place in the Holy Koran, Allah recounts to us the story of Lot's people, and how He destroyed them for their wicked practice.
There is consensus among both Muslims and the followers of all other religions that sodomy is an enormity
It is even viler and uglier than adultery.
Allah Most High says:
""Do you approach the males of humanity, leaving the wives Allah has created for you?
But you are a people who transgress"" (Koran
26:165-66).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Kill the one who sodomizes and the one who lets it be done to him."" (2) ""May Allah curse him who does what Lot's people did."" (3) ""Lesbianism by women is adultery between them."" *
COULD BE CHASTE (def: 013.2)
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Those who accuse believing women, unmindful though innocent, are cursed in this world and the next and shall receive a painful torment"" (Koran 24:23).
(2) ""Those who accuse innocent women without producing four witnesses, scourge them eighty stripes"" (Koran 24:4).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Avoid the seven heinous sins ..
"" and he mentioned charging believing women, unmindful though innocent, with adultery.
As for someone who accuses the Mother of the Faithful' A'isha of adultery after the revelation from heaven of her innocence (Koran 24:11- 12), such a person is an unbeliever (kafir) denying the Koran and must be killed.
*
Allah Most High says:
""No prophet has been given to misappropriate wealth
Whoever does so shall bring what they have taken on the Day of Judgement"" (Koran 3:161).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
"",.
By Allah, none of you shall wrongfully take something save that he will meet Allah carrying it on Judgement Day, and I swear I will not recognize any of you who is carrying a grunting camel, lowing cow, or bleating sheep when you meet Allah."" Then he lifted his hands and said, ""0 Allah, have I told them?"" *
Allah Most High says, ""Consume not one another's property through falsehood, nor proffer it to those who judge [between you] ..
"" (Koran 2:188).
The category of taking other's property through falsehood includes such people as those who impose non-Islamic taxes (def: p32), the highwayman who blocks the road, the thief, the idler
the betrayer of a trust, the cheater or adulterator of trade goods, the borrower who denies having borrowed something, the person who stints when weighing or measuring out goods, the person who picks up lost and found property and does not give notice of having found it, the person who sells merchandise with a hidden defect, the gambler, and the merchant who tells the buyer that the merchandise cost more than it did.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Whoever appropriates a handsbreadth of land through falsehood shall be made to carry it, as thick as seven earths, around his neck on Judgement Day."" (2) ""For someone to put off repayment of a debt when able to pay is an injustice."" (3) A man said, ""0 Messenger of Allah, will my mistakes be forgiven me if I am killed, in steadfastness and anticipating Allah's reward, advancing and not retreating?"" He replied, ""Yes, except for debts,"" (4) ""Flesh nurtured on ill-gotten wealth will not enter paradise
The hellfire has a better right to it."" (5) ""There is a record that Allah will not ignore the slightest bit of
It is the oppression of Allah's servants.""
Oppression is of three types
The first is consuming property through falsehood; the second, oppressing Allah's servants by killing, hitting, breaking bones or causing wounds; and the third, oppressing them through spoken abuse, cursing, reviling, or aceusing them of adultery or sodomy without proof
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said in an address to the people at Mina, ""Verily, your blood, property, and reputations are as inviolable to one another as the inviolability of this day, this month, and this city of yours."" *
Allah Most High says:
""Thieves, male or female--::eut off their hands in retribution for what they have earned, as an exemplary punishment from Allah
Allah is Almighty and Wise"" (Koran 5:38).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Allah curse the thief whose hand is cut for stealing a rope."" (2) ""If Muhammad's daughter Fatima stole, I would cut off her hand.""
A thief's repentance is of no benefit to him until he returns whatever he stole (dis: p77.3)
If moneyless, he must have the victim absolve him of financial responsibility.
*
(A: The amount of money they ask makes no difference, and like this, in being money taken through falsehood, are all measures imposed upon travellers without their free choice, such as tariffs, mandatory currency exchange
visa fees, and so forth.)
Allah Most High says:
""The recompense of those at war with Allah and His messenger and who strive for corruption in the land is that they be killed or crucified, or a hand and foot cut off from opposite sides, or banished from the land
That is their humiliation in this world, and an immense torment awaits them in the next"" (Koran 5:33).
Merely making people feel that the way is unsafe is to commit an enormity, so how then if such a person should take money?
*
An engulfing oath is one in which there is premeditated lying
It is termed engulfing because it whelms its swearer in sin.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(I) ""The enormities are worshipping others with Allah, showing disrespect to parents, killing a human being, and.the engulfing oath."" (2) ""A man once said, 'By Allah, Allah will not forgive So-and-so.' Allah said, 'Who is it that swears I must not forgive So-and-so?
I forgive him and annul all your works.' "" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) Allah guides not the profligate liar"" (Koran 40:28).
(2) ""May liars perish"" (Koran 51:10).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Lying leads one to wickedness and wickedness leads one to helL A man keeps lying until Allah records that he is an inveterate liar."" (2) ""The marks of a hypocrite are three:
when he speaks he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when entrusted with something he betrays the trust
"" (3) ""A believer's natural disposition might comprise any trait other than treachery and untruthfulness
"" *
Allah Most High says:
""Do not kill yourselves, for Allah is compassionate towards you
Whoever does so, in transgression and wrongfully, We shall roast in a fire, and that is an easy matter for Allah"" (Koran
4:29-30).
The Prophet (Allar bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Of those before you, there was once a wounded man who could not bear it, so he took a knife and cut his arm, and bled until he died
Allah Most High said, 'My slave has taken his life before I have, so I forbid him paradise.' "" (2) H\Vhoever kills himself with a knife will abide forever in the fire of hell, perpetually stabbing his belly with it
Whoever kills himself with poison will abide forever in the fire of hell, poison in hand, perpetually drinking of it."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Whoso does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the unbelievers"" (Koran 5:44).
(2) ""Those who conceal the clear explanations and guidance We have revealed, after We have explained it in the Book to people, are cursed by Allah and those who curse"" (Koran
2:159).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""One judge shall go to paradise, and two to hell
The judge who knows what is right and judges accordingly shall be in paradise
The one who knows what is right but intentionally judges unjustly will go to hell, and so will the judge who judges without knowledge."" Anyone who judges without knowledge or evidence from Allah and His messenger regarding the matter he gives an opinion on is subject to this threat.
(2) ""Whoever is appointed to judge between people is as though slaughtered without a knife.""
It is unlawful for a judge to rule on a case when angry, especially at a litigant
When a judge's qualities combine an insufficiency of Sacred Knowledge, unworthy intention, bad disposition, and lack of godfearingness, then his destruction is complete and he must resign and hasten to save himself from hell.
*
Allah Most High says:
""None shall wed a fornicatress but a fornicator or idolator
That is unlawful for believers"" (Koran 24:3).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Three will not enter paradise: he who is disrespectful to his parents, he who lets his wife fornicate with another, and women who affect masculinity
""
Someone who suspects his wife of indecency but pretends not to know because he loves her is not as bad as someone who actually pimps for her
There is no good in a man without jealousy for his rights.
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, (1) ""Men are already destroyed when they obey women."" (2) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed effeminate men and masculine women.
(3) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed men who wear women's clothing and women who wear men's.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed the man who marries a woman after her divorce solely to permit her first husband to remarry her ( dis: n 7.7) and curse d the first husband.
*
Allah Most High says, ""Say: 'I find nothing in what has been revealed to me that is unlawful for a person to eat except unslaughtered meat, blood outpoured, or the flesh of swine, for all this is filth' "" (Koran
6:145).
Whoever premeditatedly eats these when not forced by necessity is a criminal.
*
Allah Most High says, ""And your raiment purify"" (Koran 74:4).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
(1) passed by two graves and said, ""The two are being tormented, and not for anything excessive:
one of them did not free himself of traces of urine
while the other was a talebearer l def: r3]."" (2) And he said, ""Take care to remove all vestiges of urine from your persons, because it is the main reason for torment in one's grave."" Moreover, the prayer of someone who does not protect his person and clothing from urine is not acceptable (A: which is how scholars interpret the above hadiths, as applying to those who are negligent in removing all traces of urine before they pray).
*
(A: Meaning to take revenues other than those which are countenanced by Sacred Law such as zakat or the non-Muslim poll tax Gizya) (N:
though the state may take taxes to the extent necessary to prevent the general detriment).)
Such people are among those meant by the words of Allah Most High, ""The dispute is only with those who oppress people, and wrongfully exceed prope[ bmlnds in the land: these will have a painfui torment"" (Koran 42:42).
And in the hadith of the adulteress who purified herself by voluntarily being stoned to death, there is the Prophet's remark (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""She has made a repentance so sincere that if even a tax taker repented with the like of it, he would be forgiven.""
He who imposes taxes resembles a highwayman, and is worse than a thief
But one who burdens the people, imposing over new levies on them, is more tyrannous and oppressive than someone more equitable therein who treats those under him more kindly
Those who gather taxes, who do the clerical work, or who accept the proceeds, such as a soldier, sheikh, or head of a Sufi center (zawiya)-all bear the sin, and are eating of I ill-gotten wealth (dis: w49).
*
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""The hypocrites are trying to fool Allah, while it is He who is outwitting them
And when they stand to pray they do so lazily, showing off to people, remembering Allah but little"" (Koran 4:142).
(2) ""0 you who believe: do not nullify your charity by reminding recipients of having given it and by offending them, like someone who spends his money as a show for people"" (Koran 2:264).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""The first person judged on Resurrection Day will be a man martyred in battle.
""He will be brought forth, Allah will reacquaint him with His blessings upon him and the man will acknowledge them, whereupon Allah will say, 'What have you done with them?' to which the man will respond, 'I fought to the death for You.' ""Allah will reply, 'You lie
You fought in order to be called a hero, and it has already been said.' Then he will be sentenced and dragged away on his face to be flung into the fire.
""Then a man will be brought forward who learned Sacred Knowledge, taught it to others, and who recited the Koran
Allah will remind him of His gifts to him and the man will acknowledge them, and then Allah will say, 'What have you done with them?' The man will answer, 'I acquired Sacred Knowledge, taught it, and recited the Koran, for Your sake.' ""Allah will say, 'You lie
You learned so as to be called a scholar, and read the Koran so as to be called a reciter, and it has already been said.' Then the man will be sentenced and dragged away on his face to be flung into the fire.
""Then a man will be brought forward whom Allah expansively provided for, lavishing varieties of property upon him, and Allah will recall to him the benefits bestowed, and the man will acknowledge them, to which Allah will say, 'And what have you done with them?' The man will answer, '1 have not left a single kind of expenditure You love to see made in Your cause, save that I have spent on it for Your sake.' ""Allah will say, 'You lie
You did it so as to be called generous, and it has alreapy been said.' Then he will be sentenced and dragged away on his face to be flung into the fire."" (2) ""The slightest bit of showing off in good works is as if worShipping others with Allah.""
(A: When there is an act of obedience the servant intends to conceal but Allah reveals, then it is merely gratitude for Hisblessings to admit it to others and thank Him for it
When asked if one is fasting, for example, and one is, then one should say ""Praise be to Allah"" (al-Hamdu lillah).)
*
Allah Most High says, ""Do not betray Allah and His messenger, nor knowingly betray your trusts"" (Koran 8:27).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""Someone who cannot keep a trust is devoid of faith
Someone who cannot keep an agreement is devoid of religion.""
A breach of faith in anything is very ugly) but in some matters is worse than others
A person who cheats one for a pittance is not like a person who betrays one concerning one's wife and money, perpetrating outrages.
*
(A: Learning Sacred Knowledge for the sake of this world means that if not for this-worldly reasons, a person would not have bothered to learn (dis: a3.I).)
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Only the knowledgeable of His slaves fear Allah"" (Koran 35:28).
(2) ""Those who conceal what Allah has revealed of the Book and purchase a trifling price thereby, these but fill their bellies with hellfire"" (Koran 2:174).
(3) ""And Allah made a covenant with those given the Book to explain it to people and not keep it from them
But they flung it behind their backs"" (Koran 3:187).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Anyone who seeks Sacred Knowledge to vie with scholars, argue with fools, or win people's hearts will go to hell.""
Hilal ibn aI-'Ala' said, ""Seeking Sacred Knowledge is arduous, learning it is harder than seeking it, applying it is harder than learning it, and remaining safe from it is even harder than applying it."" *
Allah Most High says, ""0 you believe: do not nullify your charity by reminding recipients of having given it and by offending them"" (Koran 2:264).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""There are three people whom Allah will not speak to, look at, or exonerate on the Day of Judgement, and who will have a painful torment:
he who wears the hem of his garment low [A: out of pride], he who reminds recipients of his charity to them, and he who sells merchandise swearing that he paid more for it than he actually did."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Verily, We have created everything in a determined measure"" (Koran 54:49).
(2) ""Allah has created you and what you do"" (Koran 37:96).
(3) ""Whomever Allah leads astray has no guide"" (Koran 7:186).
(4) ""And Allah knowingly led him astray"" (Koran 45:23).
(5) ""But you will not want to unless Allah wants"" (Koran 76:30).
(6) ""And He inspired it [A: the human soul] its evil and its godfearingness"" (Koran 91:8).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
(1) ""0 Messenger of Allah, what is faith?"" And he replied, ""To believe in Allah, His angels, His messengers, the resurrection after death, and in destiny (qadr, def: u3.7-8), its good and evil."" (2) ""There are six whom I curse, Allah curses, and who are cursed by every prophet whose supplications are answered: he who denies Allah's destiny, he who adds anything to Allah's book, he who rules arrogantly, he who considers what Allah has prohibited to be lawful, he who deems it permissible to treat my family in ways Allah has forbidden [A: such as insulting or revilingthem], and he who abandons mysunna [A: out of disdain for it].""
Allah Most High says, ""Do not spy"" (Koran 49:12).
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever listens to people who are averse to his listening shall have molten lead poured into his ears on the Day of Judgement.""
This may not be an enormity (A: in some cases (dis: r6.4)).
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Cursing a believer is like killing him."" (2) ""When a servant curses something, the curse rises up to the sky, where the doors of the sky shut it out, and then it falls back to earth, where the doors of the earth shut it out
Then it searches right and left and when it does not find anywhere to go it comes back to the thing which was cursed, should it deserve it
H not, it returns upon the person who uttered it."" (3) While the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was on a journey, there was a woman of the Medinan Helpers (Ansar) riding a camel which annoyed her, whereupon she cursed it
The Prophet heard this and said, ""Take off what is on its back and release it, for it has been cursed."" And it is as if I can still see it now, walking along among the people, no one stopping it.
*
Allah Most High says, ""Fulfill covenants, for surely convenants will be asked about"" (Koran 17:34).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""He who obeys me obeys Allah, and he who disobeys me disobeys Allah
He who obeys the leader obeys me, and he who disobeys the leader disobeys me
,.
(A: The leader referred to in the hadith is the caliph of the Muslims or his authorized representative (dis: O25.5)
Whenever there is a group of three or more Muslims, it is sunna for a leader (amir) to be chosen
It is sunna to obey such a leader, and leaving him or not obeying him contravenes what is recommended, but is not unlawfuL)
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Pursue not that which you have no knowledge of' (Koran 17:36).
(2) ""[He is] the Knower of the Unseen, and discloses not His unseen to anyone [dis: w60.1], except to a messenger with whom He is pleased"" (Koran 72:26-27).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Whoever goes to a 'psychic' ('arraf) or fortune-teller and believes what he says has disbelieved in what has been revealed to Muhammad."" (2) ""Allah Most High says, 'One of My servants reaches daybreak a believer, another an unbeliever
He who says, ""We have received rain by Allah's grace,"" is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the planets
But he who says, ""We have received rain by the effects of such and such a mansion of the moon, "" is an unbeliever in Me and a believer in planets' [A: if he thinks they have a causal influence independent of the will of Allah (dis: 08.7(17)))].' "" (3) ""Whoever goes to a 'psychic,' asks him about something, and believes him, will not have his prayer accepted for forty days."" *
AGAINST HER HUSBAND (def: m10.12)
Allah Most High says:
""Men are the guardians of women, since Allah has been more generous to one than the other, and because of what they [men] spend from their wealth
So righteous women will be obedient, and in absence watchful, for Allah is watchful.
And if you fear their intractability, warn them, send them from bed, or hitthem
Butifthey obey you, seek no way to blame them"" (Koran
4:34).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Allah will not look at a woman who is ungrateful to her husband, while unable to do without him."" (2) ""When a man calls his wife to his bed and she will not come, and he spends the night angry with her, the angels curse her until morning."" (3) ""It is not lawful for a woman to fast when her husband is present, save by his leave
Nor to permit anyone into his house except with his permission.
"" (4) ""Whoever leaves her husband's house [A: without his permission], the angels curse her until she returns or repents."" (Khalil Nahlawi:) It is a condition for the permissibility of her going out (dis: m10.3-4) that she take no measures to enhance her beauty, and that her figure is concealed or aIterea to a form unlikely to draw looks from men or attract them
Allah Most High says, ""Remain in your homes and do not display your beauty as women did in the pre-Islamic period of ignorance"" (Koran 33:33).
(al-Durar al-mubaha (y99), 160) *
(A: The opposite, maintaining the bonds of kinship (silat al-rahim), means politeness, kind treament, and concern for all one's relatives, even if distantly related, corrupt, non-Muslim, or unappreciative.
Allah Most High says:
""If you turn back, would you then cause corruption in the land, severing your family ties?
Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed and deafened, and blinded their sight"" (Koran
47:22-23).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""He who severs his family ties will not enter paradise."" (2) ""Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him maintain the bonds of kinship."" *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Every maker of pictures will go to the fire, where a being will be set upon him for each picture he made, to torment him in helL"" (2) ""Whoever makes an image shall be required [on the Last Day] to breathe a spirit into it, but will never be able to do so."" (n: Other hadith evidence appears at w50, which discusses legal questions relating to the artistic, photographic, and televisual depiction of animate life.)
*
Allah Most High says, ""Obey not every wretched swearer; slanderer, going about with tales"" (Koran 68: 10-11).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""He who stirs up enmity among people by quoting their words to each other will not enter paradise
"" (2) ""You find that among the worst people is someone who is two-faced, showing one face to some and another face to others."" (3) ""Do not tell me anything about my Companions, for I want to meet them without disquiet in my heart.""
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who slaps his cheeks, rips his pockets, or calls out the cries of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance is not of us.""
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Two qualities in people are unbelief: attacking another's ancestry, and wailing over the dead."" (N: The hadith does not mean that these things put one beyond the pale of Islam, but that they are the actions of the unbelievers.)
*
Allah Most High says, ""The dispute is only with those who oppress people and wrongfully commit aggression in the land: these will have a painful torment"" (Koran
42:42).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, (1) ""Allah has inspired to me that you are all to be h umble towards each other, such that no one transgresses against or exalts himself above another."" (2) Malik Rahawi said: ""0 Messenger of Allah, I have been given of beauty that which you see, and I do not like anyone to wear better sandals than I
Is this of presumptuous pride?"" He answered, ""This is not of presumptuousness, which rather consists of refusing to admit the truth and considering people inferior."" (3) ""A woman was tortured for a cat she imprisoned until it died
She went to hell because of it, having neither fed nor watered it, for she confined it; nor yet having let it go to forage on the small creatures of the earth."" (4) ""Allah will certainly torture those who torture people in this world.""
(A: The early Kharijite sect committed these transgressions
)
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Do not commit transgressions; surely Allah loves not the transgressors"" (Koran 2: 190).
(2) ""Whoever disobeys Allah and His messenger has gone manifestly astray"" (Koran 33:36).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""If someone says to his Muslim brother, 'You unbeliever,' one of them deserves the name."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Those who hurt believing men and women who have done nothing to deserve it shall bear the burden of calumny 'and open sin"" (Koran 33:S8).
(2) ""Do not spy and do not slander one another"" (Koran 49:12).
(3) ""Woe to whoover disparages others behind their back or to their face"" (Koran: 104:1).
(4) ""Those who love that scandal should be spread concerning the believers shall have a painful torment in this world and the next"" (Koran
24:19).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim.
He does not oppress him, hang back from coming to his aid, or belittle him
It is sufficiently wicked for someone to demean his fellow Muslim."" (2) ""By Allah, he does not believe
By Allah, he does not believe
By Allah, he does not believe."" Someone asked, ""Who, 0 Messenger of Allah?"" And he said, ""He whose neighboris not safe from his evil conduct
"" (3) Someone said, ""0 Messenger of Allah, So-and-so spends her nights praying and her days fasting, but there is something in her tongue that maliciously injures her neighbors."" He replied, ""There is no good in her, she will go to hell."" (4) ""When 1 was taken up in the Ascent (Mi'raj), I passed by people with fingernails of copper who were raking their faces and chests with them
I asked, 'Who are they, Gabriel?' and he said, 'They are those who slandered others [lit.
""ate people's flesh""] and attacked their reputations.' "" (5) ""No man charges another with corruption or unbelief, save that the charge returns against himself if the other is not as he said."" (6) ""Do not revile the dead, for they have gone on to what they have sent ahead."" *
Allah Most High says, ""Verily, those who offend Allah and His messenger are cursed by Allah in this world and the next, and He has prepared for them a humiliating torment"" (Koran 33:57).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Abu Bakr, if you anger them [some of the poorer Emigrants], you anger your Lord."" (2) ""Allah Most High says: 'He who is hostile to a friend (wali) of Mine I declare war against.
My slave approaches Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory for him, and My slave keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him
And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he seizes, and his foot with which he walks
If he asks Me, I will surely give to him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him.' "" (n: This hadith is explained in detail at w33, which discusses the friends (awliya') of Allah Most High.)
*
Allah Most High says, "" ..
Nor walk haughtily through the land"" (Koran 31:18).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""The caftan of the Muslim comes down to midcalf, there being no harm in what is between this and the anklebones, though any of it below the anklebones is in hell
Whoever lets the hem of his garment drag on the ground out of pride, Allah will not look at him."" (2) ""While a man was walking along in a new set of clothes, with a swagger to his step, pleased with himself, and his hair combed down, Allah caused the earth to swallow him, and he will keep sinking until the Last Day."" *
Allah Most High says, ""And the raiment of godfearingness is better"" (Koran 7:26).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Only those with no share in the next world wear silk in this one."" (2) ""Wearing gold and Silk has been made unlawful for the men of my Community but permissible for its women."" *
Allah Most High says, ""Eat not of what the name of Allah has not been mentioned over; verily it is disobedience"" (Koran 6:121).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""May Allah curse whoever slaughters in other than Allah's name."" *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give himpeaee) said, ""May Allah curse whoever changes the land's property-line markers."" *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The curse of Allah is upon whoever reviles my Companions.""
'Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah be well pleased with him) said, ""By Him who cleaves the seed and creates the soul, it is the solemn word of the Illiterate Prophet to me that none shall love me except a believer, and none hate me except a hypocrite
"" *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The sign of faith is love of the Helpers (Ansar), and the sign of hypocrisy is hatred of the Helpers.""
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""He who calls others to misguidance is guilty of a sin equal to the sins of all who follow him therein without this diminishing their own sins in the slightest."" (2) ""He who inaugurates a good sunna [custom] in Islam earns the reward of it and of all who perform it after him without diminishing their own rewards in the slightest
And he who introduces a bad sunna is guilty of the sin of it and of all who perform it after him without diminishing their own sins in the slightest."" *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Allah curse women who wear false hair or arrange it for others, who tattoo or have themselves tattooed, who pluck facial hair or eyebrows or have them plucked, and women who separate their front teeth for beauty, altering what Allah has created."" (n: w51 discusses women removing facial hair.)
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""The angels curse whoever points a blade [A:
or other weapon] at his brother [until he ceases], even if it be his brother from his mother and father.""
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Paradise is forbidden to whoever falsely claims someone is his father, knowing he is not."" (2) ""Do not wish for fathers other than your own
For someone to wish for a different father is unbelief
"" *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Belief in a bad omen is polytheism (shirk).""
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
( 1 ) ""Do not wear silk or brocade
Do not drink from vessels of gold or silver or eat from dishes made ofthem: these are for others [A: Le.
non-Muslims] in this world, and for you in the next."" (2) ""He who eats or drinks from vessels of gold or silver but swallows hellfire into his belly."" *
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""They did not mention him [Jesus] to you as an example except for argument
Rather, they are quarrelsome people"" (Koran 43:58).
(2) ""Those who argue about the signs of Allah without authority having been given to them have nothing in their hearts but pride, to which they will never attain"" (Koran 40:56),
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""The man most hated by Allah is the obstinate arguer."" (2) ""No people went astray after having been guided save that they were afflicted with arguing."" (3) ""Arguing over the Koran is unbelief."" (4) ""He who presses for something he knows is false remains under the hatred of Allah until he gives it up."" (5) ""The thing I fear most for my Community is the eloquent hypocrite."" (6) ""Modesty and being at a loss for words are two components of true faith, while vulgarity and long-windedness are two components of hypocrisy."" *
Allah Most High says:
""Woe to stinters who take their full share when measuring goods from people but skimp when measuring or weighing out for them
Do these not believe they will be raised to a momentous day
a day when people will stand before 'the Lord of the Worlds?"" (Koran 83:1-6).
This is a type of theft, a breach of faith, and consuming others' property through falsehood.
Allah Most High says:
* (1) ""None feels safe from Allah's devising except people who are ruined"" (Koran 7:99).
(2) "" ..
until, when they were exulting in what they had been given, We suddenly seized them"" (Koran 6:44).
(3) ""Verily, those who do not hope to meet Us, who enjoy this world and feel at ease with it, and those who are oblivious to Our signs: their refuge is hell for what they have earned"" (Koran 10:7-8).
*
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""None despairs of the mercy of Allah except people who disbelieve"" (Koran 12:87).
(2) ""It is He who sends down the rain after they have lost hope"" (Koran 42:28).
(3) ""Say: '0 My slaves who have been prodigal against yourselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah' "" (Koran 39:53).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Let none of you die except thinking the best of Allah."" *
Allah Most High says:
""..
to show thanks to Me, and to your parents ..
"" (Koran 31:14).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who does not thank people is unthankful to Allah.""
One of the early Muslims said: ""Ingratitude for a kindness is one of the enormities.
Gratitude consists of reciprocating it or supplicating for the person.""
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Whoever denies others his surplus water or pasturage, Allah shall deny him His blessing on the Day of Judgement."" (2) ""Do not sell surplus water."" *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) passed by a donkey whose face had been branded and said, ""Haven't you heard that I have cursed whoever brands or strikes the faces of livestock?"" -and he forbade it.
The words ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) ""Haven't you heard that I have cursed ..
"" imply that he who has not heard the warning against an act is not guilty of sin by committing it, though whoever has heard and knows is included in the curse
We hold that it is likewise with all these enormities, except those which are necessarily known as being of the religion (def: fl.3(N:)).
*
Allah Most High says:
""Wine, gambling, idols, and fortune-telling arrows are but filth of the Devil's handiwork, so shun it, that you may succeed
The Devil only wants to create enmity and hatred between you over wine and gambling, and to prevent you from remembering Allah and from prayer
Will you not then desist?"" (Koran 5:90-91).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever says to his companion, ""Come, I will play you for stakes, must expiate by giving charity,"" If merely saying this is a sin that calls for charity in expiation, what must one suppose about actually doing it?
It is a form of consuming others' wealth through falsehood.
*
Allah Most High says:
"" ..
and al-Masjid al-Haram which We have appointed equally for all people, he who stays therein as well as the desert dweller
Whoever intends to violate it out of wrongdoing, We shall make him taste a painful torment"" (Koran 22:25).
(n: The words out of wrongdoing in the above verse mean ""by reason of doing wrong through committing an act that is forbidden therein, even if it merely consists of reviling one of the caretakers"" (Tafsir al-lalalayn (y77) , 436).)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Of all people, the greatest in outrage against Allah is he who kills in the Meccan Sacred Precinct, who kills someone who is not trying to kill him, or who kills because of the feuds of pre-Islamic times.""
*
p73.1 The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(I) ''I've considered having a man lead people at prayer and going myself to those who hang back from attending the Friday prayer to burn their houses down upon them."" (2) ""Going to the Friday prayer is obligatory for every male who has reached puberty."" *
Included in this subject is the hadith of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a (A: who sent a secret letter telling of the Muslims' military plans to his relatives in Mecca in hopes that they would not get hurt) whom 'Umar (Allah be well pleased with him) wanted to kill for what he had done, but the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade 'Umar to, as Hatib had fought at Badr (A:
and by accepting Hatib's excuse, left nothing for any Muslim to criticize (dis: p75.3)).
If someone's spying entails undermining Islam and its people, or the killing, captivity, enslavement, or plundering of the Muslims, or
anything of the like, then he is one of those who strive for corruption in the land, destroying tillage and offspring, and he is subject to death
and deserves the torment (A: of hellfire), may Allah save us from it
Anyone who spies necessarily knows that if ordinary talebearing is an enormity (dis: p45), a spy's carrying information is far more abominable and heinous.
*
(n: Commentaries by Imam Nawawi and 'Abd al-Ra'uf Munawi have been added by the translator to some of the following hadiths.)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Beware of envy, for envy consumes good works as fire consumes wood."" (2) ""None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."" (Nawawi:) It is fitter to interpret this hadith as referring to universal brotherhood, including both Muslims and non-Muslims, such that one loves for one's non-Muslim brother what one loves for oneself, i.e
to enter Islam, just as one loves one's Muslim brother to remain in Islam, this being "",hy it is desirable (mustahabb) to pray for the guidance of non-Muslims
The hadith is understood as denying that someone who does not love for his brother what he loves for himself has perfect faith, love meaning to want what is good and advantageous for him, referring to religious love, not individual human love
For one's human nature might well dislike another's attaining the good, or surpassing oneself therein, though it is obligatory for one to resist this human tendency and pray for one's brother and desire for him what one desires for oneself
Someone who does not love for his
brother what he loves for himself is envious
and envy, as Ghazali notes., is of three types (A: all of them unlawful)
The first is to wish that another person cease to have something good in order to obtain it oneself
The second is to wish that another lose something good, even if one does not obtain it, as when one already has another like it, or does not want it, this being worse than the previous type
The third is when one does not wish that the other cease to have something good, but resents his having surpassed one in attainment or position, accepting his parity with one but not his superiority
And this is unlawful as well, because one thereby objects to Allah's division of His favor among His servants
Allah Most High says:
""Are they the ones who apportion the mercy of your Lord?
It is We who have divided their livelihoods between them in this life, and raised some of them in degrees above others"" (Koran 43:32).
So whoever does not accept this division opposes Allah Most High in His apportionment and His wisdom
One must remedy one's human nature, make it accept destiny, and resist it by praying that one's enemy be given what 'one's self-interest might prefer him not to have (al-Arba'un aiNawawiyya wa sharhuha (y103), 40).
NOT LOVING THE PROPHET (ALLAH BLESS HIMAND GIVE HIM PEACE) MORE THAN ALLPEOPLE The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""None of you believes until I am more beloved to him than his wife, child, self, and all people."" (Munawi:) Kirmani says, ""Love of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) means the will to obey him and not disobey him, this being one of the obligations of Islam"" (Fayd ai-Qadir sharh ai-Jami' al-saghir (y91), 6.441).
CONTENDING WITH WHAT THE PROPHET(ALLAH BLESS HIM AND GIVE HIM PEACE)HAS BROUGHT The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""None of you believes until his inclinations conform to what I have brought."" (Nawawi:) This means a person must examine his acts in light of the Koran and sunna, suspending his own inclinations and following what the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has brought
The hadith resembles the word of Allah Most High, ""When Allah and His messenger have decided a matter, no believer, male or female, has a choice in their affair"" (Koran 33:36).
(al-Arba'un al-Nawawiyya wa sharhuha (y103),
74)ACQUIESCING TO DISOBEDIENCE The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Whoever of you sees something wrong, .
let him change it with his hand (dis: book q)
If unable, then let him change it with his tongue
If unable, then with his heart
And that is the weakest degree of faith."" And in the hadith related by Muslim concerning oppressors:
(2) ""Whoever fights them with his hand is a believer, whoever fights them with his tongue is a believer, whoever fights them in his heart is a believer, Beyond that, there is not a mustard grain of faith."" This hadith proves that whoever dQes not condemn acts of disobedience in his heart or wish they would cease is devoid of faith
Fighting with the heart includes asking Allah Most High to annihilate the falsehood and its perpetrators, or improve them.
(3) ""Leaders will be placed over you that some of you will accept and some of you condemn.
Whoever dislikes what they do is innocent
Whoever condemns what they do is secure
But not whoever accepts and follows them."" Someone said, ""Shouldn't we fight them?"" And he replied, ""No, not as long as they maintain the prayer [dis:
O25.3( a( A:))] among you.""
HELPING ANOTHER TO WRONGFULLY DISPUTE The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who helps another to argue without right remains under the hatred of Allah until he gives up.""
UNDERHANDEDNESS The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Plotting and duplicity are in the hellfire.""
DISAFFECTING A PERSON'S SPOUSE ORSERVANT FROM HIM The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who disaffects a person's wife or servant from him is not of us.""
VULGARITY The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Modesty is of faith, and faith is in paradise
Vulgarity is of rudeness, and rudeness is in hell."" (2) ""Allah detests the foulmouthed, vulgar person.""
BEING LEADERLESS The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The death of someone who dies without the leader of a group over him is as if he had died in the; pre-Islamic period of ignorance [A, leader meaning the caliph (def: 025) or his representative, if they exist (dis: p40.2(A: n."" BENEFlTING AT A MUSLIM'S EXPENSE
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""Whoever eats food obtained at the expense of a Muslim, Allah will feed him hellfire on Judgement Day
He who gains a prestigious reputation at the expense of a Muslim, Allah will reduce him to the position of the show-offs and boasters (def:
p33.2) on JudgementDay
He who wears a garment acquired at the expense of a Muslim, Allah will dress him in a garment of fire on Judgement Day.""
SHUNNING A MUSLIM WITHOUT RIGHT The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever shuns his brother for a year is as though he had spilled his blood."" (Munawi:) This means that avoiding him for a year deserves punishment in the hereafter just as spilling his blood does, and that both the person who shuns someone and he who kills someone are involved in sin, though not On the same level, for the use of a simile does not imply the parity of the simile's subject to the thing with which it has been compared
Shafi'i holds it is unlawful to shun a Muslim for three days unless there is a valid reason such as the religious improvement of the person avoiding the other or person being avoided, or when the latter is morally corrupt or involved in reprehensible innovation (bid'a, def:
w29.3) (Fayd ai-Qadir sharh al-Jami' al-saghir (y91),6.234).
INTERCEDING FOR THE GUILTY The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He whose intercession comes between a criminal and one of Allah's prescribed penalties has defied Allah in His command.""
SAYING SOMETHING THAT ALLAH DETESTS The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""A man says something Allah detests that he does not think twice about, for which he plunges into hellt dis: r1]."" (2) ""A man says something pleasing to Allah, not imagining it amounts to what it does, fOT which Allah records His pleasure in him until Judgement Day
And a man says something that angers Allah, not imagining it amounts to what it does, for which Allah records His wrath against him until the day he meets Him."" SAYING ""MASTER"" (SA YYlD) TO A HYPOCRITE
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Do not say ""master"" to a hypocrite, for ifhe is a master, you have angered your Lord Mighty and Majestic.""
BREAKING A PROMISE The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks it, and when entrusted he betrays his trust."" (A: If one makes an ordinary promise to another person, it is sunna to keep the promise, though it is strictly unlawful to make a promise that one has no intention to keep, this being how scholars interpret the above hadith.)
Lying and betraying a trust have been mentioned before, while here we are discussing promise breaking
Allah Most High says, ""Of them, there is one who promised Allah, 'If He bestows of His generosity on us, we shall certainly give charity and be of the righteous' "" (Koran 9:75).
(n: Suyuti notes that the person referred to above ""is Tha'laba ibn Hatib, who 'asked the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to pray that Allah would enrich him, so that he might give everyone their just due
So the Prophet supplicated for him and he became wealthy, but then he stopped coming to the Friday prayer, withdrew from the community, and refused to pay zakat, as Allah Most High says:
""'But when He gave to them of His generosity, they hoarded it and turned away in aversion.
So He punished them by putting hypocrisy into their hearts until the day they meet Him, because they broke their promise to Allah and lied' (Koran 9:76-77).
Some time after this, he brought the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) his zakat, but the Prophet told him, 'Allah forbids me to accept it from you,' at which Tha'laba threw handfuls of dust upon his own head
He later (A: in the time of the subsequent caliphate] took his zakat to Abu Bakr, but he would not accept it
Then to 'Umar, but he would not accept it
Then he took it to 'Uthman, but he would not accept it either, and he died in the reign of 'Uthman"" (Tafsir alJalalayn (y77), 253).)
NOT TRlMMING ONE'S MUSTACHE
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""He who does nottrim his mustache [def:
e4.1(2)] is not one of us."" (2) ""Be different from the Zoroastrians:
grow your beards and trim your mustaches.""
NOT PERFORMING THE HAJJ WHEN ABLE TO 'Umar ibn Khattab (Allah be well pleased with him) said:
""I've considered sending men to these cities to see who has not made the pilgrimage, and collect the non-Muslim poll tax Gizya, def: 011.4) from everyone possessing the means who has not performed it [def: j 1.5-10]
They are not Muslims.
They are not Muslims."" KEEPING AN INHERlT ANCE FROM AN HEIR
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever prevents his heirs from receiving their inheritance [dis: w52.1(234-36)], Allah will preven this inheriting paradise
""
TALKING ABOUT HOW ONE'S WIFE MAKES LOVE The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Among the worst people in Allah's sight on Judgement Day will be the man who makes love to his wife and she to him, and he divulges her secret.""
SODOMIZING ONE'S WIFE The Prophet (Allah Bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who sodomizes a woman is accursed.""
INTERCOURSE WITH ONE'S WIFE DURINGMENSTRUATION The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever has intercourse with a woman during her period, or sodomizes a woman, or who goes to a fortune-teller and believes him, has committed unbelief [A: if he considers any of these permissible]
""
LOOKING INTO ANOTHER'S HOUSE WITHOUTLEAVE The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Were a man to look at you without permission and you threw a rock at him and knocked out his eye, you would not have committed any offense
"" (2) ""Whoever peeps into a house without its people's leave, they may put out his eye.""
EXCESSIVENESS IN RELIGION Allah Most High says, ""Say: '0 people ofthe Book, do not be excessive in your religion' "" (Koran 4:171).
(Qurtubi:) According to exegetes, this refers to the extremism of the Jews concerning Jesus in accusing Mary of fornication, and the extremism of the Christians in considering him a god
For both excessiveness and remissness are evil, and both may be unbelief (al-Jami' Ii ahkam at-Qur'an (y1l7), 6.21).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Beware of going to extremes [in religion], for those before you were only destroyed through excessiveness
"" (Munawi:) Ibn Taymiya says, ""His saying 'Beware of going to extremes in religion' is a general prohibition applying to all types of extremes, whether in beliefs or works"" (Fayd ai-Qadir sharh ai-Jami' aJ-saghir (y91), 3.126).
NOT ACCEPTING A SWORN STATEMENT The Prophet (Allah' bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever is sworn to in Allah's name,let him accept it, for whoever does not has nothing to do with Allah in anything.""
STINGINESS Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Whoever is watchful against the stinginess of his own soul, those are the successful"" (Koran 59:9).
(2) ""Here you are, called upon to spend in the Way of Allah, and some of you are being stingy, while whoever is stingy is only ungenerous towards himself
It is Allah who is rich and you who are the poor"" (Koran 47:38).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""What disease is worse than stinginess?"" (2) ""Three things are deadly: avarice obe""yed, caprice yielded to, and opinionated people's pride in their opinions.""
SIITING IN THE CENTER OF A CIRCLE The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed whoever sits in the middle of a circle of people (A: because such a person sees himself as better than they are).
PASSING IN FRONT OF SOMEONE PERFORMINGTHE PRAYER The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""If someone passing in front of a person per· forming the prayer knew of the penalty for it, it would be better for him to wait for forty en: a variant has, ""a hundred years""]."" (A: In front means within the length of the person's prostration, or the distance to the barrier he is using (def; f7) if it is not far.)
(Munawi:) Ibn Daqiq al
'Eid says: ""A Maliki scholar has distinguished four situations respecting the sin of the person praying and the person who passes in front of him [n: given P, the person praying, and Q, the person passing in front of him]:
(I) Q sins but not P when P is praying behind a barrier in a place that is not a commonly used walkway and Q passes in front of him when there is another alternative (A: meaning another route, since to stop and wait is not considered an alternative, though it is superior);
(2) P sins but not Q when P is praying in a commonly used walkway without a barrier, or at a considerable distance from one, and Q has no other alternative but to pass in front of him;
(3) both P and Q sin when P is praying in circumstances like (2) above, if Q has an alternative route but passes in front of P anyway;
(4) and neither P nor Q sin when P is praying in circumstances like (1) above, if Q has no alternative and passes in front of P."" (Fayd aI-Qadir sharh al-Jami' al-saghir (y91),
5.338)NOT LOVING ONE'S FELLOW MUSLIMS The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""By Him in whose hand is my soul, none of you will enter paradise until you believe, and none of you will believe until you love each other
Shall 1 not tell you of something which if you do it will create love among you?
Increase the custom of greeting each other with 'as-SaIamu 'alaykum.' "" (Kitab al-kaba'ir wa tabyin al-maharim (y36), 35-181) *
(n: Most of the above enormities are agreed upon by all four schools of jurisprudence
A more comprehensive list by Ibn Hajar Haytami is given below at w52.)
*
(Nawawi: (n: with commentary by Muhammad ibn 'Allan Bakri (B:))) SchoJarsstate that repentance is obligatory for every sin (B:
there being scholarly consensus (def: b7) that it is obligatory for both lesser sins and enormities, and for both outward acts and inward ones such as malice or envy).
When a person's disobedience is solely between him and Allah Most High, unconnected with another human being's rights, his repentance has three conditions:
(a) to desist from the sin;
(b) to regret having done it (B: because of its being disobedience, since regretting it for some other reason is of no consequence);
(c) and to resolve never to commit it again.
(B: Some hold that after having repented of it, it is also a condition that one abandon the company of whoever committed the act with one, and also that one's repentance be purely for the sake of Allah, a restriction that Ibn Hajar Haytami embeds in the first condition above by saying, ""to desist from the sin solely for the sake of Allah, since abandoning it out of fear, ostentation, or other motive besides Allah Most High is not considered desisting."") If any of these conditions is lacking, one's repentance is not valid.
If the act of disobedience is connected with the rights of another human being, repentance for it has four conditions: the three mentioned above, plus clearing oneself of the obligation owed to the other person
If this obligation is property or the like, one must return it (A: by any means, secretly or openly, even as an ostensible gift) to him (B: i.e
to its owner, meaning to return the article itself if it still exists, or if it does not, then a substitute, whether this be its value or an equal amount of it)
(N: Becoming a Muslim eliminates all previous sins except those involving rights or property owed to other people
Allah does not pardon these until they are restored or forgiven
) If the right in question is the penalty for charging someone ""With adultery when there are not four witnesses (def: 013) orthe like (B: such as a victim's right to retaliate (03) for a homicide or injury) then one must give oneself up to him (B: to permit him to inflict the penalty due) or else ask him to forgive it
(B: The author's words seem to imply that the validity of repentance depends on performing the above, of returning the property or giving oneself up--Le
when possible, for otherwise one intends to do so when possible, or asks the victim for amnesty-but the position of the Imam (A: Juwayni), which 'Izz ibn 'Abd alSalam and our author (n: Nawawi) also follow, is that one's repentance is valid regarding the rights of Allah Most High (N: through merely repenting), while the other person's right is an obligation that remains upon one (dis: w53), as does the sin of not discharging it).
If the wrong done to another consists of slander (def: r2), then one must have him pardon it (B: by informing him so he can forgive one, though informing him is only a necessary condition when doing so will not cause even greater harm, though if it will, as when one fears the other will kill one, informing him is not obligatory
Both asking for the person's forgiveness and informing him of what one said are only obligatory when he has heard that he has been slandered
If he has not, then asking Allah's forgiveness is sufficient) (Riyad al-salihin (y107) , 10-11, and Datil alfalihin Ii turnq Riyad al-salihin (y25), 1.88-91).
*
(n: The discussion and analysis that follow are Imam Ghazali's, edited by the Hanbali scholar IbJ)
Qudama Maqdisi from an earlier abridgement of GhazaWs Ihya' 'ulum ai-din by 'Abd ai-Rahman ibn Jawzi, which Maqdisi shortened to a single volume whose conciseness, ifless vivid than the Ihya', better lends itself to the purpose of the present section, which is to discuss the practical implications of an important aspect of Sacred Law.)
(Ibn Qudama Maqdisi:) One should know that commanding the right and forbidding the wrong is the most important fundamental of the religion, and is the mission that Allah sent the prophets to fulfill
If it were folded up and put away, religion itself would vanish, dissolution appear, and whole lands come to ruin.
Allah Most High says, * ""Let there be a group of you who call to good, commanding the right and forbidding the wrong, for those are the successful"" (Koran 3:104).
This verse explains that commanding the right and forbidding the wrong are a communal rather than a personal obligation (dis: c3.2), for He says, ""Let there be a group of you.,."" and not, ""All of you command the right."" So if enough people do it (A: meaning that whenever a wrong is seen, one of those who see it corrects it), the responsibility is lifted from the rest, those who perform it being expressly mentioned as the successful.
There are many verses in the Holy Koran about commanding the right and forbidding the wrong.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Those who keep within Allah's limits and those who transgress them or allow them to be compromised may be compared to people on a ship, some of whom must stay below deck in the hardest and worst place, while others get passage above
When those below need water, they pass through those on the upper deck, injuring and annoying them until those below reflect, 'If we wcre to stave a hole in the hull we could get water without troubling those above.' Were those above deck to leave those below to themselves, all would be destroyed, while if they were to help them, all would be saved."" (2) ""Whoever of you sees something wrong, let him change it with his hand
If unable to, then let him change it with his tongue
If unable, then with his heart
And that is the weakest degree of faith."" (3) ""The best jihad is speaking the truth to an unjust ruler."" (4) ""When you see my Community too intimidated by an oppressor to tell him, 'You are a tyrant,' then you may as well say goodbye to them."" (5) ""Command the right and forbid the wrong, or Allah will put the worst of you in charge of the best of you, and the best will supplicate Allah and be left unanswered
""
Abu Bakr (Allah be well pleased with him) rose from his place, and after having praised Allah Most High, said, ""0 people: you recite the verse, "" '0 you who believe: you are responsible for yourselves; those who go astray will not harm you if you are guided' (Koran 5:105), ""while we have heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) say, "" 'People who do not change something wrong when they see it are on the verge of a sweeping punishment from Allah.' ""
There are four integrals (def: q2-5) in commanding the right and forbidding the wrong, the first of which is that the person doing so be legally responsible (def: c8.1), Muslim, and able to, these being the conditions for it to be obligatory, though a child of the age of discrimination (def:
fl.2) who condemns something dishonorable is rewarded for doing so, even if it is not obligatory for him to.
MORAL RECTITUDE IS NOT A CONDITION As for requirements of moral rectitude in the person giving the reprimand, some scholars take this into consideration and say that a corrupt person is not entitled to censure, a position for which they adduce the word of Allah Most High, ""Do you enjoin piety to others and forget yourselves?"" (Koran 2:44), but there are no grounds in the verse for such an inference.
HAVING THE CALIPH'S PERMISSION Some scholars stipulate that the person delivering the censure must have permission to do so from the caliph (def: 025) or his regional appointee, and do not grant that private individuals may censure others
This is untrue, for the Koranic verses and hadiths all indicate that whoever sees something wrong and does nothing has sinned
Stipulating that there must be permission from the caliph is mere arbitrary opinion
One should realize that there are five levels of censure:
explaining the wrong nature of the act, admonishing the person politely, reviling him and harshness, forcibly stopping the act (such as by breaking musical instruments or pouring out wine), and finally, intimidation and threatening to strike the person or actually hitting him to stop what he is doing
It is the latter level, not the first four, that requires the caliph, because it may lead to civil disorder.
The early Muslims' invariable practice of reprimanding those in authority decisively proves by their consensus (def: b7) that there is no need for a superior's authorization
If it be wondered whether a child is entitled to reprove his father, or a wife her husband, or for private citizens to reprove their ruler, the answer is that all are fundamentally entitled to
We have distinguished the five levels: the child is entitled to explain the nature of the act, to admonish and advise his parents politely, and finally may censure at the fourth level by such things as breaking a lute, pouring out wine, and so forth
This is also the sequence that should be observed by a wife
As for private citizens with their ruler, the matter is much graver than a child's reproving his father, and citizens are only entitled to explain the matter and advise.
BEING ABLE TO CENSURE It is a necessary condition that the person condemning something wrong be able to do so.
Someone who is unable is not obliged to condemn it except in his heart
The obligation is not only lifted when physically unable, but also when one fears that problems (def: q2.7) will result for one, which also comes under the heading of inability.
The obligation to censure the wrong is likewise lifted when one knows that the reproach will be ineffective
Four situations may be distinguished with respect to this.
(1) When one knows (def: q2.6) the wrong will be eliminated by speaking or acting without this entailing problems for oneself, one is obliged to censure it.
(2) When one knows that speaking will be ineffective and one will be beaten if one does, one is not obliged to.
(3) When one knows that one's censure will be ineffective but it does-not entail problems for one, it is not obligatory, because of its ineffectiveness, though one is still recommended to censure the act is order to manifest the standards of Islam and remind people of their religion.
(A: Hadiths that seem to show the nonobligatoriness of commanding the right and forbidding the wrong are understood by Islamic scholars as referring to specific situations in which censure is ineffectual, and are not global statements about this obligation's inapplicability to a certain era of history, such as our own or some future time
Commanding the right and forbidding the wrong will be obligatory until the Day of JUdgement.)
(4) And when one knows that it will cause problems for one but the wrong will be eliminated by censuring it, such as with breaking a lute or dumping out wine when one knows one will be beaten for it, then one is not obliged but rather recommended to, as is evident from the hadith, ""The best jihad is speaking the truth to an unjust ruler."" There is no disagreement among scholars that it is permissible for a single Muslim to attack battlelines of unbelievers headlong and fight them even if he knows he will be killed
But if one knows it will not hurt them at all, such as if a blind man were to hurl himself against them, then it is unlawful.
Likewise, if someone who is alone sees a corrupt person with a bottle of wine beside him and a sword in his hand, and he knows that the person will chop his neck if he censures him for drinking, it is not permissible for him to do so, as it would not entail any religious advantage worth giving one's life for
Such censure is only praiseworthy when one is able to eliminate the wrong and one's action will produce some benefit.
If one wants to censure something but knows it will result in one's companions also being beaten with one, it is not permissible for one to do so, because one is incapable of removing one blameworthy thing without its leading to another.
(N: It is not lawful to censure anything reprehensible when doing so will lead to a thing or state that is more reprehensible.)
Know only means what one believes will probably result
Someone who thinks that it will create problems for him is not obligated to censure, though someone who does not believe that problems will result is obliged to.
Cowardice does not enter into consideration here, nor foolhardy courage, but rather the normal temperament of someone with a sound disposition.
Problems means being beaten, killed, robbed, or acquiring a bad name in town
As for being reviled and disparaged, it is not an excuse to remain silent, for someone who commands what is right generally meets with it.
*
The second integral of commanding the right and forbidding the wrong is that the thing censured is something blameworthy that exists at present and is apparent.
Blameworthy means that its occurrence is prohibited by Sacred Law, this being of wider scope than mere disobedience, for someone who sees a child or insane person drinking wine (A:
which is not a sin in relation to them) is obliged to pour it out and forbid them.
That exists at present excludes someone who has drunk wine and is now finished, and so forth.
It also excludes something which will take place later, as when there is evidence that a person intends to go drinking that night
There is no censure in such cases other than to appeal to the person's conscience.
Apparent excludes someone who conceals his disobedience at home and locks his door
It is not permissible to spy on him
An exception is if something is manifest to another outside the house, such as the sound of pipes and lutes
Someone who hears them may enter and break the instruments
If one smells the odor of wine outside the house, the sounder opinion is that it is permissible to enter and condemn it.
ONE MAY NOT CONDEMN ANOTHER FORQUESTIONS INVOLVING DIFFERENCESAMONG SCHOOLS OF JURISPRUDENCE It is a necessary condition that the thing censured be something whose blameworthiness is not merely established by ijtihad (n: the independent legal reasoning of a particular Imam)
Any question in which there is ijtihad may not be a cause for censure
A Hanafi, for example, may not condemn a Shafi'i for eating something slaughtered without the Basmala (dis: j17.5(4)), nor a Shafi'i condemn a Hartafi for drinking some nonintoxicating raisin drink (N: nor a Muslim condemn a non-Muslim for drinking wine (dis:
011.5(1)))
(A: But if two individuals follow the same school of Sacred Law and one commits an act that is unlawful or offensive in that school or in each of the two's respective schools, it is obligatory for the other person to condemn the act even when it involves the ijtihad of their Imam
And the Shafi'i must condemn the Hanafi for eating something slaughtered without the Basmala, as the Hanafi is doing something he believes to be wrong.)
*
The third integral of commanding the right and forbidding the wrong is the person being reprimanded
It is sufficient that he be a person, and is not necessary that he be legally responsible, as we have previously mentioned (q3.1) in respect to censuring a child or insane person.
The fourth integral is the censure itself, which has various degrees of severity and has rules.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE WRONG ACT The first degree consists of knowing the wrong act
One should not eavesdrop at another's house in order to hear the sounds of musical instruments, or try to catch the scent of wine, or feel for an object concealed beneath someone's shirt to see if it is a flute, or ask a person's neighbors to see what he is doing
But if two upright witnesses (def: O24.4) come and inform one that someone is drinking, one may enter his house and take him to task.
EXPLAINING THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG The second degree consists of explaining that an act is wrong, since an ignorant person will often do something he does not know is blameworthy, but will stop when he finds out
So one must explain it politely, saying, for example:
""People are not born scholars; we were unfamiliar with many things in Sacred Law until scholars mentioned them to us
Perhaps there are not many in your hometown,"" and thus lead up to it diplomatically so the person understands without being offended
To avoid the evil of remaining silent when there is something wrong, only to commit the evil of offending a Muslim when able not to, is like washing away blood with urine.
FORBIDDING THE ACT VERBALLY The third degree of severity is to prohibit the act by admonition, advice, and making the other fear Allah, mentioning the hadiths of divine punishment for it and reminding the person how the early Muslims behaved, all of which should be done with sympathy and kindness, not harshness or anger
The great danger here which one must beware of is that a learned person explaining that something is wrong may be proud of his knowledge and gloat over the lowliness of the other's ignorance, which is like saving someone from a fire by casting oneself into it
It is ignorant in the extreme, a deep disgrace, and a delusion from the Devil
The touchstone and test for this is to ask oneself whether one would prefer the censured person to stop at his own or another's behest, or whether one would prefer to forbid him oneself
If reproving him is difficult and weighs upon one, and one would prefer that someone else do it, then one should proceed,for religion is the motive
But if it is otherwise, then one is following mere personal caprice and using the censuring of others as a means to display one's merit, and one should fear Allah and censure oneself first.
CENSURING WITH HARSH WORDS The fourth degree of severity consists of reviling the person and bearing down on him with sharp, harsh words
One does not resort to this degree unless one is unable to prevent the person by politeness, and he shows he wants to persist or mocks one's admonitions and advice
Reviling him does not mean vulgarity and lies, but rather saying ""You degenerate:' ""You idiot,"" ""You ignoramus,"" ""Do you not fear Allah?"" and so forth
Allah Most High quotes Ibrahim (upon whom be peace) saying:
""Fie on you and what you worship apart from Allah!
Can you not think?"" (Koran 21:67).
RIGHTING THE WRONG BY HAND The fifth degree consists of changing the blameworthy thing with one's hand, such as by breaking musical instruments, pouring out wine, or turning someone out of a house wrongfully appropriated
There are two rules for this degree:
(1) not to do so when one can get the person to do it himself, i.e
if one can get someone to leave the land he has unjustly taken, one should not drag or push him from it;
(2) and to break the instruments, for exampie, just enough to obviate their being used for disobedience and no more, or to be careful not to break the bottles when pouring out wine
If one cannot manage except by throwing rocks at the bottles or the like, then one may do so and is not obliged to cover the damages.
If it be wondered whether one may break the bottles or drag someone by the foot out of a wrongfully appropriated house to create fear, as an object lesson to others, the answer is that this is for leaders alone and is not permissible for private individuals because of the obscurity of the decision-making criteria in the matter.
INTIMIDATION The sixth degree is threatening and intimidation, such as by saying, ""Stop this or 1'11-""; and when possible this should precede actually hitting the person
The rule for this level is not to make a threat that one cannot carry out, such as saying ""or I'll seize your house,"" or ""take your wife hostage,"" because if one says this seriously, it is unlawful, and if not serious, then one is lying.
ASSAULT The seventh degree is to directly hit or kick the person, or similar measures that do not involve weapons
This is permissible for private individuals provided it is necessary, and that one confines oneself to the minimum needed to stop the reprehensible action and nothing more
When the action has been stopped, one refrains from doing anything further.
FORCE OF ARMS The eighth degree is when one is unable to censure the act by oneself and requires the armed assistance of others
Sometimes the person being reproved may also get people to assist him, and a skirmish may ensue, so the soundest legal opinion is that this degree requires authorization from the caliph (def: 025), since it leads to strife and the outbreak of civil discord
Another view is that there is no need for the caliph's permission.
* 'q6.0 THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE PERSON CENSURING q6.1 Having presented in detail the rules for someone condemning the wrong, they may be summarized in three traits needed by the person giving the reprimand:
(1) knowledge of the (A: above-mentioned) appropriate circumstances for censure and their definitions, so as to keep within lawful bounds;
(2) godfearingness, without which one might know something but not apply it because of some personal interest;
(3) and good character, the prime prerequisite for being able to control oneself, for when anger is aroused, mere knowledge and piousness are seldom sufficient to suppress it if character is lacking.
REDUCING ONE'S DEPENDENCE ON OTHERS q6.2 Among the rules for commanding the right and forbidding the wrong is to depend less on others and eliminate desire for what they have, so as not to have to compromise one's principles
A story is told about one of the early Muslims who used to get offal each day from the neighborhood butcher for his cat
He noticed something blameworthy about the butcher, so he returned home and turned out the cat before returning to reprimand the man, who retorted, ""From now on, I'm not giving you a thing for your cat,"" to which he replied, ""I did not censure you till I gave up both the cat and any desire for what you have."" And this is the fact of the matter
One cannot reprimand others as long as one is anxious for two things: the things people give one, and their approval and praise of one.
q6.3 As for politeness in commanding the right and forbidding the wrong, it is obligatory
Allah Most High says, ""Speak unto him gentle words"" (Koran 20:44) (A: this being to Pharaoh, the enemy of Allah, so how then with one's fellow Muslims?) (Mukhtasar Minhaj al-qasidin (y62), 123-30).
*
J (n: Book r has been edited from Nawawi's al-Adhkar al-muntakhaba min ka/am Sayyid al-Abrar and from al-Durar al-mubaha fi al-hazr wa al-ibaha, a work on the lawful and unlawful by the Hanafi scholar Khalil Nahlawi.)
(Nawawi:) Having previously discussed what Allah Most Glorious and Exalted has facilitated of recommended invocation (dhikr) and the like, I wish to add here the expressions which are offensive or unlawful, that the book might fully encompass the rulings on words and explain their categories, mentioning the objects thereof that every religious person needs to know (al-Adhkar (yl02),450).
(Nawawi:) Every legally responsible person should refrain from saying anything except when there is a clear advantage to speaking.
Whenever speaking and not speaking are of equal benefit
it is sunna to remain silent, for permissible speech easily leads to that which is unlawful or offensive, as actually happens much or even most of the time-and there is no substitute for safety
The Prophet (Allah) bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say what is good or remain silent."" This hadith, whose authenticity Bukhari and Muslim concur upon, is an explicit legal text indicating that a person should not speak unless what he intends to say is good, meaning that the benefit of it is apparent to him
Whenever one doubts that there is a clear advantage, one should not speak.
Imam Shan'i (Allah have mercy on him) said, ""When one wishes to speak, one must first reflect, and if there is a clear interest to be served by speaking, one speaks, while if one doubts it, one remains silent until the advantage becomes apparent
""
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
(1) ""0 Messenger of Allah, which of the Muslims is best?"" And he said, ""He who the Muslims are safe from his tongue and his hand."" (2) ""A servant unthinkingly says something pleasing to Allah Most High for which Allah raises him whole degrees
And a servant unthinkingly says something detested by Allah Most High for which he plunges into hell."" (3) ""The excellence of a person's Islam includes leaving what does not concern him [def:
w54]."" (4) ""Do not speak much without mentioning Allah (dhikr), for too much speech without mentioning Allah hardens the heart, and the hardhearted are the farthest of all people from Allah Most High."" (5) ""All of a human being's words count against him and not for him, except commanding the right, forbidding the wrong, and the mention of Allah Most High (dhikr).""
The Master Abul Qasim Qushayri (Allah have mercy on him) said, ""Safety lies in remaining silent, which should be one's basis
Silence at the appropriate time is the mark of men, just as speech at the appropriate time is one of the finest qualities
I have heard Abu 'Ali Daqqaq (Allah be well pleased with him) say, 'He who is silent when something should be said is a tongueless villain' "" (ibid., 450-55).
*
(N awawi:) Slander and talebearing are two of the ugliest and most frequently met with qualities among men, few people being safe from them
I have begun with them because of the widespread need to warn people of them.
SLANDER Slander (ghiba) means to mention anything concerning a person that he would dislike, whether about his body,
religion, everyday life, self, disposition, property, son, father, wife, servant, turban, garment, gait, movements, smiling, dissoluteness, frowning, cheerfulness, or anything else connected with him.
Mention means by word, writing, sign, or indicating him with one's eye, hand, head, and so forth.
Body refers to saying such things as that someone is blind, lame, bleary-eyed, bald, short, tall, dark, or pale.
Religion includes saying that he is corrupt, a thief, cannot be trusted, is a tyrant, does not care about the prayer, does not watch to avoid filth, does not honor his father, does not spend zakat on what it should be spent on, or does not avoid slandering others.
Everyday life includes saying that his manners are poor; he does not care about others; does not think he owes anyone anything; that he talks, eats, or sleeps too much; or sleeps or sits when he should not.
Father refers to saying such things as that his father is corrupt, his father is an Indian, Nabatean, African, cobbler, draper, carpenter, blacksmith, or weaver (N: if mentioned derogatorily).
Disposition includes saying that he has bad character, is arrogant, a show-off, overhasty, domineering, incapable, fainthearted, irresponsible, gloomy, dissolute, and so forth.
Clothing means saying such things as that his sleeves are too loose, his garment hangs too low, is dirty, or the like
Other remarks can be judged by the above examples
The determining factor is mentioning about a person what he would not like.
As for talebearing (namima), it consists of quoting someone's words to another in a way that worsens relations between them.
THE EVIDENCE THAT SLANDERAND TALEBEARING ARE UNLAWFUL The above define slander and talebearing.
As for the ruling on them, it is that they are unlawful, by the consensus (def: b7) of Muslims
There is much explicit and intersubstantiative evidence that they are unlawfulfrom the Koran, sunna, and consensus of the Muslim Community.
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Do not slander one another"" (Koran 49: 12).
(2) ""Woe to whomever disparages others behind their back or to their face"" (Koran 104: 1).
(3) "" ..
slanderer, going about with tales"" (Koran 68:11).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""The talebearer will not enter paradise."" (2) ""Do you know what slander is?"" They answered, ""Allah and His messenger know best."" He said, ""It is to mention of your brother that which he would dislike."" Someone asked, ""What if he is as I say?"" And he replied, ""If he is as you say, you have slandered him, and ifnot, you.have calumniated him."" (3) ''The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim.
He does not betray him, lie to him, or hang back from coming to his aid
All of the Muslim is inviolable to his fellow Muslim: his reputation, his property, his blood
Godfearingness is here [N:
pointing to his heart]
It is sufficiently wicked for someone to belittle his fellow Muslim.""
MIMICKING ANOTHER'S IDIOSYNCRACIES We have mentioned above that slander is saying anything about a person that he would dislike, whether aloud, in writing, by a sign, or a gesture.
Anything by which one conveys a Muslim's (A: or non-Muslim's) shortcomings to another is slander, and unlawful
It includes doing imitations of someone, such as by walking with a limp, with a stoop, or similar posture, intending to mimic the person with such a deficiency
Anything of this sort is unquestionably unlawful.
SlANDER IN PUBLISHED WORKS
Slander also includes the author of a book mentioning a specific person in his work by saying, ""So-and-so says such and such,"" which is unlawful if he thereby intends to demean him
But if he wants to clarify the person's mistake so that others will not follow him, or expose the weakness of his scholarship so others will not be deceived and accept what he says, it is not slander, but rather advice that is obligatory, and is rewarded by Allah for the person who intends it as such.
Nor is it slander for a writer or other person to say, ""Therc are those [or ""a certain group""] who say such and such, whichisa mistake, error, ignorance, and folly,"" and so forth, which is not slander because slander entails mentioning a particular person or a group of specific individuals.
SLANDER BY ALLUSION AND INNUENDO When the person being spoken to understands whom one is referring to, it is slander and unlawful to say, for example, ""A certain person did such and such,"" or ""A certain scholar,"" ""Someone with pretensions to knowledge,"" ""A certain mufti,"" ""A certain person regarded as good,"" ""Someone who claims to be an ascetic;' ""One of those who passed by us today,"" or ""One of the people we saw."" This includes the slander of some would-be scholars and devotees, who make slanderous innuendoes that are as clearly understood as if they were plainly stated
When one of them is asked, for example, how So-and-so is, he replics, ""May Allah improve us,"" ""May Allah forgive us,"" ""May Allah improve him,"" ""We ask Allah's forbearance,"" ""Praise be to Allah who has not afflicted us with visiting oppressors,"" ""We take refuge in Allah from evil,"" ""May Allah forgive us for lack of modesty,"" ""May Allah relent towards us,"" and the like, from which the listener understands the person's shortcomings
All of this is slander and is unlawful, just as when one says, ""So-and-so is afflicted with what we all are,"" or ""There's no way he can manage this,"" or ""We all do it.""
The above are but examples
Otherwise, as previously mentioned, the criterion for slander is that one gives the person being addressed to understand another's faults.
LISTENING TO SLANDER Just as slander is unlawful for the one who says it, it is also unlawful for the person hearing it to listen and acquiesce to
It is obligatory whenever one hears someone begin to slander another to tell him to stop if this does not entail manifest harm to one
If it does, then one is obliged to condemn it in one's heart and to leave the company if able
When the person who hears it is able to condemn it in words or change the subject, then he must
It is a sin for him not to
But if the hearer tells the slanderer to be silent while desiring him in his heart to continue, this, as Ghazali notes, is hypocrisy that does not lift the sin from him, for one must dislike it in one's heart.
Whenever one is forced to remain at a gathering where there is slander and one is unable to condemn it, or one's condemnation goes unheeded and one cannot leave, it is nevertheless unlawful to listen or pay attention to
What one should do is invoke Allah (dhikr) with the tongue and heart, or heart alone, or think about something else to distract one from listening to it
When this is done, whatever one hears under such circumstances does not harm one as long as one does not listen to or heed the conversation
And if afterwards one is able to leave the assembly and the people are persisting in slander and the like, then one must leave
Allah Most High says:
""When you see those engaged in idle discussion about Our signs, keep apart from them until they speak of other things
And if the Devil makes you forget, then do not sit with wrong-doing people after being reminded"" (Koran 6:68).
Ibrahim ibn Adham (Allah be well pleased with him) answered an invitation to come to a wedding feast, where some of those present mentioned that a certain person who did not attend was ""unpleasant."" Ibrahim said, ""I myself have done this by coming to a place where others are slandered,"" and he left and would not eat for three days.
SLANDERING ANOTIIER IN ONE'S HEART Entertaining bad thoughts about others (su' al-zann) is as unlawful as expressing them.
Just as it is unlawful to tell another of the failings of a person, so too it is unlawful to speak to oneself of them and think badly of him
Allah Most High says, ""Shun much of surmise"" (Koran 49:12).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Beware of suspicions, for they are the most lying of words
"" There are many hadiths which say the same, and they refer to an established conviction or judgement in the heart that another is bad
As for passing thoughts and fancies that do not last, when the person having them does not persist in them, sch01ars concur that they are excusable, since their occurrence is involuntary and there is no way to avoid them
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""For those of my Community, Allah overlooks the thoughts that come to mind as long as they are not uttered or acted upon."" Scholars say this refers to passing thoughts that do not abide, whether of slander, unbelief (kufr), or something else
Whoever entertains a passing notion of unbelief that is a mere fancy whose occurrence is unintentional and immediately dismissed is not an unbeliever and is not to blame.
The reason such things are excusable is that there is no way to take precaution against them
One can only avoid continuing therein, which is why persistence in them and the established conviction of them in one's heart is unlawful.
Whenever one has a passing thought of slander, one is obliged to reject it and summon to mind extenuating circumstances which explain away the appearances that seem to imply the bad opinion.
Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali says in the lliya':
""A bad thought about someone that occurs in one's heart is a notion suggested by the Devil, and one should dismiss it, for the Devil is the most corrupt ofthe corrupt, and Allah Most High says, "" 'If a corrupt person brings you news, verify it, lest you hurt others out of ignorance and then regret what you have done' (Koran 49:6).
It is not permissible to believe Satan, and if the appearance of wrongdoing can possibly be inter- , preted otherwise, it is not lawful to think badly of another
The Devil may enter the heart at the slightest impression of others' mistakes, suggesting that one only noticed it because of one's superior intelligence and discernment, and that ""the believer sees with the light of Allah,"" which upon examination often amounts to nothing more than repeating the Devil's deceit and obscurities.
If a reliable witness informs one of something bad about another, one should neither believe it nor disbelieve it, in order to avoid thinking badly of elther of them
And whenever one has a bad thought about a Muslim one should increase one's concern and respect for him, as this will madden the Devil and put him off, and he will not suggest the like of it to one again for fear that one will occupy oneself with prayer for the person.
""If one learns of a Muslim's mistake by undeniable proof, one should advise him about it in private and not let the Devil delude one into slandering him
And when admonishing him, one should not gloat over his shortcoming and the fact that he is regarding one with respect while one is regarding him with disdain, but one's intention should rather be to help him disengage from the act of disobedience, over which one is as sad as if one had committed it oneself
One should be happier if he desists from it without being admonished than if he desists because of one's admonishment."" These are Ghazali's words.
We have mentioned that it is obligatory for a person with a passing ill thought of another to dispell it, this being when no interest recongnised by Sacred Law conduces one to reflect upon it, for if there is such an interest, it is permissible to weigh and consider the individual's deficiency and warn others of it, as when evaluating the reliability of court witnesses or hadith transmitters, and in other cases we will mention below in the section on permissible slander.
PERMISSIBlE SLANDER
Slander, though unlawful, is sometimes permissible for a lawful purpose, the legitimating factor being that there is some aim countenanced by Sacred Law that is unattainable by other means
This may be for one of six reasons.
REDRESSING GRIEVANCES The first is the redress of grievances.
Someone wronged may seek redress from the Islamic ruler, judge, or others with the authority or power to help one against the person who has wronged one
One may say, ""So-and-so has wronged me,"" ""done such and such tome,"" ""took such and such of mine,"" and similar remarks.
ELIMINATING WRONGDOING The second is seeking aid in righting a wrong or correcting a wrongdoer, such as by saying to someone expected to be able to set things right, ""So-and-so is doing such and such, so warn him not to continue,"" and the like
The intention in such a case must be to take the measures necessary to eliminate the wrong, for if this is not one's purpose, it is unlawful.
ASKING FOR A LEGAL OPINION The third is asking for a legal opinion, such as by saying to the mufti, ""My father [or ""brother,"" or ""So-and-so,""] has wronged me by doing such and such
May he do so or not?"" ""How can 1 be rid of him,"" ""get what is coming to me,"" ""stop the injustice,"" and so forth
Or such as saying, ""My wife does such and such to me,"" ""My husband does such and such,"" and the like
This is permissible when necessary, but to be on the safe side it is best to say, ""What do you think of a man whose case is such and such,"" or ""a husband [or ""wife""] who does such and such,"" and so on, since this accomplishes one's aim without referring to particular people
But it is nevertheless permissible to identify a particular person, as is attested to by the hadith in which Hind said, ""0 Messenger of Allah, Abu Sufyan is a stingy man ..
"" and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not forbid her.
WARNING MUSLIMS OF EVIL The fourth reason is to warn Muslims of evil and advise them, which may take several forms, including:
(1) Impugning unreliable hadith transmitters or court witnesses, which is permissible by consensus of all Muslims, even obligatory, because of the need for it.
(2) When a person seeks one's advice about marrying into a certain family, entering into a partnership with someone, depositing something for safekeeping with him, accepting such a deposit, or some other transaction with him, it is obligatory for one to tell the person asking what one knows about the other by way of advising him.
If one can accomplish this by merely saying, ""Dealing with him is of no advantage to you,"" ""Marrying into the family is not in your interests,"" ""Do not do it,"" and similar expressions, then one may not elaborate on the individual's shortcomings.
But if it cannot be accomplished without explicitly mentioning the individual, one may do so.
(3) When one notices a student of Sacred Law going to learn from a teacher who is guilty of reprehensible innovations in religious matters (bid'a, def: w29.3) or who is corrupt, and one apprehends harm to the student thereby, one must advise him and explain how the teacher really is
It is necessary in such a case that one intend to give sincere counsel
Mistakes are sometimes made in this, as the person warning another may be motivated by envy, which the Devil has duped him into believing is heartfelt advice and compassion, so one must beware of this.
(4) And when there is someone in a position of responsibility who is not doing the job as it should be done, because of being unfit for it, corrupt, inattentive, or the like, one must mention this to the person with authority over him so he can remove him and find another to do the job properly, or be aware of how he is so as to deal with him as he should be dealt with and not be deluded by him, to urge him to either improve or else be replaced.
SOMEONE UNCONCERNED WITH CONCEALINGTHEIR DISOBEDIENCE A fifth reason that permits slander is when the person is making no effort to conceal his corruption or involvement in reprehensible innovation (bid'a), such as someone who openly drinks wine, confiscates others' property, gathers taxes uncountenanced by Sacred Law, collects money wrongfully, or perpetrates other falsehoods, in which cases it is permissible to speak about what he is unconcerned to conceal, but unlawful to mention his other faults unless there is some other valid reason that permits it, of those we have discussed.
.IDENTIFICATION The sixth reason is to identify someone.
When a person is known by a nickname such as ""the Bleary-eyed,"" ""the Lame,"" ""the Deaf,"" ""the Blind,"" ""the Cross-eyed,"" or similar, it is permissible to refer to him by that name if one's intention is to identify him
It is unlawful to do so.
by way of pointing out his deficiencies
And if one can identify him by some other means, it is better.
These then, are six reasons Islamic scholars mention that permit slander in the above cases (al-Adhkar (y102), 455-69).
*
(Nawawi:) Having summarily mentioned that talebearing (namima) is unlawful, with the evidence for this and a description of its nature, we now want to add a fuller explanation of it.
Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali says, ""Talebearing is a term that is usually applied only to someone who conveys to a person what another has said about him, such as by saying, 'So-and-so says such and such about you.' In fact, talebearing is not limited to that, but rather consists of revealing anything whose disclosure is resented, whether resented by the person who originally said it, the person to whom it is disclosed, or by a third party
It makes no difference whether the disclosure is in word, writing, a sign, nodding, or other; whether it eoncerns word or deed; or whether it concerns something bad or otherwise
The reality of talebearing Saying ""The People Have Gone to Ruin"" r4.0 lies in divulging a secret, in revealing something confidential whose disclosure is resented
A person should not speak of anything he notices about people besides that which benefits a Muslim to relate or prevents disobedience
Anyone approached with a story, who is told, 'So-and-so says such and such about you,' must do six things:
(1) disbelieve it, for talebearers are corrupt, and their information unacceptable;
(2) tell the talebearer to stop, admonish him about it, and condemn the shamefulness of what he has done;
(3) hate him for the sake of Allah Most High, for he is detestable in Allah's sight, and hating for the sake of Allah Most High is obligatory;
(4) not think badly of the person whom the words are supposedly from, for Allah Most High says, 'Shun much of surmise' (Koran 49: 12);
(5) not let what has been said prompt him to spy or investigate whether it is true, for Allah Most High says, 'Do not spy' (Koran 49:12);
(6) and not to do himself what he has forbidden the talebearer to do, by relating it to others."" (Ibid., 471-72) *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""When a man says, 'The people have gone to ruin,' he is the most ruined of all.""
(Nawawi:) Khattabi says the hadith means that a person who continually finds fault with people and mentions their failings is the most ruined of all, i.e
he becomes worse than they are because of the sin he commits in disparaging and attacking them, which may also lead to conceitedness and seeing himself as better than they.
Scholars concur that the condemnation only applies to someone who says the like of this out of contempt for people, considering them inferior and himself superior, despising the way they are because of his ignorance of the divine wisdom in Allah's creating them
But if one says it out of sadness at seeing one's own religious failings and those of others, there is no harm in it, just as there is no blame in saying, ""For all I know, everyone of the Prophet's Community (Allah bless him and give him peace) performs the prayer."" This is how Imam Malik explained the hadith, and others have followed him therein (Sahih Muslim bi Sharh al-Nawawi (y93) , 16.175-76).
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Let none of my Companions inform me of anything another of them has said, for I wish to come out to you without disquiet in my heart."" (al-Adhkar (y102) , 473) *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, Giving Directions to Someone Who Wants to Do Wrong r7.0 ""When there are only three of you, two of you may not speak together apart from the third unless you join a group of others, lest your doing so sadden him.""
(N ahlawi:) N awawi (Allah have mercy on him) says this hadith prohibits two individuals conversing privately when a third is present, and likewise prohibits three or more people from doing so when there is a single person apart from them
The prohibition indicates its unlawfulness, it being impermissible for a group to converse apart from a single individual unless he gives his permission
Imam Malik (Allah have mercy on him), our colleagues, and the majority of scholars hold that the prohibition is applicable at all times, whether one is at home or travelling, though some (A: Hanafi) scholars say that such converse is forbidden only while travelling, not when at home, for when travelling it may portend danger.
As for when there are four people and two of them speak privately in low tones apart from the other two, scholars agree that there is no harm in this.
The prohibition oflistening to the conversation of people who are averse to one's listening likewise means it is unlawful, though only when the conversation does not entail harm to the listener, for if it does, one may listen to protect oneself from them (al-Durar al-mubaha (y99), 159).
*
(Nahlawi:) It is not permissible to give directions and the like to someone intending to perpetrate a sin, because it is helping another to commit disobedience
Allah Most High says, ""Do not assist one another in sin and aggres· sion"" (Koran 5:2).
Giving directions to wrongdoers includes:
(I) showing the way to policemen and ty· rants when they are going to commit injustice and corruption;
(2) teaching questions of Sacred Law to those learning it in bad faith (N: i.e
who do not want the knowledge to apply it in their lives, but for some unworthy purpose);
(3) teaching positions in Sacred Law that are rejected (A: meaning those that are not accepted by any of the four schools of jurisprudence (dis:
b7.6)) or weak (dis: w12.2), or anything else that informs people of how to commit disobedience to Allah Most High;
(4) and permitting or authorizing a person to do something that entails disobedience, for accep· tance of disobedience is disobedience.
(Ibid., 159-60) *
(Nawawi:) Primary texts from the Koran and sunna that it is unlawful to lie (dis: p24) are both numerous and intersubstantiative, it being among the ugliest sins and most disgusting faults.
Because of the scholarly consensus of the Community (Umma) that it is prohibited and the unanimity and amount ofthe primary textual evidence, there is little need to cite particular examples thereof, our only concern here being to explain the exceptions to what is considered lying, and apprise of the details.
PERMISSIBLE LYING The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who settles disagreements between people to bring about good or says something commendable is not a liar."" This much is related by both Bukhari and Muslim, with Muslim's version recording that Dmm Kulthum added, ""I did not hear him permit untruth in anything people say, except for three things: war, settling disagreements, and a man talking with his wife or she with him (A: in smoothing over differences).
"" This is an explicit statement that lying is sometimes permissible for a given interest, scholars having established criteria defining what types of it are lawful
The best analysis of it I have seen is by Imam Abu Hamid Ghazali, who says: ""Speaking is a means to achieve objectives
If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish through lying because there is no need for it
When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible (N: i.e.
when the purpose of lying is to circumvent someone who is preventing one from doing something permissible), and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory
When, for example, one is concealing a Muslim from an oppressor who asks where he is, it is obligatory to lie about his being hidden
Or when a person deposits an article with one for safekeeping and an oppressor wanting to appropriate it inquires about it, it is obligatory to lie about having concealed it, for if one informs him about the article and he then siezes it, one is financially liable (A: to the owner) to cover the article's cost
Whether the purpose is war, settling a disagreement, or gaining the sympathy of a victim legally entitled to retaliate against one so that he will forbear to do so; it is not unlawful to lie when any of these aims can only be attained through lying.
But it is religiously more precautionary (def: c6.5) in all such cases to employ words that give a misleading impression, meaning to intend by one's words something that is literally true, in respect to which one is not lying (def: r10.2), while the outward purport of the words deceives the hearer, though even if one does not have such an intention and merely lies without intending anything else, it is not unlawful in the above circumstances.
""This is true of every expression connected with a legitimating desired end, whether one's own or another's
An example of a legitimating end of one's own is when an oppressor intending to appropriate one's property inquires about it , in which case one may deny it
Or if a ruler asks one about a wicked act one has committed that is solely between oneself and Allah Most High (N:
i.e
it does not concern the rights of another), in which case one is entitled to disclaim it, such as by saying, 'I did not commit fornication,' or '} did not drink.' There are many well known hadiths in which those who admitted they deserved punishment were given prompting (A: by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)) to retract their confessions
An example of a legitimating desired end of another is when one is asked about another's secret and one disacknowledges it
And so on
One should compare the bad consequences entailed by lying to those entailed by telling the truth, and if the consequences of telling the truth are more damaging, one is entitled to lie, though if the reverse is true or if one does not know which entails more damage, then lying is unlawful.
Whenever lying is permissible, if the factor which permits it is a desired end of one's own, it is recommended not to lie, but when the factor that permits it is the desired end of another, it is not lawful to infringe upon his rights
Strictness (A:, as opposed to the above dispensations (rukhsa, def:
c6.2)) is to forgo lying in every case where it is not legally obligatory
""
The position of Ahl al-Sunna is that lying means to inform another that something is otherwise than it really is, whether intentionally or out of ignorance
One is not culpable if ignorant of it, but only if one lies intentionally, the evidence for which is that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made intentionality a condition when he said, ""Whoever lies about me intentionally shall take a place for himself in hell."" (al-Adhkar (y102), 510-12) *
(Nawawi:) Ghazali says: ""Among the forms of lying that are unlawful but not serious enough to stigmatize their perpetrator as legally corrupt (dis: O24.3) is the customary exaggeration of saying, 'I've told you a hundred times; or 'asked after you a hundred times,' and so forth, since one does not thereby intend to inform the other how many times it has been, but only to indi· cate that it has been too many
In such cases, if the speaker in fact has only asked after the other but once, he is lying, though if he has asked after him a number of times considerably more than what is generally accepted, he is not committing a sin by saying it, even if it has not been 'a hundred times.' There are intermediate degrees between these two at which the exaggerator becomes a liar
""
The proof that exaggeration is sometimes permissible and not considered lying is the hadith related by Bukhati and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "" ..
As for AbulJahm, his stick never leaves his shoulder, while Mu'awiya does not own a thing,"" it being understood that the latter owned the garment he was wearing, and the former set his stick aside when he slept and at other times
And Allah alone gives success (ibid., 515-16).
*
(Nawawi:) Giving a misleading impression is among the most important topics, being frequently met with and often abused
It befits us to examine the matter closely, and whoever learns of it should reflect upon it and apply it
Having previously mentioned that lying is severely prohibited, and the danger that exists in saying something without any particular intention, what follows below shows a safe alternative to these.
Giving a misleading impression means to utter an expression that ostensibly implies one meaning, while intending a different meaning the expression may also have, one that contradicts the ostensive purport
It is a kind of deception.
(A: It often takes the form of the speaker intending a specific referent while the hearer understands a more general one, as when a person asks a householder, ""Is So-and-so here?"" to which the householder, intending the space between himself and the questioner rather than the space inside the house, replies, ""He is not here."")
Scholars say that there is no harm (def:
p8.2(A:)) in giving a misleading impression if required by an interest countenanced by Sacred Law that is more important than not misleading the person being addressed, or if there is a pressing need which could not otherwise be fulfilled except through lying
When neither of these is the case, giving a misleading impression is offensive though not unlawful unless used as a means for wrongful gain or suppressing another's right
in which case it becomes unlawful
The above determine its permissibility
As for the hadith evidence, some of which permits it and some of which does not, it is to be interpreted in the light of the above criteria (al-Adhkar (y102) , 514).
*
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Pursue not that of which you have no knowledge
The hearing, the eyesight, the heart:
all will be asked about"" (Koran 17:36).
(2) ""He utters not a word save that an observer is present beside him"" (Koran 50:18).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""It is lying enough for a man to repeat everything he hears."" (Ibid., 512-13)
(Nawawi:) One of the things most sternly prohibited and needful to warn people against is what the common
people say about sales tax and the like (dis: p32), namely that ""this is the ruler's right,"" or ""you have to pay the ruler's due,"" and so forth, of references to ""right,"" ""obligation,"" and so on
This is one of the most objectionable practices and ugliest of reprehensible innovations.
Some scholars even hold that anyone who calls these taxes a right thereby becomes an unbeliever, beyond the pale of Islam
But in fact, such a person does not become an unbeliever unless he actually considers it right while knowing it is unjust.
The proper way to mention these is to say ""the ruler's tax,"" ""revenue,"" or similar words
And Allah alone gives success (ibid., 499-500).
*
(Nahlawi:) Conversing about what is useless or immoral means discussing acts of disobedience, such as stories about drinking sessions and fornicators when there is no legitimate purpose connected with the conversation, which is unlawful because it manifests one's own disobedience or another's without there being any need to
Ibn Mas'ud (Allah be well pleased with him) said, ""The greatest in sins on the Judgement Day will be the one most given to speaking about the useless and immoral
""
SPEAKING ABOUT WHAT DOES NOTCONCERN ONE As for speaking about what does not concern one, such as the story of one's travels, and the mountains, rivers, food, and clothes one saw while on them;lwhen it does not contain lies, slander, ostentation, or other things that are unlawful, it is not in itself prohibited
Rather, it may be recommended, as when inspired by a good intention such as preventing others of accusing one of being arrogant or proud of not speaking, allaying another's timorousness, ch'eering up someone sad or ill, amusing or getting along well with the womenfolk, showing kindness to children, or similar motives
With these intentions it is not considered to bewhat does not concern one.
It is recommended and praiseworthy to leave anything that does not concern one (def:
w54) because one squanders one's life by involvement in it and in mere amusement
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The excellence of a person's Islam includes leaving what does not concern him,"" including excess verbiage, meaning to elaborate more than necessary about matters which do concern one, or to ask about things which are of no importance; though it does not include clarifying the details of difficult Icgal questions, cspecially to those of limited understanding, or thc need to repeat an exhortation, reminder, instruction, or the like, since it might be necessary
But when it is unnecessary to add details, one should express oneself succinctly and with brevity
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Good tidings to him who avoids the excess in his speech and spends the excess of his money
"" 'Ali (Allah ennoble his countenance) said, ""The best discourse is expressive, great, brief, and interesting."" (al-Durar al-mubaha (y99) , 135-36) *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever speaks of the Book of Allah from his own opinion is in error.""
(Nahlawi:) The jurist Abul Layth says in Bustan al-'arifin, ""The [above] prohibition only applies to the allegorical parts of it (dis: w6), not to all of it, since Allah Most High says, "" 'As for those with deviance in their hearts, they pursue the allegorical of it' (Koran 3:7).
""The Koran came as a proof of moral answerability against all mankind and jinn, while if interpreting it were not permissible, it could not be a decisive proof
Since it is decisive, it is permissible for someone acquainted with the dialects of the Arabs and the circumstances under which various verses were revealed to interpret it
As for would-be exegetes who do not know the dimensions of Arabic, the figurative, literal, and the types of metaphor, it is not permissible for them to explain it beyond what they have heard, by way of reporting and not actual interpretation
"" The generality of the prohibition also entails that whoever does not know which verses abrogate others and which are abrogated, the points upon which there is scholarly consensns (def: b7), and the tenets of faith of Ahl al-Sunna, is not safe from error if he interprets the Koran with nothing beyond the implications of the Arabic
Mere linguistic familiarity with the language is insufficient, and one must also know what we have just mentioned.
When one knows both, one may interpret the Koran, and is not doing so by mere opinion (ibid., I58}.
(A: The above is equally true ofhadith
Koran and hadith commentaries are of tremendous importance to teachers, speakers, writers, and translators who are preparing materials to present to Muslim audiences
The dictionary is not enough.)
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""People will keep wondering and asking each other until it is said, 'This is Allah's creation, but who created Allah?' Whoever finds anything like this, let him say, 'I believe in Allah and His messengers.' "" (Ibid., 140) * r16.1 (Nahlawi:) Hypocrisy is when a person's outward does not correspond to his inward, or his words to his deeds
It is of two kinds, hypocrisy in belief and hypocrisy in acts
Hypocrisy in belief is another name for concealed unbelief while outwardly professing Islam
It is the very worst form of unbelief
Allah Mighty and Majestic says, ""Verily the hypocrites shall be in the lowest abyss of hell"" (Koran 4:145).
.t}nd this type consigns its perpetrator to hell forever
As for hypocrisy in act, it is that which does not concern one's faith
It is also termed spoken hypocrisy, and consists of saying what contradicts one's true state
It is one of the greatest of sins
It includes being two-faced, like the person who, when two people are at odds, speaks words to each that confirm their respective sides, or tells each what the other has said, or endorses the enmity of each, praises each, and promises each to help against the other
This is hypocrisy and more.
But its blameworthiness applies only to worsening relations between people, for if done to settle their differences, it is praiseworthy.
It is seldom that a person who visits leaders and important people is free of spoken hypocrisy.
Someone told Ibn 'Vmar (Allah be well pleased with father and son), ""We visit our leaders and speak, but when we leave, we say something else."" He replied, ""In the days of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) we considered this hypocrisy."" r16.2 As for assuaging those from whom one apprehends harm (mudara), it is permissible, being done to obviate the damage and evil anticipated from certain people, whether it be a ruler or someone else one has reason to fear (al-Durar almubaha (y99), 11&-18).
* Hypocrisy r16.0
(Nahlawi:) Compromising one's principles means religious lassitude and weakness, such as by saying nothing upon seeing acts of disohedience or unlawful things when able to change them without suffering harm
Such silence is unlawful
Its opposite is firmness in religion.
Allah Most High says, ""They fight in the path of Allah and fear not the blame of whoever may blame them"" (Koran 5:54).
And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Speak the truth, even if bitter."" But when one's silence is to prevent damage to oneself or others, it is a permissible form of assuaging those from whom one apprehends harm (mudara), and even recommended in some cases, as when it results in being sayed from injustice, or is a means to fulfill a right recognized by Sacred Law (ibid"" 112-13).
*
(Nahlawi:) Ridicule entails showing disdain, sarcasm, or contempt for another in a way that causes laughter, whether by mimicking another's words or actions, by a gesture Qr by allusion
It is unlawful
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Those who demean believers who voluntarily give charity- ridiculing those who find nothing to give but their own effort-it is Allah who is ridiculing them, and they shall suffer a painful torment"" (Koran 9:79).
(2) ""0 you who believe: let not some men deride others who might well be better than they;
and let not some women ridicule others who might well be better than they
Do not belittle one another or insult one another with nicknames"" (Koran 49:11).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
.
A gate in paradise will open to one of those who mock people and a cry will be heard, 'Come here, come here,' and he will come forward in concern and anxiety, but when he reaches it, it will close in front of him
And this will happen again and again, until the gate will open and the cry 'Come here, come here' will be heard as before, but he will not approach because he knows it will only close in front of him.""
Ridicule is only unlawful when it hurts others' feelings
As for someone who purposely makes himself a laughingstock, perhaps such a person enjoys it, and jokes about him are considered mere humor
What is unlawful is the sarcasm that offends the person ridiculed, because of the insult and disdain involved, such as by laughing at his way of speaking, what he does, how he looks, or his physique because of a defect therein
To laugh at any of these is to commit ridicule that is unlawful (ibid., 126-27).
*
(Nahlawi:) The necessary condition for the permissibility of joking is that it does not contain lies or occasion fright to a Muslim or a nonMuslim citizen, because this hurts others, and we are forbidden to do so.
Excessive joking is blameworthy and forbidden, since it eliminates one's dignity and reserve, and creates resentment in certain situations and people
It also causes immoderate laughter, which kills the heart
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to his Companions, ""Who will take these words and apply them, or knows someone who will?"" Abu Hurayra answered, ""I will, 0 Messenger of Allah,"" whereupon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) took his hand and enumerated five things, saying:
"" Avoid the unlawful and you will be the mbst religious of people."" ""Be satisfied with what Allah has alotted you and you will be the richest of people
"" ""Treat your neighbor well and you will be a believer
"" ""Love for others what you love for yourself and you will be a Muslim
"" ""A void excessive laughter, for too much laughter kills the heart."" (al-Durar al-mubaha (y99), 127-28) *
(Nahlawi:) Picking apart another's words consists of attacking another's speech by revealing the mistakes in it, whether its weak Arabic, meaning, or the intention of the speaker, as when one says, ""This is true, but you do not intend the truth by it,"" when such an attack involves no other motive than contempt for the other and displaying one's cleverness
It is unlawfuL The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""Whoever forgoes to cavil when he is in the wrong will have a home built for him on the edge of paradise
Whoever forgoes it when in the right will have a home built for him in the middle of paradise
And whoever improves his own character, a home will be built for him in the highest part of paradise ...
When a believer hears something true, it befits him to accept it
If it is not true, but is unconnected with religious matters, he should remain silent, though if connected with religious matters, hc is obliged to show that it is false and to condemn it if there is a chance that anyone will believe him, because this is forbidding the wrong.
GIVING A POSITIVE INTERPRETATION TOOTHERS' SEEMING MISTAKES Nawawi (Allah Most High have mercy on him) mentions, in the section of the introduction of Sharh al-Muhadhdhab about the behavior of teacher and student, that ""it is obligatory for a student to give a positive interpretation to every utterance of his brothers that seems to be wrong until he has exhausted seventy excuses
No one is incapable of this except a failure
""
READING WORKS THAT ARE BEYOND ONE'SUNDERSTANDING OR CAPACITY The Sheikh ai-Akbar (A: Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi), Allah Most High sanctify his inmost being, writes in his letter about' the spiritual station of annihilation in gnostic vision: ""When a book falls into a person's hands concerning a subject he knows nothing about [A: knows meaning through having studied it with sheikhs who are masters of it] and has not learned by engaging in it at first hand, he should do absolutely nothing with the book, but rather return it to those whom it concerns
He should not believe, disbelieve, or discuss it at all"" (ibid., 131-32).
*
(Nahlawi:) Disputation is what relates to clarifying various legal positions and making a caseior them, When the intention behind this is to embarrass one's opponent or display one's superiority, it is unlawful or even unbelief according to some scholars, But when disputation is intended to reveal the truth, as is rare, then it is permissible or even recommended, Allah Most High says, ""Dispute with them with that which is better"" (Koran 16:125), meaning, as Baydawi notes, by the best means of disputation, gently and affably, using the simplest approach and most familiar premises, since this more effectively cools opponents' vehemence and exposes their contentiousness (ibid., 132), * r22,0 ARGUING r22.1 (Nawawi:) Arguing is importunateness in speech to gain one's end, whether monetary or other, It may be intitiated by oneself or in response to another
If one objects that a person must argue to obtain his rights, the reply is that the stem condemnation of it applies to those who argue without right or knowledge, or someone who adds abuse to his speech that is not necessary to secure his rights, or is motivated to argue by nothing besides an obstinate desire to win and to finish his opponent
As for someone who has been wronged and makes his case in a way compatible with the Sacred Law, without belligerence, excessiveness, or importunateness, and not intending mere obstinacy and abuse, it is not unlawful, though it is better to avoid it if there is any way to do so, for keeping one's tongue within the limits of fair play during the course of an argument is virtually impossible
Moreover, arguing produces rancor in hearts and causes animosity that can lead to actual hatred between two people, until each comes to be pleased when harm befalls the other and to be displeased at the good, and unleashes his tongue against the other's reputation
Whoever argues runs the risk of these calamities
At minimum, a quarrel comes to preoccupy one's heart so that during the prayer one's thoughts turn to debating and arguing, and one does not remain as one should.
r22.2 A certain person remarked, ""I have not seen anything that impairs one's religion, diminishes one's respectability, ends one's happiness, or preoccupies one's heart like arguing"" (aiAdhkar (yI02), 502-3).
*
(Nahlawi:) It is forbidden to ask about another's errors and blunders in order to tell them they have made a mistake or to embarrass them, being unlawful because it entails injury to another and belittling him in front of people
But when one's asking about mistakes is to learn or teach, or to test or sharpen students' minds or make them reflect, then it is recommended and desirable, because it facilitates the comprehension of religious knowledge (al-Durar al-mubaha (y99) , 140).
*
(Nahlawi:) Asking about and searching out the faults of others is spying, which Allah Most High has forbidden by saying, ""Do not spy"" (Koran 49:12), meaning to look for the shameful points of Muslims.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""If you search for people's shameful points, you corrupt them ..
"" (2) ""0 you who have entered Islam with your tongues but whose hearts faith has not entered: do not slander people, and do not ferret out people's shameful points
Whoever searches out the shameful points of his brother, Allah Will search out his own shameful points, and if Allah searches out a person's shameful points, be sure that He will disgrace him even if he should remain in the middle of his house."" (Ibid., 145) *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""00 not show joy at the misfortune of your brother, lest Allah have mercy on him and afflict you with misfortune
"" (al-Adhkar (yl02), 474) *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""A believer is not given to reviling, cursing, obscenity, or vulgarity
"" (2) ""Whatever contains vulgarity is made ugly by it, and whatever contains modesty is made beautiful by it.""
(Nawawi:) Obscenity and vulgarity are forbidden, as is attested to by many well-known and rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadiths, obscenity meaning to express ugly or vulgar matters in plain words, even if they are true and the speaker is being honest
One should instead express such things by alluding to them in a polite way that nevertheless conveys what is meant, as is done by the Holy Koran and authentic nobl,e hadiths
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""It is permitted to you on the nights of the fast to enter unto your wives"" (Koran 2:187).
(2) ""How can you take it [the marriage payment] back when you have entered unto one another!?"" (Koran 4:21).
(3) ""But if you divorce them before you have touched them ..
"" (Koran 2:237).
There are many Koranic verses and authentic hadiths that employ similar words
Scholars say that comprehensible allusions should be used for these and other matters one is hesitant to mention by name
One alludes, for example, to sexual intercourse with a woman as ""going unto,"" ""lovemaking,"" ""sleeping with,"" and so forth, and does not use explicit words such as copulate or the like; and similarly alludes to urinating and voiding excrement as ""answering the call of nature,"" or ""going to the bathroom,"" and does not simply say ""defecate,"" ""urinate,"" and so forth
The same is true of mentioning personal blemishes such as leprosy, halitosis, underarm odor, and the like, which one should refer to by polite words that indicate what is meant
Other matters should be dealt with as in the above-mentioned examples.all of which applies to cases in which there is no need to plainly refer to these things by name.
When the need arises to explain or teach, and one fears that the listener may not grasp one's allusion or may misunderstand the meaning, one should plainly say the thing's name so that the real meaning is understood
And this is how one should interpret the hadiths that have reached us which contain such straightforward expressions, as arising from the needs we have mentioned, for communicating clearly is more important than mere decorum
And Allah alone gives success (ibid ..
(y102),508-9).
(Nahlawi:) Severity in speech and harshness are blameworthy when out of place, their proper place being in forbidding the wrong, if gentleness and affability prove ineffective (dis:q5.5), as well as in imposing prescribed legal penalties, and in reprimanding or disciplining those who require it
Allah Most High says:
(1) "" ..
And be harsh with them"" (Koran 9:73).
(2) ""Let them find severity in you"" (Koran 9:123).
(3) ""Let not pity for them seize you concerning the religion of Allah"" (Koran 24:2).
Other than in the above-mentioned cases, it is praiseworthy for one to use amiable words, have a cheerful expression, and to smile
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""There is a dwelling in paradise whose outside can be seen from inside [A: from its lucidness and purity]."" Abu Malik Ash'ari asked, ""Whose shall it be, 0 Messenger of Allah?"" And he said, ""He whose speech is fair, who feeds others, and who spends the night standing in prayer when people sleep."" (ai-Durar ai-mubaha (y99), 144-45) *
(Nahlawi:) To make a believer fear other than disobedience or coerce him to do something he is averse to, such as giving a gift, marrying, or selling something-all this is hurting him, and hurting a believer is unlawful
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever frightens a believer, it is incumbent that Allah not protect him from the terrors of Judgement Day as a fitting recompense."" Najm al-Ghazzi says in Husn al-tanabbuh, ""Among the works of the Devil is frightening, annoying, or alarming a believer, all of which is unlawful"" (ibid., 157-58).
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him) said, ""When someone offers an excuse to his fellow Muslim and the latter does not accept it, his sin is like the crime of imposing taxes [dis: p32]."" (Ibid., 157)
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""As for the orphan, do not oppress him;
and as for the beggar [dis: r39], turn him not away"" (Koran 93:9-10).
(2) ""Do not drive away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His countenance: you are not responsible for anything of their account, nor they for anything of yours, that you should drive them away and thus become ofthe wrongdoers"" (Koran 6:52).
(3) ""Lower your wing unto the believers"" (Koran 15:88).
(al-Adhkar (y102), 481-82)
(Nawawi:) It is very sternly prohibited to put off one's father or mother
Allah Most High says:
""Your Lord decrees that you shall worship none but Him and treat your parents well
If one or both of them reach old age while with you, do not say 'Uff' to them or put them off, but speak respectfully to them
Lower for them the wing of humbleness, out of mercy, and say, '0 Lord, have mercy on them, as they raised me when I was young' "" (Koran 17.24-25).
(Ibid., 509) *
(N: Offensive, when used without further qualification by Hanafis (A: in their books on the lawful and unlawful (al-hazr wa al-ibaha)) means unlawfully offensive (makruh tahriman), and its ruling is the same as the unlawful (A: is in the Shafi'i school).)
(Nahlawi:) It is offensive to interrupt someone else's words with one's own when the fonner consist of teaching Sacred Knowledge.
Some scholars hold that to greet a group with ""asSalamu 'alaykum"" when they are learning religious knowledge is a sin
It is also offensive to interrupt one's own words with speech of a different kind when reciting Koran, supplicating, explaining the Koran, teaching hadith, or addressing people, and while doing this, for example
one tums to someone and tells him to go buy some things needed at home.
Conversation is offensive for anyone seated listening to a pious exhortation, or instruction, or in the presence of someone above his own level
It is also offensive for such a person merely to tum to look at something else, or to stir when there is no need, all of which is poor manners, levity, precipitateness, and thoughtlessness
Rather, the one speaking should set forth what he means to say without irrelevant asides until finished, and the person addressed should heed the speaker, paying attention to him and listening until he finishes, without looking around, stirring, or talking; especially if the speaker is explaining the words of Allah Most High or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace)
But one is excused if a pressing pbysical or religious need arises that tbere is no alternative but to fulfill, since necessity excuses one from any rule whatever (A: but only to the degree demanded by necessity).
DISRESPECT TO THOSE wrrn
AUTIIORITY OVER ONE It is offensive to contend against the words ,o\$<.Jf"" r')\) l::!\:II'>J 4=--., r32.2 of anyone with authority over one (A: countenanced by Sacred Law), or talk back, oppose, rebut, or disobey such a person in anything lawful (A: meaning not unlawful or offensive), the prohibition applying to such people as a follower with his leader, son with his parents, student with his teacher, wife with her husband, or unlearned person with a scholar
All of this is very ugly behavior and deserves disciplinary action (def: 017), since each of these is obliged to obey the one over them.
THIS·WORLDLY WORDS IN A MOSQUE It is offensive to speak about this-worldly matters, meaning words that would otherwise be permissible, in a mosque when there is no excuse (A: if one makes a habit of it)
(N: The more reliable position is that it is not offensive, but merely better not to (khilaf al-awla).)
SPEAKING DURING THE SERMONOF THE FRIDA Y PRAYER It is offensive to speak during the sermon on Friday, whether it be to say ""Subhan Allah,"" the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), or to command the right or forbid the wrong, the reason for the prohibition being that listening to the Friday prayer sermon is obligatory, as it takes the place of two of the rak'as of the noon prayer, so that things offensive during the prayer are offensive while listening to the sermon.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""When the imam is giving the sermon on Friday, and you tell your companion 'Listen,' you have made an impertinent remark.""
SPEAKING WHEN THE KORAN ISBEING RECITED It is offensive to speak when the Koran is being recited, for listening to it and heeding it are absolutely obligatory, whether one is performing the prayer or not, and whether one comprehends it or not (A: but only if its words are distinctly audible to one)
Allah Most High says, ""When the Koran is recited, listen and pay heed to it"" (Koran 7:204).
SPEAKING WITHOUT NEED TO AMEMBER OF THE OPPOSITE SEX It is offensive for a male to speak without need to a young woman who is not a member of his unmarriageable kin (def: m6.1)
He should not say ""Arhamkum Allah"" (Allah have mercy on you) if she sneezes, greet her with ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" (A: which is unlawful in the Shafi'i school) nor return her Salams if she says them (A:
which is offensive for Shafi'is)
He should not say these aloud, but to himself, all of which likewise holds for a young woman's speaking to a man who is not a member of her unmarriageable kin (m6.2)
The prohibition of these is due to the Prophet's having said (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""The adultery of the tongue is speech.""
SPEAKING WHEN LOVEMAKING OR INTHE LAVATORY It is offensive to speak while lovemaking, or when in the lavatory or relieving oneself.
It is offensive to laugh in circumstances in which speaking is offensive.
SPEAKING AFTER THE COMING OF DAWNBEFORE PERFORMING THE DA WN PRAYER It is offensive to speak of this-worldly things between dawn and performing the dawn prayer (subh)
Some hold this extends until sunrise (al-Durar al-mubaha (y99) , 145-49).
CONVERSA nON AFTER PERFORMING
THE NIGHTFALL PRAYER (,ISHA) (Nawawi:) It is offensive for someone who has prayed the nightfall prayer ('isha) to converse about things permitted at other times, meaning permissible words which would otherwise be the same to say or not to
Discourse that is unlawful or offensive at other times is even more sternly prohibited or offensive at this time
As for conversation about what is good, such as teaching Sacred Knowledge, relating the words of the pious, describing noble qualities, or speaking to one's guest, none of these is offensive, but rather they are commendable (al-Adhkar (yl02), 504).
*
(Nahlawi:) It is offensive (def: r32.0) to greet with ""as-Salamu 'alaykum"" anyone who is:
(1) performing the prayer, reciting the Koran, invoking Allah (dhikr), reading hadith to others, giving the Friday prayer sermon (khutba), or listening to any of these;
(2) a student of jurisprudence repeating a lesson over to himself to facilitate memorizing it, someone informing ordinary people of legal rulings, or anyone engaged in a lesson of Sacred Knowledge;
(3) giving the call to prayer or call to commence (iqama);
(4) teaching;
(5) seated waiting for the prayer, or saying ""Subhan Allah"";
(6) eating;
(7) a corrupt person who does not conceal his acts of disobedience;
(8) a young lady who is not a member of one's unmarriageable kin (dis: r32.6);
(9) someone who plays games that are not permissible (dis: k29.5), slanders others, sings, is an old wag, a chronic liar, addicted to profitless conversation, reviles others, or looks at women's faces, all of whom are offensive to greet unless their repentance from these things is known;
(10) someone who is enjoying his wife, whose nakedness is exposed, who is relieving himself, drowsy, asleep, or someone who is in a bathhouse.
RESPONDING TO SALAMS It is not obligatory to respond to someone's Salams in circumstances where greeting him is uncalled-for, except for a corrupt person «7) above), whose Salams it is obligatory to return
It is not obligatory to answer the Salams of someone who is a child, intoxicated, or insane
Nawawi (Allah Most High have mercy on him) says in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, ""Scholars disagree about greeting non-Muslims with 'as-Salamu 'alaykum' or returning their Salams
We hold that it is unlawful to say it to them first, though is obligatory to return their greetings by saying 'Wa 'alaykum' (and upon you), or simply, ""AlaYkum.' Other scholars hold it is permissible to greet them first with 'as-Salamu 'alaykum' "" (al-Durar almubaha (y99) , 150-51).
*
Allah Most High says, ""Do not praise yourselves: He knows best who is godfearing"" (Koran 53:32).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, .
Allah has inspired to me that you are all to be humble towards each other such that no one transgresses against or exalts himself above another."" (al-Adhkar (yl02), 473-74)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""All of my Community shall be pardoned, save those who commit sins openly
Committing them openly includes a man who does something shameful at night, and when morning comes, Allah having hidden his act, he says, '0 So-andso, last night I did such and such'; his Lord having concealed it for him at night, while in the morning he pulls away the cover with which Allah had concealed it for him.""
(Nawawi:) It is offensive for a person who has been afflicted with an act of disobedience or the like to inform another of it
Rather, one should repent to Allah Most High by desisting from it at once, regretting what one has done, and firmly resolving never to do the like of it again.
These three things are the integrals of repentance, which is not valid without them
There is no harm in telling about a sin to one's sheikh or other person who may be expected to teach one how to desist from the act or refrain from similar acts, or apprise one of the causes that led to it, or pray for one, and so forth
If such is the case, informing him is commendable
It is only offensive to do so when no such interest can be served (ibid., 498).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""When a man says something, then glances left or right, his words are a confidence to be kept
"" (Ibid., 507)
(Nahlawi:) Telling a secret means to inform others of a remark, action, or state which one learns of from someone who wants it to remain hidden, whether it be good or bad
This is hurting him, and hurting others is unlawfuL Whenever people meet, it is obligatory to keep secret any act that occurs, any word spoken, or any state attributable to someone, when these concern something one would normally wish to remain confidential, while not being unlawfuL If unlawful, then:
(1) If it is against Allah Most High alone and does not involve legal measures such as prescribed legal penalties or disciplinary action (def: 017), then it must be kept secret.
(2) If it involves legal measures, as do fornication (dis: 012) and drinking (016), then one has a choice between revealing it or not, though it is superior to conceal it.
(3) If it involves another person's rights, then if concealing it entails harm to anyone, or if it concerns prescribed legal measures such as retaliation for an injury or death (def: 03), or covering the cost of an article destroyed through negligence, then if the person whose rights have been infringed is ignorant of it, one is obliged to make the matter known, and must testify to it if asked to.
(4) If it involves another's rights, but concealing it does not entail harm to anyone and it does not concern prescribed legal measures
or it entails one of these two, but the person concerned already knows of it through another and one has not been asked to testify about it, then one is obliged to conceal the matter.
(al-Duraral-mubaha (y99), 134) *
(Nawawi:) It is unlawful for a person to mention anything to another's servant, wife, son, and so forth that could disaffect them from him, unless one is commanding the right or forbidding the wrong
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""He who disaffects a person's wife or servant from him is not of us."" (al-Adhkar (yI02), 498) *
(Nawawi:) Cursing an upright Muslim is unlawful by unanimous consensus of all Muslims.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Cursing a believer is like killing him."" THE PERMISSIBILITY OF CURSING THOSE WHOCOMMIT DISOBEDIENCE WHEN THEY ARE NOT PERSONALLY IDE:-lTlf'IED OR KNOW:-l
It is permissible (A: but not rewarded by Allah) to curse those who possess blameworthy characteristics, such as by saying, ""Allah curse oppressors,"" ""Allah curse the corrupt,"" ""Allah curse picture makers,"" and so forth
Well-known and rigorously authenticated (sahib) hadiths verify that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Allah curse her who wears false hair and her who arranges it for another"";
(2) ""Allah curse him who eats usurious gain (riba)"";
(3) ""Allah curse those who make pictures"" ;
(4) ""Allah curse him who surreptitiously changes property-line markers"";
all of these being found in Bukhari, Muslim, or both.
As for cursing a particular person who commits some act of disobedience, such as an oppressor, adulterer, maker of pictures, thief, or one who consumes usurious gain; the hadith evidence seems to suggest it is not unlawful, though Ghazali indicates (A: and it is the most reliable opinion) ..
that it is unlawful unless the person cursed is someone we know has died in a state of unbelief, such as Abu Lahab, Abu Jahl, Pharaoh, Haman, and their likes
This, as Ghazali notes, is ""because to curse means to distance another from the mercy of Allah Most High, while we do not know how the particular corrupt person or non-Muslim will end his life
As for those the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) personally cursed, perhaps it was because he knew they would die in unbelief
Praying that evil befalls a person is similar to cursing, even when against a tyrant, such as saying, 'May Allah not heal him,' 'May Allah not keep him safe,' and similar remarks, all of which are blameworthy [A: being unlawful, if of a Muslim].
And likewise for cursing any animals or inanimate objects whatever-all this is objectionable [A: meaning offensive]"" (al-Adhkar (yl02), 476-80).
*
(Nahlawi:) It is unlawful to ask for money or other worldly advantage from someone one has no right to ask, unless there is a necessity to
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""One of you keeps begging until when he meets Allah Most High, there is not a piece of flesh left on his face,"" which is interpreted as referring to anyone who asks when it is not permissible to do so
The degree of necessity that permits begging is when one is unable to earn a living due to illness or weakness and does not have enough food to last one day (al-Durar al-mubaha (y99), 139).
*
(Ibn Hajar Haytami:) As for the condemnation of musical instruments, flutes, strings, and the like by the Truthful and Trustworthy (Allah bless him and give him peace), who ""does not speak from personal caprice; It IS nothing besides a revelation inspired"" (Koran 53:3-4), let those who refuse to obey him beware lest calamity strike them, or a painful torment
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidancc and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair ofthe pre-Islamic period of ignorance."" (2) ""On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears of whoever sits listening to a songstress."" (3) ""Song makes hypocrisy grow in the heart as water does herbage."" (4) ""This Community will experience the swallowing up of some people by the earth, metamorphosis of some into animals, and being rained upon with stones."" Someone asked, ""When will this be, a Messenger of Allah?"" and he said, ""When songstresses and musical instruments appear and wine is held to be lawfuL"" (5) ""There will be peoples of my Community who will hold fornication, silk, wine, and musical instruments to be lawful..
,"" All of this is explicit and compelling textual evidence that musical instruments of all types are unlawful (Kaff al-ra'a' 'an muharramat al-Iahw wa al-sama' (y49), 2.269-70).
(Nawawi:) It is unlawful to use musical instruments--such as those which drinkers are known for, like the mandolin, lute, cymbals, and fiute-or to listen to them
It is permissible to play the tambourine at weddings, circumcisions, and other times, even if it has bells on its sides
Beating the kuba, a long drum with a narrow middle, is unlawful (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 4.429-30).
SINGING UNACCOMPANIED BY MUSICALINSTRUMENTS (Ibn Hajar Haytami:) As for listening to singing that is not accompanied by instruments, one should know that singing or listening to singing is offensive exeept under the circumstances to be mentioned in what follows
Some scholars hold that singing is sunna at weddings and the like, and of our Imams, Ghazali and 'Izz ibn 'Abd ai-Salam say that it is sunna if it moves one to a noble state of mind that makes one remember the hereafter.
It is clear from this that all poetry which encourages good deeds, wisdom, noble qualities, abstinenee from this-worldly things, or similar pious traits such as urging one to obey Allah, follow the sunna, or shun disobedienee, is sunna to write, sing, or listen to, as more than one of our Imams have stated is obvious, since using a means to do good is itself doing good (Kaff al-ra'a' 'an muharramat al-Iahw wa al-sama' (y49), 2.273).
DANCING (Nawawi: (n: with commentary by Muhammad Shirbini Khatib)) It is not prohibited to dance «Shirbini:) which is not unlawful because it is only motions made while standing or bowing
Furani and others have expressly stated that neither is it offensive, but rather is permissible, as is attested to by the hadith related in the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peaee) stood before 'A'isba (Allah be well pleased with ber) to screen her from view so that she could observe the Abyssinians sporting and dancing)--unless it is languid, like the movements of the effeminate (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma'rita ma'ani altaz alMinhaj (y73), 4.430).
*
(Ibn Qudama Maqdisi (dis: qO.I):) There are people misled by this world, saying, ""Cash is better than credit: this world is cash while the next world is credit."" And it is a point of deception, for cash cannot be better than credit unless the amount of each is equal
Now a person's life, when compared to the hereafter, obviously does not amount to even a thousandth part before he breathes his last, while someone who says that ""cash is better than credit"" means ""provided the credit equals the cash."" And this is the delusion of unbelievers
As for those immersed by sin while their faith in eternal truths remains sound, they share this delusion with unbelievers, by preferring the present life to the hereafter, but their lot is easier than the unbelievers' in that their basic faith will keep them from unending punishment.
THOSE DELUDED BY ALLAH'SFORGIVENESS Other sinners delude themselves by saying, ""Allah is generous, we but rely on His forgiveness,"" while the learned tell us that if one longs for something One pursues it, and if one fears something one shuns it
Whoever hopes for forgiveness while persisting in wrongdoing is deluded
One must know that Allah Most High.
with His vast mercy, is terrible in retribution, having decreed that unbelievers shall abide in hell forever (dis: w55) even though their unbelief does not hurt Him in the slightest
He has made some of His servants prey to infirmities and trials in this world, though He, Glorious and Exalted, is quite able to eliminate them
Moreover, He has made us fear His punishment
How can we not be afraid?
Fear and hope drive and arouse one to action
That which does not spur one to works is deception, as is clear from the fact that the ""hope"" of most people makes them do nothing at all or prefer disobedience
It is odd that early Muslims both worked and feared, while nowadays, though falling far short, people feel secure and tranquil as though they knew more about the generosity of Allah Most High than the prophets and the righteous.
If it could be had by wishing, why did the latter fatigue themselves and weep so much?
Does Allah condemn the Jews and Christians for anything besides being this way when He says, ""They grasp at the paltry things of this low life and say
'We shall be forgiven' ,
(Koran 7:169).
This delusion resembles that of people who do both good and evil, but more of evil, while imagining their good to be greater
One might see them give a dirham as charity while having wrongfully appropriated many times that amount, or maybe even giving as charity something wrongfully acquired, relying on such a donation, which is like someone putting a dirham in one scalepan, a thousand in the other, and hoping the scale will balance
Or another of them who thinks his good acts are more than his evil ones, the reason for which is that he keeps track of the number of good deeds, but does not take himself to task for the bad ones, nor consider his sins
For example, he says, ""Astaghfir Allah"" (May Allah forgive me) and ""Subhan Allah"" (Glory be to Allah) a hundred times a day, but then spends the rest of his day slandering Muslims and making ugly remarks, seeing the virtue of saying ""Subhan Allah"" and"" Astighfir Allah,"" but not the punishment for slander and forbidden speech.
Delusions generally occur among four kinds of people: Islamic scholars, devotees, would-be Sufis, and the wealthy.
*
As for religious scholars, some master the legal and rational sciences but neglect to examine their outward habits and practices, not keeping their external self from sin or making it faithful in obedience
They are deluded by their learning and feel sure they rate high with Allah
If they were to look with the eye of insight, they would see that the whole point of knowing about religious practice is to apply it
Without works, it is useless.
Allah Most High says, ""He who purifies it [the soul] has succeeded"" (Koran 91:9), not, ""He who knows how to purify it has succeeded."" If the Devil reminds such a person of the virtues of learned people, let the person for his part remember what has reached us about corrupt scholars, such as Allah's saying, "" ..
like a donkey laden with books"" (Koran
62:5).THOSE WHO NEGLECT THEIR INWARD FAULTS Others master religious learning and its outward perfornlance, but do not examine their hearts to eliminate the blameworthy traits therein such as pride, envy, ostentation, and seeking exaltation or fame
These have made their exterior seemly while neglecting their interior, forgetting the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""Allah does not look at your appearance or property, but only at your hearts and works."" Such people apply themselves to works but do not apply themselves to hearts, though the heart is the real foundation, since no one is saved ""except he who comes to Allah with a pure heart"" (Koran 26:89).
They resemble someone who sows grain that comes up with weeds choking it out, but when ordered to weed it, merely trims away the weeds' twigs and stems, neglecting the roots, which take stronger hold
.
Another segment of scholars know that these inner qualities are condemnable, but out of selfsatisfaction feel they are above them, and that they are too good as far as Allah is concerned for Him to afflict them with such traits, that only common people have them and not people at their own level of learning
When symptoms of arrogance or avidness for leadership appear in such people, one of them may say, ""This is not arrogance, but only seeking to exalt Islam, display the nobility of religious learning, and to spite those given to reprehensible innovations
Were I to wear clothes less fine or sit with a lower class of people, the enemies of religion would smirk, and gloat at my humiliation, which amounts to humiliating Islam."" And he forgets about delusion, and that it is Satan who has seduced him with this, which is plain from the fact that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his Companions were humble in manner and preferred the way of poverty and lowliness.
Still other scholars have acquired religious knowledge, purified their exterior actions, making them seemly with obedience, and examined their hearts, purifying them of ostentation, envy, pride, and the like, and yet there remain snares of the Devil and tricks of the ego hidden in the recesses of their hearts which they have failed to notice and thus neglected
You might see one of them spending the night and day in learning various religious sciences, organizing them, and polishing up their terminology, such a person thinking his motive is the desire to manifest the religion of Allah Most High, while the real motive might be to make a name for himself and enhance his prestige
Perhaps too, his published work is not entirely frec of self-praise, whether overtly, by wide, sweeping claims, or covertly, by attacks on others, to show by attacking them that he is better than
they are and more knowledgeable
Such kinds of behavior and similar ones are hidden faults which few discern but the wisest and strongest
Those as weak as we are have little hope of doing so, but at least a person should be aware of his own defects and wish they were corrected.
There is hope for someone whose good acts make him happy and wicked ones make him sad, unlike someone who applauds himself and thinks himself the best of men.
The above are the delusions of those who master important branches of Sacred Knowledge.
How then for those who content themselves with studying fields not essential to them, neglecting the important ones?
THEOLOGICAL POLEMICISTS Among them are those who busy themselves with theological polemics against heretical beliefs, and refuting the unorthodox
Scholars engaged in this are of two types, those in the wrong and those in the right, the former advocating something other than the sunna, the latter advocating the sunna
Both are deluded
The misguidedness of those in the wrong is obvious (A:
since they have left the Koran and sunna which are divinely protected)
As for those in the right, their delusion is in believing that arguing is the most important activity and greatest spiritual work in the religion of Allah Most High
They maintain that one's religion is not eomplete until one has made lengthy investigations into one's beliefs, and that someone who simply believes in Allah and His messenger without preparing a case for it is deficient in faith
Because of this mistaken presumption, they spend their lives learning how to dispute, conducting in-depth studies of statements of theological controversics until their spiritual insight eventually goes blind
They do not pause to consider that the early Muslims, whom the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) testified were the very best of mankind, and who lived to see many a reprehensible innovation (bid'a) and deviant belief, did not expose themselves and their religion to quarreb and disputation, or busy themselves therein at the expense of their hearts and works
They did not talk about it at all, except under necessity to refute misguidance.
And if they saw someone persisting in blameworthy innovation, they had nothing more to do with him, without further debate or argument.
The hadith has reached us, ""No people went astray after having been guided save that they were afflicted with arguing.""
SERMONIZERS Others spend their time in homilies to people, the highest class of whom speak about traits of the self and qualities of the heart such as fear, hope, patience, gratitude, reliance on Allah, abstinence, certainty, and sincerity; thinking that by merely speaking of them, even if they do not have them, they acquire them
Such people call to Allah while they themselves flee from Him
They are among the most deluded
And some of them turn from the proper way of exhorting others to relating baseless tales, adding words that are neither acceptable to Sacred Law nor to human intelligence, in an attempt to say something novel.
LEARNING HADITH FOR THE SAKEOF MAKING A REPUTATION Others spend their time in listening to hadiths, gathering variants and rare chains of transmission or chains remarkable for having come through but few transmitters of advanced years
The concern of one of them is to go from city to city, seeing sheikhs in order to drop names, saying, ""I relate from So-and-so,"" ""I've met Soand- so,"" or ""I know chains of transmission no one else does."" ARABlSTS
Others devote their time to advanced studies in Arabic grammar .
lexicography .
and poetry, claiming they are the scholars of the Islamic Community.
dissipating their lives in subtleties of grammar and diction
If they stopped to think, they would realize that someone who wastes his lifetime in the knowledge of the language of the Arabs is like someone who wastes it in knowledge of the language of the Turks
Arabic is only distinguished above the latter in that the Sacred Law has come in it
As for lexicology ..
there are only two areas in which it is necessary for one to gain an understanding of rarc words: those of the Koran, and those of the hadith
As for grammar .
one but needs enough to use the language properly.
The really fortunate person is he who takes of each thing the amount that is critical to him and then goes on to apply it, putting his effort behind it and purifying it of imperfection
And this is the real aim.
*
Devotees are of various types, including those remiss about obligatory acts while engaging in extra devotions and supererogatory works.
Sometimes they are so worried about using water for purification that it reaches the level of obsessive doubt (waswasa) about the validity of their ablution
You might see one of them unsatisfied with water the Sacred Law deems fit for ablution, imagining remote possibilities that it could be affected with something 'Jnclean, while not having such concern for the lawfulness of the source of the food he eats
Were he to reverse these two, applying the care he takes for the water instead to his food, he would be closer to the practice of the early Muslims
'Umar (Allah be well pleased with him) performed ablution from the water jar of a Christian despite signs that it might well be unclean, while he used to refrain from many kinds of permissible things for fear of falling into the unlawful.
Others are so bedeviled by inner misgivings at their initial Allahu Akbar in the prayer that they may miss a rak'a with the imam
And like them are those with obsessive doubts about the proper pronunciation of the letters of the Fatiha and other spoken elements of the prayer
One of them may take precaution upon precaution in doubling the doubled letters, distinguishing .i' from .1>, and so forth, beyond the necessary, until he is finally so concerned about it that he does not think about anything else, neglecting the meaning of the Koran and the lessons he should be taking from it
And this is among the ugliest forms of delusion, for people are not required to pronounce the letters when reciting the Koran with more precision than that with which classical Arabic is normally spoken
Such people are as if delivering a message to a ruler, the messenger fastidiously pronouncing each letter and repeating those he is unsatisfied with, having quite forgotten the purpose of the message and the dignity of the assembly before whom he is delivering it
How richly such a person deserves to be thrown out and taught a lesson.
A third group is deluded by reciting the Koran, which they rush through, perhaps finishing twice a day, the tongue of one of them being occupied therein while his heart is wandering through the valleys of daydream, not reflecting on its meanings, heeding its exhortations, or obeying its ordinances and prohibitions
Such a person is misled, believing the Koran is only intended for reciting
He is like someone to whom his master has written a letter charging him with certain matters and forbidding him others, while the servant does not bother the understand it or carry it out but simply memorizes it and repeats it, thinking that this is the purport of it, while violating the master's commands and prohibitions
Others relish the sound of their own voice in reciting the Koran, disregarding its significance
One should examine one's heart as to whether one is enjoying the meter, the sound, or the meaning (A: though it is not blameworthy to enjoy the meter or sound, unless one is unconcerned with the meaning).
Others are deceived by fasting, and frequently practice it, but do not restrain their tongue from slander and useless words, keep their belly from ill-gotten or unlawful food with which to break their fast, or free their heart from ostentation.
Others are deluded by going on pilgrimage, departing for it without restoring the rights of people they have wronged (dis: p77.3), meeting their financial obligations, asking the permission of their parents, or obtaining lawfully gotten provision.
And this may be after having fulfilled the obligatory hajj, while they neglect obligatory acts of worship enroute, are unable to purify their garments and person, and do not refrain from unpermitted sex or getting into arguments, despite which they think all is well with them, being selfdeceived.
Others command the right and forbid the wrong, while forgetting themselves.
Others include the imam who leads the group prayer at the mosque, but when someone more godfearing or knowledgeable is allowed to lead in his stead, it weighs heavily on him
Or the muezzin who calls to the prayer, believing he is doing it for the sake of Allah, but when someone else gives the call in his absence, it annoys him and he says, ""He has infringed on my position.""
Others eschew material possessions, content with poor clothes and food and with living in mosques, thinking that they have reached the rank of the abstinent (zuhhad)
while they are avid for leadership and prestige
In fact, they have given up the lesser of two matters while getting involved in the more deadly.
Still others enthusiastically perform supererogatory acts while not being concerned for the obligatory ones
You may see one of them savoring the midmorning or night vigil prayer, but finding no satisfaction in the prescribed prayer, nor hastening to pray it at the first of its time
Such a person has forgotten the Prophet's words (Allah bless him and give him peace) relating that Allah Mighty and Majestic said, ""Those near to Me do not approach Me with anything like that which I have made obligatory upon them.""
There is no spiritual labor without its dangers, and those who do not know them fall prey to them
Whoever wishes to learn them should study the dangers of ostentation that exist in acts of worship, from fasting and prayer to all the rest, in the chapters set forth in this book (A: i.e
Ibn Qudama's source here, Ghazali's lhya' 'ulum aidin).
The deluded among them are of various types
Some are deluded by the dress, terminology, or demeanor of the Sufis
They imitate the sincere Sufis (dis: w9) externally, but do not tax themselves with spiritual struggle or self-discipline.
Rather, they pounce upon and quarrel over wealth that is unlawful
doubtful, or from rulers (dis: p32.3), rending each other's honor whenever they are at cross-r:urposes
The delusion of these is obvious
They are like an old woman who hears that the names of courageous, valiant soldiers are inscribed in the official roster and they are ceded whole tracts of land
Feeling a longing within herself, she dons hauberk and helmet, learns a few heroic stanzas and the details of their apparel and characteristics, and then sets out for the camp.
Her name is duly entered in the lists, but when she reports for inspection, she is ordered to take off the helmet and armor to see what is underneath, and to be tried in combat
When she complies, it turns out that she is a feeble old crone, and she is told, ""You only came to mock the king and his court!-Take her away and throw her under the elephant's feet."" And she is flung under it to be trampled.
Thus will be the state of pretenders to Sufism on the Day of Judgement, when they stand revealed and are brought before the Supreme Judge, who looks at hearts, not patched clothes or Sufi dress.
Others claim to have attained to gnosis and contemplative knowledge of the Divine, to have passed through spiritual stations and states, and to have reached nearness to Allah, while they know nothing of any of this except the words
You might see one of them reiterating these terms, thinking it above the combined learning of the first and last, and looking with condescension upon the scholars of Sacred Law, hadith, and other disciplines, to say nothing of ordinary Muslims.
Sometimes a common person will keep their company for many days, picking up these artificial phrases and parroting them as if he were speaking divine revelation, with sneering contempt for scholars and worshippers, saying that they are veiled from Allah (A: which could be true, though saying it by way of self-praise is very wrong) while he has attained to the Truth, and that he is one of those brought near to Allah-while Allah considers him a debauched hypocrite, and the transformed ones know him to be an ignorant fool who has not acquired sound knowledge, perfected his character, or kept watch over his heart, but merely pursued his own fancy and memorized a lot of gibberish.
Others roll up and put away the carpet of the Sacred Law, rejecting its rulings and considering the unlawful and the lawful to be equal, saying, ""Allah does not need my works, so why should I bother?"" One of them may say, ""Outward devotions have no value, only hearts mean anything
Our hearts are aflame with the love of Allah Most High, and we have attained to gnosis of Him
If we are bodily immersed in this world, yet our hearts are in worshipful seclusion in the presence of the Divine
Outwardly we may give in to our desires, but not in our hearts."" They claim to have surpassed the rank of the common people, beyond the need to school the lower self with physical devotions, and that gratifying bodily lusts does not divert them from the path of Allah Most High because of their firmness therein
They exalt themselves above the level of the prophets (upon whom be peace) who used to weep for years over a single mistake.
(n: As no age is without pretenders to Sufism, the following texts will hopefully be useful in letting some principal Sufis describe in their own words the delusions of those who consider themselves ""above the Sacred Law."")
(Ibn 'Ajiba:) Someone said to Junayd, ""There is a group who claim they arrive to a state in which legal responsibility no longer applies to them."" ""They have arrived,"" he replied, ""but to hell"" (Iqaz al-himam fi sharh al-Hikam (y54),
210).
(Ghazali:) When anyone claims there is a state between him and Allah relieving him of the need to obey the Sacred Law such that the prayer, fasting, and so forth are not obligatory for him, or that drinking wine and taking other people's money are permissible for him-as Some pretenders to Sufism, namely those ""above the Sacred Law"" (ibahiyyun) have claimed-there is no doubt that the imam of the Muslims or his representative is obliged to kill him
Some hold that executing such a person is better in Allah's sight than killing a hundred unbelievers in the path of Allah Most High (Hashiya al-Shaykh Ibrahim alBajuri (y5), 2.267).
(Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi:) When we see someone in this Community who claims to be able to guide others to Allah, but is remiss in but one rule of the Sacred Law--even if he manifests miracles that stagger the mind-asserting that his shortcoming is a special dispensation for him, we do not even turn to look at him, for such a person is not a sheikh, nor is he speaking the truth, for no one is entrusted with the secrets of Allah Most High save one in whom the ordinances of the Sacred Law are preserved (Jami' karamat al-awliya (y95),1.3).
(Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi:) The friend of Allah (wali) is not divinely protected from error, for which reason he is to be feared for and his word is not to be relied upon when it exceeds what has been conveyed by the sunna concerning matters of the afterlife, because he is suspended from making any new provisions in the Sacred Law, and in respect to the prophets (upon whom be peace) he is not a guide
He is only entitled to believe what the Lawgiver has informed of.
""Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favor upon you, and I please that Islam be your religion"" (Koran 5:3).
The gnostic in the first of his states is strongly affected by the initial impact, and will sometimes try to take on a discussion of the affairs of the afterlife, as opposed to the final state, in which he may be so quiescent that an unknowing observer might assume its strength had waned, though this is rather the result of his perfection and firmness in his station
It has been said that the way begins in madness, proceeds to arts, and ends in quietude.
So one is obliged, whenever one's rapture subsides, to return to what the Lawgiver has stated, without personal figurative interpretations
This is why our author says, ""Faith is incisive,"" meaning that one cuts the self short whenever it wants eminence and elevation
The gnostic's spiritual will, exalted above all else, plust carry him beyond what we have just mentioned
For he is outside our phenomenal frame of reference and all it contains, and whenever he wants to speak about things of the afterlife his words are high, unintelligible, and a source of trouble to both those who believe him and those who do not, which is why he is forbidden speech about it, and as much as he increasingly forgoes it, he increases in nearness to Allah and in safety
Sufis call this station subsistence (baqa')
Before a diSCiple is firmly established therein, it is to be feared that he will be overtaken by misfortune because of his lack of a foothold in the state of subsistence, a juncture that has been called ""from annihilation to subsistence, or annihilation to perdition"" (al-Minah al-quddusiyya fi sharh al-Murshid al-mu'in bi tariq alSUfiyya (y8), 67-68).
('Abd aI-Karim Jili:) My brother, Allah have mercy on you, I have travelled to the remotest cities and dealt with all types of people, but never has my eye seen, nor ear heard of, nor is there any uglier or farther from the presence of Allah Most High than a certain group who pretend they are accomplished Sufis, claiming for themselves a lineal spiritual tradition from the perfected ones and appearing in their guise, while they do not believe in Allah, His messengers, or the Last Day, and do not comply with the responsibilities of the Sacred Law, depicting the states of the prophets and their messages in a manner that no one with a particle of faith in his heart can accept, let alone someone who has reached the level of those to whom the unseen is disclosed and who have gnostic insight
We have seen a great number of their luminaries in cities in Azerbaijan, Shirwan, Jilan, and Khurasan, may Allah curse them all (Idah al-maqsud min wahdat al-wujud (y98),17-18).
The delusions of those ""above the Sacred Law"" are beyond number, all of it mistakes and inner suggestions with which the Devil has tricked them because of their having taken up spiritual struggle before they mastered the rules of the Sacred Law, and they did not connect themselves with a sheikh of learning and religion worthy of being followed (dis: w9.5-9).
Other students of Sufism proceed on the right path, engage in spiritual struggle, begin to actually travel in the way, and the door of gnosis, contemplative knowledge ofthe Divine, opens to them
But when they sniff the first traces of this knowledge, it surprises them and they exult in it and are pleased by the strangeness of it, until their hearts become fettered with turning to it and thinking about it, and how it was disclosed to them but not others
And all of this is delusion, for the wonders met with in the path of Allah Glorious and Exalted are endless
If one stops with a particular marvel and becomes enamored with it, one's progress falters and one fails to reach the goal
Such a person is like someone going to see a king, who notices a garden at the palace gate with flowers in it, the like of which he has never seen, and who stops to look at them until there is no longer time to meet the king.
*
The deluded among the wealthy are of various types
Some of them eagerly build mosques, schools, hospices, aqueducts, whatever people can see, and write their names upon them to perpetuate their memory and keep it alive after their death, while if one of them were called upon to spend a single dinar on something that did not have his name on it, it would be a burden for him.
If not for the fact that his aim is other people and not Allah Himself, this would not be so hard for him, as Allah is looking at him whether he writes his name or not.
Others spend money embellishing mosques with ornamentation and bas-reliefs, which are prohibited by Sacred Law and distracting to the people praying in them
The aim in prayer is humble awe and an attentive heart, while this ornamentation spoils the hearts of those praying.
And if the money spent on such things is from an unlawful source to begin with, so much greater the delusion
Malik ibn Dinar (Allah have mercy on him) said, ""A
man came to a mosque, stopped at the entrance, and said, 'Someone like me does not enter a house of Allah'-for which he was accorded the rank of those with perfect faith (siddiq)."" And this is how we should revere mosques, by seeing them as defiled by our entering them with our self as bad as it is, an affront to them; not by seeing to their defilement with the unlawful and with this-worldly embellishment, trying to outdo Allah Most High
The delusion of someone who does this is in thinking the wrong to be right.
Others protect their money, holding fast to it with the tight fist of greed, and then occupy themselves with bodily works of worship that do not cost much, like fasting, prayer, or reciting the whole Koran
They are deluded, for stinginess is deadly (dis: p75.25) and has taken over their heart
They need to rid themselves of it by spending of their wealth, but are too busy with supererogatory works to do so
They are like someone who, when a snake has entered his clothes, sets about cooking up a syrup of vinegar and honey to reduce his bile.
There are others whose selfishness will not let them give anything but zakat
One of them may payout the worst property he has, or give it to those of the poor who are useful to him, vacillating between which of his ulterior motives can best be served, or as to whom he may have use for in the future or is ""good for something"" in particular.
Another may deliver his zakat to a prominent public figure so he will consider him to be someone and later fulfill his needs
And all of this invalidates the intention, the person who does it being deluded by wanting recompense from others for worshipping Allah Most High.
Some wealthy people and others are deluded by frequenting circles of dhikr (remembrance of Allah), thinking that merely attending them will take the place of works and of a sober look at the afterlife, though it is not so, for circles of dhikr are only' commendable in that they motivate one to do good
And anything that is a means to something else is pointless if it does not achieve it
When one ofthem hears something that creates fear of divine punishment, he says nothing more than, ""0 Protector, keep us safe:' or ""I take refuge in Allah,"" thinking he has done all that is necessary
He is like a sick person who comes to a group of doctors to hear what is happening
Or a hungry person who visits someone who can describe delicious food to him, and then leaves
It does not do him much good
And likewise with hearing acts of obedience described without applying them: every admonition that does not change something within one that affects one's actions is a case against one.
*
If it be objected that I have not mentioned a single action which is free of delusion, the reply is that the matter of the afterlife hinges upon one thing alone: straightening out one's heart
And no one is incapable of it except someone whose intention is insincere
If a person were as concerned about the next world as this one, he would certainly achieve it
The early Muslims did so, and so have those who have followed them in excellence.
Thrce things can be used to help rid oneself of delusions:
(1) intelligence, the real light bywhieh a person sees things as they are;
(2) knowledge, through which a person knows himself, his Lord, his this-worldly life, and the life to come;
(3) and learning, by which we mean learning how to travel the way to Allah Most High, the pitfalls therein, and lcarning what will bring one nearer and guide one, all of which may be found in this book (dis: s3.11(A:)).
When a person has done all this, he should be wary lest the Devil beguile him and make him desirous for leadership, or lest he feel secure from Allah's devising (def: p66)
Fear should never be absent from the hearts of the friends (awliya') of Allah
We ask Allah to protect us from delusion and that we may end our lives well
Truly, He is near and answers supplications (Mukhtasar Minhaj al-qasidin (y62), 237-50).
*
(Nawawi:) Allah Most High says, ""Whoever leaves home to emigrate to Allah and His messenger but whom death overtakes:
paying his recompense falls to Allah"" (Koran 4:100).
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""Works are only according to intentions, and a man only receives what'he intends
Whoever's emigration was to Allah and His messenger has truly emigrated to Allah and His messenger; and whoever's emigration was for worldly gain or to wed a woman, his is for that to which he emigrated.
"" This is a hadith whose authenticity Bukhari and Muslim agree upon, and there is complete scholarly consensus on the greatness of its rank and majesty
It is one of the cornerstones, fundamental supports, and most important integrals of faith
Imam Shafi'i (Allah have mercy on him) said it enters into seventy chapters of jurisprudence.
He also said it constitutes one-third of Sacred Knowledge.
SINCERITY (IKHLAS) Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Nor were they commanded save to worship Him, sincere to Him in their religion"" (Koran 98:5).
(2) ""So worship Allah with sincerity"" (Koran 39:2).
The Master Abul Qasim Qushayri (Allah have mercy on him) said: ""Sincerity is to make Allah one's sole aim in acts of obedience, meaning to intend by one's obedience to draw nearer to Allah Most High and nothing else, whether hypocrisy before others, acquiring esteem in their eyes, love of their praise, or anything besides drawing nearer to Allah
One could say that sincerity is purifying the mind from paying attention to one's fellow creatures.""
Abu 'Uthman (Allah have mercy on him) said, ""Sincerity it to forget to regard men by continuously regarding their Maker."" He also said, ""The sincerity of ordinary people is that which is free of self-interest, while the sincerity of the elect is that which comes over them, not from them, for acts of worship appear in them from which they are at a remove, and neither observe nor consider"" (al-Majmu' (y108), 1.16-17).
(Nawawi:) Abu Yazid (Allah Most High be well pleased with him) said:
""For twelve years I was the blacksmith of my soul; for five, the mirror of my heart; for one year I observed what was between them, and 10, around my waist I found the girdle of unbelief (zunnar) in plain view
So I worked for five years at cutting it, seeking a way to dissever )1, until at length this was revealed to me and looking at mankind, I saw them as dead and prayed a fourfold Allahu Akbar over them."" Sufficient to show the subtlety of the hidden.:
ness of ostentation is the difficulty with which this master recognized it, who had few equals in this path
As for his remark ""I saw them as dead,"" it is of the greatest worth and excellence, words that express this meaning being seldom met with outside those of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
What it signifies is that when he underwent this spiritual struggle and his lower self became trained and his heart enlightened, when he had mastered the self, subdued it, taken full possession of it, and made it submit in everything, he looked at all creatures and found them as if dead, without discoverable trait
They could not harm or benefit, bestow or keep back, give life or death, join or separate, bring close or make far, save or damn, give sustenance or withhold it; they possessed neither benefit nor harm to themselves, neither life nor death, nor resurrection
Now, the dead are dealt with, regarding these things, as deceased, and they are not feared, nor are hopes placed in them, nor does desire arise for what they have
We do not do anything for their sake, refrain from anything for their sake, or forgo any act of obedience to Allah for their sake, any more than we would to win the praise of the dead
They , are not shown-off in front of, their favor is not sought through flattery or compromise of principles, and they do not occupy one's attention.
They are not held in contempt or disparaged; their defects are unmentioned, their shameful points unsought out, their mistakes uncriticized; though if penalties prescribed by Sacred Law are incurred, we enforce them
In short, they are as though nonexistent in everything we have mentioned, the decisions of Allah Most High holding sway over them
Whoever deals with them accordingly has attained to the good of this world and the next
May Allah Most Generous give us success in realizing it (Bustan al- 'arifin (yl04), 131-34).
BEING TRUE (SIDQ) (Nawawi:)As for being true, Allah Most High says, ""0 you who believe, fear Allah, and be with those who are true"" (Koran 9:119).
Sahl ibn 'Abdullah Tustari said, ""The servant who compromises his principles, for himself or another, will never catch even a scent of being true
""
It is related that Harith al-Muhasibi (Allah have mercy on him) said: ""A person who is true would not care if his whole value vanished from the hearts of men for the sake of bettering his heart
He does not like people seeing the smallest bit of his good acts, and does not mind their noticing the worst of them, for to be otherwise would show he wants to be more in their eyes, and this is out of character for those of great faith (siddiqin)
""
Dhul Nunal-Misri (Allah have mercy on him) said: ""Truth is the sword of Allah
Whatever it is put to, it cuts"" (al-Majmu' (y108) , 1.17).
*
(Ibn 'Ata' IlIah:) I know of nothing more useful to you than four matters: surrender to Allah, to humbly entreat Him, to think the best of Him, and to perpetually renew your repentance to Him, even if you should repeat a sin seventy times in a day.
SURRENDER TO ALLAH Surrender to Him gives you relief in the present life from having to plan while He does, triumph in the next life through the supreme favor, and safety from the idolatry of contention, for how should you contend with Him for something you do not own with Him?
Cast yourself amidst His kingdom, meager in its plentitude and insignificant in its vastness, and He will plan for you as He does for it
Do not leave the slavehood that is yours for claims to a lordship that you have no claim to
To plan and choose for oneself are enormities with respect to hearts and inmost souls, as you find it the Book of Allah Most High where Allah says:
""Your Lord creates whatever He wills and chooses, and they do not have a choice
Glory be to Allah above what they associate with Him"" (Koran 28:68).
EARNESTLY ENTREATING ALLAH As for earnestly entreating Allah, in it lies the coming of increase, lifting of hardships, enwrapment in mantles of divine gifts, and safety from affliction
One is repaid for it in times of hardship by the Master's undertaking one's protection, and in times of ease by His seeing to one's gain
It is the greatest threshold and straightest way
It is effectual despite unbelief, so how eould it be ineffectual with faith?
Have you not heard the words of Allah Most High:
""And when you are touched by affliction at sea, those to whom you pray besides Him are lost, but when He delivers you to shore, you turn away.
Surely man is an ingrate"" (Koran 17:67) -meaning that He answers you
Earnest entreaty is the door Allah Most High has placed between Himself and His servants
Gifts come to whomever betakes himself to it, and spiritual favors unceasingly reach whoever stands before it
Whoever enters unto Him by it attains to the reality of divine assistance
And whenever He releases unto you through it, He bestows of every good thing in the most lavish gift giving, as is found in the Book of Allah Most High where Allah says, ""If only they had earnestly entreated Us when Our vengeance reached them"" (Koran
6:43).THINKING THE BEST OF ALLAH As for thinking the best of Allah, how tremendous it is for whomever Allah has blessed with it
Whoever has it does not lack the slightest bit of good, and whoever lacks it will never find any.
You will never have a better excuse to Allah than it, or one more profitable
Nor anything that better leads you to Allah or is more guidance giving.
It informs one what Allah will make of one and gives good tidings the like of whose words no eye has ever read nor tongue given utterance to
This is found in the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), where he says, quoting Allah, ""I am nigh to what My servant expects of Me.""
CONTINUALLY RENEWED REPENTANCE As for continually renewing one's repentance to Allah, it is the wellspring of every spiritual rank and station from first to last, inwardly and outwardly
There is no excellence in one who lacks it, and nothing lacking in one who has it
It is the key to every good, outwardly and inwardly, the very soul of stations of wisdom, and the reason men are made friends of Allah (awliya')
If the repentance of the Axis of the World (Qutb) were like that of the ordinary righteous person because of equality in station, the higher of them would not surpass the other for his exaltedness of rank and tremendousness of spiritual certainty
Allah Most Glorious and Exalted has not made any rank below it except that of wrongdoing, as Allah Most High says, ""Whoever does not repent, they are the wrongdoers"" (Koran 49:11), it being required from every messenger and prophet, every great-faithed one (siddiq) and friend of Allah (wali) , every godfearing pious person, misguided profligate, and every doomed unbeliever
You may find this in the Book of Allah Most High where Allah Glorious and Exalted says, ""0 people: fear your Lord"" (Koran 4:1), godfearingness being through repentance to Him and regret before Him
The repentance of those who do evil lies in abandoning it, while the repentanee of those who do good lies in not halting with their good, whether it consists of spiritual effort or its rewards
The repentance of both is the same:
not to stop at it.
"" ..
the faith of your father Ibrahim
He has named you Muslims"" (Koran 22:78).
It was of Ibrahim's faith not to halt with what passes away, or fix his regard on existent things
In quoting him to us, Allah Most High says, ""I love not things which pass away"" (Koran 6:76).
In general,someone who cannot benefit from a little will not benefit from a lot (A: since a lot of work does not avail without sincerity), and someone who cannot profit from a hint will not profit from a plain remark
When Allah gives you understanding, your hearing will not cease nor your benefiting be restricted to a certain time.
May Allah give us and you to understand Him, give us and you to hear Him, dissever us from everything besides Him, enter us into His shade and protection, and make us of those to whom He has given spiritual insight, guidance, and a yearning for His nearness
May He not scatter the intention of our hearts but rather center our purpose on Him, and remove our cares by bringing us to our destination
Ameen.
May there be safety for the whole group, and blessings and peace upon the Best of Messengers (al-Hikam al- 'Ata'iyya wa al-munajat al-ilahiyya (y56),103-9).
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(Muhammad Sa'id Burhani:) Do not limit yourself to deep words and profound spiritual allusions but make provision for the afterlife before death comes, when fine words will be lost and the rak'as you prayed by night or day will remain.
Give voluntary charity as much as possible, for you owe more than merely the zakat obligatory
Make provision for the afterlife by giving while you have health and want to cling to your money out of fear of poverty, seeing life before you
Allah Most High says, ""Whoever is watchful against the stinginess of his own soul, those shall be the successful"" (Koran 59:9).
meaning they shall be saved.
Never obey anyone of Allah's servants, even father or mother, in an act of disobedience to Allah, for there is no obedience to a creature in disobedience to the Creator.
Do not wrong another person, for wrongs done to others are clouds of darkness on the Day of Judgement
Wronging others includes not doing what Allah has obliged you to do for them.
Beware of enmity against anyone who has said, ""La ilaha ill Allah"" (There is no god but Allah), for Allah has honored them with faith, and particularly the righteous of them, for Allah Most High says in a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith, ""He who makes an enemy of a friend of Mine, I declare war against.""
Tell the truth when you speak
It is one of the worst betrayals to tell your brother something he thinks you are being honest about when the matter is otherwise.
Be honest in your clothes and dress
It is an outrage against Allah to appear to His servants in the guise of the righteous while secretly contradicting it with the works of the wicked.
Recite the Koran and contemplate its meanings
Reflect while reading it on the qualities Allah has praised, with which He describes the people He loves
Acquire these qualities yourself and shun those Allah has condemned
Do your utmost to memorize the Holy Koran by acts as you do bywords.
Never explain a verse of the Holy Koran by your own opinion, but check as to how it has been understood by the scholars of Sacred Law and men of wisdom who came before you
If you comprehend something else by it and what you have understood contradicts the Sacred Law, forsake your wretched opinion and fling it against the wall.
Beware lest you ever say anything that does not conform to the Sacred Law
Know that the highest stage ofthe perfected ones (rijal) is the Sacred Law of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace)
And know that the esoteric that contravenes the exoteric is a fraud.
Take care to eat lawful food bought with a lawful income, for the entire body of someone who eats what is lawful, his hearing, eyesight, hands, and feet, are disposed to obey Allah whether he wishes to or not; while the whole body of someone who eats the unlawful is disposed to do wrong whether he wants to or not.
Keep the thought of Allah Mighty and Majestic ever before you with respect to what He takes from you and what He gives
He takes away nothing except that you may show patience and win His love, for He loves the patient, and when He loves you, He will treat you as a lover does his beloved
And so too, when He gives to you, He bestows blessings upon you that you may give thanks, for He loves the thankful.
Do not walk a step, take a bite, or make a move without intending thereby to draw nearer to Allah.
Perform the remembrance of Allah (dhikr) silently and aloud, in a group and when alone, for Allah Most High says, ""Remember Me: I will remember you"" (Koran 2:152).
It is sufficient as to its worth that Allah is remembering you as long as you are remembering Him.
Give frequent utterance to the axiom of Islam ""La ilaha ill Allah"" (There is no god but Allah), for it is the greatest invocation (dhikr), as is mentioned in the hadith, ""The best thing I or any of the prophets before me have said is 'La ilaha ill Allah.' ""
'Umaribn Khattab (Allah be well pleased with him) said:
""As we sat one day with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), a man with pure white clothing and jet black hair came to us, without a trace of travelling upon him, though none of us knew him
He sat down before the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) bracing his knees against his, and resting his hands on his legs, said: 'Muhammad, tell me about Islam.' The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: 'Islam is to testify there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and to perform the prayer, give zakat, fast in Ramadan, and perform the pilgrimage to the House if you can find a way.' He said: 'You have spoken the truth,' and we were surprised that he should ask and then confirm the answer
Then he said: 'Tell me about true faith (iman),' and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) answered: 'It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His inspired Books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in destiny, its good and evil.' 'You have spoken the truth,' he said, 'Now tell me about the perfection of faith (ihsan),' and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) answered: 'It is to adore Allah as if you see Him, and if you see Him not
He nevertheless sees you.' 'Tell me ofthe Hour,' said the visitor, and he was told: 'The one questioned knows no more about it than the questioner.' 'Then tell me of its portents,' he said, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) replied: 'That the slave woman shall give birth to her mistress, and that you shall see barefoot, naked, penniless shepherds vying in constructing high buildings.' Then the visitor left.
I waited a while, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to me, 'Do you know, 'Umar, who was the questioner?' and I replied, 'Allah and His messenger know best.' He said, 'It was Gabriel, who came to you to teach you your religion' "" (Sahih Muslim (y92), 1.37-38).
*
""Islam is to testify there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and to perform the prayer, give zakat, fast in Ramadan, and perform the pilgrimage to the House if you can find a way.""
(Nawawi:) The sheikh and Imam Ibn Salah (Allah have mercy on him) said: ""Being a Muslim is outwardly established by one's saying the two Testifications of Faith (Shahadatayn) (N:
even if they are not spoken in Arabic)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) only added the prayer, zakat, the pilgrimage, and the fast because they are the most patent and greatest of Islamic observances
One's submission (istislam) is perfected through performing them, and neglecting them suggests that one has dissolved or vitiated the terms of one's compliance
Moreover the termfaith (iman) encompasses all of the things by which Islam is explained in this hadith, and indeed, all acts of obedience, for they are the fruits of the inner conviction that is the underlying basis of faith, and are what strengthen, complete, and preserve it.""
The position of Muslim orthodoxy is that no Muslim becomes a non-Muslim through sin.
Muslims of heretical sectarian groups and those of reprehensible innovations (bid'a) are not thereby non-Muslims (dis: w47.2).
Any Muslim who denies something that is necessarily known (def: fl.3(N:) to be of the religion of Islam is adjudged a renegade and an unbeliever unless he is a recent convert or was born and raised in the wilderness or for some similar reason has been unable to learn his religion properly
Muslims in such a condition should be informed about the truth, and if they then continue as before, they are adjudged non-Muslims, as is also the case with any Muslim who believes it permissible to commit adultery, drink wine, kill without right, or do other acts that are necessarily known to be unlawful (Sahih Muslim bi sharh atNawawi (y93), 1.147-50).
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""[True faith] is to believe in Allah, His angels, His inspired Books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in destiny, its good and evil.""
BELIEF IN ALLAH (Muhammad lurdani:)To hclievc inAliah means in His existence, His sole godhood (rububiyya, that no one else participates in His attribute of divinity or in the rights He has .over His creatures), His Oneness and uniqueness (wahdaniyya), and that He is characterized by every perfection and exalted above any imperfection or impossibility (dis: vI).
BELIEF IN ANGELS To believe in His angels means in beings with bodies of light who are capable of changing form to assume various appearances
Believe means to be convinced that they exist, and are honored servants who do not disobey what Allah orders them to do, but do whatever they are commanded.
Only Allah Most High knows how many there are, but a hadith relates that there is not a foot of space in the seven heavens that does not contain an angel standing in prayer, bowing, or prostrating
We are obliged to know ten individual angels:
(1) libril (Gabriel);
(2) Mika'il;
(3) Israfil;
(4) 'Azra'il;
(5) Munkar;
(6) Nakir;
(7) Ridwan;
(8) Malik;
(9 and 10) and the two scribes who record one's good and bad deeds, each of whom is called a ""present observer.""
BELIEF IN ALLAH'S INSPIRED BOOKS To believe in His inspired Books means those which He revealed to His messengers, believe meaning to be convinced that they are the word of Allah Most High, and all they contain is the truth.
(A: The obligation of belief applies to the original revelations, not the various scriptures in the hands of non-Muslims, which are textually corrupt in their present form.)
Scholars differ as to how many Books there are
Some hold they numbe.r 104, and some say otherwise
One is obliged to know four particular Books:
(1) the Tawrah (Torah), revealed to our liegelord Musa (Moses);
(2) the Injil (Evangel), revealed to our liegelord 'Isa (Jesus);
(3) the Zabur (Psalms), revealed to our liegelord Dawud (David);
(4) and the Qur'an (Koran), revealed to our liegelord Muhammad (Allah bless them all and give them peace).
BELIEF IN ALLAH'S MESSENGERS To believe in His messengers means to be convinced that Allah Most High sent them to men and jinn (khalq) to guide them to the path of the Truth, and that they have told the truth about everything they have conveyed from Allah Most High
It is obligatory to know twenty-five particular messengers:
(1) Adam;
(2) Idris (Enoch);
(3) Nuh (Noah);
(4) Hud;
(5) Salih;
(6) Lut (Lot);
(7) Ibrahim (Abraham);
(8) Isma'il (Ishmael);
(9) Ishaq (Isaac);
(10) Ya'qub (Jacob);
(11) Yusuf (Joseph);
(12) Shu'ayb;
(13) Harun (Aaron);
(14) Musa (Moses);
(15) Dawud (David);
(16) Sulayman (Soloman);
(17) Ayyub (Job);
(18) Dhul Kif!
(Ezekiel);
(19) Yunus (Jonah);
(20) Ilyas (Elias);
(21) al-Yasa' (Elisha);
(22) Zakariyya (Zacharias);
(23) Yahya (John);
(24) 'Isa (Jesus);
(25) and Muhammad (Allah bless them all and give them peace).
BELIEF IN THE LAST DAY To believe in the Last Day means the Day of Resurrection, called the last because it is not followed by night
Believe means to be convinced that it will come to pass with all it implies, including the resurrection of the dead, their reckoning, the weighing of their good deeds against their bad ones, their passing over the high, narrow bridge that spans the hellfire (sirat), and that some will be put in hell out of justice, and some in paradise out of Allah's pure generosity
(n: The eternality of paradise and hell is discussed at w55.)
BELIEF IN DESTINY, ITS GOOD AND EVIL To believe in destiny, its good and evil means to be convinced that Allah Most High has ordained both good and evil before creating creation, and that all that has been and all that will be only exists through Allah's decree, foreordinance, and will
Early Muslims used to answer whoever asked about destiny by saying, ""It is knowing that what hits you was not going to miss, and what misses you was not going to hit"" (af-Jawahir affu'lu'iyya Ii sharh af-Arba'in al-Nawawiyya (y68),
35-37).
(N:) As for Allah's ereating acts, we believe that the real doer of everything is Allah.
He is the one who burns, not the fire or the person who lighted the fire; He is the one who cuts, not the knife or the person holding the knife; He is the one who drowns a man, not the water or the person who threw him in, and so forth
Here, people always raise the question that if Allah Most High is the real doer, why are people held responsible?
The answer is that Allah Most High does not hold people responsible for creating the act, but rather for choosing the act
One proof of this is that a person who cannot choose is not held responsible, such as someone asleep, insane, a child, forced, unremembering, or someone who makes an honest mistake
The legal .responsibility of such people is lifted because they lack full voluntary choice
Another proof is that Nimrod sinned for choosing to burn Ibrahim (upon whom be peace) even though Ibrahim did not burn (Koran 21:69);
and that Ibrahim (upon whom be peace) became the Friend of the All-merciful for choosing to sacrifice his son out of obedience to Allah, even though his knife did not cut and his son was not sacrificed (Koran 37:105), all of this showing that the servant is held responsible for his choice, which scholars of the divine unity (tawhid) term the servant's acquisition (kasb).
As for Allah's eternally preexistent knowledge, we believe that Allah knows everything before, during, and after it is, and knows how it is when it occurs
But does the servant have access to this knowledge?
Not at all
So the servant chooses to do acts on the basis of a desire within himself, not because he knows Allah's knowledge, and he is held responsible for his choice even though it corresponds with Allah's eternally preexistent knowledge.
It is clear from the above that belief in destiny means that Muslims believe Allah has destined and ordained matters in past eternity, and that nothing in existence lies outside of His eternal will, and He is the Creator of everything, while the servant is only held responsible for his own choices (Mudhakkiratfi al-tawhid (y113), 41-42).
""[The perfection of faith] is to adore Allah as if you see Him, and if you see Him not, He nevertheless sees you.""
(Muhammad Jurdani:) To adore Allah as if you see Him means to obey Him while sincere in The Perfection of Faith (Ihsan) worship, humble, lowly, and fearful, as though one beholds Him
And if you see Him not, He nevertheless sees you means that if one is not as if beholding Him in worship, but oblivious to this contemplation, one should nevertheless persist in excellence of performance and imagine oneself before Allah Most High and that He is looking at one's inmost being and outward self, to thereby attain to the basis of perfection
Scholars mention that there are three spiritual stations a servant may have in his worship:
(1) to worship in a way that fulfills its obligations, by observing all its conditions and integrals;
(2) to do this while immersed in the sea of gnostic inspiration (mukashafa) until it is as if the worshipper actually beholds Allah Most High, this being the sta.tion of contemplative spiritual vision (mushahada);
(3) and to worship as mentioned above, though mainly aware that Allah sees one, this being the station ofvigilanee (muraqaba).
All three of these are of the perfection of faith (ihsan), but the perfection required for the validity of worship is only the first, while perfection in the latter senses is the mark of the elect, and not possible for many (al-Jawahir al-lu' lu'iyya fi sharh al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyya (y68), 37-38).
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(Ghazali:) Praise be to Allah, who originates all and returns it, who does as He wills, He of the noble Throne and overwhelming force, the Guide of His elect servants to the wisest path and straightest way, who has blessed them, after having had them attest to His oneness, by preserving the tenets of their religion from the darknesses of doubt and misgivings, bringing them through His providence and guidance to follow His chosen Messenger and the example of his noble and honored Companions; He who manifests Himself and His acts to His servants through His sublime attributes, of which none possess knowledge save those who give heed with a present mind.
HIS DNENESS He is one in being without partner, unique without peer, ultimate without opposite, alone without equal
He is one, preeternal, beginninglessly uncreate, everlastingly abiding, unceasingly existent, eternally limitless, the ever selfsubsisting through whom all else subsists, ever I enduring, without end
He is, was, and ever will be possessed of all attributes of majesty, unannihilated by dissolution or separation through the passage of eons or terminus of interims
He is the First and Last, the Outward and Inward, and He has knowledge of everything.
HIS TRANSCENDENCE He is not a body with a form, or a limitary, quantitative substance, not resembling bodies in quantifiability or divisibility, or in being a substance or qualified by substance, or being an accident or qualified by accidents
He does not resemble anything that exists, nor anything that exists resemble Him
There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, nor is He like unto anything
He is not delimited by magnitude, contained by places, encompassed by directions, or bounded by heavens or earth
He is 'established on the Throne' (mustawin, Koran 20:5) in the way He says and the meaning He intends, 'established' in a manner transcending contact, settiedness, fixity, indwelling, or movement
The Throne does not Allah v1.2 bear Him up, but is borne up by the subtlety of His infinite power, as are the angels who carry it, and all are powerless in His grasp
He is above the Throne, the heavens, and all else to the farthest reaches of the stars, with an aboveness that does not increase His nearness to the Throne or heavens, or His distance from the earth and what lies beneath it
He is as exalted in degree above the Throne and the heavens as He is above the earth and its depths, though He is near to everything in existence, nearer to a servant than his own jugular vein, and is witness to everything
His nearness no more resembles the nearness of objects to one another than His entity resembles the entities of objects
He does not indwell in anything, nor anything indwell in Him
He is as exalted above containment in space as He is above confinement in time
He was, before creating time and space, and is now even as He was
He is distinguished from His creation by His attributes
There is nothing in His entity other than Him, nor is His entity in what is other than Him
He is beyond change and motion: events neither occur within Him nor changes befall Him
He remains in His attributes of majesty exalted above change, and in the attributes of His perfection beyond needing any increase in perfection
The existence of His entity is known by human reason, and in the afterlife is beheld by the eyesight of the righteous as a beatitude and favor, to consummate their perfect joy with the sight of His Noble Countenance.
HIS LIFE AND ALMIGHTY POWER He Most High is living, almighty, overmastering, triumphant, unaffected by inability or weakness; unsusceptible to drowsiness, sleep, annihilation, or death; possessed of absolute sovereignty and might, of irresistible power and force
His is the majesty and sway, the creation and command
The heavens are enfolded in His right hand and all beings are powerless in His grasp
He alone creates, begins, gives existence, and originates
He creates all beings and their acts, ordains their sustenance and terms
Nothing possible is out of His grasp, the disposal of no matter is beyond His power
The number of things He can do is limitless, the amount He knows is infinite.
HIS K.NOWLEDGE He knows all things knowable, encompassing all that takes place from the depths of the earth to the highest heaven
He knows without an atom's weight in the earth or heavens escaping His knowledge
He knows the creeping of a black ant across a great stone on a lightless night, and the motion in the air of a particle of dust on a windy day
He knows the concealed and the yet more hidden, the buried recesses of hearts, the movement of thought, and the opacities of the inmost soul; with preeternal, beginningless knowledge that He has always possessed from the limitless reaches of past eternity, not with awareness originating within Him through being imparted or conveyed.
HIS WILL He Most High wills all that exists and directs all events
Nothing occurs in the physical or spiritual world, be it meager or much, little or great, good or evil
of benefit or detriment, faith or unbelief, knowledge or ignorance, triumph or ruin, increase or decrease, obedience or sin; save through His ordinance, apportionment, wisdom, and decision
What He wills is, and what He does not will is not
Neither sidelong glance nor passing thought is beyond His design
He originates all and returns it, does what He wills, and none can repulse His command
There is no rescinding His destiny, no flight for a servant from disobeying Him except through divinely given success therein and mercy, and no strength to obey Him save through His choice and decree
If all mankind, jinn,angels, and devils combined their efforts to move or to still a single particle of the universe without His will and choice, they would be unable to
His will, like His other attributes, exists in His entity and He ever possesses it
He has willed from preeternity the existence of all things at the times Allah v1.5 He has chosen
They occur at the times which He has destined from beginningless eternity, occurring neither before nor after, but taking place in accordance with His knowledge and will, without substitution or alteration
He directs events without successive thoughts or waiting for time to elapse, which is why nothing diverts Him from anything else.
HIS HEARING AND SIGHT He Most High is all-hearing and allseeing.
He hears and sees, no sound however slight eluding His hearing, and no sight however minute escaping His vision
Distance does not obscure His hearing nor darkness hinder His vision.
He sees without pupil or eyelids, and hears without ear canal or ears, just as He knows without a heart, seizes without limb, and creates without implement
His attributes no more resemble the attributes of His creatures than His entity resembles the entity of His creatures.
HIS SPEECH He Most High speaks, commands, forbids, promises, and warns, with beginninglessly eternal speech that is an attribute of His entity, not resembling the speech of creatures in being a sound generated by the passage of air or impact of bodies, nor in letters articulated by compressing the lips or moving the tongue
The Koran, Torah, Evangel, and Psalms are His Books, revealed to His messengers (upon whom be peace)
The Koran is recited with tongues, written in 'books, and memorized in hearts despite being beginninglessly eternal, an attribute of the entity of Allah Most High, unsubject to disseverance and separation by conveyance to hearts or pages.
Moses (Allah bless him and give him peace) heard the speech of Allah without sound or letter, just as the righteous see the entity of Allah Most High in the afterlife without substance or accident.
Since Allah possesses all of the above attributes, He is living, knowing, omnipotent, willing, hearing, seeing, and speaking by virtue of His life, power, knowledge, will, hearing, sight, and speech, not merely by virtue of flis entity.
HIS ACTS Everything besides Him Glorious and Exalted exists through His action, proceeding from His justice in the best, fullest, most perfect and equitable way
He is wise in His acts and just in His decrees
His justice is not comparable to the justice of His servants, since injustice may only be imagined from a servant through his disposal of what belongs to another, while this is inconceivable from Allah Most High, since nothing belongs to anyone besides Him that He should unjustly dispose of it
Everything besides Him, be it human, jinn, angel,
devil, heaven, earth, animal, vegetable, mineral, substance, accident, intelligible, or sensory, is contingent, and was brought into existence through His power after not being, created by Him after it was nothing
He alone existed in preeternity, and nothing else
He then originated creation, that His omnipotence might be manifest, His prior decree effected, and His eternal word realized; not from needing or requiring anything in creation
Our origination, beginning, and responsibility are of Allah's generosity, not because of their being obligatory for Him, and His blessings and benefaction exist because of His favor, not because of being due from Him
Everything that exists is indebted to Him for His generosity and goodness, His blessings and benevolence; for He is well able to pour all manner of torments upon His servants and try them with every variety of suffering and illness, and were He to do so, it would be just on His part and not wicked or unfair
He Mighty and Majestic rewards His servants, the believers, for their acts of obedience because of His generosity and in fulfillment of His word, not because of their deserving it or His owing it to them
He is not obliged to
anyone to do anything, nor is injustice on His part conceivable, for He does not owe any rights to anyone
The obligation of men and jinn to perform acts of obedience is established by His having informed them of it upon the tongues of the prophets (upon whom be peace), and not by unaided human reason
He sent the prophets and manifested the truth of their messages by unmistakable, inimitable miracles
They have communicated His commands, prohibitions, promises, and warnings, and it is obligatory for mankind and jinn to believe in what they have conveyed.
*
Allah Most High sent Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), the Qurayshite unlettered prophet, to deliver His inspired message to the entire world, Arabs and non-Arabs, jinn and mankind, superseding and abrogating all previous religious systems with the Prophet's Sacred Law, except for the provisions of them that the new revelation explicitly reconfirmed
Allah has favored him above all the other prophets and made him the highest of mankind, rejecting anyone's attesting to the divine oneness by saying ""There is no god but Allah,"" unless they also attest to the Prophet by saying ""Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."" He has obliged men and jinn to believe everything the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has informed us concerning this world and the next, and does not accept anyone's faith unless they believe in what he has told us will happen after death.
THE TRIAL OF THE GRAVE The first of these matters is the questioning of Munkar and Nakir, two tremendous, aweinspiring personages who sit a servant upright in his grave, body and soul, and ask him about the unity of Allah and the messengerhood of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), saying, ""Who is your Lord, what is your religion, and who is your prophet?"" It is they who try people in the grave, their questioning being the first ordeal after death
It is also obligatory to believe in the torment of the grave, that it is a fact, is just, and affects both body and soul, in the way Allah wills.
THE SCALE It is obligatory to believe in the scale, which consists of two scalepans and a balance indicator between them and is as great in size as the thickness of the heavens and earth
It weighs a servant's deeds through the power of Allah Most High, and the weights placed on it are as fine as an atom or mustard seed, that justice may be perfectly done
The pages recording one's good deeds will be placed in a form pleasing to behold on the side of the scale for Light, weighing it down according to their rank with Allah, through His generosity, while the pages recording one's bad deeds will be placed in an ugly form on the side of Darkness, diminishing the weight of the opposite side through Allah's justice.
THE BRIDGE OVER HELL It is obligatory to believe in the bridge over hell (sirat), a bridge spanning the breadth of hell, sharper than a sword and finer than a hair, which unbelievers' feet shall slip from by Allah's decree and plunge them into hell, and the feet of believers shall be made fast upon by Allah's generosity, and from thence they shall be conducted to the Final Abode.
THE WATERING PLACE It is obligatory to believe in a watering place people will come to, the watering place of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), which believers will drink from before entering paradise, after having crossed the bridge over hell
Whoever drinks from it will never thirst again
Its width is a month's journey across, its His Messenger v2.3 water whiter than milk and sweeter than honey, and there are as many pitchers around it as stars in the sky
Two aqueducts pour into it from Kawthar, a spring in paradise
.
THE FINAL RECKONING It is obligatory to believe in the Final Reckoning and the disparity in the way various people are dealt with therein, some made to answer, others pardoned, and some admitted to paradise without reckoning, being the intimates of Allah (muqarrabun)
Allah Most High shall ask whomever He wills of the prophets if they have conveyed their message, ask unbelievers why they denied the messengers, ask those of reprehensible innovation (bid'a) about the sunna, and ask Muslims about their works.
BELIEVERS SHALL DEPART FROM HELL It is obligatory to hold that true believers in the oneness of Allah (N: who follow the prophet oftheir age (dis: w4.4)) will betaken out of hell after having paid for their sins, through the generosity of Allah Mighty and Majestic
No one who is a true monotheist will abide in the fire forever.
THE INTERCESSION OF THEPROPHETS AND RIGHTEOUS It is obligatory to believe in the intercession of first the prophets, then religious scholars, then martyrs, then other believers, the intercession of each one commensurate with his rank and position with Allah Most High
Any believer remaining in hell without intercessor shall be taken out of it by the favor of Allah, no one who believes remaining in it forever, and anyone with an atom's weight of faith in his heart will eventually depart from it.
THE EXCELLENCE OF THEPROPHETIC COMPANIONS (SAHABA) It is obligatory to believe in the excellence (dis: w56) of the prophetic Companions (Allah be well pleased with them)
One must think the best of all of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and praise them just as Allah Mighty and Majestic (n: e.g., at Koran 3:110) and His messenger have praised them (Allah bless them all and give them peace).
*
All of the foregoing has been conveyed by prophetic hadith and attested to by the words of the early Muslims
Whoever believes it with deep conviction belongs to those of the truth, who follow the sunna, and distinguishes himself from the faction who have strayed, the sect adhering to reprehensible innovation (bid'a)
We ask Allah through His mercy for perfect certainty and steadfastness in religion, for ourselves and all Muslims;
He is the Most Merciful of the MercifuL May Allah bless our liegelord Muhammad, and every chosen servant (Ihya' 'ulum ai-din (y39), 1.79- 83).
*
(n:) This section uses a system of transliteration like that of Martin Lings's Muhammad, with a few changes such as symbolizing the letter j; as d.h instead of +, to better represent the classical pronunciation, and the use of parentheses at the end of words for letters not pronounced when one pauses after them, and at the beginning of words for letters not pronounced when the final vowel of the previous word is elided with what follows it
The letters are:
Arabic English Arabic English Arabic English (short vowels) (long vowels) (dipt hongs)
(Martin Lings:) The Arabs sometimes call themselves ""the people of Qad"" because they claim thatthey alone possess the letter tjiid, which sounds like a heavy ""d"" pronounced far back in the mouth
It is normally transcribed, as here, by 4
Analogously
s
!
and?
(n: dh below) stand for other characteristic heavy back consonants, whereas d, s, t, and z stand for the corresponding front consonants, which are pronounced more or less as in English
The letter !l is a tensely breathed II sound; q is a guttural k sound; th is to be pronounced as these letters in think, dh as they are in this, gh like a French r, kh like ch in Scottish loch
The asper • denotes the letter 'ayn, which is produced by narrowing the passage in the depth of the throat and then forcing the breath through it
The apostrophe ' denotes the ""hamzah of discontinuity,"" which means a slight catch in the breath.
Since in English initial vowel sounds are regularly preceded by this catch, the initial hamzah has not been transcribed here, e.g
A/.Imad, not 'Al;zmad
The ""hamzah of continuity"" indicates the running oftwo words into one by the elision, at the beginning of the second word, of the first letter of the definite article al-, the a of which is always elided except at the beginning of a sentence, This elision is shown here simply by the omission of the letter in question, e.g
Abu I-'As, not Abu al-'As; the continuity has the effect of shortening any long vowel which immediately precedes this hamzah
The first letter of the Divine Name Allah is also elided except except at the beginning of a sentence or when it stands alone, e.g
bismi Llah ...
The short vowels a, i, u are like the vowel sounds of sat [n: like the vowel sound of set in American pronunciation], sit, soot; ii ..
is like the vowel sound of bare [n: like that offJat for Americans], but back consonants next to it attract it to that of bar; rand it are like the vowel sounds of seen and soon; ay is between those of sign and sane; aw is like that of cow (Muhammad (y75), 348).
PURIFICATION (e5.5) Before ablution (wudu): ""Bismi L1iih(i),"" or optimally, ""Bismi LHihi r-Rahmani r-Rahim.
Prior to this, it is sunna to say, ""A'iidhubi L1ahi mina sh-shay!ani r-Rajim,"" and to add, after the Basmala, H AI-I}amdu Ii L11ihi 'ala l-Islami wa ni'matih(i), al- amdu Ii L11ihi lladhlja'ala l-ma'a tahuran wa 1-lsHima nura(n)
Rabbla'udhu bika min hamaziHi ah-shayatina wa a'udhu bika Rabbi an yahdurun .
, If one neglects to say the Basmala at the first of ablution, one pronounces it during ablution, saying, ""Bismi Lliihi awwalahu wa akhirah.""
(eS.lS) After ablution (wudu): ""Ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Llahu wahdahu la sharika lah(u), wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh(u);
Allahumma j'alni mina t-tawwabin(a), wa j'alni mina l-mutatahbirin(a), wa j'aini min ibadika s-salihin(a); subhanaka Llahumma wa bi hamdik(a), ash-hadu an la ilaha illa ant(a), astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.""
(e9.1(S)) Before entering the lavatory: ""Bismi Llah(i), AlIahumma inni a'iidhu bika mina l-khubuthi wa I-khaba'ith""; and after leaving: ""Ghufranak(a), al-l;1amdu Ii L1iihi lladhT adh-haba 'anniya I-adha wa 'afan!.""
(ell.l(l)) Before the purificatory bath (ghusl): ""Bismi Lllihi r-Ra!)mlini r-Ra!)im
""
(e12.17(1)) Before dry ablution (tayammum): ""Bismi LUihi r-Ral)mani rRapTm.""
THE CALL TO PRAYER (f3.6) The call to prayer (adhan) is: ""Alilihu akbaru LIahu akbar, Alllihu akbaru LUihu akbar, ash-hadu an Iii i1iiha illa Llah, ash-hadu an Iii iliiha ilia Lllih, ash-hadu anna MUQammadan rasiilu Llah, ash-hadu anna Mul)ammadan rasiilu Llah; I)ayya 'ala ~-~al1:ih; I)ayya 'ala ~-~allih; Ipyya 'ala I-fala!), Ipyya 'ala I-falalj:
[and here, before the dawn prayer only: ""A~-~alatu khayrun mina n-nawm, a~~ alatu khayrun mina n-nawm"";] AHiihu akbaru Lliihu akbar, Iii iliiha ilIa Lliih."" (See note f3.9(3(A:)) about the pauses between the sentences.)
(f3.6) The call to commence (iqama) is: ""Alllihu akbaruLilihu akbar, ashhadu an Iii i1liha ilia Lliih,ash-hadu anna Mul;1ammadan rasiilu Llah, l)ayya 'ala~~ alli(ti) I)ayya 'ala l-faUil;1, qadi qamati ~-~ala(tu) qadi qamati ~-~aliih, Alliihu akbaru Lliihu akbar, Iii iliiha ilIa Lliih.""
(f3.II, second par.) The reply to ""Come to the prayer"" (l;1ayya 'ala~~ allih) and ""Come to success"" (Qayya 'ala l-falap) is: ""Liil;1awla wa Iii quwwatailla bi Lliih.""
(f3.11, second par.) The reply to ""The prayer is better than sleep"" (a~~ aliitu khayrun mina n-nawm) in the call to the dawn prayer is: ""~adaqt(a) wa barirt.""
(f3.11, third par.) The reply to ""The prayer is commencing"" (qadi qamati ?-~alah) is: .
Aqamaha Llahu wa adamahii rna damati s-samawatu wa l-ar~( u) wa ja'alanTmin ~ali~fahliha.""
(f3.12) After blessing the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) subsequently to the call to prayer or call to commence, one adds: ""AIHihumma Rabba hlidhihi d-da'wati t-tammati wa ~-~alatl l-qa'ima(ti), ati Sayyidana Mu\:tammadani l-wasilata wa I-fa~lata wa d-darajata r-rafi'a(ta), wa b'ath-hu maqaman ma\Imiidani lladhTwa'adtah."" DESCRlPTION OF THE PRAYER
(fS.13) The Opening Supplication (Istiftah): ""Wajjahtu wajhf Ii lladhi fatara s-samliwati wa l-arda hanifan Musliman wa rna ana mina I-mushrikfn; lnna ~a""atl wa nusukl wa ma~'yaya wa mamatf Ii Lliihi Rabbi 1-'AlamTna Ii:!
sharika lah(u)
wa bi dhalika umirtu wa ana min a I-Muslimfn.""
(f8.16) Saying, ""I take refuge
etc."" (ta'awwudh): ""A'udhu bi Lllihi mina sh-Shay!ani r-rajlm.""
(f8.17) The Fatiha:
""In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, Most Merciful and Compassionate, Master of the Day of Reckoning
You alone we worship, in You alone we seek help
Guide us in the straight way, the way of those You have blessed, not of those whom wrath is upon or those who are lost"" (Koran 1:1-7).
(f8.19) After the Fatiha: ""Amin.""
(f8.30, fourth par.) The minimal dhikr when bowing: ""Sub\lana Rabbiya 1-'AdpTm."" (f8.30, fifth par.) The optimal'dhikr when bowing, after having said the above: ""Alllihumma laka raka'tu wa bika amantu wa laka aslamt(u); khasha'a laka sam'fwa ba~arrwa mukhkhlwa 'adhamTwa rna staqallat bihi qadamT.""
(f8.32) The minimal dhikr when straightening back up from bowing:
""Sami'a Lliihu Ii man \:t~midah,"" and when one reaches the upright position, ""Rabbanii laka l-\:tamd(u), mil'a s-samiiwati wa mil'a l-ar~i wa mil'a rna shi'ta min shay'in ba'd."" (f8.32) It is optimal, after having said the above, to add: ""Ahla th-thana'i wa I-majd(i), a~aqqu rna qala l-'abd(u), wa kulluna laka 'abd(un), Iii mani'a Ii rna a'tayta wa Iii mu'tiya Ii rna mana't(a), wa Ia yanfa'u dha l-jaddi minka l-jadd.""
(f8.35(5)) The minimal dhikr when prostrating: ""Subl,lana Rabbiya \- (f8.35(5), second par.) It is optimal, after having said the above, to add:
""Alllihumma laka sajadtu wa bika amantu wa laka aslamt(u), sajada wajh""ili lIadhT khalaqahu wa ~awwarahu wa shaqqa sam'ahu wa ba~arahu bi i}awlihi wa quwwatih( i), tabaraka LIahu Al)sanu I-Khaliqin.""
(f8.37(4)) When sitting back between prostrations: ""Allahumma ghfir Ii wa rl,lamni wa 'afinl wa jburnI wa hdini wa rzuqni.""
(fSAS) The minimal Testification of Faith (Tashahhud): ""At-tai}iyyatu Ii Lliih(i), salamun 'aJayka ayyuha n-Nabiyyu wa rai}matu Lllihi wa barakatuh, saliimun 'alayna wa 'alii 'ibiidi Lllihi ~-~iili\;lIn, ash-hadu an Iii Haha illa LIahu wa anna MUQammadan rasiilu Lliih."" (fB.45, second par.) The
optimal Testification of Faith: ""At-taltiyyatu 1- mubarakatu ~-!}a1awiitu !-!ayyibatu li Llah, as-salamu 'alayka ayyuha n-Nabiyyu wa rattmatu Lliihi wa barakatuh, as-salamu 'alaynii wa 'ala 'ibiidi LHihi ~-~alii}in.
ash-hadu an liiiliiha illa Lliih(u), wa ash-hadu anna Mu~ammadan raSillu Lliih.""
(fBAS, fifth par.) The minimal Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud): ""Alliihumma ~al1i 'alii Mu~ammad."" (f8.45, sixth par.) The optimal Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in the Testification of Faith (Tashahhud): ""Alliihumma ~alli 'ala Mui}ammadin wa 'ala aIi MUQammadin kama ~allayta 'ala IbrahTma wa 'ala ali Ibrahrm(a), wa barik 'ala Mugammadin wa 'ala ali Mul]ammadin kama barakta 'ala IbrahTma wa 'ala ali IbrahTm(a), fi 1-'iilamTna innaka \1amldun majId."" It is desirable to add the word sayyidina (our liegelord) before each mention of the names Muhammad and Ibrahim, saying, ""AlIiihumma ~alli 'ala Sayyidina Mul,lammadin wa 'ala ali Sayyidina Mul,lammadin kama ~allayta 'alii Sayyidina Ibrahlma ..
"" etc.
(f8A6) The supplication after thc Testification of Faith (Tashahhud):
""Alla:humma ghfir 11 rna qaddamtu wa rna akhkhartu wa rna asrartu wa rna a'iantu wa mii asraftu wa rna anta a'lamu bihi minnt, anta I-Muqaddimu wa anta IMu'akhkhir( u), Iii iliiha ilIa ant.""
(f8A7) The minimal Salams to close the prayer: ""As-Salamu 'alaykum.·· (f8.47, second par.) The optimal Salams to close the prayer: ""As-saIamu 'alaykum wa ral)matu Lliih.""
(fS.50) Post-prayer dhikr:
(5) ""Astaghfiru Lliih(a)."" (6) ""Allahumma anta s-Salamu wa minka s-saHim(u), tabiirakta yiiDha I-Jaliili wa 1-Ikram."" (7) ""Alliihumma la miini'ali ma a'!ayt(a), wa Iii mu'!iya Ii ma mana't(a), wa la yanfa'u dha I-jaddi minka I-jadd."" (8) ""Subl}ana Lliih(i)."" (9) ""Al-I]amdu Ii Lliih(i)."" (10) ""Allahu akbar(u)."" (11) ""La iliiha illa Lliihu wal}dahu Hi sharika lah(u), Iahu I-mulku wa lahu 1- IJamdu wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir.""
(f8.S3) The supplication (qunut) in the dawn prayer after straightening up from bowing jn the second rak'a, where, if praying alone, one uses the Twherever it is italiciz(!d below, while if leading a group, one substitutes ii for each italicized T: ""Alllihumma hdinrfiman hadayt(a), wa 'afinTfiman 'afayt(a), wa tawallanTli man tawallayt(a), wa barik ii[lana if leading a group] lima a'tayt(a), wa qinT sharra ma qagayt(a), fainnaka taq"" It is commendable to add ""wa Iii ya'izzu man 'adayt(a),"" before the word tabiirakta in the last sentence.
SUPEREROGATORY PRAYERS (f10.S, second paL) When praying witr after tarawih, one adds the following to the above supplication (qunut): ""Allahumma inna nasta'Tnuka wa nas- taghfiruka wa nastahdika wa nu'minu bika wa natawakkalu 'alayka wa nuthni 'alayka l-khayra kullah( u), nashkuruka a la nakfiruk( a), wa nakhla'u wa natruku man yafjuruk(a), Allahumma iyyiika na'budu wa laka nusallTwa nasjudu ilIayka wa nas'ii wa nailfid(u), narjii r~mataka wa nakhshii 'adhiibaka inna 'adhiibaka 1- jidda bi l-kuffari mull}iq.""
(f10
10, second par.) A substitute for two rak'as of greeting the mosque:
""Sub!,1ana Llahi wa l-!)amdu Ii Lllihi wa Iii iliiha ilIa LJahu, wa Lliihu akbar.""
(f10
12, third par.) The supplication of the prayer for guidance (istikhara):
""Allahumma inni astakhlruka bi 'ilmika wa staqdiruka bi qudratika wa as'aluka min fa<;llika 1-'ad.hTm, fa'innaka taqdiru wa Iii aqdir(u), wa ta'lamu wa Iii a'lam(u), wa anta 'Alliimu I-Ghuyiib(i), AlIiihumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hiidha I-amra khayrun lifi dinlwa ma'iishTwa 'iiqibati amr7[a variant has"" 'iijili amrlwa iijilih(i)"" in place of the italicized] fa qdurhu Ii wa yassirhu Ii thumma barik Ii fih(i), wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha I-amra sharrun ITfidini wa ma'ashiwa 'aqibati amrT[the variant has"" 'ajili amrTwa ajilih(i)"" as before] fa ~rifhu 'anniwa ~rifni'anhu wa qdur liya l-khayra haythu kana thumma ra(Ninibih(i),"" then one mentions the matter at hand.
THE FRIDAY PRAYER (fl8.9(e) third par.) Minimal sermon (khutba) for the Friday prayer:
""Inna 1-!,1amda Ii Lliih, na!,1maduhu wa nasta'Tnuhu wa nastaghfiruh(u), na'iidhu bi Ll1i.hi min shuriiri anfusinii wa min sayyi'liti a'mlilina, man yahdi LHihu fa la mu~illa lah(u), wa man yu~!il fa Iii hiidiya lah(u), wa ash-hadu an Iii iliiha illa Lliihu wahdahu la sharum lah(u), wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasiiluh(u), ~alla Lliihu 'alayhi wa sallama wa 'alii alihi w; a~-i)abih(i), ya ayyuha lIadhina amanu ttaqu L11i.ha haqqa tuqiitih(i), wa liitamutunna ilIa wa antum Muslimiin( a)
'Yii ayyuha n-nii;u ttaqu Rabbakumu lladhi khalaqakum min nafsin wii!,1idatin wa khalaqa minha zawjah'ii wa baththa minhuma rijalan kathlran wa nisii'a(n), wa ttaqu Lliiha lladhTtasa'ali.ina bihi wa l-artJiim(a), inna Lliiha kana 'alaykum raqTha(n).' ""
THE PRAYER ON THE TWO 'EIDS (f19
8, last par
) The Allahu Akbars and additional dhikf of 'Eid al-Adha:
""Allahu akbaru Llahu akbaru Lllihu akbar, Iii iHiha ilIa LlTh, Alra:hu akbaru Lliihu akbar(u), wa Ii LHihi I-~amd."" It is commendable to add to this: ""Amihu akbaru kabTra(n), wa l-I:lamdu Ii Lliihi kathira(n), wa subl;lana L1iihi bukratan wa a~ila(n), Hiiliiha ilIa Llahu wa Hi na'budu imi iyyiih(u), mukhli~ina lahu d -din(a), wa law kariha I-kiifiriin
Ui ilaha ilIa Lliihu wal}dah(u), §adaqa wa'dah(u), wa na~ara 'abdah(u), wa a'azza jundah(u), wa hazama l-ai)zaba wa!,1dah(u), ia ilaha illa Lliihu wa Lllihu akbar.""
THE DROUGHT PRAYER (f2l.3, second par.) In the drought prayer, the imam says the following nine times before the first sermon (khutba) and seven times before the second:
""Astaghfiru Uiha l-'Aqhima lladhi la ilaha illa huwa I-J:Iayya I-Qayyiima wa atiibu ilayh."" (f2l.3, fourth par.) He frequently says"" Astaghfiru Liah,"" the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and supplicates Allah with the following Koranic verses: ""Istaghfirii Rabbakum innahu kana ghaffara(n), yursili s-sama'a 'alaykum midrara(n), wa yumdidkum bi amwalin wa banlna wa yaj'al lakumjannatin wa yaj'allakum anhara."" (f21.3, seventh par.) The drought prayer supplication: ""Allahumma sqina ghaythan mughTthan hani'an mari'an sal;ll;lan 'amman ghadaqan tabaqan mujalliIan da'iman ilci yawmi d-din
Alliihumma inna bi l-'ibadi wa I-biladi min al-jahdi wa l-jii'i wa d-danki rna la nashkii ilia ilayk(a), A1liihumma anbit lanaz-zar'a wa adirra lana ~-~ar'a wa anzil 'alayna min barakati s-sama'(i), wa anbit lana min barakati I-an~i wa kshif 'anna mina I-bala'i rna Hi yakshifuhu ghayruk.""
(f21.6) 'When thunder is heard: ""Subqana lladhT yusabbil]u r-ra'du bi I:]amdihi wa l-maHi'ikatu min khlfatih."" When lightning is seen: ""Subgana man yurTkumu I-barqa khawfan wa !ama'a(n).""
(f21.7) Supplication against too much rain: ""AlIahuma hawalayna wa IiI 'alayna; Alliihumma 'ala d.h-d.hiriibi wa I-akiimi wa bu~iini l-awdiyati wa manabiti sh-shajar
"" VISITING mE SICK
(g1.4) Supplication for Allah to heal a sick person: ""AUiiliumma Rabba nNasi adh-hibi I-ba'sa wa shfi wa anta sh-Shiifi la shafiya ilIii anta shifa'an Iii yUghiidiru alaman wa Iii saqama(n)."" mE FUNERAL PRAYER (JANAZA)
(g4.1O) Supplication after the third Allahu Akbar of the funeral prayer:
""Alliihumma hiidhii 'abduka wa bnu 'abdik(a), kharaja min rawl:]i d-dunya wa sa'atiha, wa mal)bubuhu wa aJ:tibba'uhu fiha, mr dJlUlmati I-qabri wa rna huwa laqTh(i), kana yash-hadu an Ia iliiha ilIa anta wagdaka la sharika lak(a), wa anna MUQammadan 'abduka wa rasiiluk(a), wa anta a'lamu bihi minna
Allahumma innahu nazala bika wa anta ghaniyyun 'an 'adhabihi wa qad ji'naka raghibTna ilayka shufa'a'a lah(u)
Allahumma, in kana mUQsinan fa zid ITil)sanih(i), wa in ka.na musi'an fa tajawaz 'anhu wa laqqihi bi raJ:lmatika rigak(a), wa qihi fitnata 1- qabri wa 'adhabahu wa fsal} labu if qabrihi wa jiifi I-arqa 'an janbayhi wa laqqihi bi ral;tmatika I-amna min 'adhahika J:latta tab'athahu aminan ilil jannatika ya ArJ:lama r -RaJ:rimin
"" (g4.11) One may add the following, before the above supplication:
""AUlihumma ghfir Ii I,layyinii wa mayyitina wa shiihidina wa gha'ibina wa saghtrinii wa kabTrina wa dhakarina wa unthana
Alliihumma man aJ,tyaytahu minna fa I}yihi 'ala I-Islam, wa man tawaffaytahu minna fa tawaffihi 'ala l.:Jiniin."" (g4.11 , second par.) If the deceased is a child, one may say, with the above addition: ""Allabumma j'alhu faratan Ii abuwayhi wa salafan wa dhukhran wa 'id.hatan wa 'tibaran wa shiifi'a(n), wa thaqqil bihi mawiizTnahuma wa frighi ~- ~abra 'alii quliibihima."" .
(g4.12) After the fourth Allahu Akbar of the funeral prayer:
""Allahumma Iii taq.rimna ajrahu wa hitaftinnaba'dahu wa ghfir lana wa lah( u).""
(g4.13(f)) The minimal supplication after the third Allahu Akbar of the funeral prayer: ""Alliihumma ghfir Ii hadha I-mayyit.""
BURIAL (g5.4(1) When putting the deceased in the grave: :'Bismi Lliihi wa 'ala millati rasiili Lliihi ~alia Lhihu 'alayhi wa sallam.""
(g5.6) With the first handfuls of earth in burying the dead:
First handful: ""Minha khalaqnakum."" Second handful: ""Wa fiha nu'i""dukum."" Third handful: ""Wa minha nukhrijukum taratan ukhra.""
(g5.6(2) Supplication for the person buried: ""Alliihumma thabbit-hu, Allahumma laqqinhu !.lUjjatah(u).""
(g5.8, second par.) Greeting to buried believers: ""Salamun 'alaykum dara qawmin mu'minln(a), wa inna in shii' Alliihu bikum liipiqiin.""
(g6.2(1-3)) Condolences:
To a Muslim who's lost a Muslim: ""A'd.hama Lliihu ajraka wa aJ:lsana 'aza'aka wa ghafara Ii mayyitik(a)."" To a Muslim who's lost a non-Muslim: ""A'dpama L1iihu ajraka wa aq.sana 'aza'ak(a)."" To a non-Muslim who's lost a Muslim: ""A~sana Lliihu 'aza'aka wa ghafara Ii mayyitik(a).""
ZAKAT (h8.4) Supplication by the zakat recipient for the zakat giver: ""Ajaraka LIahu fimaa'!ayt(a), wa baraka laka fima abqayt(a), waja'alahulaka!ahiira(n).""
FASTING RAMADAN (il.25) Dhikr upon breaking one's fast: ""Alliihumma laka ~umtu wa 'alii rizqika af!:art.""
(i3.2, last par.) Supplication for Laylat al-Qadr: ""Alliihumma innaka 'afuwwun tuttibbu I-'afwa fa 'fu 'anni.""
THE PILGRIMAGE, (j3.4) The pilgrim chant of ""Labbayk"": ""Labbayka Lilihumma labbayk, labbayka Iii sharum laka labbayk, inn a 1-l}amda wa n-ni'mata laka wa l-mulk, Iii shaiika lak."" (Thrice.)
Then one says the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and then asks Allah for paradise and seeks refuge in Him from hell by saying:
""Allahumma innI as'aluka l-jannata wa na'Imahii wa riqwanak(a), wa a'i'idhu bika min sakha!ika wa n-nar."" (j3.4, last par.) If one sees something pleasing (or offensive) while in ihram, one says: ""Labbayka inna l-'aysha 'ayshu l-akhira.""
(j4.2) Supplication upon first seeing the Kaaba: ""Allahumma zid hadha 1- bayta tashrifan wa takrIman wa ta'qhi'man wa muhiiba(tan), wa zid man sharrafahu wa 'aqhdpamahu mimman hajjahu wa 'tamarahu tashrIfan wa takrIman wa ta'qhlman wa birra(n), Alliihumma anta s-Saliimu wa minka s-salamu fa ttayyinii Rabbana bi s-saliim.""
(j5.3(2-3)) When kissing the Black Stone: ""Alllihu akbaru Lilihu akbaru Lliihu akbar(u), Alliihummaimanan bika wa ta§dIqan bi kitabika wa wafii'an bi 'ahdika wa ttibii'an Ii sunnati nabiyyika ~alla Lilihu 'alayhi wa sallam."" U5.5) When passing the Kaaba's door in circumambulation: ""AIHihumma inna hiidha I-bayta baytuka wa'l-lJarama l)aramuka wa I-amna amnuk(a), wa h[dhii maqamu 1-'a'idhi bika mina n-nar."" US
6) When passing the corner by Hijr Isma'il: ""Alliih umma inni a 'iidh u bika mina sh-shakki wa sh-shirki wa sh-shiqaqi wa n-nifaqi wa su'i l-akhliiq(i), wa su'i I-munqalabi fi I-mali wa I-ahli wa I-walad."" U5.7) When passing the rainspout at the top of the Kaaba (Mizab al-Rahma):
""AlHihumma ad.hilIanT fi d.hillika yawma Hi d.hilla ilIa d.hilluk( a), wa sqinTbi ka'si nabiyyika Mul}ammadin ~alla L1iihu 'alayhi wa: sallama mashraban hani'an la adhma'u ba'dahu abada(n)."" (j5.8) When between the third corner and the Yamani corner: ""Alliihumma j'alhu ~ajjan mabriiran wa sa'yan mashkiiran wa 'amalan maqbiilan wa tijaratan Ian tabiir(a), ya 'Azlzu yii Ghafiir.""
(j5.13, fourth par.) When trotting in first three rounds of circumambulation:
""Alliihumma j'alhu lJajjan mabriiran wa sa'yan mashkuran wa dhanban maghfiira(n)."" (j5.13, fifth par.) When performing the last four rounds of circumambulation:
""Rabbi ghfir wa r\lam wa 'fu 'amma ta'lam(u), innaka anta I-A'azzu 1- Akram( u), Rabbana atina fi d-dunya I).asanatan wa fi I-akhirati l}asanatan wa qina 'adhaba n-nar.""
(j5.18, second par.) Supplication after two rak'as at the Station of Ibrahim: ""Alliihumma hadha baladuka wa l-masjidu I-l}aramu wa baytuka 1- I}aram(u), wa ana 'abduka bnu 'abdika wa bnu amatik(a), ataytuka bi dhiinubin kathiratin wa kha!aya jammatin wa a'malin sayyi'a(tin), wa hiidhii maqamu 1-'iI'idhi bika mina n-nar; fa ghfir 11, innaka anta I-Ghafiiru r-Ral}""im
Alliihumma innaka da'awta 'ibiidaka ilii baytika I-Q.anim wa qad ji'tu taliban raQ.mataka muttabi'an mar9atika wa anta muthib(un), fa ghfir liwa r!Jamnl, innaka 'alii kulli shay'in qadir:'
(j6.2(2)) Dhikr on Safa: ""Lii iliiha ilia L1iihu wal}dahu Iii shaiika lah(u), lahu I-mulku wa lahu I-Q.amdu yul}Ylwa yumlt(u), bi yadihi l-kbayru wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir
Ui' illiha ilIa L1ahu w~dahu Iii shaiika lah(u), anjaza wa'dah(u), wa na~ara 'abdah(u), wa hazama l-alJzaba waf.l,dah(u), Iii iliiha ilia LIahuwa Iii na'budu ilIa iyyahu mukhli§i'na lahu d-di'na wa law kariha I-kiifiriin.""
(j6.5) Supplication between Safa and Marwa: ""Rabbi ghfir wa r!Jam wa tajliwaz 'ammli ta'lamu innaka anta l-A'azzu I-Akram(u), Alliihumma Rabbana litinii fi d-dunyii ~asanatan wa fi l-akhirati ~asanatan wa qinii 'adhaba n-nar.""
(j7.3) On the way to 'Arafa: ""Allahumma ilayka tawajjaht(u), wa Ii wajhika l-karTmi aradt(u), fa j'al dhanb'i maghfiiran wa ~ajji' mabruran wa r!JamnI wa Hi tukhayyibnT.""
(j8.2, second par.) When standing at 'Arafa: ""La iliiha ilia L1iihu waJ.tdahu
Iii sharika lah(u), lahu I-mulku wa lahu l-~amdu wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadIr.""
(j9.2) When standing at al-Mash'ar al-Haram: .
Alliihumma kama awqaftana fihi wa araytanii iyyah(u), fa waffiqna Ii dhikrika kama hadaytana, wa ghfir www.islamicbulletin.com Transliteration of Dhikr and Supplications w1.58 lana wa r!;lamna: kama: wa'adtana bi qawlika wa qawluka l-baqq( u): Fa idha afa9~ tum min 'Araflitin fa dhkuru Llaha 'inda I-Mash'ari I-I:Iaram(i), wa dhkurtihu kama hadakum wa in kuntum min qablihi la min a g-qallin(a), thumma afiQu min I}aythu afaga n-nlis(u), wa staghfiru Llaha inna Llliha ghafITrun rai)im
Rabbana iitina fi d-dunya basantan wa fi l-akhirati l;1asanatan wa qina 'adhaba n-nar.""
09.8(2)) Supplication after cutting one's hair: ""Alliihu akbaru Llahu akbaru Llahu akbar(u), wa Ii LUihi 1-l}amd.""
011.3) Supplication after farewell circumambulation: ""Allahumma inna I-bayta baytuka wa I-'abda 'abduka wa bnu 'abdayk(a), ~amaltanl 'ala rna .
sakhkharta Ii min khalqika patta ~ayyartanT fibiladika wa ballaghtanibi ni'matika hatta a'antani 'ala qada'i manasikik(a), fa in kunta radita 'annT fa zdad 'annT riga(n), wa ilia fa munna I-'ana qabia an tan' a 'an baytik~ dari wa yab'uda 'anhu mazan, hadha awanu n~iriifnn adhinta If, ghayra mustabdilin bika wa labi baytika wa Iii raghibin 'anka wa hi 'an baytik(a), AHahumma fa a~-Qibniya l-'afiyata fi badanT wa 1-'i~mata fi dini wa alfsin munqaIabi wa rzuqni I-'amal bi Watika rna a.bqaytanT wa jma' Ii khayrayi d-duny1I wa l-iikhira(ti), innaka 'alii kulli shay'in qadir."" Then one blesses the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
(j13.I) Supplication when entering a mosque: ""Bismi Llahi wa l-Ifamdu Ii Llah(i), AIliihumma ~alli 'ala Sayyidina Mulfammadin wa 'alli alihi wa a~-Qabihi wa sallim
Alllihumma ftal].\i abw1Iba ra1:Jmatik.""
(j 13.2) Greeting the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): ,
Assallimu 'alayka ya Rasiila Lllih(i), as-sallimu 'alayka ya Nabiyya LUih(i), assalamu 'alayka ya Khirata Llah(i), as-saJlimu 'a\ayka ya Khayra Khalqi Llah(i) , as-sa\1Imu 'aJayka ya I;Iabiba Ll1Ih.""
MARRIAGE (m2 .17) Sunna address (khutba) before making a marriage proposal: ""AIIfamdu Ii LIah(i), wa ~-~alatu wa s-salamu 'alli rasiili LHih(i) ~aIla Ll1Ihu 'alayhi wa saIlam(a), rr~1kum bi taqwa LHih(i), ji'tukum kha~iban kaiimatakum [and here one mentions her name]."" (m2.17, second par.) Sunna address before marrying: ""Uzawwijuka
'alama amara Lllihu Ta'lila bihi min imsakin bi ma'rUf(in), aw tasiilfin bi il].san(in).""
(m3.2(a)) Words that effect a marriage: ""Zawwajtuka,"" or ""Ankal} tuka."" (m3.2(b)) The spoken acceptance: ""Tazawwajtuha,"" or ""Qabiltu niklil;laha
""
(m5.3) Supplication for the wedding night: ""Baraka Llahu Ii kullin minna It ~aQibih.""
AMULETS AND PROTECTIVE WORDS (w17.2
second par.) Supplication for fearful situations: ""A'udhu bi kalimati LUihi t-tammati min ghagabihi wa min hamaziili sh-shaya!lna an yahdurun ""
SUPPLICATING ALLAH (TAWASSUL) THROUGH THE PROPHET (ALLAH BLESSHIM AND GIVE HIM PEACE) IN THE PRAYER OF NEED (w40.3, second par.) Supplicating Allah through the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): ""Alliihumma inni' as'aluka wa atawaijahu ilayka bi nabiyyT Mu~ammad(in), Nabiyyi r-Ra/;lma(ti), ya Mu/;lammadu innT astashfa'u bika 'ala Rabblfi~aiatili tuq9a II, AII3:humma shaffi'hu fiyya."" (w40.4, second par.) Another form: ""Allahumma innlas'aluka wa atawajjahu iJayka bi nabiyyina MutIammad(in), Nabiyyi r-RaQma(ti), ya MUQammadu innratawajjahu bika iIa Rabbifa yaq9iya ~ajatl,"" and one mentions one's need.
*
(n:) Those who want to tape-record a native speaker of Arabic reciting the dhikr of this volume-an easier way to learn than using only the transliterations provided above-may wish to use the following index as a taping sequence:
(e5.5) Before ablution (wudu) (eS.18) After ablution (e9.1(S)) Before and after using the lavatory (ell.1 (1)) Before the purificatory bath (ghusl) (e12.17(1)) Before dry ablution (tayammum) (f3.6) The call to prayer (adhan) (f3.6) The call to commence (iqama) (f3.11, second par.) Replies to ""Come to the prayer"" and ""Come to success"" in the call to prayer (f3.11, second paL) Reply to ""Prayer is better than sleep"" in the call to the dawn prayer (f3.ll, third par.) Reply to ""The prayeris commencing"" in the call to commence (f3.12) After blessing the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) subsequent to the call to prayer (f8.13) The Opening Supplication of the prayer (Istiflah) (f8.16) ""I take refuge
etc:' (ta'awwudh) (f8.17) The Fatiha (f8.19) After the Fatiha (fS.30, fourth par.) The minimal dhikr when when bowing (fS.30, fifth par.) The optimal dhikr when bowing (f8.32) The minimal dhikr when straightening up (f8.32) The optimal dhikr when straightening up (f8.35(5)) Minimal dhikr when prostrating (f8.35(5), second par.) Optimal addition to this (f8.37(4)) When sitting back between prostrations (f8.45) Minimal Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) (f8.45, second par.) Optimal Testification of Faith (f8.45, fifth par.) Minimal Blessing;, on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after the Testification of Faith (f8.45, sixth par.) Optimal Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after the Testification of Faith (f8.46) Supplication after the Tcstification of Faith (f8.47) Minimal Salams to close the prayer (f8.47, second pal.) Optimal Salams to close the prayer (f8.50) Post-prayer dhikr (f8.53) Supplication (qunut) in the dawn prayer after straightening up from bowing in the second rak'a (f10.5, second par.) Addition to the above supplication (qunut) when praying witr after larawih (f10.10, second par.) Substitute for two rak'as of greeting the mosque (f10.12, third pal.) Supplication of the prayer for guidance (istikhara) (f18.9(e)) Minimal sermon (khutba) for the Friday prayer (fl9.8, last par.) The Allahu Akbars and additional dhikr of 'Eid al-Adha (f21.3, second paL) Dhikr said by the imam in drought prayer before sermon (khutba) (f21.3, fourth paL) Koranic supplication used during the drought prayer (f21.3, seventh paL) The drought prayer supplication (f21.6) Dhikrfor thunder and lightning (f21.7) Supplication against too much rain (g1.4) Supplication for Allah to heal a sick person (g4.10) Supplication after the third Allahu Akbar of the funeral prayer (g4.11) Addition said prior to the above supplication (g4.1l, second par.) Supplication said with the latter addition if the deceased is a child (g4.12) After the fourth Allahu Akbar of the funeral prayer (g4.13(f)) Minimal supplication after the third AllahuAkbar of the funeral prayer (gS .4(1) When putting the deceased in the grave (gS.6) With the first handfuls of earth in burying the dead (gS.6(2)) Supplication for the person buried (gS.8, second par.) Greeting to buried believers (g6.2(1-3)) Condolences to those who have lost next of kin (h8.4) Supplication by the zakat recipient for the giver (i1.25) Dhikr upon breaking one's fast (i3.2, last par.) Supplication for Laylat al-Qadr (j3.4) The pilgrim chant of ""Labbayk"" (j3.4, last par.) If one sees something pleasing (or offensive) while in ihram (j4.2) Supplication upon first seeing the Kaaba (j5.3)2-3)) When kissing the Black Stone (j5.5) When passing the Kaaba'$ door in circumambulation (j5.6) When passing the corner by Hijr Isma'il (j5.7) When passing the rainspout at the top ofthe Kaaba (Mizab al-Rahma) (j5.8) When between the third corner and the Yamani corner (j5.13, fourth par.) When trotting in the first three rounds of circumambulation (j5.13, fifth par.) When performing the last four rounds (j5.18, second par.) Supplication after two rak'as at the Station ofIbrahim (j6.2(2)) Dhikr at Safa (j6.5) Supplication between Safa and Marwa (j7.3) On the way to 'Arafa (j8.2, second par.) When standing at 'Arafa (j9.2) When standing at al-Mash'ar al-Haram (j9.8(2)) Supplication after cutting one's hair (j11.3) Supplication after the farcwell circumambulation (j13.1) Supplication when entering a mosque (j13.2) Greeting the Prophct (Allah bless him and give him peace) (m2.17) Address (khutba) before making a marriage proposal (m2.17, second par.) Address before marrying (m3.2(a)) Words that effect a marriage (m3.2(b)) The spoken acceptance (m5.3) Supplication for the wedding night (w17.2, second par.) Supplication for fearful situations (w40.3, second par.) Supplicating Allah (tawassul) through the Prophet *
(Ghazali:) The way that the medicines of acts of worship work, their limits and amounts being specified and determined by the prophets, cannot be comprehended by the apparatus of intellectuals' ""intelligence."" Rather, it is necessary to follow the example of the prophets, to whom these properties are perceived through prophetic light, not the apparatus of the mind.
If a philosopher denies the possibility of such properties, in the numbers of thc rak'as of the prayer, stoning the pillars at Mina, the number of hajj integrals, or any of the acts of worship in Sacred Law
he will not find any difference in principle between such properties and those of the various medicines, for example, or the stars
If he says, ""I have tested something of both astronomy and medicine, and found them to be correct, so that my heart has accepted them and I no longer think them farfetched or reject them; while I have not tried this, so how can I know it exists, or investigate it, should I acknowledge its possibility?""-I would answer, ""But you do not '\lways confine your acceptance to what you have personally tried
Rather, you accept information from others who have, and you follow them
Let us imagine a man who reaches physical and mental maturity without ever experiencing a disease, but who then falls ill
He has a coneerned father with skill in medicine, whose claims to medical knowledge he has heard as long as he can remember, and his father now compounds some medicine and says, This is appropriate for your disease and will cure it.' How much will the patient's intellect demand, even if the medicine is bitter and tastes unpleasant?
Will he take it, or will he call the doctor a liar, saying, 'I do not see the suitability of this medicine for effecting a cure, since I've never tried it.' You would doubtless consider him a fool for this
And just so do the knowledgeable who possess spiritual insight consider your reservations."" If such a person says: ""But how can I be certain of the sincerity of the Prophet's concern (Allah bless him and give him peace), and his knowledge of this medicine?"" I reply, ""How did you learn of your father's concern when it wa..<; not something physically perceptible?
You acquired incontestably certain knowledge of it by the evidence of how he has always behaved and by observing his actions, their causes and results
So too, whoever examines what the Prophet said (Allah bless him and give him peace) .and the accounts in hadiths of his concern for guiding others and his kindly way of urging them with graciousness and tact to improve their character and forget their differences - in a word, urging them to accept the only means capable of improving their religious and this-worldly concerns-whoever examines these will gain complete certainty that the Prophet's concern towards his Community was greater than a father's for his son
When one considers the wondrous deeds that appeared at his hands (Allah bless him and give him peace), the wonders of the unseen imparted by the Koran through his tongue and conveyed by prophetic hadith, when one looks at what he said about the latter days which has come tq pass.al'; he foretold;
one' gains absolute certainty that he reached the sphere which lies above and beyond the mind, and that the eye which opens onto the unseen that none but the elect know, of matters unfathomable to intellects, was opened for him (al-Munqidh min al-dalal (y41), 58, 67-69).
*
PROPHET'S MESSAGE (from al.S)
(n:) This section has been translated to clarify some possible confusions among Muslims as to Islam's place among world religions
The discussion centers on three points:
(1) Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) is the last prophet and messenger
Anyone claiming to be a prophet or messenger of Allah after him or to found a new religion is a fraud, misled and misleading.
(2) Previously revealed religions were valid in their own eras, as is attested to by many verses of the Holy Koran, but were abrogated by the universal message of Islam, as is equally attested to by many verses of the Koran
Both points are worthy of attention from English-speaking Muslims, who are occasionally exposed to erroneous theories advanced by some teachers and Koran translators affirming these religions' validity but denying or not mentioning their abrogation, or that it is unbelief (kufr) to hold that the remnant cults now bearing the names offormerly valid religions, such as ""Christianity"" or ""Judaism,"" are acceptable to Allah Most High after He has sent the final Messenger (Allah bless him give him peace) to the entire world (dis: 08.7(20)): This is a matter over which there is no disagreement among Islamic scholars, and if English-speaking Muslims at times discuss it as if there were some question about it, the only reason can be that no one has yet offered them a translation of a scholarly Koranic exegesis (tafsir) to explain the accord between the various Koranic verses, and their agreement with the sunna
The few passages translated below will hopefully be of use until this has been done.
(3) Islam is the final religion that Allah Most High will never lessen or abrogate until the Last Day
A hadith that seems to imply that ""a tenth ofIslam"" will be enough for Muslims in the latter days is discussed at the end of the section.
MUHAMMAD IS THE LAST PROPHETAND MESSENGER (ALLAH BLESSHIM AND GIVE HIM PEACE) (Ibn.Kathir:) Allah' Most High says:
""Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the Prophets
And Allah has knowledge of everything"" (Koran 33:40).
This Koranic verse is an unequivocally decisive primary text establishing that there will be no prophet after him
And since' there will be no prophet (nabi), it follows a fortiori that there will be no prophetic messenger (rasul)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
(1) ""Messengerhood and prophethood have ceased
There will be no messenger or prophet after me."" (2) ""My likeness among the prophets is as a man who, having built a house and put the finishing touches on it and made it seemly, yet left one place without a brick
When anyone entered it and saw this, he would exclaim, 'How excellent it is, but for the place ofthis brick.' Now, I am the place of that brick: through me the line of the prophets (Allah bless them and give them peace) has been brought to completion."" (3) ""I have been favored above the prophets in six things: I have been endowed with consummate succinctness of speech, made triumphant through dread, war booty has been made lawful for me, the whole earth has been made a purified place of worship for me, I have been sent to all created beings, and the succession of prophets has been completed in me."" Allah Most Blessed and Exalted has stated in His Book, as has His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) in hadiths of numerous channels of transmission (mutawatir, def:
o22.1(d(II))) that there will be no prophet after him, so that everyone may know that whoever claims this rank thereafter is a lyinl?>' pretender, misled and misleading, even if he should stage miracles and exhibit all kinds of magic, talismans, and spells (Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim (y60),
3.493-94),THE ABROGATION OFPREVIOUSLY REVEALED RELIGIONS (Imam Baghawi:) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, any person of this Community, any Jew, or any Christian who hears of me and dies without believing in what I have been sent with will be an inhabitant of hell."" This is a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith that was recorded by Muslim (Sharh alsunna (y22), 1.104-5).
(Ibn Kathir:) Allah Most High says:
""Surely those who believe, those of Jewry, the Christians, and the Sabaeans--whoever has faith in Allah and the Last Day, and works righteousness, their wage awaits them with their Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, and neither shall they sorrow"" (Koran 2:62).
Suddi states that the verse ""Surely those who believe, etc
"" was revealed about the former companions of Salman the Persian when he mentioned them to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), relating how they had been, saying, ""They used to pray, fast, and believe in you, and testify that you would be sent as a prophet."" When he had finished praising them, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) replied, ""Salman, they are the denizens of hell,."" which came to discomfit Salman greatly, and so Allah revealed this verse.
The faith of the Jews was that of whoever adhered to the Torah and the sunna of Moses (upon whom be peace) until the coming of Jesus.
When Jesus came, whoever held fast to the Torah and the sunna of Moses without giving them up and following Jesus was lost.
The faith of the Christians was that whoever adhered to the Evangel and precepts of Jesus, their faith was valid and acceptable until the coming of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Those of them who did not then follow Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) and give up the sunna of Jesus and the Evangel were lost.
The foregoing is not contradicted by the hadith relating that the verse, ""Surely those who believe, those of Jewry, the Christians, and the Sabaeans-whoever has faith in Allah and the Last Day ..
"" was followed by Allah revealing, ""Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam will never have it accepted of him, and he will be of those who have truly failed in the hereafter"" (Koran 3:85), for the hadith merely confirms that no one's way or spiritual works are acceptable unless they conform to the Sacred Law of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) now that he has been sent with it
As for people prior to this, anyone who followed the messenger of his own time was guided, on the right path; and was saved (Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim (y60), 1.103).
ISLAM IS THE FINAL RELIGION THATALLAH WILL NEVER ABROGATE UNTIL THELAST DAY (Ibn Kathir:) Allah Most High says, ""Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favor upon you, and I please that your religion be Islam"" (Koran 5:3), meaning, ""So accept it for yourselves, for it is the religion Allah loves and accepts, with which He has sent the best of noble messengers and has revealed in the most sublime of His Books."" 'Ali ibn Abi Talha relates from Ibn' Abbas that ""Today I have perfected your religion for you ...
means Islam, Allah thereby informing His prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the believers that He has perfected their faith for them, so they will never require anything more.
He has completed it and will never diminish it, is pleased with it and will never detest it (ibid.,
2.12).
(Qurtubi:) It is likely that by "" ..
I please that your religion be Islam"" (Koran 5:3), Allah means, ""I am pleased with your Islam that you follow today as a religion that will endure in its perfection until the end of time, and I will cause nothing of it to be abrogated"" (al-Jami' Ii ahkam al-Qur'an (y117) , 6.63).
(n: The following hadith has been represented by some contemporary Muslims as meaning that a tenth of Islam will be enough for Muslims in the latter days, a misunderstanding felt to merit the explanation provided by the commentary below
) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""Verily you are in a time when whoever of you abandons a tenth of what he has been commanded shall be lost
Thcre will come a time when whoever practices a tenth of what he has been commanded will find salvation."" Verily you ('Abd al-Ra'uf Munawi:) 0 Companions of the Prophet are in a time characterized by safety, and the glory of Islam when whoever of you abandons a tenth of what he has been commanded meaning of the obligation to command
the right and forbid the wrong (def: ql), for it is not permissible to interpret this utterance as applicable to all that has been commanded, it being understood that a Muslim has no excuse for neglecting things which are personally obligatory will be lost to destruction, since the religion of Islam is now strong and there are many who aid it, so that your abandoning it is a shortcoming for which no one is excused under such circumstances.
There will come a time in which Islam will weaken, tyrants multiply, corruption spread, lying pretenders grow numer· OUS, and those helping the religion grow few, so that Muslims will be excused for leaving some things out of sheer incapacity, without being guilty of remissness when whoever of the people of that time which contains trials and afflictions practices a tenth of what he has been commanded will find salvation because he is under duress, and Allah charges no soul with more than it is capable of, as He says, ""Fear Allah as much as you are able to"" (Koran 64:16).
Tirmidhi recorded this hadith, which he termed singular (gharib), while Ibn J awzi listed it in his work on hadith forgeries, mentioning that Nasa'j said it was unacknowledgeable, having been conveyed through Nu'aym ibn Hammad, an unreliable transmitter (Fayd at-Qadir sharh alJami' aZ-saghir (y91), 2.556).
ACCURSED"" (from a2.2(8)) *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""This world and all it contains are accursed, except for the remembrance of Allah Most High, that which He loves, someone with Sacred Knowledge, or someone learning it."" This world and all it contains are accursed (Muhammad Ibn 'Allan Bakri:) meaning remote from Allah, except for the remembrance of Allah Most High,
that which He loves, someone with Sacred Knowledge, or someone learning it.
Acts of obedience are not of this world, nor are the purified ones, of the prophets and friends of Allah (awliya', def: w33)
The agreement between the primary texts that condemn this world and those that praise it lies in understanding the former as referring to what distances one from Allah Most High, while the latter refer to what brings one closer to Him (Dalil al-falihin Ii turuq Riyad al-salihin (y25), 7.197).
*
(Ghazali:) Those who are profligate in disregarding the literal meaning of texts go so far as to alter most or all scriptural evidences and proofs, metaphorically interpreting even the words of Allah Most High, ""Their hands shall speak to us and their feet shall testify"" (Koran 36:65), and, ""They will say to their skins, 'Why have you testified against us,' and they will reply, 'Allah has made us speak, as He has made all to speak' "" (Koran 41:21), likewise explaining away the questions of Munkar and Nakir (def: v2.2), the scale (v2.3), the bridge over hell (v2.4) , the final reckoning (v2.6), and the words of the people of hell to the people of paradise, ""Pour water upon us, or of that which Allah has provided you"" (Koran 7:50), claiming that all this is ""what their state would say if it could speak.""
Others have gone to the opposite extreme of barring all figurative interpretation, among them Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Allah be well pleased with him), who even forbade metaphorical interpretation of Allah's words, ., 'Be!' and it is"" (Koran 36:82), some of his school claiming that this is an actual utterance of articulated letters and a voice, proceeding from Allah Most High at every moment, commensurate in number with every existent being
I have heard some members of his school say that he forbade metaphorical interpretation of all but three expressions, namely the Prophet's having said (Allah bless him and give him peace):
(1) ""The Black Stone is the right hand of Allah in His earth"" ;
(2) ""The heart of the believer is between two of the fingers ofthe All-merciful"";
and, (3) ""Verily, I find the breath of the Allmerciful from the direction of Yemen
"" Literalists have shown an inclination towards prohibiting all figurative interpretation, while what one should believe of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Allah be well pleased with him) is that he knew that Allah's 'establishment on the Throne' did not consist of being at rest, any more than His 'coming down' consisted of physical motion, but rather he forbade figurative interpretation in order to close the discussion in the interests of the people, for once the door is opened, the rift widens and the matter gets out of control, exceeding the bounds of moderation
And since what is beyond the moderate is without limits, there is no harm in sternly warning against figurative interpretation, a position that is attested to by the behavior of the early Muslims
who used to say, ""Accept such things as they have come,"" When asked about Allah's 'establishment on the Throne', Imam Malik (Allah have mercy on him) said ..
'Establishment' is known, the how of it is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and questions about it are
reprehensible innovation (bid'a).""
Another group of scholars have taken a moderate position, admitting figurative interpretation of all matters connected with the attributes of Allah Most Glorious (n: i.e
by explaining anthropomorphic words in a way befitting the divine attributes (def: vI), interpreting His 'hand', for example, as an allusion to His omnipotence), while leaving all matters connected with the afterlife to their outward literal purport, prohibiting any metaphorical interpretation of them.
These are the Ash'aris (dis: w57),
The Mu'tazilites (N: a philosophical school that subjected the fundamentals of Islam to rationalistic theories) went further, metaphorically explaining the inhabitants
of paradise's seeing of Allah Most High (v1.3, end), His hearing, His sight, and the nocturnal ascent (mi'raj) of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
claiming that it was not in the body
They also explained away the torment of the grave, the scale, the bridge over hell, and a number of the matters of the afterlife, though they acknowledged the bodily resurrection and judgement, the reality of paradise with the physical pleasures its inhabitants will enjoy of foods, scents, and lovemaking; and the reality of the hellfire as something that incinerates skin and melts fat.
The philosophers went even further than the extremes reached by the Mu'tazilites, explaining everything that has reached us about the afterlife as being metaphorical, reducing it to intellectual or spiritual states of pain and mental enjoyments, denying the bodily resurrection and judgement, saying that souls subsist forever and will be punished or rewarded with torment and pleasure undetectable by the senses
It is these who are the r(lal profligates.
The way of moderation between all this dissolution on the one hand, and the rigidity of the Hanbalis on the other, is a very fine line and difficult'to perceive, one which few people know except the successful
(n: Sections vl-v2 describe Ghazali's ""way of moderation"" in detail.) (Ihya' 'ulum ai-din (y39), 1.92)
GOD"" (ITTIHAD) (from a4.3) *
(Ghazali:) The concept of divine indwelling (n: e.g
""God incarnate"" in a human being) may mean one of only two things:
(1) The first is the relation between an object and the place it occupies, which can only exist between two spatially extended things, and is clearly impossible for the One who is beyond all corporeality (dis: v1.3).
(2) The second is the relation between a substance and accident, for an accident exists by means ofa substance (n: the accident of 'redness', for example, being incapable of subsisting independently of particular red things), a relation which can be expressed as its subsisting through the substance
But this is impossible for anything that is already self-subsistent, and one cannot mention Allah Most High in such a connection, for it is impossible that something self-subsistent should subsist through another self-subsistent;
there remaining only the mode of corporeal bodies physically adjacent, where 'indwelling' cannot even be conceived between two servants, let alone between the servant and the Lord Most High.
""UNION WITH GOD"" (ITTIHAD) ""Union with God"" is even more patently false, since saying ""The slave has become the Lord"" is self-contradictory, it befitting the Lord Most Glorious to be held above speaking absurdities of Him, while it can be categorically affirmed that any statement claiming that bne thing has become another concurrently existing thing is impossible, for if the existence of both Zayd and 'Amr, for example, is acknowledged, and someone asserts that Zayd has become 'Amr and united with him, then this unification must entail one of four things, beyond which there is no other possibility:
(1) that both exist;
(2) that neither exists;
(3) that Zayd exists but 'Amr does not;
(4) or that' Amr exists but Zayd does not.
Now if both exist, neither has become the other, but rather each exists
At the very most, they might occupy the same locus, which does not necessarily entail unification, since qualities such as knowledge, will, and power, for example, might exist together in one individual without each requiring a separate locus, while it is plain that power is not knowledge or will, and they have not ""unified."" If neither exists «2) above), they have not unified but have both ceased to exist, with the result perhaps of a third thing.
And if one of them exists but the other does not, then they cannot have unified, for an existent thing cannot ""be one"" with a nonexistent thing.
So union between two concurrent things is absolutely impossible, even if they are alike, let alone if they are different.
""UNION"" IN POETIC LICENSE Whenever union is mentioned and it is said that ""heis him, "" it is only by way of figurative extension and poetic license, conformable with the usage of Sufis and poets
who employ metaphorical means to enhance their words' effect upon listeners' understanding, as when a poet says, HI am my beloved and my beloved is me,"" which is a metaphor on the part of the poet, who does not mean that in fact he is him, but only that it is as though he were him
for his concern is now wholly absorbed in him, just as his concern was absorbed in himself, and so he expresses this condition as union, by way of poetic license
And this is how one should interpret the words of Abu Yazid, ""I sloughed off my ego as a snake sheds its skin, and looked, and I was Him,"" meaning that whoever sloughs off the desires, caprices, and concerns of their ego no longer has any capacity or concern save for Allah Most High, and when nothing enters a servant's heart besides the Majesty and Beauty of Allah and he becomes wholly immersed therein, he is ""as though he were Him,"" not that he actually is Him
There is a difference between saying ""as though he were him"" and saying ""he is him,"" though ""as though he were him"" may be expressed by saying ""he is him,"" just as poets sometimes say, ""It is as though I were my beloved,"" and at other times, ""I am my beloved
"" And this can occasion a misstep, for someone without a firm footing in rational knowledge might not distinguish between one sense and the other, and looking at his own perfection, embellished with the dazzling raiment of the Truth, think that he is Him, saying, ""I am the Truth,"" while he has made the mistake of the Christians who saw this in the person of Jesus (on whom be peace) and said that he was the Divinity
For that matter, the person errors who looks in a mirror reflecting a colored image and thinks it is the image of the mirror and the color is the color of the mirror, while this can never be, for the mirror is colorless in itself, and its nature is to reflect colored images in a way that makes those observing mere appearances think they are the appearance of the mirror itself, just as a child, when he sees someone in a mirror, may think the person is actually in the mirror
So too, the heart in itself is without form or configuration, and its own structure is merely to conform to intellectual impressions of figures, forms and realities, such that whatever enters it is as if in union with it, not that it is in actual fact truly united with it
When someone who does not know of glasses or wine sees a glass of wine, he may not realize the difference between them, and will sometimes say there is no wine, and sometimes that there is no glass.
The words ""I am the Truth"" either mean the same as the poet's saying HI am my beloved and my beloved is me,"" or else the speaker has made the same mistake as the Christians in believing in the union of divinity and humanity
If it is true he actually said it, Abu Yazid's utterance, ""Glory be to me, how great is my state"" either passed his lips by way of quoting Allah Most High, just as, if he had heard and repeated, ""There is no god but Me, so worship Me"" (Koran 20:14), it would be interpreted as a quote--or else he was attesting to the fullness of the share of inner purity he beheld within himself, and spoke of the purity of his soul by saying ""Glory be to me,"" seeing the greatness of his state in relation to the state of most of humanity, and saying, ""How great is my state,"" while knowing his purit}' and the magnitude of his state were in comparison to other people, not the sacred purity of the Lord Most High or His greatness, this utterance passing his lips while in a state of spiritual intoxication and being overcome by a state, since the return to sobriety obliges one to hold one '8 tongue from words that mislead, and while intoxicated perhaps he was unable to do this
If one goes beyond both these two interpretations to actual ""union with God,"" it is manifestly absurd, and one should not so esteem people's rank that one aceepts the absurd
One should know men by their having spoken the truth, not that it is the truth by eertain men having spoken it (al-Maqsad al-asna sharh asma' Allah al-husna (y40) , 146-50).
(n:) Among the disservices done to Islam by some Western scholars is their tireless insistence that the Sufi term wusul (""to arrive"") be translated as if it meant ittihad (""to unify"") with the result that their translations of Sufi works are filled with talk of ""union with God,"" a rendering that has come to be traditional and authoritative among them, while it is a fallacious conception that the masters of Sufism from every age have taken pains to dissociate themselves, their method, and their students from
So it is perhaps fitting to conclude this section with two of the aphorisms of the great Shadhili master Ibn 'Ata' Illah, who said:
""Your reaching Allah is your reaching the knowledge of Him, for other than that, Our Lord is too exalted for anything to be joined with Him or for Him to be joined with anything"";
and said, ""The affirmation of electhood does not necessitate a negation of the fact of being human.
Election is merely like the rise of the daylight's sun: it appears on the horizon without being part of it
Sometimes He takes it from you and returns you to your own bounds
For daylight is not from you to yourself
It comes over you."" (al-Hikam al-'Ata'iyya wa al-munajat al-ilahiyya (y56), 59, 66, aphorisms 213 and 249)
(Muhammad Hamid:) What is obligatory for a human being to know is that Allah the Creator, glory be to Him, is absolutely free of need (ai-Ghani) of anything He has created, and free of need for the heavens or the earth
He is transcendently beyond ""being in .the sky"" or ""being on earth'"" in the manner that things are in things, created beings in created beings, or things in circumstances are encompassed by their circumstances, for it is He who ""There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, and He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing"" (Koran 42:11), and, ""He did not give birth, nor was He born, and there is none who is His equal"" (Koran 112:3-4).
Aside from all the proofs from the Koran and sunn'l, the rational evidence is decisive that Allah Most High is absolutely beyond any resemblance to created things, in His entity, attributes, and acts
The noble Koranic verse, ""He is Allah in the heavens and the earth; He knows your secrets and what you reveal, and knows what you are earning"" (Koran 6:3), means that He Most Glorious is the one who is rightfully worshipped in both the heavens and earth, who alone possesses the attribute of divinity in both; and the inhabitants of the heavens know He is the True God, just as the inhabitants of the earth know it, and the former worship him just as the latter do (Rudud 'ala abatil wa rasa'il alShaykh Muhammad ai-Hamid (y44) , 2.20-21).
(Qurtubi:) Allah Most High says, ""Do you feel secure that He who is in the heavens will not make the earth swallow you while it quakes?"" (Koran 67:16), which may mean, '""Do you feel secure that He who is the Creator of whomever is in the heavens will not make the earth swallow you, as He did Korah?"" The more exacting hold that it (n: i.e
in the heavens) signifies, ""Do you feel secure from Him who is over the heavens,"" just as Allah says, ""Journey in the earth"" (Koran 9:2), meaning over it; not over it by way of physical contact or spatialization
but by way of omnipotent power and control
Another position is that it means, ""Do you feel secure from Him who is over ('ala) the heavens,"" i.e
just as it is said, ""So-andso is over Iraq and the Hijaz,"" meaning that he is the governor and commander of them
The hadiths on this subject are numerous, rigorously authenticated (sahih), and widely known, and indicate the exaltedness of Allah, being undeniable by anyone save an atheist or obstinate ignoramus
Their meaning is to dignify Allah and exalt Him above what is base and low, to characterize Him by exaltedness and grandeur, not by being in places, particular directions, or within limits, for these are the qualities of physical bodies
The hands are only raised skyward when one supplicates because the sky is from whence divine revelation descends and rains fall, the place of purity and the wellspring of the purified ones of the angels, and that servants' works are raised toit and over it are the Throne and His paradise-just as Allah has made the Kaaba the direction of supplication and the prayer
He created all places and has no need of them
He was without space or time in His beginningless eternality before creating space and time, and is now as He ever has been (al-Jami' Ii ahkamal-Qur'an (y1l7), 18.216).
*
(Muhammad Amin Kurdi:) Sufism is a knowledge through which one knows the states of the human soul, praiseworthy or blameworthy, how to purify it from the blameworthy and ennoble it by acquiring the praiseworthy, and to journey and proceed to Allah Most High, fleeing unto Him
Its fruits are the heart's development, knowledge of God through direct experience and ecstasy, salvation in the next world, triumph through gaining Allah's pleasure, the attainment of eternal happiness, and illuminating and purifying the heart so that noble matters disclose themselves, extraordinary states are revealed, and one perceives what the insight of others is blind to (Tanwir al-qulub fi mu'amala 'Allam al-Ghuyub (y74),406).
(Nawawi:) The way of Sufism is based on five principles: having godfearingness privately and publicly, living according to the sunna in word and deed, indifference to whether others accept or reject one, satisfaction with Allah Most High in dearth and plenty, and returning to Allah in happiness or affliction
The principles of treating the illnesses of the soul are also five: lightening the stomach by diminishing one's food and drink, taking refuge in Allah Most High from the unforeseen when it befalls, shunning situations involving what one fears to fall victim to, continually asking for Allah's forgiveness and His blessings upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) night and day with full presence of mind,
and keeping the company of him who guides one to Allah (al-Maqasid/i bayan ma yajibu ma'rifatuhu min aI-din (yl06), 83-84, 87).
(Ahmad Zarruq:) Aspects of Sufism, defined, delineated, and explained, amount to nearly two thousand, all ofthem reducible to sincerity in turning to Allah Most High, something of which they are only facets, and Allah knows best.
The necessary condition of sincerity of approach is that it be what the Truth Most High accepts, and by the means He accepts
Now, something lacking its necessary condition cannot exist, ""And He does not accept unbelief for His servants"" (Koran 39:7), so one must realize true faith (iman), ""and if you show gratitude, He will accept it of you"" (Koran 39:7), which entails applying Islam
So there is no Sufism except through comprehension of Sacred Law, for the outward rules of Allah Most High are not known save through it, and there is no comprehension of Sacred Law without Sufism, for works are nothing without sincerity of approach, as expressed by the words of Imam Malik (Allah have mercy on him):
""He who practices Sufism without learning Sacred Law corrupts his faith, while he who learns Sacred Law without practicing Sufism corrupts himself
Only he who combines the two proves true."" (Jqaz al-himam fi sharh al-Hikam (y54), 5-6)
(n:) As for the meaning of proving true, its sheikhs say that Sufism is not a fixity on a particular type of worship, but rather the attachment of the heart to Allah Most High, mere honesty therein demanding that whenever something is preferred by the standards ofthe Sacred Law for someone in one's circumstances, one does it
This is why we find that Sufis have served Islam in a wide variety of capacities
Many of the scholars cited throughout the present volume, for example, also had the higher education of Sufism, among them Imam Muhammad Amin Ibn 'Abidin, Sheikh aHslam Zakariyya Ansari, Muhammad Abul Mawahib, Sheikh Ibrahim Bajuri, Muhammad Sa'id Burhani, 'Abd al-Wakil Durubi, Imam Ghazali, Muhammad Hamid, Imam Abu Hanifa, Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi, Imam Ibn Hajar Haytami, Ibn 'Ajiba, Ibn 'Ata' lilah, Imam 'Izz ibn· 'Abd ai-Salam, the author of our basic text Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Muhammad 'Abdullah Jurdani, Muhammad Amin Kurdi, Imam Malik, 'Abd alRa'uf Munawi, Zayn ai-Din Mallibari, Yusuf Nabahani, 'Abd al-Ghani Nabulsi, Khalil Nahlawi, Imam Nawawi, 'Abd al-Wahhab Sha'rani, Imam Taqi aI-Din Subki, Jalal ai-Din Suyuti, Hakim Tirmidhi, and others.
Among the Sufis who aided Islam with sword as well as pen, according to B.G
Martin's Muslim Brotherhoods in Nineteenth Century Africa (y86), are such men as the Naqshbandi sheikh Shamil Daghestani, who fought a prolonged war against the Russians in the Caucasus in the nineteenth century; Sayyid Muhammad' Abdullah ai-Somali, a sheikh of the Salihiyya order who led Muslims against the British and Italians in Somalia from 1899 to 1920; the Qadiri sheikh 'Uthman ibn Fodi, who led jihad in Northern Nigeria from 1804 to 1808 to establish Islamic rule; the Qadiri sheikh 'Abd ai-Qadir al-Jaza'iri, who led the Algerians against the French from 1832 to 1847; the Darqawi faqir ai-Hajj Muhammad al-Ahrash, who fought the French in Egypt in 1799; the Tijani sheikh aI-Hajj 'Umar Tal, who led Islamic jihad in Guinea, Senegal, and Mali from 1852 to 1864; and the Qadiri sheikh Ma' al-' A ynayn al-Qalq ami, who helped marshal Muslim resistance to the French in northern Mauritania and southern Morocco from 1905 to 1909.
Among the Sufis whose missionary work Islamized entire regions are such men as the founder of the Sanusiyya order, Muhammad' Ali Sanusi, whose efforts and jihad from 1807 to 1859 consolidated Islam as the religion of peoples from the Libyan Desert to sub-Saharan Africa; the Shadhili sheikh Muhammad Ma'ruf and Qadiri sheikh Uways al-Barawi, whose efforts spread Islam westward and inland from the East African Coast; and the hundreds of anonymous Naqshbandi sheikhs who taught and preserved Islam among the peoples of what is now the southern Soviet Union and who still serve the religion there despite official pressure.
It is plain from the example of these and similar men that the attachment of the heart to Allah, which is the main emphasis of Sufism, does not hinder spiritual works of any kind, but may rather provide a real basis for them
And Allah alone gives success.
('Abd al-Wahhab Sha'rani:) The path of the Sufis is built of the Koran and sunna, and is based upon living according to the morals of the prophets and purified ones
It may not be blamed unless it violates an explicit statement from the Koran, sunna, or scholarly consensus (def: b7), exclusively
If it does not contravene one of these, the very most that one may say of it is that it is an understanding a Muslim man has been given, so let whoever wishes act upon it, and whoever does not refrain, this being as true of works as of understanding.
So no pretext remains for condemning it except one's own low opinion of others (dis:
r2.14), or interpreting what they do as ostentation, which is unlawful.
Whoever carefully examines the branches of knowledge of the Folk of Allah Most High will find that none of them are beyond the pale of the Sacred Law
How should they lie beyond the pale of the Sacred Law when it is the law that connects the Sufis to Allah at every moment?
Rather, the reason for the doubts of someone unfamiliar with the way of the Sufis that it is of the very essence of the Sacred Law is the fact that such a person has not thoroughly mastered the knowledge of the law
This is why Junayd (Allah Most High have mercy on him) said, ""This knowledge of ours is built of the Koran and sunna,"" in reply to those of his time or any other who imagine that it is beyond the pale of the Koran and sunna.
The Folk unanimously concur that none is fit to teach in the path of Allah Mighty and Majestic save someone with comprehensive mastery of the Sacred Law, who knows its explicit and implicit rulings, which of them are of general applicability and which are particular, which supersede others and which are superseded
He must also have a thorough grounding in Arabic, be familiar with its figurative modes and similes, and so forth
So every true Sufi is a scholar is Sacred Law, though the reverse is not necessarily true.
To summarize, no one denies the states of the Sufis except someone ignorant of the way they are
Qushayri says, ""No era of the Islamic period has had a true sheikh of this group, save that the Imams of the scholars of that time deferred to him, showed humility towards him, and visited him for the benefit of his spiritual grace (baraka).
If the Folk had no superiority or election, the matter would have been the other way around"" (alTabaqat al-kubra al-musamma bi Lawaqih alanwar fi tabaqat al-akhyar (y124), 1.4).
*
SUFI SHEIKHS (Ahmad Zarruq:) The conditions of a sheikh to whom a disciple may entrust himself are five:
(a) sound religious knowledge;
(b) true experience of the Divine;
(c) exalted purpose and will;
(d) a praiseworthy nature;
(e) and penetrating insight.
Someone with all five of the following is not fit to be a sheikh:
(1) ignorance of the religion;
(2) disparaging the honor of the Muslims;
(3) involvement in what does not concern him;
(4) following caprice in everything;
(5) and showing bad character without a second thought.
If there is no sheikh who is a true guide (murshid, def: w9.7), or there is one, but he lacks one ofthe five conditions, then the disciple should rely on those of his qualities that are perfected in him, and deal with him as a brother (A: meaning the sheikh and disciple advise one another) regarding the rest (Kitab qawanin hukm al-ishraq ita kaffa al-Sufiyya fi jami' al-afaq (y121), 119).
THE PURPOSE OF TAKINGA SHEIKH AND A PATH (Muhammad Hashimi:) As for when the path is merely ""for the blessing of it"" and the sheikh lacks some of the conditions of a true guide, or when the disciple is seeking several different aims from it at once, or the disciple's intention is contrary to the spiritual will of the :>heikh, or the time required is unduly prolonged, or he is separated from his sheikh by the latter's death or the exigencies of the times and has not yet completed his journey to Allah on the path or attained his goal from it-then it is obligatory for him to go and associate with someone who can complete his journey for him and convey him to what he seeks from the path, as it is not permissible for him to remain bound to the first sheikh his whole life if it is only to die in ignorance of his Lord, claiming that this is the purpose of the path
By no means is this the purpose
The purpose of the path is to reach the goal, and a path that does not reach it is a means without an end.
The path was made for travel on it with the intention of reaching one's goal, not for remaining and residing in even if this leads to dying in ignorance of one's Lord
The meaning of a true disciple is one who forthrightly submits himself to a living sheikh who is a guide (murshid) during the days of his journey to Allah Most High so that the sheikh may put him through the stages of the journey until he can say to him, ""Here you are, and here is your Lord"" (ai-Hall al-sadid Ii ma astashkalahu almurid (y46), 7).
(n:) Muhammad Hashimi's above words about submitting oneself to a living sheikh refer to matters within the range of the permissible or recommended, not what contradicts the Sacred Law or beliefs of Islam (def: vl-v2), for no true sheikh would ever countenance such a contravention (dis: s4.7), let alone have a disciple do so, a fact that furnishes the subject of the remaining articles of this section.
('Izz ibn 'Abd ai-Salam:) The Sacred Law is the scale upon which men are weighed and profit is distinguished from loss
He who weighs heavi1yon the scales of the Sacred Law is of the friends (awliya') of Allah, among whom there is disparity of degree
And he who comes up short in the scales of the Sacred Law is of the people of ruin, among whom there is also disparity of degree
If one sees someone who can fly through the air, walk on water, or inform one of the unseen, but who contravenes the Sacred Law by committing an unlawful act without an extenuating circumstance that legally excuses it, or who neglects an obligatory act without lawful reason, one may know that such a person is a devil Allah has placed there as a temptation to the ignorant
Nor is it farfetched that such a person should be one of the means by which Allah chooses to lead men astray, for the Antichrist will bring the dead to life and make the living die, all as a temptation and affliction to those who would be misled (ai-Imam al' Izz ibn 'Abd ai-Salam wa atharuhu fi al-fiqh alIslami (y38) , 1.137).
THE STORY OF KHIDRAND MOSES (A:) There is sometimes discussion as to whether the story of Khidr and Moses (Koran 18:65-82) does not show that exceptions to Islamic Law are possible.
In fact, the verses give no grounds for such an inference, for two reasons.
The first is that the context of the story is the age of Moses, not the age of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), whose Sacred Law is distinguished above that of any of the previous prophets by being final and inabrogable (dis:
w4.2-7)
The second reason is that Khidr, as the vast majority of scholars affirm, was himself a prophet and his actions were given to him to perform by divine revelation (wahy), this invalidating any comparison between Khidr's exceptionality to the law of Moses and that of any individual born in our own times, for there is no prophet born after the time of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace).
It might be wondered why Allah Most High mentions the story of Khidr and Moses in the Koran at all, if the exceptionality of Khidr was restricted to the time of Moses
The answer is that there is much wisdom in the story, such as that some particular excellence not found in the superior of two things or people may well be found in the inferior of them, for Moses was a prophetic messenger (rasul) while Khidr was only a prophet (nabi); that there are secrets given to certain of Allah's servants which not everyone in the Community (Urn rna) is responsible to know; that one should learn wisdom wherever one can; and that no matter how much one knows, one should not claim to have knowledge
And Allah knows best.
SUflSM AND ORTHODOXY
(' Abd al-Qahir Baghdadi:) The book Tarikh al-Sufiyya [The history of the Sufis] by Abu 'Abd ai-Rahman Sulami, comprises the biographies of nearly a thousand sheikhs of the Sufis, none of whom belonged to heretical sects and all of whom were of the Sunni community, with the exception of only three of them: Abu Hilman of Damascus, who pretended to be of the Sufis but actually believed in incarnationism (hulul, def:
w7.1); Husayn ibn Mansur al-HaUaj, whose case remains problematic, though Ibn ' Ata', Ibn Khafif, and Abul Qasim al-Nasrabadhi approved of him; and al-Qannad, whom the Sufis accused of being a MU'tazilite (def: w6.4) and rejected, for the good does not accept the wicked (Usul ai-din (y23),315-16).
(n:) Anyone who has made a serious study of ""philosophy"" must acknowledge that the term has been applied to a great many widely varying procedures and styles of thought throughout its long history, and that there is little substantial agreement among philosophers as to what philosophy is or should be
What Nawawi and other Islamic scholars seem to have in mind when they speak of the unlawful character of philosophy is not the efforts at a logical critique of the methodology of the sciences which have been seen particularly in this century, but rather cosmological theories and all-too-human attempts to solve ultimate questions about man, God, life after death, and so forth, without the divinely revealed guidance of the Koran and sunna: Any opinion that contradicts a well-known tenet of Islamic belief that there is scholarly consensus upon (ijma', def: b7) is unbelief (kufr), and is unlawful to learn or teach, except by way of explaining that it is unlawful
And Allah knows best.
*
(N:) The unlawfulness of the ""sciences of the materialists"" refers to the conviction of materialists that things in themselves or by their own nature have a causal influence independent of the will of Allah
To believe this is unbelief (dis:o8.7(17)) that puts one beyond the pale of Islam
Muslims working in the sciences must remember that they are dealing with figurative causes (asbab majaziyya), not real ones, for Allah alone is the real cause.
(Salih Mu'adhdhin:) To clarify the reason for scholarly disagreement within one legal school, we may say that scholars divide each school into various levels, the most important of which (N: after the Imam) may be characterized as follows:
(I) the first level, composed of those qualified to do ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) within the school, deploying it according to the general methodological principles established by their Imams, and who transmit the words of the Imam, such scholars being called colleagues, including men like Muzani;
(2) the second level, composed of those qualified to do ijtihad on particular legal questions that were not discussed by the Imam of the school, including such
scholars as Imam Ghazali;
(3) the third level, composed of those qualified to do textual exegesis, and who because of their comprehensive mastery of the works of the school, specialize in interpreting the positions of their Imams that require details and explanation to be properly understood, and in specifying the precise meaning of rulings which might otherwise be understood equivocally; including such scholars as the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries, Juwayni;
(4) and the fourth level, which is composed of those qualified to weigh various scholarly positions and judge which is the soundest, evaluating their Imams' positIons in terms ofthe reliability of the narrators of the channels of transmission of the opinion from the Imam, or in terms of the understanding shown in treating particular legal questions; and who may then say which is the stronger or more suitable position; this level including such men as the Two Sheikhs, Rafi'i and Nawawi.
It is apparent from the foregoing that scholarly differences may occur at each of the levels: in the deductions of the colleagues and their ijtihad within the general methodological principles of the school, in judging one position of the Imam of the school to be sounder than another of his positions, or in judging one position's channel of transmission to be sounder than another's; all of which take place according to the evidence available to the particular scholar and his understanding of the Imam's words (,Umdat al-salik (y90) , 18).
IT fS OBLIGATORY TO JUDGE ACCORDING
TO THE STRONGEST POSITION IN A SCHOOL (Zayn aI-Din Mallibari:) AI-'Iraqi and Ibn Salah have recorded scholarly consensus (def: b 7) that it is not permissible to judge' by other than the strongest legal position in a school, as Subki has explicitly stated at length in several places in his Fatawi, considering it to be ""judging by other than what Allah has revealed,"" since Allah Most High has made it obligatory for mujtahids (def:
022.1(d)) to adopt the position for which the evidence is strongest, and has made it obligatory for non-mujtahids to follow the ijtihad of mujtahids in all works that are personally obligatory (dis:
b2.1).
THE STRONGEST POSITIONIN THE SHAFI'I SCHOOL lalal Bulqini relates from his father (A:
Siraj ai-Din) that ""the soundest position in the [A:
Shafi'i] school for court rulings and formal legal opinions (fatwa) [n: in order of which must be accepted first when available] is what Nawawi and Rafi'i agree upon; then Nawawi's position; then Rafi'i's; then what has been judged strongest by the majority of scholars; then by the most knowledgeable;
then by the most godfearing."" Our sheikh (A: Ibn Hajar Haytami) states that this is what has been agreed upon by the most exacting of the later scholars, and is the position our sheikhs have enjoined us to rely on (Kitab fath al-Mu'in bi sharh Qurra al.'ayn bi muhimmat ai-din (y85), 348).
w13_0 SLAVERY IN ISLAM (from c3.4) (see also k32) * w13.1 (Titus Burckhardt:) Slavery within Islamic culture is not to be confused with Roman slavery or with the American variety of the nineteenth century; in Islam the slave was never a mere ""thing."" If his master treated him badly, he could appeal to a judge and procure his freedom
His dignity as a Muslim was inviolable
Originally the status of slave was simply the outcome of having been taken as a prisoner of war
A captive who could not buy his own freedom by means of ransom remained in the possession of the captor until he had earned his freedom by work or until he was granted liberty by his master (Moorish Culture in Spain (y32) , 30).
*
IN LEGAL RULINGS (from c6.4, end)
(Ibn Hajar Haytami:) There are a number of states one may have in following the legal position of an Imam other than one's own, among them:
(1) to believe that the other Imam's position on the particular question is stronger, in which case it is permissible to follow him in deference to what one believes to be the sounder position;
(2) to believe that the position of one's own Imam is stronger, or not to know which Imam has the stronger position on the question, in both of which cases it is permissible to follow the position of the other Imam whether or not one thereby intends to take the way that is religiously more precautionary (dis: c6.5), in which case it is not offensive, though if it is a mere stratagem that is not intended as such (N: i.e.notintendedas being religiously more precautionary) it is offensive;
(3) to intend by following the other Imam to take a dispensation when there is a need for it (N:
such as a Shafi'i circumambulating the Kaaba at a crowded hajj (dis: j5.16(b)) who follows the position of Abu Hanifa that touching a woman does not nullify one's ablution), in which case it is permissible to follow the other Imam, unless one believes both that the position of one's own Imam is stronger, and that it is obligatory to follow the more knowledgeable of the two;
(4) to intend merely following the easier way of taking a dispensation when (N: neither (2) nor (3) above is the case , and) one does not believe that it is the stronger position, in which case following it is not permissible, as Subki says, ""because one is then merely pursuing one's own caprice, and it is not for the sake of religion"";
(5) to do this frequently, so as to become one of those who seek out dispensations (dis: c6.4), taking the easiest ruling from every school, which is also forbidden, as it connotes a dissolution of the limits of legal responsibility;
(6) to assemble by such a procedure a single composite act that is unacceptable by the consensus of scholars (def: b7), which is impermissible, such as when a Shafi'i follows Imam Malik in considering dogs to be physically pure, but only wipes part of his head when performing ablution (wqdu), for in such a case his prayeris not considered valid by Malik, because he has not wiped his whole head, nor yet by Shafi'i, because of the physical impurity of dogs (N: though it is unobjectionable to piece together such a composite act by way of following the scholarly evidences supporting each part, if one is qualified to appreciate them (def: 022.1 (d)), since then one has become a mujtahid on the question);
(7) or to follow one's original Imam in doing an act whose consequences are stilI in effect when onesubsequentIy intends to follow another Imam, despite the continued existence of the first act's consequences; such as a Hanafi who, by right of being a neighbor, acquires a piece of land by preempting a neighbor's sale of it to another (shuf' a , def: k21) (N: since one of the purposes that permit preemption in the Hanafi school is to prevent property adjacent to one's own from being acquired by an objectionable neighbor (n:
though the Shafi'i school does not allow preemption for such a reason (dis: k21.0(N:))))-but when a second neighbor for the same reason preempts the Hanafi's taking possession of the land, the Hanafi refuses to allow the second preemption on the pretext that he now follows the Shafi'i school on the question, which is not permissible because it confirms that he is mistaken, either by following the first opinion or by following the second, while he is but a single responsible individual.
(al-Fatawa al-hadithiyya (y48), 113-14) *
(n:) The metric equivalents of the Islamic weights and measures mentioned in the present work are as follows:
1 mithqal 4.235 grams 1 dinar 1 mithqal = 4.235 grams 1 dirham = 2.9645 grams 1 rit!
381.15 grams 1 mudd = 0.51 liters 1 sa' = 2.03 liters 5 awsuq 609.84 kilograms Qullatayn 216 liters 1 dh ira , 48 centimeters The distance permitting shortening prayers = 81 km.!
50 mi.
HOW THE EQUIVALENTS WERE ARRIVED AT The weight of the classic Islamic gold dinar, one mithqal, is the basis for virtually all the other weights and measures mentioned above
The present volume's estimate of this all-important criterion is based on numismatic studies of ancient glass disc mithqal-weights, most of them dating back to A.H
164/A.D
780, which were originally produced as the standard to gauge the weight of the Islamic dinar, the difference in the weight of all such discs discovered up to the present time not exceeding a third of a milligram
Particularly impressive for accuracy is a study by P
Casanova, who conducted weight tests of several hundred intact specimens of such glass discs, each 18 mithqals, and found them to wcigh 76.23 grams, from which one may infer a mithqal value of 4.235 grams, a result that is especially reliable because it is not possible for the error factor therein to exceed 1118 per mithqal (al-Makayil wa al-awzan al-Islamiyya (y50), 9-10)
This study furnished the estimate used by the present volume.
The weight of the dirham is 7/10 of the weight of the mithqal (Mughni aImuhtaj i/a rna'rifa ma'ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 1.389), or 2.9645 grams.
The weight of the rit!
has been estimated by Nawawi as 128 and 417 dirhams (Fayd al-Ilah ai-Malik (y27) , 1.15), equalling 128.5714285 dirhams, or 381.15 grams.
The mudd is a volume measure that in the Arabic of e5.25 is estimated in terms of a weight, 1 1/3 rit!, the weight of water being understood to furnish the basis for conversion to volume, just as it is at e1.ll, where qullatayn is defined in terms of both
One and one-third rill is 508.1999 grams, giving us a mudd of 0.5081999 liters, rounded off to 0.51 liters in the translation.
The sa' is 5 1/3 ritls (dis: AI
e5.25) orfour mudds, equalling 2.0327996 liters, rounded off to 2.03 liters in the translation.
Five awsuq amounts to 1600 ritls (dis: Ar
h3.4), considered as a weight (fayd al-Ilah ai-Malik (y27), 1.248), equalling 609.84 kilograms.
Qullatayn is estimated at el.11 as about 500 rills (190.575 liters), or 1 114 dhira', (lit
cubit, meaning the Shafi'i dhira', for otherwise the term has been applied to a wide variety of measures) in height, width, and length, from which one may infer that the dhira' is 46.03 centimeters
The translator found both these metric equivalents satisfactory, but in deference to the ijtihad of Sheikh Muhammad Amin Kurdi in Tanwir al-qulub fi mu'amala 'Allaml1l-Ghuyub (y74), 172, and Sheikh Ridwan al-'Ada!
Baybars in Kitab rawda al-muhtajin Ii ma'rifa qawa'id ai-din (y29), 186, who both estimate the dhira' at 48 centimeters, the Jatter figure has been adopted, and it yields an estimated qullatayn volume of 216 liters (a cube of 60 centimeters on each side) which may be considered religiously more precautionary than the above qullatayn estimate, since the greater estimate fulfills the legal requirements of the lesser estimate, though not vice versa.
Adopting a dhira' estimate of 48 centimeters rather than 46.03 centimeters yields a distance permitting shortening p'rayers (masafa al-qasr) of 80.640 kilometers (Tanwir al-qulub fi mu'arnala 'Allam al-Ghuyub (y74), 172), rather than the 77.3304 kilometers inferable from the lesser estimate; and the greater estimate has been preferred here as well, since it enters into a great many rulings and is religiously more precautionary in the sense explained abeve
It has been rounded off in the translation to 81 km.!
50 mi.
*
(Qurtubi:) It is of the inviolability of the Koran:
(1) not to touch it except in a state of ritual purity (dis: w16.2), and to recite it when in a state of ritual purity;
(2) to brush one's teeth with a toothstick (def: e3), remove food particles from between them, and freshen one's mouth before reciting, since it is the way through which the Koran passes;
(3) to sit up straight if not in prayer, and not lean back;
(4) to dress for reciting it as if intending to visit a prince, for the reciter is engaged in intimate discourse;
(5) to face the direction of prayer (qibla) to recite;
(6) to rinse the mouth out with water if one expectorates mucus or phlegm;
(7) to stop reciting when one yawns
for when reciting, one is addressing one's Lord in intimate conversation, while yawning is from the Devil;
(8) when beginning to recite, to take refuge in Allah from the accursed Devil (def: wl.IS) and say the Basmala (w1.6), whether one has begun at the first of the sura or some other part one has reached;
(9) once one has begun, not to interrupt one's recital from moment to moment with human words, unless absolutely necessary;
(to) to be alone when reciting it, so that no one interrupts one, forcing one to mix the words of the Koran with replying, for this nullifies the effectiveness of having taken refuge in Allah from the Devil at the beginning;
(11) to recite it leisurely and without haste, distinctly pronouncing each letter;
(12) to use one's mind and understanding in order to comprehend what is being said to one;
(13) to pause at verses that promise Allah's favor, to long for Allah Most High and ask of His bounty; and at verses that warn of His punishment to ask Him to save one from it;
(14) to pause at the accounts of bygone peoples and individuals to heed and benefit from their example;
(15) to find out the meanings of the Koran's unusual lexical usages;
(16) to give each letter its due so as to clearly and fully pronounce every word, for each letter counts as ten good deeds;
(17) whenever one finishes reciting, to attest to the veracity of one's Lord, and that His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) has delivered his message, and to testify to this, saying:
""Our Lord, You have spoken the truth, Your messengers have delivered their tidings, and we arc witnesses to this
0 Allah, make us of those who bear witness to the truth and .who act with justice"";
after which one supplicates Allah with prayers;
(18) not to select certain verses from each sura to recite, but rather recite the whole sura:
(19) ifone puts the Koran down, not to leave it open;
(20) not to place other books upon the Koran, which should always be higher than all other books (N: though the books of each shelf of a bookcase, for example, are considered separately in this), whether they are books of Sacred Knowledge or something else;
(21) to place the Koran on one's lap when reading, or on something in front of one
not on the floor;
(22) not to wipe it from a slate with spittle, but rather wash it off with water; and if one washes it off with water, to avoid putting the water where there are unclean substances (najasa) or where people walk
Such water has its own inviolability, and there were those of the early Muslims before us who used water that washed away Koran to effect cures;
(23) not to use sheets upon which it has been written as bookcovers, which is extremely rude, but rather to erase the Koran from them with water;
(24) not to let a day go by without looking at least once at the pages of the Koran;
(25) to give one's eyes their share of looking at it, for the eyes lead to the soul (nafs), whereas there is a veil between the breast (N: i.e
the place where it is remembered) and the soul, and the Koran is in the breast
When one recites it from memory, only one's ears hear and convey it to the soul; while if one is looking at the words, both eye and ear participate in the performance, discharging it more completely, and the eyes as well as the cars are given their due;
(26) not to trivially quote the Koran at the occurrence of everyday events, as by saying, for example, when someone comes, ""You have come hither according to a decree, 0 Moses"" (Koran 20:40), or, ""Eat and drink heartily for what you have done aforetimes, in days gone by"" (Koran 69:24).
when food is brought out, and so forth;
(27) not to recite it to song tunes like those of the corrupt, or with the tremulous tones of Christians or the plaintiveness of monkery, all of which is misguidance;
(28) when writing the Koran to do so in a clear, elegant hand;
(29) not to recite it aloud over another's reciting of it, so as to spoil it for him and make him resent what he hears, making it as if it were some kind of competition;
(30) not to recite it in marketplaces, places of clamor and frivolity, or where fools gather;
(31) not to use the Koran as pillow, or lean upon it;
(32) not to toss it when one wants to hand it to another;
(33) not to miniaturize the Koran, mix into it what is not of it, or mingle this-worldly adornment with it by embellishing or writing it with gold;
(34) not to write it on the ground or on walls, as is done in some new mosques;
(35) not to write an amulet (def: w17) with it and enter the lavatory, unless it is encased in leather, silver, or other, for then it is as if kept in the heart;
(36) if one writes it (N.: with saffron, for example on the inside of a dish) and then (N: dissolves the writing into water and) drinks it (N: for a cure or other purpose), one should say the Basmala (def: wl.6) at every breath and make a noble and worthy intention, for Allah only gives to one according to one's intention;
(37) and if one finishes reciting the entire Koran, to begin it anew, that it may not resemble something that has been abandoned.
(al-Jami' Ii ahkam al-Qur'an (y117), 1.27-31)
(Imam Baghawi:) 'Abdullah ibn Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn 'Amr ibn Hazm reported that the letter that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) wrote (N: i.e
dictated and had sent) to 'Amr ibn Hazm contained the injunction that ""none may touch the Koran but someone in a state of ritual purity."" (Shu'ayb Arna'ut:) This is a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith, and was related in al-Muwatta' (y82) , 1.199, in the section on the Koran, the chapter of ""The Demand to Perform Ablution for Whoever Touches the Koran."" Abu 'Umar states, ""There is no disagreement reported from Malik that this hadith is mursal [def:
022.1(d(II(4)))], though it has also been related through a good channel with a contiguous series of transmitters (musnad) from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the letter itself being well known to specialists in the field of prophetic biography and so famous among scholars that its renown suffices it from the need for a pedigree [dis: w48.3]."" The hadith has various other channels of transmission and corroboratory evidences that strengthen it and raise it to the degree of rigorously authenticated (sahih)
See them in Nasb al-raya (y135), 1.196-99 (Sharh alsunna (y22), 2.47-48).
*
(Mansur 'Ali Nasif:) Protective or healing words are permitted by Sacred Law and are called for when there is need for them, provided three conditions are mt:t:
(a) that they consist of the word of Allah Most High, His names, or His attributes (n: the hadiths prohibiting amulets being interpreted as referring to the beads and so forth that were used in the pre-Islamic period of ignorance (dis:w17.3));
(b) that they be in Arabic;
(c) and that the user not believe the words have any effect in themselves (n: which is unbelief, as at 08.7(17)), but are rather empowered to do so by Allah Most High.
Amulets are like protective or healing words (ruqya) in the need for these eonditions
And Allah knows best (al- Taj al-jami' Ii al-usul fi ahadith al-Rasul (y100), 3.219).
(Nawawi:) One may adduce as evidence for their permissibility the hadith of 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to teach them for fearful situations the words, .
""I seek refuge in Allah's perfect words from His wrath, the evil of His servants, the whispered insinuations of devils, and lest they come to me."" 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr used to teaeh these words to those of his SOns who had reached the age of reason, and used to write them and hang them upon those who had not (al-Majmu' (yI08), 2.71).
(Ibn Hajar Haytami:) A group of ten riders came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who had nine of them swear a covenant with him, but would not let the tenth do so.
They asked, ""What is the matter with him?"" and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) replied that there was an amulet on his upper arm.
so the man cut it off, and the Prophet let him swear his covenant, after which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever hangs one has ascribed associates (shirk) to Allah."" It is obligatory to interpret the above as referring to what they used to do of hanging a bead on themselves and calling it an ""amulet"" (tamima).
and the like, believing it would protect them from calamities
Without a doubt, to believe this is ignorance and misguidance, and one of the worst enormities, since if it is not associating others with Allah (shirk), it leads to it, for nothing can benefit or harm one, prevent or turn aside, except for Allah Most High (al-Zawajir 'an iqtiraf al-kaba'ir (y49), 1.166).
(n:) This section discusses the view of some contemporary Muslims that someone who purposely misses one or more prescribed prayers need not make them up, which some say is because whoever intentionally neglects an obligatory prayer thereby becomes an unbeliever (kafir), and unbelievers are not obliged to pray
Besides being a weak position that contravenes all four schools of jurisprudence, those who miss prayers and neglect to make them up because of adopting this view will meet their Lord without having performed the first thing they shall be asked about on the Day of Judgement, their obligatory prayers
The following discussion, in explaining why the overwhelming majority of Islamic scholars hold that making up missed prescribed prayers is obligatory, centers on two points:
(1) that a Muslim who misses a prayer out of uneoncern cannot by that faet alone be considered an unbeliever;
(2) and that the view that a prayer purposely missed cannot be made up is incorrect.
A MUSLIM WHO NEGLECTS A PRAYERDOES NOT THEREBY BECOMEAN UNBELIEVER (N:) The Hanafis, Malikis, and Shafi'is all hold that someone who misses the prayer out of laziness is a Muslim, and that missing the prayer does not entail his being an unbeliever
Nawawi says, ""This is what the vast majority of early and later seholars have held"" (al-Majmu' (y108), 3.16)
As for the Hanbalis, they have two views, the first being that sueh a person becomes an unbeliever and is dealt with as a renegade from Islam (def: 08.2), while the second view is that he does not become an unbeliever, and this is what Ibn Qudama, in al-Mughni (y63), 2.329, has declared to be the soundest position
The opinion that such a person becomes an unbeliever has been ascribed to 'Ali ibnAbi Talib (Allah ennoble his countenance), Ibn al-Mubarak, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and some Shafi'is.
THE EVIDENCE THAT SOMEONEWHO NEGLECTS THE PRAYER ISAN UNBELIEVER Those who hold that whoever misses a prayer becomes an unbeliever adduce the following evidence:
(1) The hadith of Jabir (Allah be well pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) say, ""Between a man between polytheism and unbelief is the nonperformance of the prayer,"" which was related by Muslim.
(2) The hadith of Burayda (Allah be well pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The covenant between us and them consists of the prayer: whoever leaves it has disbelieved,"" a hadith related by Tirmidhi and Nasa'i, the former saying that it was well authenticated (hasan).
(3) The words of 'Abdullah ibn Shaqiq 'Uqayli, one of those (tabi'i) who met and studied under some of the Companions, and someone whose eminence is agreed upon, ""The Companions of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not view the nonperformance of anything as unbelief besides the prayer,"" which was related by Tirmidhi in the Book of Faith with a rigorously authenticated (sahih) channel of transmission.
(4) And the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace):
""The first thing you lose from your religion is keeping trusts, and the last thing you lose is the prayer,"" Imam Ahmad commenting that nothing remains of whatever the last has gone.
THE EVIDENCE THAT SOMEONEWHO NEGLECTS THE PRAYERIS NOT AN UNBELIEVER Those who hold that whoever neglects a prayer does not thereby become an unbeliever adduce the following evidence:
(1) The hadith of'Ubada ibn Samit (Allah be well pleased with him) that he heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) say:
""Allah has made five prayers obligatory:
whoever performs their ablution well and prays them in their time, completing the bowing, the humility, and the awe that is due in them, has entered a solemn pact with Allah to forgive him.
And whoever does not, has no pact with Allah:
should He want, He will forgive him, and should He want, He will torment him,"" which is a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith related by Abu Dawud and others through multiple authentic channels of transmission
The evidence of the hadith is that the case of someone who does not pray is up to Allah's considered choice, meaning that Allah could choose not to torment him, while it is necessarily established that unbelievers will be tormented and enter hell (n: necessarily established in that the words of the Koran will necessarily be realized against them, just as Allah has stated (dis: w55 .3(2)))-a consideration which with the above hadith indicates that someone who neglects to pray is not an unbeliever.
(2) The words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""Whoever dies knowing that there is no god but Allah shall enter paradise,"" a hadith related by Muslim that in its generality implies that someone who does not perform the prayer but believes that there is no god but Allah, will enter paradise, whereas if he were an unbeliever, he would not enter it
There are many similar hadiths that imply this in their generality.
(3) That Muslims from earliest times to the present have considered the Muslim who misses the prayer to be entitled to inherit by way of estate division and be inherited from
If in their view he were an unbeliever, he would not inherit or be inherited from (dis: L5.2).
(4) And the consensus of Muslims that the body of someone who neglects the prayer must be washed and prayed over
Were he an unbeliever in their view, they would not wash, shroud, or pray over him.
A DISCUSSION OF THE EVIDENCE Scholars reply as follows to the hadiths adduced by those who claim that whoever misses the prayer is an unbeliever:
(1) The point of the hadiths is to emphasize the enormity of the crime of whoever misses the prayer and to liken him to unbelievers, not that it is actual unbelief
Other hadiths make their point in this way, such as the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""Reviling a Muslim is corruption and fighting him is unbelief,"" and similar ones.
(2) Their meaning is that the person who misses the prayer is like unbelievers in certain respects, such as that he is obligatorily executed (dis: f1.4)
Scholars have had recourse to this interpretation in order to reach an accord between these texts of the Sacred Law and its basic principles, since a Muslim, of course, may not be judged an unbeliever unless there is absolute certainty of it, or be considered an unbeliever for something without unquestionable evidence that his act, statement, or belief is in fact unbelief , (kufr)
It thus appears that the strongest position is that someone who misses the prayer out of neglect is not an unbeliever, for besides the texts that imply his unbelief, others imply the contrary, and the former can bear an aiternatejnterpretation.
MAKING UP MISSED PRAYERS As tp whether it is obligatory to make up prayers missed without an excuse, this is a question raised nowadays by some students of jurisprudence, in an era when deliberate nonperformance of obligatory prayer and fasting has become frequent.
They believe that the position well known to both scholars and ordinary people that it is obligatory to make up missed prayers and fastdays might be a deterrent from repentance, and they look to eliminate it by adopting the opinions of certain scholars, advancing the position of Ibn Hazro, Ibn Taymiya, and others, while what is obligatory is to defer to the Koran and sunna for the final decision, as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said, ""None of you believes until his inclinations conform to what I have brought,"" and it is obligatory to know what the evidence bears out, since one should, as has been said, ""know men by their having spoken the truth, not that it is the truth by certain men having spoken it."" So we will expound the question with its evidence, and then see what the evidence shows.
The vast majority of scholars, including those of the four main schools of jurisprudence, have concluded that it is obligatory to make up deliberately missed prayers and fast-days, and have even reported scholarly consensus (def: b7) on the obligatory character of making them up, as is mentioned in (n: the Hanbali) al-Mughni (y63), 2.332; (n: the Hanafi) Sharh al-'inaya 'ala alHidaya (y21), 1.4S5; and in (n: the Shafi'i) alMajmu' (ylOS), 3.71; while Ibn Hazm, Ibn Taymiya, and Ibn al-Qayyim conclude that someone who deliberately does not perform the prayer until its time is finished can never make it up, but should do as much good and perform as many supererogatory prayers as possible in order to tip the balance in his favor on the Day of Judgement, and repent and ask forgiveness of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
THE EVIDENCE THAT SOMEONE WHOMISSES A PRAYER MUST MAKE IT UP The scholarly majority adduce the following evidence:
(1) The words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""When any of you sleeps through the prayer or forgets it, then let him pray it when he remembers, for Allah Mighty and Majestic says, "" 'Perform the prayer for My remembrance' (Koran 20:14),"" a hadith related by Muslim
The evidence therein is that despite sleep and forgetfulness being lawful excuses, the obligation to perform the prayer is not eliminated by its time having passed, and the person who has slept or forgotten is required to make it up
So the prayer of someone who has missed it without excuse a fortiori remains still obligatory for him to pray, and is a fortiori mandatory to make up
The hadith moreover shows that obligatory acts of worship, just as they may initially occur at their specific time, may also validly occur after this time
The delay being a sin is a separate issue: if one excusl)bly delays the prayer, there is no sin, while if one delays it without excuse, the sin occurs--but the hadith shows that a prayer's relationship to its specific time is not an intrinsic relationship entailed by its very nature, such that an obligatory prayer cannot be called an obligatory prayer unless it occurs within its proper time
Rather, it may occur after its time and still be termed an obligatory prayer.
(2) The words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""A debt to Allah has better right to be fulfilled,"" a hadith related by Bukhari and Muslim
The hadith's context is that of making up another person's hajj (dis: j1.9), and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) likened the missed worship to a debt, similar hadiths existing about fasting, proving that acts of worship, when missed, regardless of the reason, become a debt that must be repaid just as other debts are, and with even better right
We say ""regardless of the reason"" because the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not ask the questioner about the reason for its having been missed
And if this is established in relation to making up the worship of another, it holds with still better right for making up one's own missed acts of worship.
(3) It is rigorously authenticated that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was prevented from performing the midaftemoon prayer ('asr) until the sun had set because of fighting unbelievers at the Battle of the Confederates, when the prayer of peril (def: f16) had not yet been legislated, and he said, ""May Allah fill their graves and houses with fire, as they have occupied us from performing the midmost prayer until the sun set,"" a hadith related by Bukhari and Muslim
The evidence therein is that missing the prayer was excused here, whether because of forgetfulness or absentmindedness in view of the fighting, or because delaying the prayer was permissible under such circumstances before the prayer of peril had been legislated-but in either case it shows that a prayer may be validly performed after its time has finished.
(4) The words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""Someone fasting who unintentionally vomits is not obliged to make up his fast, but whoever causes himself to vomit must make it up,"" the evidence therein being that it mentions two situations in which the fast is broken, the first being when it is excusably broken, namely, by someone overcome by vomiting, which does not legally vitiate his fast and which he is therefore not obliged to make up; and the second being when it is inexcusably broken, where, by consensus of all scholars, the person has committed a sin by breaking it and the very words of the hadith oblige him to make it up
And this is the significant point, that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) declared it obligatory for whoever breaks the fast without excuse to make it up, which proves that an act of worship missed without excuse is obligatory to make up afterwards, even if the person who delays it past its time has committed a sin by doing so.
REPLIES TO THE OBJECfIONS OF IBN HAZM
CONCERNING THE VALIDITY OF MAKINGUP MISSED PRAYERS Ibn Hazm and those who agree with him adduce the following evidence:
(1) The word of Allah Most High, ""Woe to those who pray, unmindful of their prayers"" (Koran 107:4-5), and His word, Mighty and Majestic, ""But a generation followed them who dissipated the prayer and pursued [their] lusts, and they shall find Ghayy [n: a ""valley in hell"" (Tafsir al-jalalayn (y77), 402)]"" (Koran 19:59), the evidence therein being that if the person who intentionally missed the prayer could perform it after its time, there would not be any woe to him, nor would he find Ghayy.
(Reply:) Both these verses refer to those who do not repent
There is no disagreement about this, as is attested to by the rest of the second verse, "" ..
save he who repents, believes, and does good"" (Koran 19:60), there being no disagreement about the validity of the meaning, though there is about the means of repentance
Does someone who has repented make the prayers up, or does he perform supererogatory prayers (dis: w18.9(8)) in their stead?
The scholarly majority do not claim that he 'who makes them up has properly performed them.
(2) The prayer has a set time, there being no difference between someone who prays it before its time and someone who prays it after
Because both have prayed it in other than its time, both have transgressed against Allah's limits, and Allah has said, ""Whoever transgresses against Allah's limits has wronged himself' (Koran 65:1).
Otherwise
defining the time would be pointless.
Scholars agree that the prayer of whoever prays before the prayer's time does not suffice, and so too must be the prayer of whoever prays after it.
(Reply:) As for the prayer having a definite time, the scholarly majority do not disagree about this, and the suggestion that they do not distinguish between someone who prays during the time and someone who prays after it is not true
It is regrettable to accuse them of this when it is baseless.
(3) Making up missed prayers requires an evidential basis, and there is not any (since in Ibn Hazm's opinion, analogical reasoning (qiyas, def:
022.1 (d(HI))) is not an acceptable form of legal evidence, which for him can only consist of the Koran, sunna, and scholarly consensus): if it were obligatory, Allah Most High or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) would have explained it.
(Reply:) As for the statement that making up a missed prayer requires an evidential basis, and there is not any; the evidence exists, and we have presented it (dis: w18.8) and shall clarify it further.
(4) It is invalid to make an analogy between someone who intentionally tl1isses a prayer and someone who forgets it and the like, for intentionality is the opposite of forgetfulness
Someone who intentionally misses a prayer is disobedient, while someone who forgets is not.
(Reply:) The validity of the analogy between the person who intentionally misses it and the person who unintentionally misses it has been previously discussed in the evidence of the scholarly majority (w18.8(4))
.
(5) Narrations from the prophetic Companions attest to the fact that delaying the prayer past its time is unlawful
If making up a prayer could suffice in its stead, these would have no meaning.
(Reply:) The unlawfulness of delaying the prayer past its time is agreed upon, and no one says that it is permissible.
(6) The prayer of peril (def: f16) is evidence that it is not possible to delay a prayer past its time, and so is the prayer ofthe sick person (f14).
(Reply:) As for the prayers of peril and illness, the scholarly majority acknowledge them and do not permit delaying the prayer because of peril or illness
The prayers of the imperilled or sick person, which do not require many of the integrals and
conditions required by a normal prayer, attest to the position of the majority that the Sacred Law does not lift the obligation of the prayer from such people as it does from a woman in her menstrual period
Rather, because it is impossible for the imperilled and sick person to currently perform the prayer while observing all its conditions and integrals, their only alternative is to either make it up later or perform it while desregarding some of them, so the latter is permitted for them in order to obviate an accumulation of unperformed prayers, and Allah knows best.
And if the responsibility for performing the obligatory prayer is not lifted from the imperilled or sick person, how should it be lifted from the person who intentionally misses it?
(7) It is inadmissible to adduce the hadith of the delayed prayer at the Battle of the Confederates (dis: wI8.8(3)) because the discussion here centers on the person who commits disobedience by delaying it, while the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was not disobedient therein, and whoever ascribes disobedience to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has committed unbelief (kufr).
(Reply:) Adducing this hadith is not inadmissible as he claims, but is like adducing the cases of the sleeper or forgetful person, in illustrating the conceivability of the existence of an obligation after its original time has ended.
(8) As for the obligatory character of repentance and doing as many supererogatory acts of worship as possible (n: in place ofthe missed one), the evidence is the word of Allah Most High, ""But a generation followed them who dissipated the prayer and pursued [their] lusts, and they shall find Ghayy, save he who repents, believes, and does gOOd, for those shall enter paradise""(Koran 19:59-60), and many similar ven;es in the Book of Allah Most High
Another proof is the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
""The first of people's works that they shall be called to account for on the Day of Judgement is the prayer
Our Lord Holy and Exalted will say to His angels, while knowing better than they, 'Look at the prayer of My servant: did he perform it in full, or fall short of it?' If it is complete, it will be inscribed as complete, while if anything is missing from it, He will say, 'Look to see if My servant has any supererogatory worship,' and if he has, Allah will say, 'Complete My servant's obligatory prayers for him from his supererogatory ones.' And he will be dealt with likewise in his other works."" (Reply:) Whoever reflects on the evidence of both sides will notice the following:
(a) The difference of opinion is less at the practical level than at the theoretical, for Ibn Hazm requires the person who intentionally misses the prayer to perform as many supererogatory prayers as the missed obligatory one and more, so as to be counted for his obligatory prayer on the Day of Judgement
We say ""and more"" because he states in al-Muhalla that ""there is a certain amount of good in the obligatory prayer and a certain amount in the supererogatory, so the cumulative amount of good when many supererogatory prayers are performed must equal some fraction or more of the amount in the obligatory prayer"" (al-Muhalla (y58), 2.332), whereas the scholarly majority require the person, for each missed obligatory prayer, to pray one like it, termed a makeup
So the difference of opinion goes back to the intention and the name of such a prayer
Do we call it supererogatory or a makeup, and does the person praying it intend an unconditional supererogatory prayer to take the place of the missed obligatory prayer, or intend the missed obligatory prayer?
The difference, as we said, is mainly theoretical.
It is clear from the foregoing that Ibn Hazm is not opening a way out of performing obligatory prayers for those who miss them
Rather, he is severer on them, requiring that they perform more supererogatory prayers than the obligatory ones they missed
To further clarify, we note that Ibn Hazro and the others who hold that it is invalid to make up missed prayers only say this to make it harder on the person who does not pray, because they feel that making up missed prayers has been legislated as a mercy to someone who has slept through the prayer or forgotten it, or to others with lawful excuses
As for the person who sins by deliberately not performing it, he does not deserve this mercy, and they feel that his sin is too enormous to be expiated by makiilg it up
This is a point that deserves attention, because it is the opposite of what most of those who advocate this view understand.
(b) It will be noticed from Ibn Hazm's evidence that he thinks the scholarly majority consider the makeup of the person who has slept through the prayer and the makeup of the person who has deliberately missed it to be equivalent in every respect, and that they likewise consider the makeup of the person who has sinned by missing the prayer to be equivalent to performing it in its propertime
He says, ""From whence does he who permits its intentional nonperformance until its time is up derive this pennissibility, ordering the person to pray it after its time, and informing him that it fulfills his obligation-without Koran, a sound or even weak hadith, a statement from a prophetic Companion, or analogy?"" (al-Muhalla (y58) , 2.330)
Glory be to Allah!
Whoever said that it is permissible to intentionally miss the prayer?
As we have previously mentioned, the scholarly majority hold that the person who intentionally misses it should be killed (dis: HA)
Is he executed for doing something permissible?
May Allah have mercy on Ibn Hazm, who was not accurate in this, and to say otherwise would have been more proper for him.
Is the person who misses the prayer without excuse like someone who has an excuse, in being able to validly perform the obligatory prayer after its time in the name of an obligatory prayer, even if all scholars agree he has committed a sin by thus delaying it?
This is the area of disagreement.
The scholarly majority, adducing the foregoing evidence, hold that he may validly do so, while Ibn Hazm says this is invalid, because an unexcused person is not like an excused one.
But Ibn Hazm agrees with the majority that someone who intentionally vomits while fasting Ramadan (dis: w18.8(4)) has committed a sini.
e
is unexcused-and yet is obliged to make up the fast
This fact establishes the rule for the scholarly majority, if not for Ibn Hazm, because such an individual is an unexcused person who has deliberately vitiated his time-restricted act of worship, and the Lawgiver has made it obligatory for him to make it up---so why should it not be obligatory for other unexcused persons to make up similar acts of worship?
This demonstrates that the scholarly majority's opinion is correct
And if Ibn Hazm may be excused because he does not accept analogical reasoning (qiyas), what excuse is there for those who employ analogical reasoning as evidence, and yet aecept his opinion?
Nawawi says: ""There is consensus among all scholars who matter that whoever
deliberately misses the prayer is obliged to make it up
Abu Muhammad 'Ali Ibn Hazm contravened them in this, saying that such a person can never make up the prayer and that doing so can never be valid.
What he has said, besides being a violation of scholarly consensus (dis: b7.2), is untrue from the standpoint of evidenee, and despite a prolonged discourse to prove his contention, what he mentions is devoid of anything that bears it out"" (alMajmu' (y108), 3.71).
(Qada' al-'ibadat wa al-niyaba fiha (y114),
198-211)
(n: The Egyptian mufti Hasanayn Muhammad Makhluf was asked for a formal legal opinion (fatwa) concerning the ruling for fasting Ramadan by Muslims living in northern Europe, where the period of fasting during the day may reach 19 hours, 22 hours, or even more
What follows hal> been translated from the answer he gave.)
(Hasanayn Muhammad Makhluf:) Fasting, as defined by Sacred Law, begins at the coming of dawn and ends at sunset of each day, its time span varying with the different situations of various countries
No matter how long this period is, its mere length is not considered a legitimate excuse permitting one not to fast
It is only permissible not to fast (N: a day or more of Ramadan, making up the missed fast-day by fasting a day in its place later in the year) if one believes it probable that fasting the whole day will lead to illness or exhaustion that will harm one (dis: c7.2) (N: for example, such that one cannot continue working), whether this belief is because of:
(1) a symptom that appears;
(2) having previously tried to fast this long (N: until unable to do so because of weakness, dizziness, etc., and then having eaten);
(3) or being informed by a competent physician.
The ruling in such a case is like that of someone who is ill and fears destruction
an increase in his ailment, or a delay in his recovery were he to fast
This is the general basis of the dispensation not to fast and of leniency for those responsible for the obligations of Sacred Law
Everyone who knows himself and is aware of the reality of his case will know whether it is lawful or unlawful for him not to fast
When one's fasting the long period will lead to illness, debility, or exhaustion.
whether these are certainly established or whether considered likely because of one of the abovementioned means of knowledge, it is permissible for one to take the dispensation not to fast; and when fasting will not lead to this, it is unlawful for one not to fast
People differ in this respect, and for the condition of each there is a particular ruling (Fatawa shar'iyya wa buhuth Islamiyya (y79),
1.271-73).PRAYING (A: If one's location does not have one or more of the prayer times (n:
such as true dawn (def: f2.1(4(n:)), sunrise, etc., due to the extreme northerly latitude), then one should pray at the same time as the closest city that has the true times (n: though for each degree of longitude that this closest city lies to the east of one's location, the prayer time of the city will arrive earlier than at one's own position by four minutes, and one may wish to compensate for this error factor by the appropriate calculations, i.e
not praying simultaneously with that city's times, but rather after its time by four minutes for each degree of longitude it lies to the east, or before its time by four minutes for each degree of longitude it lies to the west
In any case, as pointed out at f2.12, if onc's prayer times for a number of days are later found to have been mistaken, one only needs to make up one day's prayers
As for learning the time of the closest city having the true times, the best means as of this writing is the pocket-size computer designed by a Syrian engineer and marketed under the name of ""Prayer Minder,"" that is based on precise astronomical data, programmed for fifty years, and when given various cities' geographical coordinates supplied in the accompanying booklet, provides the prayer times of most major cities in the world).)
(N: For both the dawn prayer (subh) and the dawn that marks the beginning of fast-days of Ramadan, if there is sunset and sunrise at one's location but not true dawn because of the persistence of twilight all night, one copies the nearest city that has the true times in terms of the amount of time by which dawn in that city precedes sunrise there
Thus if dawn in this nearest city precedes sunrise by 90 minutes, one's own ""dawn"" occurs 90 minutes before the sunrise in one's own city
And similarly for the amount of time by which nightfall ('isha) follows the sunset prayer (maghrib).)
(Ibn Hajar Haytami:) The wirds (n: a particular amount of daily dhikr or Koran recital) Sufis customarily recite after prayers, according to their degree of spiritual advancement, have an authentic legal basis in the hadith related by Bayhaqi that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""To invoke Allah Most High (dhikr) with people after the dawn prayer until sunrise is more beloved to me than this world and all it contains, and to invoke Allah Most High with people after the midafternoon prayer until
sunset is more beloved to me than this world and all it contains."" Be cause the Sufis' practice of joining to recite wirds and dhikr after the dawn prayer and at other times has a rigorously authenticated (sahib) basis in the sunna, namely the above-mentioned hadith, there can be no objection to their doing so (al-Fatawa al-hadithiyya (y48), 76).
(Ibn Hajar Haytami:) Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, and Nasa'i relate that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""May Allah curse the Jews and Christians;
they have taken the tombs of their prophets as places of worship,"" and Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, and Nasa'i also relate the hadith, ""They are the ones who, when a righteous man among them died, would build a place ofworship upon his grave and paint those icons in it.
They will be the wickedest of creation in Allah's sight on the Day of Judgement."" The reason for considering it an enormity to take a grave as a place of worship is obvious, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed those who did this with the graves of their prophets, and considered those who did it with the graves of the righteous to be ""the wickedest of creation in Allah's sight on the Day of Judgement."" Taking a grave as a place of worship means to pray on the grave or towards it
The prohibition, moreover, applies exclusively to the grave of someone venerated, whether a prophet or friend of Allah (waH, def: w33), as is shown by the hadith's wording ""when there was a righteous man among them""; for which reason our colleagues say that it is unlawful to perform the prayer towards the graves of the prophets or friends of Allah ""for the blessing of it"" (tabarruk, dis: w31) or out of reverence for it, that is, under two conditions:
(a) that the grave is of someone who is honored and venerated;
(b) and that the prayer is performed towards or on the grave with the intention of gaining the blessing of it, or out of reverence for it.
That such an action is an enormity is clear from the above hadiths (A: though if either condition is lacking, performing the prayer near a grave is unobjectionable) (al-Zawajir 'an iqtiraf al-kaba'ir (y49), 1.148-49).
*
('Ala' ai-Din 'Abidin:) Our prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), who was truthful in all that he did and said, has informed us of matters that are mandatorypersonally obligatory for each of us-to believe, accept, and not doubt or be sarcastic about the slightest bit of
Among the things of which he informed us is that Allah Most High has created angels (def: u3.3) that are pure spirits, neither masculine n0r feminine, and created
jinn, fiery beings that can assume various forms
The good jinn are Muslims and believers, and will be with us in paradise, where we will see them but they will not see us--the opposite of this world-while the immoral and wicked of them are called devils, being of the offspring of Satan, who used to be in paradise, but disobeyed the command of his Lord, and is now ""of those reprieved till the day of a known time"" (Koran 15:37-38).
(al-Hadiyya al-'Ala'iyya (y4), 460-63)
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEENJINN AND ANGELS (Muhammad Sa'id Burhani:) The difference between jinn and angels is that angels are created of light, while jinn are created of fire.
Angels (upon whom be peace) do not reproduce.
while jinn do
Angels do not commit disobedience, while jinn include both the obedient and the disobedient, both believer and unbeliever, the rebellious of them being called devils
Jinn assume various forms, both noble and base, such as that of a snake and the like, while the angels (upon whom be peace) only assume noble forms, like that of a human being
Angels live in the heavens and earth, while jinn live only on earth
Angels are not called to account on the Day of Judgement, but rather enter paradise, and whoever disparages one of them has committed unbelief
Angels like circles of religious learning and dhikr, and supplicate Allah to bless our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and us, and they ask forgiveness for those on earth
They rejoice at whoever visits the ill or seeks religious knowledge, out of pleasure with what he is doing (ibid
, 463).
*
(A:) The nakedness (""awra) of a woman that she is forbidden to reveal differs in the Shafi'i school according to different circumstances
In the privacy of the home, her nakedness is that which is between the navel and knees
In the prayer (n: or hajj, as at j3.24) it means everything besides the face and hands
And when outside the home on the street, it refers to the entire body (N: or for Hanafis, all but the face and hands (dis: m2.8), just as in prayer).
*
(N:) All four schools of jurisprudence agree that it is obligatory for a traveller in a vehicle to stand and to face the direction of prayer (qibla) (n: and perform the prayer's other physical integrals) when performing a prescribed prayer.' If it is impossible to stand or to face the direction of prayer (A: or according to Hanafis, if it poses a hardship (dis: below)), and one cannot stop and pray on the ground, then one prays as best one can ill the vehicle
According to Hanafis and Malikis, such a prayer does not have to be made up when one is again able to perform it properly
though for Shafi'is, one must make it up.
(A:) In the Hanafi school
if one is travelling in a bus or the like where facing the direction of prayer (qibla) poses a hardship (n: and one does not expect the vehicle to stop before the time for prayer has finished (dis: below, end)), one may validly perform the obligatory prayer in one's seat facing the direction of travel.
Tahtawi writes:
"" ..
The words of ai-Durar allude to what we have mentioned, where the author says, ' ..
because such a person is able to face the direction of prayer (qibla) without hardship .
.' the implication being that when it is not possible to face the direction of prayer, or when there is hardship in doing so, one is not obliged to face the direction of prayer; and the implications of legal texts are evidence, as will not be lost on anyone.
As for the words of Majma' al-riwayat that 'if one is unable to [A: face the direction of prayer], one refrains from praying,' they are interpretable as referring to when one expects the excuse [A: for not facing it} to pass before the prayer's time is over"" (Hashiya 'ala Maraqi al-falah sharh Nur alidah (y127), 269).
(n: The Hanafi school does not permit joining two prayers in the time of one of them because of travelling (def: f15.9), so one may not do so when taking the above-mentioned dispensation (dis: c6.4, last par.).)
*
INTENTION OF PRAYER (from f8.3)
('Abdal-Wahhab Sha'rani:) I have heard Sheikh ai-Islam Futuhi al-Hanbali (Allah have metcy on him) say: ""Those with neurotic misgivings burden themselves with the 'words of the intention' they have made up and busy themselves in uttering, while none of this is authenticated as being from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who only used to intend with his heart, as did his Companions
Neither he nor the Companions were ever heard to say other than 'Allahu akbar.' Were it conceivable that Allah Most High might require a rational person to pray 'without an intention,' it would be like a command that could not be carried out
Consider the person who goes to the washroom to perform ablution.
Ask him where he is going and he will say, 'To perform ablution.' And ask him when he goes to the mosque, 'Where to?' and he will say, 'To pray.' How can a sane man with such a purpose in view doubt that he is intending ablution or prayer?
It's a kind of madness"" (Lata 'if al-minan wa al-akhlaq (yI22),2.66-67).
(Ghazali:) Prayer is composed of invocation (dhikr), Koran recital, bowing, prostration, standing, and sitting
Without a doubt, the point of reciting the Koran and dhikr is to glorify and praise, to humbly entreat and supplicate, while the one being addressed is Allah Mighty and Majestic
He whose heart is veiled by inattention is veiled from Allah, not apprehending or contemplating Him, but oblivious of whom he is speaking to, merely moving his tongue out of habit
How far this is from what is meant by prayer, which has been established to polish the heart, renew one's remembrance of Allah Mighty and Majestic, and to deepen the ties of faith in Him
As for bowing and prostrating, the point of them is eertainly veneration, for if not, nothing remains but movements of the spine and head.
Hasan al-Basri said, ""Every prayer performed without presence of heart is closer to deserving punishment,"" while it is related from Mu'adh ibn Jabal that ""whoever knows who is on his right or left intentionally while at prayer has no prayer."" And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Truly, a servant performs the prayer without a sixth of it being recorded for him or a tenth, but only as much as he eomprehends."" Had these words come from anyone else, they would have been adopted as ""a school of thought."" How then can we not go by them?
'Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd said, ""Scholars concur that none of a servant's prayer counts for him except what he comprehends,"" a position he considered established by scholarly consensus (ijma').
Innumerable statements of similar purport have reached us from godfearing scholars and those knowledgeable in the way of the hereafter
But while the truth lies in returning to the evidence of primary texts and hadiths, and the evidence is compelling that presenee of mind is a condition for prayer, the context in which formal legal opinion can define outward moral responsibility is limited by the extent of people's shortcomings, and it is not possible to require them to have full presence of mind throughout the prayer, which hardly anyone can do except for very few (Ihya' 'ulum ai-din (y39),1.143-44).
*
(Jaial ai-Din Suyuti:) Having long heard questions concerning the rosary (subha) as to whether thefe is a basis for it in the sunna, I have compiled in this section the hadiths and accounts of early Muslims that relate to it.
Ibn 'Arnr said, ""I saw the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) count the times he said 'Subhan Allah' on his hand."" Safiyya said, ""The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) entered the room where I sat with four thousand date stones in front of me and he asked, 'What is this, 0 daughter of Huyay?' I said, '1 am saying ""SubhanAllah"" with them.' He replied, 'I've said ""Subhan Allah"" more times than this since you've begun,' and I said, 'Show me how, 0 Messenger of Allah.' He said, 'Say, ""Subhan Allah the number of everything He has created."" , ""
As One scholar has said, ""Counting the times one says 'Subhan Allah' on one's fingers is superior to doing so on a rosary because of the hadith of Ibn 'Amr, though it has been said that if the person saying it is safe from mistakes in counting, his fingers are better, while if not, then saying it on a rosary is more suitable
Some of the most renowned Muslims have used rosaries, those from whom the religion is taken and who are relied upon, such as Abu Hurayra (Allah be well pleased with him), who had a string with two thousand knots in it, and did not use to go to sleep before saying 'Subhan Allah' with it twelve thousand times."" 'Umar al-Maliki said, ""I saw my teacher Hasan al-Basri with a rosary in his hand and said, 'Teacher, with your great eminence and the excellence of your worship, do you still use a rosary?' and he replied, 'Something we have used at the beginning we are not wont to leave at the end
I love to remember Allah with my heart, my hand, and my tongue.' "" And how should it be otherwise, when the rosary reminds one of Allah Most High, and a person seldom sees one save that he remembers Allah, this being among the greatest of its benefits (al-Hawi Ii al-fatawi (y130) , 2.2-5).
*
FRIDAY PRAYER (from f10.2)
(Hasan Saqqaf:) As for the sunna rak'as prayed before the Friday prayer, there are hadiths about them, such as the following:
(1) ""The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to pray four rak 'as before the Friday prayer and four after it."" The hadith master (hafiz, def: w48.2(end)) Wali aI-Din aI-'Iraqi states that its channel of transmission is good, the hadith containing an explicit reference to the sunna rak'as before the Friday prayer.
(2) Ibn Majah relates, with a rigorously authenticated (sahih) channel of transmission, that Abu Hurayra (Allah be well pleased with him) said, ""Sulayk Ghatafani arrived while the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) was giving the Friday prayer sermon (khutba), and the Messenger of Allah said to him.
'Did you pray before you came?' and he said no, to which the Prophet replied, 'Then pray two rak'as, keeping them brief.' "" The words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) ""before you came"" furnish explicit proof of the sunna rak'as before the Friday prayer, for the rak'as of greeting the mosque (def: f10
10) are not performed before one arrives
Apparently Sulayk lived near the mosque, so the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) thought that he had prayed before coming, and when he informed him that he.had , not, he ordered him to pray them.
(3) Nafi' relates that ""Ibn 'Umar used to pray at length before the Friday prayer, performing two rak'as in his home, saying that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to do this,"" a hadith related by Abu Dawud, and by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih.
It is thus very plain and clear that the sunna rak'as before the Friday prayer are rigorously authenticated as being the practice of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), his Companions, and the early Muslims, and have been accepted as such by Islamic scholars.
THE SECOND CALL (ADHAN)TO FRIDAY PRAYER The sunnas before the Friday prayer, meaning the two or four rak'as before it, are a confirmed sunna (def: c4.1)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to pray four rak'as in his house, which adjoined the mosque, _ after the beginning of the noon prayer's time, Then he would enter the mosque and ascend the pulpit (minbar), whereupon the muezzin would give the call to prayer (adhan) and the Prophet would rise for the sermon
The call to prayer thus took place after the prayer's time had begun and after praying four rak'as
People only used
to know when the prayer's time had initially come through their own intuition, and it was thus that the matter remained during the caliphates of our Jiegelord Abu Bakr and our liegelord 'Umar (Allah be well pleased with them)
Then our liegelord 'Uthman (Allah be well pleased with him) established the sunna of a second call to prayer, this second one being the first in order of occurrence; which is to say, the second call to prayer that was established ;is a sunna by our liegelord 'Uthman is the one that is before the caB to prayer that occurs after the imam ascends the pulpit
So he made this second call to prayer- which is the first of the two to occur-a means of announcing to people that the prayer's time had come; namely, the noon prayer's time, when the sun has just passed its highest point in the sky for that day
As for the first call to prayer that existed in the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), it remained in its place, which was after the imam had ascended the pulpit, it being the second in order of occurrence but the first to be legally established.
Our liegelord 'Uthman's doing this was a good act that was confirmed by the consensus (ijma') of the prophetic Companions, not a single one of whom criticized him for it or opposed it;
nor did any of those who came after them.
Moreover, it is established that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Hold fast to my sunna and the sunna of the Rightly Guided Caliphs; clamp your [very] teeth upon it,"" a rigoTously authenticated (sahih) hadith related by Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Imam Ahmad, and Hakim
If someone objects that 'Uthman innovated this call to prayer, controverting the sunna that existed in the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the answer is that such a person is in the wrong and mistaken for a number of reasons, among them:
(1) that he is accusing our liegelord 'Uthman of violating the sunna and inaugurating a reprehensible innovation (bid'a), an accusation such a person has no right to make (dis: w56.1);
(2) that he is charging the prophetic Companions who confirmed the correctness of our liege10rd 'Uthman's act with confirming him upon a falsehood (bati!), disregarding the Companions' consensus
Islamic scholars and specialists in fundamentals of Sacred Law state that the opinion and position of a Companion, when it becomes widely acted upon and no one is known to object to it, is considered to have become a scholarly consensus (ijma', def: b7) and is thus a decisive proof, Imam Nawawi being among those who explicitly record this, in his commentary on Sahih Muslim ((y93), 1.31);
(3) and that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) gave us an order, saying, ""Hold fast to my sunna and the sunna of the Rightly Guided Caliphs ..
"" so that our liege lord 'Uthman's act is a sunna that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) clearly enjoins us to adhere to in this straightforward hadith.
It is thus plain that whoever seeks to eliminate or annul the second eall to Friday prayer is striving to effect a blameworthy innovation and is in reality contravening the sunna, for he has abandoned the injunction that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) commanded us to obey (""al-Adilla al-jaliyya li sunna al-jumu'a al-qabliyya"" (y120), 2-4).
(from f10.15) * (n:) This section has been translated to clarify some possible misunderstandings ofthe concept ofinnovation (bid'a) in Islam, in light ofthe prophetic badith, "" ..
Beware of matters newly begun, for every matter newly begun is innovation
every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell."" The discussion centers on three points:
(1) Scholars say that the above hadith does not refer to all new things without restriction, but only to those which nothing in Sacred Law attests to the validity of
The use of the word every in the hadith does not indicate an absolute generalization, for there are many examples of similar generalizations in the Koran and sunna that are not applicable without restriction, but rather are qualified by restrictions found in other primary textual evidence.
(2) The sunna and way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was to accept new acts initiated in Islam that were of the good and did not conflict with established principles of Sacred Law, and to reject things that were otherwise.
(3) New matters in Islam may not be rejected merely because they did not exist in the first century
but must be evaluated and judged according to the com- prehensive methodology of Sacred Law, by virtue of which it is and remains the final and universal moral code for all peoples until the end of time.
(,Abdullah Mahfuz Ba'alawi:) There are many generalities in the Koran and sunna, all of them admitting of some qualification, such as the word of Allah Most High, (1) "" ..
And that a man can have nothing, except what he strives for"" (Koran 53:39), despite there being an overwhelming amount of evidence that a Muslim benefits from the spiritual works of others (dis: w35.2), from his fellow Muslims, the prayers of angels for him, the funeral prayer over him, charity given by others in his name, and the supplications of believers for him;
(2)
""Verily you and what you worship apart from Allah are the fuel of hell"" (Koran 21:98), ""what you worship"" being a general expression, while there is no doubt that Jesus, his mother, and the angels were all worshipped apart from Allah, but are not what is meant by the verse;
(3) ""But when they forgot what they had been reminded of, We opened unto them the doors of everything"" (Koran 6:44), though the doors of mercy were not opened unto them;
(4) and the hadith related by Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""No one who prays before sunrise and before sunset will enter hell,"" which is a generalized expression that definitely does not mean what its outward generality implies, for someone who prays the dawn and midafternoon prayers and qeglects all other prayers and obligatory works is certainly not meant
It is rather a generalization whose intended referent is particular, or a generalization that is qualified by other texts, for when there are fully authenticated hadiths, it is obligatory to reach an accord between them, because they are in reality as a single hadith, the statements that appear without further qualification being qualified by those that furnish the qualification, that the combined implications of all of them may be utilized.
INNOVATION (BID'A) IN THE LIGHTOF THE SUNNA OF THE PROPHETCONCERNING NEW MATTERS Sunna and innovation (bid'a) are two opposed terms in the language of the Lawgiver (Allah bless him and give him peace), such that neither can bc defined without reference to the other, meaning that they are opposites, and ""things are made clear by their opposites."" Many writers have sought to define innovation (bid'a) without defining the sunna, while it is primary, and have thus fallen into inextricable difficulties and conflicts with the primary textual evidence that contradicts their definition of innovation.
whereas if they had first defined the sunna, they would have produced a criterion free of shortcomings.
Sunna, in both the language of the Arabs and the Sacred Law, means way, as is illustrated by the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""He who inaugurates a good sunna in Islam [dis: p58.1(2)] ..
And he who introduces a bad sunna in Islam ..
,"" sunna meaning way or custom
The way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in giving guidance, accepting, and rejecting: this is the sunna
For ""good sunna"" and ""bad sunna"" mean a good way or bad way, and cannot possibly mean anything else
Thus, the meaning of sunna is not what most students, let alone ordinary people, understand; namely, that it is the prophetic hadith (n: as when sunna is contrasted with Kitab, i.e.
Koran, in distinguishing textual sources), or the opposite of the obligatory (n: as when sunna, i.e.
recommended, is contrasted with obligatory in legal contexts)
since the former is a technical usage coined by hadith scholars, while the latter is a technical usage coined by legal scholars and' specialists in fundamentals of jurisprudence
Both ofthese are usages oflater origin that are not what is meant by sunna here
Rather, the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is his way of acting, ordering, accepting, and rejecting, and the way of his Rightly Guided Caliphs who followed his way of acting, ordering, accepting, and rejecting
So practices that are newly begun must bc examined in light of the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his way and path in acceptance or rejection.
Now, there are great number ofhadiths, most of them in the rigorously authenticated (sahih) collections, showing that many of the prophetic Companions initiated new acts, forms of invocation (dhikr), supplications (du'a'), and so on, that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had never previously done or ordered to be done.
Rather, the Companions did them because of their inference and conviction that such acts were of the good that Islam and the Prophet of Islam came with and in general terms urged the like of be done, in accordance with the word of Allah Most High, ""And do the good, that haply you may succeed"" (Koran 22:77), and the hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""He who inaugurates a good sunna in Islam earns the reward of it and of all who pcrform it after him without diminishing their own rewards in the slightest."" Though the original context of the hadith was giving charity, the interpretive principle established by the scholarly consensus (def: b7) ofspecialists in fundamentals of Sacred Law is that the point of primary texts lies in the generality of their lexical significance, not the specificity of their historical context, without this implying that just anyone may make provisions in the Sacred Law, for Islam is defined by principles and criteria, such that whatever one initiates as a sunna must be subject to its rules, strictures, and primary textual evi· dence.
From this investigative point of departure, one may observe that many of the prophetic Companions performed various acts through their own personal reasoning (ijtihad), and that the sunna and way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was both to accept those that were acts of worship and good deeds conformable with what the Sacred Law had established and not in conflict with it; and to reject those which were otherwise.
This was his sunna and way, upon which his caJiphal successors and Companions proceeded, and from which Islamic scholars (Allah be well pleased with them) have established the rule that any new matter must be judged according to the principles and primary texts of Sacred Law: whatever is attested to by the law as being good is acknowledged as good, and whatever is attested to by the law as being a contravention and bad is rejected as a blameworthy innovation (bid'a).
They sometimes term the former a good innovation (bid'a hasana) in view of it lexically being termed an innovation, but legally speaking it is not really an innovation but rather an inferable sunna as long as the primary texts of the Sacred Law attest to its being acceptable.
We now turn to the primary textual evidence previously alluded to concerning the acts of the Companions and how the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) responded to them:
(1) Bukhari and Muslim relate from Abu Hurayra (Allah be well pleased with him) that at the dawn prayer the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Bilal, ""Bilal, tell me which of your acts in Islam you are most hopeful about, for I have heard the footfall of your sandals in paradise,"" and he replied, ""Lhave done nothing I am more hopeful about than the fact that I do not perform ablution at any time of the night or day without praying with that ablution whatever has been destined for me to pray."" Ibn Hajar
Asqalani says in Fath al-Bari that ""the hadith shows it is permissible to use personal reasoning (ijtihad) in choosing times for acts of worship, for Bital reached the conclusions he mentioned by his own inference, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed him therein."" Similar to this is the hadith in Bukhari about Khubayb (A: who asked to pray two rak'as before being executed by idolators in Mecca), who was the first to establish the sunna of two rak'as for those who are steadfast in""going to their death
These hadiths are explicit evidence that Bilal and Khubayb used their own personal reasoning (ijtihad) in hoosing the times of acts of worship, without any previous command or precedent from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) other than the general demand to perform the prayer.
(2) Bukhari and Muslim relate that Rifa'a ibn Rafi' said, ""When we were praying behind the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and he raised his head from bowing and said, 'Allah hears whoever praises Him,' a man behind him said, 'Our Lord, Yours is the praise, abundantly, wholesomely, and blessedly therein.' When he rose to leave, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) asked who said it, and when the man replied that it was he, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'I saw thirtyodd angels each striving to be the one to write it.' "" Ibn Hajar says in Fath al-Bari that the hadith ""indicates the permissibility of initiating new expressions of dhikr in the prayer other than the ones related through hadith texts, as long as they do not contradict those conveyed by the hadith [n: since the above words were a mere enhancement and addendum to the known, sunna dhikr]."" (3) Bukhari relates from 'A'isha (Allah be well pleased with her) that ""the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) dispatched a man at the head of a military expedition who recited the Koran for his companions at prayer, finishing each recital with al-Ikhlas (Koran 112)
When they returned, they mentioned this to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who told them, 'Ask him why he does this,' and when they asked him, the man replied, 'Because it describes the All-merciful, and I love to recite it.' The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to them, 'Tell him Allah loves him.' "" In spite of this, we do not know of any scholar who holds that doing the above is recommended, for the acts the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to do regularly are superior, though his confirming the like of this illustrates his Sunna regarding his acceptance of various forms of obedience and acts of worship, and shows he did not consider the like of this to be a reprehensible innovation (bid'a), as do the bigots who vie with each other to be the first to brand acts as innovation and misguidance
Further, it will be noticed that all the preceding hadiths are about the prayer, which is the most important of bodily acts of worship, and of which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said , ""Pray as you have seen me pray,"" despite which he accepted the above examples of personal reasoning because they did not depart from the form defined by the Lawgiver, for every limit must be observed, while there is latitude in everything besides, as long as it is within the general category of being called for by Sacred Law.
This is the sunna ofthe Prophet and his way (Allah bless him and give him peace) and is as clear as can be
Islamic scholars infer from it that every act for which there is evidence in Sacred Law that it is called for and which does not oppose an unequivocal primary text or entail harmful consequences is not included in the category of reprehensible innovation (bid'a), but rather is of the sunna, even if there should exist something whose performance is superior to it.
(4) Bukhari relates from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that a band of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) departed on one of their journeys, alighting at the encampment of some desert Arabs whom they asked to be their hosts, but who refused to have them as guests
The leader of the encampment was stung by a scorpian, and his followers tried everything to cure him, and when all had failed, one said, ""If you'd approach the group camped near you, one of them might have something
"" So they came to them and said, ""0 band of men, our leader has been stung and we've tried everything.
Do any of you have something for it?"" and one of them replied, ""Yes, by Allah, I recite healing words [ruqya, def: wI7] over people, but by Allah, we asked you to be our hosts and you refused, so I will not recite anything unless you give us a fee."" They then agreed upon a herd of sheep, so the man went and began spitting and reciting the Fatiha over the victim until he gQt up and walked as if he were a camel released from its hobble, nothing the matter with him
They paid the agreed upon fee, which some of the Companions wanted to divide up, but the man who had done the reciting told them, ""Do not do so until we reach the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and tell him what has happened, to see what he may order us to do."" They came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and told him what had occurred, and he said, ""How did you know it was of the words which heal\ You were right
Divide up the herd and give me a share
"" The hadith is explicit that the Companion had no previous knowledge that reciting the Fatiha to heal (ruqya) was countenanced by Sacred Law, but rather did so because of his own personal reasoning (ijtihad), and since it did not contravene anything that had been legislated, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed him therein because it was of his sunna and way to accept and confirm what contained good and did not entail harm, even if it did not proceed from the acts of the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace) as a definitive precedent.
(5) Bukhari relates from Abu Sa'id alKhudri that one man heard another reciting alIkhlas (Koran 112) over and over again, so when morning'came he went to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and sarcastically mentioned it to him
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""By Him in whose hand is my soul, it equals one-third of the Koran."" Daraqutni recorded another version of this hadith in which the man said, ""J have a neighbor who prays at night and does not recite anything but alIkhlas."" The hadith shows that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed the person's restricting himself to this sura while praying at night, despite its not being what the Prophet himself did (Allah bless him and give him peace), for though the Prophet's practice of reciting from the whole Koran was superior, the man's act was within the general parameters of the sunna and there was nothing blamewort!1y about it in any case.
(6) Ahmad and Ibn Hibban relate from 'Abdullah ibn Burayda that his father said, ""I entered the mosque with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), where a man was at prayer, supplicating: '0 Allah, I ask You by the fact that I testify You are Allah, there is no god but You, the One, the Ultimate, who did not beget and was not begotten, and to whom none is equal; and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'By Him in whose hand is my soul, he has asked Allah by His greatest name, which if He is asked by it He gives, and if supplicated He answers
' "" It is plain that this supplication came spontaneously from the Companion, and since it conformed to what the Sacred Law calls for, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed it with the highest degree of approbation and acceptance, while it is not known that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had ever taught it to him (Adilla Ahl al-Sunna wa-alJama'a (y119), 119-33).
COMMENTARY ON THE HADITH""'EVERY INNOVATION IS MISGUIDANCE""' The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "" ..
Beware of matters newly begun, for every innovation is misguidance."" Beware of matters newly begun (Muhammad lurdani:) meaning, ""Distance yourselves and be wary of matters newly innovated that did not previously exist,"" i.e
things invented in Islam that contravene the Sacred Law, for every innovation is misguidance meaning that every innovation is the opposite of the truth, i.e
falsehood, a hadith that has been related elsewhere as:
for every newly begun matter is innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell meaning that everyone who is misguided, whether through himself or by following another, is in hell, the hadith referring to matters that are not good innovations with a basis in Sacred Law.
It has been stated (A: by 'Izz ibn 'Abd ai-Salam) that innovations (bid'a) fall under the five headings of the Sacred Law (n: i.e
the obligatory, unlawful, recommended, offensive, and permissible ):
(1) The first category comprises innovations that are obligatory, such as recording the Koran and laws of Islam in writing when it was feared that something might be lost from them; the study of the disciplines of Arabic that are necessary to understand the Koran and sunna such as grammar, word declension, and lexicography; hadith classification to distingUish between genuine and spurious prophetic traditions; and thephilosophical refutations of arguments advanced by the Mu'tazilites (def: w6.4) and the like.
(2) The second category is that of unlawful innovations such as non-Islamic taxes and levies (dis: p32), giving positions of authority in Sacred Law to those unfit for them, and devoting one's time to learning the beliefs of heretical sects that contravene the tenets of faith (def: vl-2) of Ahl al-Sunna.
(3) The third category consists of recommended innovations such as building hostels and schools of Sacred Law, recording the research of Islamic schools of legal thought, writing books on beneficial subjects
extensive research into fundamentals and particular applications of Sacred Law, in-depth studies of Arabic linguistics, the reciting of wirds (def: w20) by those with a Sufi path (A: or circles of dhikrin which the movement of the participants increases their remembrance of Allah), and commemorating the birth (mawlid, dis: w58) of the prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) and wearing one's best and rejoicing at it, (4) The fourth category includes innovations that are offensive, such as embellishing mosques, decorating the Koran, and having a backup man (muballigh) loudly repeat the spoken Allahu Akbar ofthe imam when the latter's voice is already clearly audible to those praying behind him.
(5) The fifth category is that of innovations that are permissible, such as sifting flour, using spoons, and having more enjoyable food, drink, and housing.
(al-Jawahir al-lu'lu'iyya fi sharh al-Arba'in alNawawiyya (y68), 220-21)
(' Ahdullah Muhammad Ohimari:) In his al-Qawa'id al-kubra, 'Izz ibn 'Abd ai-Salam classifies innovations (bid'a), according to their benefit, harm, or indifference, into the five categories of rulings: the obligatory, recommended, unlawful, offensive, and permissible;
giving examples of each and mentioning the principles of Sacred Law that verify his classification.
His words on the subject display his keen insight and comprehensive knowledge of both the principles of jurisprudence and the human advantages and disadvantages in view of which the Lawgiver has established the rulings of Sacred Law.
Because his classification of innovation (bid'a) was established on a firm basis in Islamic jurisprudence and legal principles, it was confirmed by Imam Nawawi, Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani, and the vast majority of Islamic scholars, who received his words with acceptance and viewed it , obligatory to apply them to the new events and contingencies that occur with the changing times and the peoples who live in them
One may not support the denial of his classification by clinging to the hadith ""Every innovation is misguidance,"" because the only form of innovation that is without exception misguidance is that concerning tenets offaith, like the innovations ofthe Mu'tazilites, Qadarites, Murji'ites, and so on, that contradicted the beliefs of the early Muslims
This is the innovation of misguidance because it is harmful and devoid of benefit
As for innovation in works, meaning the occurrence of an act connected with worship or something else that did not exist in the first century of Islam, it must necessarily be judged according to the five categories mentioned by 'Izz ibn 'Abd ai-Salam
To claim that such innovation is misguidance without further qualification is simply not applicable to it, for new tpings are among the exigencies brought into being by the passage of time and generations, and nothing that is new lacks a ruling of Allah Most High that is applicable to it, whether explicitly mentioned in primary texts, or inferable from them in some way
The only reason that Islamic law can be valid for every time and place and be the consummate and most perfect of all divine laws is because it comprises general methodological principles and universal criteria, together with the ability its scholars have been endowed with to understand its primary texts, the knowledge of types of analogy and parallelism, and the other excellences that characterize it
Were we to rule that every new act that has come into being after the firs.t century of Islam is an innovation of misguidance without considering whether it entails benefit or harm, it would invalidate a large share of the fundamental bases of Sacred Law as well as those rulings established by analogical reasoning, and would narrow and limit the Sacred Law's vast and comprehensive scope (Adilla Ahl a[-Sunna wa al-Jama'a (y1l9), 145-47).
(Nawawi:) Muslim orthodoxy affirms the existence of miracles vouchsafed to the friends of Allah (awliya', def: w33) , and that they occur and exist throughout aU eras of history ,as is attested to 'by both rational evidence and the explicit texts of verses of the Holy Koran and numerous prophetic hadiths
As for the Koranic verses, they include:
(1) the word of Allah Most High in the story of Maryam, "" 'Shake the trunk of the palm tree towards you, and it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you' "" (Koran 19:25), while Maryam, by scholarly consensus, was not a prophet (n: Qurtubi says, ""By the word 'shake,' Allah ordered her to jar the withered palm trunk, that she might behold another of His miracles in reviving the lifeless tree"" (al-Jami' Ji ahkam alQur'an (y117), 11.94));
(2) ""Every time Zakariyya entered the Sanctuary, he found provision with her
He said, '0 Maryam, from whence has this come to you?' And she said, 'It is from AUah' "" (Koran 3:37) (n: Qurtubi says, ""When Zakariyya used to enter where she was, he would find the fruits of wintertime with her in summer, and the fruits of summertime in winter, so he asked her, '0 Maryam, from whence has this come to you?' And she said, 'It is from Allah' "" (al-Jami' Ii ahkam al-Qur'an (y117),4.71));
(3) from the story of Sulayman's companion (N: who ""possessed knowledge of the Book,"" and instantly brought from afar the throne of the Queen of Sheba to Sulayman (upon whom be peace)), "" ..
'I will bring it to you before your glance returns to yourself"" (Koran 27:40) (n: Qurtubi says, ""According to most Koranic commentators, 'he who possessed knowledge of the Book' was Asuf ibn Barkhiya of the Israelites, a siddiq (lit
""one of great faith"") who knew the greatest name of Allah, which if He is asked by it He gives, and if supplicated He answers (al-Jami' Ii ahkam al-Qur'an (y117), 13.2(4));
(4) and finally, all the miraculous events that took place in the story of the People of the Cave (Koran 18), who by scholarly consensus were not prophets.
As for hadiths that furnish evidence of miracles, there are many, such as:
(1) the hadith of the three people who took shelter in a cave, and when a great stone sealed off its entrance, each in turn made supplication to Allah, and the stone was moved aside for them, a hadith recorded in the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim;
(2) and the famous hadith recorded by Bukhari and others about the story of Khubayb alAnsari (Allah be well pleased with him), a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), of whom BintHarithsaid: ""By Allah, I never saw a better prisoner than Khubayb
By Allah, one day I found him eating from a bunch of grapes in his hand, though he was manacled in irons and there was no fruit in all of Mecca."" The hadiths, narratives of the Companions, and accounts of the early and later Muslims on this subject are beyond number, and there is a sufficiency in those we have just mentioned (Bustan al' an/in (y104) , 142-54).
KINDS OF MIRACLES (Ibrahim Bajuri:) An inimitable prophetic miracle (mu'jiza) is an event contravening natural laws that appears at the hands of someone who claims to be a prophet and is challenged by those who deny this, such that the deniers are unable to perform the like of it
Such inimitable miracles are distinguished from:
(1) miracles of divine favor (karamat) which appear at the hands of servants of manifest righteousness (N: who are not prophets, as opposed to the above);
(2) miracles of provender (ma'una) (N: such as food being miraculously increased to feed a multitude), which appear at the hands of ordinary people to save them from hardship;
(3) miracles of delusion (istidraj), which consist of supernatural events that appear at the hands of an unrighteous person as a manifestation of Allah's intention to deceive him and lead him further astray;
(4) miracles of humiliation (ihana), which are supernatural events that appear at the hands of someone to show the falsity of his claims, as happened to (N: the false prophet) Musaylima the Liar, who spat in the eye of a one-eyed man to restore his sight, and the man's good eye went blind;
(5) miracles portending a prophetic mission (irhas), which occur before
prophethood or messengerhood to establish the way for it, such as the cloud that gave shade to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) (N: in his youth, moving as he did and stopping as he did, while he was journeying with a caravan to Syria) before his prophetic mission;
(6) and sorcery (sihr) and also stage magic (sha'badha), which is accomplished by sleight of hand, making the illusory seem real.
(Sharh lawhara al-tawhid al-musamma Tuhfa aImurid (y24) , 133)
(A:) To hold that things have properties that cause benefit or harm independently of the will of Allah is unbelief (kufr), whether such properties are considered natural or supernatural
But the contention of certain people that showing veneration (ta'zim) for the righteous or that obtaining blessings (tabarruk) through them or their effects constitutes worship of them or associating others with Allah (shirk) is not supportable by the prophetic sunna, which attests to the contrary, as maybe seen from the following hadiths:
(1) Bukhari relates that 'Uthman ibn 'Abdullah said: ""My wife sent me to Umm Salama with a cup of water [here the subnarrator Isra'il closed three fingers to show its size] in which to dip a lock containing some of the Prophet's hair (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Whenever a person was suffering from the evil eye or an illness, they would send her a vessel of water [A:
which Umm Salama would dip the hair in, for treating the ill by their drinking it or washing with it]
I looked into the metal bell [N: holding the lock of hair 1 and saw some red hairs
"" (2) Bukhari relates from Abu Musa that ""the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) called for a vessel of water, washed his hands and face in it, spat a mouthful of water back into it and then said to Abu Musa and Bilal, 'Drink from it and pour the rest over your faces and chests.' "" (3) Bukhari relates from Mahmud ibn Rabi' that ""when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) performed his ablution, the Companions almost fought over the excess water."" The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would never have permitted the like of this if there were any suspicion of associating partners with Allah (shirk) in it
In each of the above hadiths and others, there is a clear basis for the legal validity of obtaining blessings through the effects of the righteous (tabarruk), as it was done with the Prophet's consent and wish by the Companions, this being the reason that Muslims after them have also done so
And Allah knows best.
*
DECEASED (TALQIN) (from g5.6(1))
(N:) Instructing the deceased (talqin) is when a Muslim sits beside the grave of his fellow Muslim after burial to speak to him, reminding him of the Testification of Faith ""There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,"" and certain other matters of belief, such as that death is real, paradise is real, hell is real, and that Allah shall raise up those who are in their graves-and praying that the deceased will prove steadfast when the two angels question him
It does not have a particular form, but rather anything that accomplishes the above is called ""instructing the deceased."" The following evidence may be adduced for its validity in Sacred Law:
(1) The rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) ordered that the bodies of the idolators slain on the day of Badr be thrown into a well whose interior was uncased with stones, then he approached the well and began calling the unbelievers by their names and fathers' names, saying: ""0 So-and-so son of So-and-so, and Soand- so son of So-and-so: it would have been easier had you obeyed Allah and His messenger
We have found what our Lord promised to be true;
have you found what your Lord promised to be true?"" To which 'Umar said, ""0 Messenger of Allah, why speak to lifeless bodies?"" And he replied, ""By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, you do not hear my words better than they do."" (2) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give bim peace) said:
""When a servant is laid in his grave and his friends have turned from him and he hears the footfalls of their sandals, two angels come to him, sit him upright, and ask him, 'What were you wont to say of this man Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace)?' The believer will answer, 'I testify that he is the slave of Allah and His messenger,' and it will be said, 'Look at your place in hell, Allah has changed it for a place in paradise,' and the man will behold both of them ...
"" (3) 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (Allah be well pleased with him) relates that when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to finish burying someone, he would stand by the grave and say, ""All of you, ask Allah to forgive your brother and make him steadfast, for he is now being asked
"" (4) Abu Umama said, ""When I die, do with me as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) ordered us, saying, 'When one of your brothers dies and you have smoothed over the earth upon his grave, let one of you stand at the head of the grave and say, ""0 So-and-so son of Soand- so [n: the latter ""So-and-so"" is feminine, naming the deceased's motherl""-for he will hear, though he cannot reply-and then say, ""0 So-and-so son of So-and-so,"" and he will sit upright; and then say, ""0 So-and-so son of Soand- so,"" and he will say, ""Direct me, Allah have mercy on you,"" though you will not hear it, but should say, ""Remember the creed upon which you departed from this world, the testification that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His slave and messenger, and that you accepted Allah as your Lord, Islam as your religion, Muhammad as your prophet, and the Koran as your exemplar."" For then the two angels Munkar and Nakir will take each other's hand and say, ""Let us go, what is there to keep us beside someone who has been instructed how to make his plea?"" , ,
A man said, '0 Messenger of Allah, what if one does not know the name of his mother?' and he answered, 'Then one should mention his descent from his mother Eve, saying, ""0 So-and-so son of Eve ..
"" , "" Tabarani related this hadith in his al-Mu'jam alkabir, and Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani has said that ""its chain of transmission is sound"" (Talkhis al-habir fi takhrij ahadith al-Rafti al-kabir (yI5), 2.143).
Some scholars have said that this hadith is not well authenticated (da'if), while others have gone to the extreme of calling it a forgery.
DISCUSSION OF THE EVIDENCE The first three ofthe above hadiths, all of them rigorously authenticated (sahih), show that:
(1) a dead person hears the words of a living person speaking to him and even the sounds of movement around him;
(2) the dead are questioned in their graves;
(3) and that it is legally valid after burial for a living person to ask Allah to forgive the deceased and make him steadfast for the questioning of the two angels, As for the fourth hadith, scholars have felt comfortable with it, saying that if the deceased can hear, we should let him hear these words which he is in the direst need of in such circumstances, and even if the hadith that has conveyed them is not well authenticated, its content is valid and true.
The foregoing is what has been said about instructing the deceased (talqin), so whoever does it cannot be blamed, since they have something of a case for it; and whoever does not cannot be blamed, because they do not consider the case sufficient.
In any event, we should be anxious to promote love and brotherhood between Muslims, and not divide the ranks with questions like this, for the important thing is our belief in the oneness of Allah, and the unity of the Islamic Community.
ALLAH (AWLIYA') (from g5.7(4))
Allah Most High says:
* ""Verily the friends of Allah, no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they sorrow, those who believe and are godfearing, Great tidings are theirs in this life and the world to come, There is no changing the words of Allah, that is the supreme triumph"" (Koran 10:62-64).
(n:) The following rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith has been translated below with two commentaries, one by 'Abd al-Ra'uf Munawi (M:) and the other by Muhammad ibn 'Allan Bakri (B:), The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""Allah Most High says: 'He who is hostile to a friend (waH) of Mine I declare war against
My slave approaches Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory for him, and My slave keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him
And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he seizes, and his foot with which he walks
If he asks Me, I will surely give to him, and ifhe seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him.' "" He who is hostile to a friend (wali) of Mine (M: friend meaning the knower of Allah ('arif billah) who is constant in obedience to Him and sincere in his acts of worship) (B: that is, he who is close to Allah by his devotion to Him through obeying His commands and shunning the acts He has forbidden) I declare war against (M: I inform him that I shall make war upon him, meaning that Allah will deal with him as one at war does, namely, with theophanies against him of manifestations of omnipotent force and majesty, this being the ultimate threat
The words hostile to a friend (wali) mean hostile to him for being a friend (waH), not just any hostility whatever.
It excludes such things as taking him to court to have him fulfill an obligation
Rather, hostility to him for being a friend of Allah is to deny it out of mere obstinacy or envy, or to disparage or abuse him, and similar kinds of ill-treatment
And when the peril of being hostile toward such a person is appreciated, the reward for friendship with him may likewise be inferred) (B: I declare war against means I shall fight this enemy for him, i.e
destroy him
And this is a very severe threat for opposing or having enmity towards someone Allah loves
Too, the affirmation of Allah's fighting the enemies of His friends entails the affirmation of His friendship for those who befriend them).
My slave approaches Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory for him (B: meaning the performance of what I have made obligatory for him, whether individually or communally
The obligatory is more beloved to Allah than voluntary devotions because it is more perfect, since the command to do it is absolute, implying a reward for its performance and punishment for its nonperformance, as opposed to voluntary devotions, whose nonperformance is unpunished, and which, it is said, amount to but one-seventieth of the value of an obligatory act), and My slave keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him
And when I love him
I am his hearing (B: the protector of his hearing) with which he hears (B: meaning He who keeps it from being used to hear what is not permissible to listen to, such as slander, talebearing, and the like), his sight with which he sees (B: safeguarding it from what is unlawful to look at), his hand with which he seizes (B: so that he takes only what is lawful), and his foot with which he walks (B: so that he walks only to what is permitted) (M: in summary, whoever draws near to Allah through what is obligatory; and then through voluntary works, Allah draws him nearer and elevates him from the level of true faith (iman) to the level of the perfection of faith (ihsan, dis: u4) such that the knowledge in his heart becomes visible to the eye of his spiritual perception
To fill one's heart with knowledge of Allah effaces what is other than Him, so that one speaks not except of Him, moves not save at His behest, and if one looks, it is through Him, and if one seizes, it is through Him
And this is the consummate awareness of the oneness of Allah) (B: the consequence of which is the preservation of the individual's whole person, so that he forsakes selfish desire and is wholly absorbed in obedience
Another interpretive possibility is that the hadith is a metaphor for Allah's help and assistance, as if Allah Most High, figuratively speaking, were to play the role of the senses with which the individual perceives and the limbs he relies on.
A variant has the addendum:)
so that through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he seizes, and through Me he walks (M: concerning which, the sheikhs of the Sufis (Allah Most High be well pleased with them) have had disclosures of the hidden and experiential indications that would make crumbled bones quake
But these are of no use save to those who tread their path and come to know the wellspring from which they drink, as opposed to those who do not, and .are not safe from grave error and falling into the abyss of believing that Allah can indwell in created things (hulul, dis: w7.1), or that other than Him can unite with Him (ittihad, w7.2) (B: this then, and those who fancy that other than Allah can unite with Him or that Allah can indwell in created things claim that the import of the hadith is not figurative but literal, and that Allah, far exalted above what they say, actually permeates or unifies with one, may Allah render them even viler).
If he asks Me, I will surely give to him (M: what he asks, as happened to many of the early Muslims), and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surelyproteet him (M: from what he fears, this being the way of a lover with his beloved
His unquestionable promise, solemnified by the form of the oath (n: in the words ""I will surely""), entails that whoever draws near to Him through the above will'not have his prayer (du'a') rejected).
(Dalil al-falihin Ii turuq Riyad al-salihin (y25) , 3.344-46, and Fayd ai-Qadir sharh aI-Jami' alsaghir (y91), 2.240-41) *
(Nawawi:) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""I had forbidden you to visit graves, but now visit them ...
"" This is one of the hadiths that comprise both the ruling that supersedes a previously valid ruling and the one superseded
It explicitly states that the prohibition of men visiting graves has been lifted
Scholars unanimously concur that visiting them is sunna for men
As for women, there is dis- agreement among our colleagues about them, those who hold that women may not visit them saying that women are not intended by an address to men (n: the Arabic male plural imperative zuruha) (N: though the sounder position in the Shafi'i school is that woman may visit graves as long as it does not entail blameworthy things such as displays of grief, mixing of men and women, and the like
The hadiths prohibiting women from visiting graves are interpreted by Shafi'i scholars as applicable to the time before the prohibition was lifted by the above hadith) (Sahih Muslim bi Sharh al-Nawawi (y93), 7.46-47).
*
THE DECEASED (from gS.8, end)
(Muhammad Makhluf:) As for reciting the Koran for the deceased, whether at his grave or far from it, scholars disagree as to whether the reward for it reaches him
The scholarly majority hold that it does reach him, and this is the truth, especially if the reciter afterwards donates the reward of what he has read to the deceased
In such a case the reciter also receives the reward for his recital without this diminishing anything from the reward of the deceased (Fatawa shar'iyya wa buhuth Islamiyya (y79), 2.303).
(N:) The position of Hanafis and Hanbalis is that a Muslim is entitled to donate the reward of any kind of worship he performs to whomever he wishes of the Muslim dead
As for Shafi""is and Malikis, they distinguish between acts that are valid to perform in another's stead and those that are not, the former being valid to donate the reward oftothe deceased, while the latter are not, though the later scholars of theShafi'is and Malikis incline toward the validity of donating the reward for any kind of worship whatever to the dead
The Hanafis and Hanbalis adduce the following evidence to support their position:
(1) Bukhari and Muslim relate that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) sacrificed two rams of predominately white color, one for himself and the other for his Community (Umma)
The evidence therein is that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) offered sacrifice animals and donated the reward to his Community, which includes both the living and the dead, both those who existed at his time and those who came after.
(2) Anas relates that he said to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): ""0 Messenger of Allah, we give in charity, perform the pilgrimage, and supplicate for our dead
Does this reach them?"" He replied, ""Yes, indeed it reaches them, and they rejoice thereat just as one of you rejoices at the gift of a tray of food."" (3) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Whoever dies with an obligatory fast to perform, his responsible family member may fast it in his stead."" (4) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Recite YaSin [Koran 36] over your dead."" (5) Allah Mighty and Majestic has informed us that the angels ask forgiveness for believers, as He says, ""The angels glorify their Lord with praise and ask forgiveness for those on earth"" (Koran 42:5), and He praises believers who ask forgiveness for their brethren, by saying, "" ..
And those who come after them say, 'Lord, forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in faith' "" (Koran 59:10).
(6) And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to supplicate for those he performed the funeral prayer over-the evidence in all of the above being that supplications (du'a') are an act of worship, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Supplication is worship,"" while the above texts clearly show that supplications benefit others besides the one who makes them, even when the other does not ask for the supplication to be made for him.
The foregoing provides evidence that the deceased benefits from all types of worship, whether monetary or physical, since fasting, pilgrimage, supplications, and asking forgiveness are all physical acts of worship, and Allah Most High conveys the benefit of them to the deceased-and so it must also be with other works (Qada' al' ibadat wa al-niyabafiha (y114) , 400(403).
*
ACCEPTING ZAKAT (from h8.8(2))
(Ghazali:) If someone attammg knowledge of Sacred Law would be prevented from doing so if he were to engage in earning a living, he is considered ""poor"" (N: in respect to the permissibility of his accepting zakat), and his ability to earn is not taken into consideration
But if he is merely a devotee whose gaining a livelihood would busy him from his religious devotions and schedule of supererogatory worship, then he must go earn a living, for earning is more important than devotions.
...
The seeond category consists of those who are short of money (miskin), i.e
whose income does not cover their expenses
Someone might possess a thousand dirhams and be ""short of money,"" while another might possess nothing but an axe and a rope and be self-sufficient
The modest lodgings one lives in and the clothes that cover one
to the degree required by one's condition, do not negate one's being short of money
Nor do household furnishings, meaning those which one needs and are suitable for one
Nor does possessing books of law negate one's being short of money (n: if one is a student of Sacred Law accepting zakat, as above), for if one owned nothing but books, one would not be obligated to pay the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr (dis: h7.1), since books are legally considered as clothing and furnishings are, in that one needs them
One should, however, take the way of greater precaution in curbing one's need for books
Books are only needed for three purposes: teaching, personal benefit, and reading for entertainment
As for the need of reading for entertainment, it is not considered legally significant, such as with books of poetry, historical chronicles, and similar, which are of no benefit in the hereafter and no use in this life except reading and enjoyment
Such books must be sold to pay what is due when one owes an expiation (dis: O20.4) or the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr,and someone possessing them is not considered short of money
As for the need to teach, if one needs a book to earn a living, as do trainers, teachers, or instructors who wqrk for a salary, such books are the tools of their trade and are not sold to pay the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr, nor are the tools of a tailor or any other professional
Nor are one's books sold if one teaches to fulfill the communal obligation (def: as.1); possessing them does not negate one's being short of money, for this is an important need.
As for personal benefit and learning from books, such as keeping books of medicine to treat oneself or books of pious exhortations to read and take admonition from, if there is a doctor or an exhorter in town, one does not need them, while if there is not, one does
Further, one may not happen to need to read a book except after a time, in which case the period in which one needs it should be stipulated, the most reasonable criterion for which would seem to be that whatever one is not in need of during the course of a year one does not really need, for someone with food in excess of his needs for one day is obliged to pay the zakat of 'Eid al-Fitr, and if we stipulate the need for food as being that of one day, we should consider the need for furnishings and clothing as one year, summer clothing not being sold in winter, for example
Books, clothing, and furnishings would seem to be alike in this
Or someone might have two copies of a book and not need both, such that if he were to say that one is more accurate while the other is of finer quality, so both are needed, we would tell him to be satisfied with the more accurate one and sell the finer, forgoing mere entertainment and lUxury
If one has two books on a subject, one of which is comprehensive and the other abridged, then if personal benefit is the purpose, one should keep the more comprehensive, while if one needs them to teach, one may require both, since each possesses a virtue not found in the other
Similar examples are innumerable and the discipline of jurisprudence cannot cover them all
Rather, the above have been mentioned because of widespread abuse, and to apprise of the merit of the above criterion over others
For it is impossible to deal with all cases, which would entail estimating the amount, number, and kinds of household furnishings and clothes, the spaciousness of a house or lack of it, and so forth, there being no firm limits to such matters
But the legal scholar must use personal reasoning (ijtihad) with respect to them and approximate the criteria that seem likeliest to him, braving the danger of falling into things of doubtful legality, while a godfearing person will take the path that is religiously more precautionary, leaving what causes him doubt for what does not
There are many gray areas between the two clear-cut extremes, and nothing can save one from them except following the way of greater precaution (lhya' 'ulum ai-din (y39), 1.199).
MASTURBATION (from i1.18(9)) *
(N:) Masturbation with one's own hand is unlawful
Imam Shafi'i (Allah be well pleased with him) was asked in connection with masturbation about the word of Allah Most High:
Hoo
those who guard their private parts, save from their wives or [bondwomen] whom their right hands own, for these are not blameworthy.
But whoever seeks beyond that, those are the transgressors"" (Koran 23:5-7), and said that these Koranic verses restrict permissible sex to what is mentioned in them, since the last verse denies that anything besides this is lawful.
w3R.O KEEPING SILENT ALL DAY IS OFFENSIVE (from i1.32) w38.1 (0:) It is offensive for anyone to keep silent the whole day until night when there is no need, as is attested to by the hadith related by Abu Dawud that 'Ali (AUah be well pleased with him) said, ""I have memorized from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) that no one is considered an orphan after puberty and no one may remain silent until nightfall."" And Bukhari relates that Abu Bakr Siddiq (Allah be well pleased with him) said to a woman on hajj who had resolved to keep silent, ""Speak, for this is not permissible but is a practice of the preIslamic period of ignorance."" Rather, one should occupy the tongue with Koran, dhikr, or other acts of obedience performed with the tongue (Fayd ai-flah ai-Malik (y27),1.284).
*
(Muhyiddin ibn al-' Arabi:) Diligently perfornI the night vigil prayer (tahajjud, def: f10.8) every night of the year, and do not neglect to supplicate Allah each night, letting part of your supplication be for forgiveness and well-being in your religion, this-worldly concerns, and the hereafter, for you do not know which night of the year will coincide with Laylat al-Qadr (al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (y55) , 4.486).
(n: Special vocabulary:
* Tawassul: supplicating Allah by means of an intermediary, whether it be a living person, dead person, a good deed, or a name or attribute of Allah Most High.)
(Yusuf Rifa'i:) I here want to convey the position, attested to by compelling legal evidence, of the orthodox majority of Sunni Muslims on the subject of supplicating Allah through an intermediary (tawassul), and so I say (and Allah alone gives success) that since there is no disagreement among scholars that supplicating Allah through an intermediary is in principle legally valid, the discussion of its details merely concerns derived rulings that involve interschool differences, unrelated to questions of belief or unbelief, monotheism or associating partners with Allah (shirk); the sphere ofthe question being limited to permissibility or impermissibility, and its ruling being that it is either lawful or unlawful
There is no difference among groups of Muslims in their consensus on the permissibility of three types of supplicating Allah through an intermediary (tawassul):
(1) tawassul through a living righteous person to Allah Most High, as in the hadith of the blind man with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) as we shall explain;
(2) the tawassul of a living person to Allah Most High through his own good deeds, as in the hadith of the three people trapped in a cave by a great stone, a hadith related by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih;
(3) and the tawassul of a person to Allah Most High through His entity (dhat), names, attributes (dis: w29.2(6)), and so forth.
Since the legality of these types is agreed upon, there is no reason to set forth the evidence for them
The only area of disagreement is supplicating Allah (tawassul) through a righteous dead person
The majority of the orthodox Sunni Community hold that it is lawful, and have supporting hadith evidence, of which we will content ourselves with the Hadith of the Blind Man, since it is the central pivot upon which the discussion turns.
THE HADITH OF THE BLIND MAN Tirmidhi relates, through his chain of narrators from 'Uthman ibn Hunayf, that a blind man came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and said, ""I've been afflicted in my eyesight, so please pray to Allah for me."" The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: ""Go make ablution (wudu), perform two rak'as of prayer, and then say:
"" '0 Allah, I ask You and turn to You through my prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy; 0 Muhammad, I seek your intercession with my Lord for the return of my eyesight [and in another version: ""for my need, that it may be fulfilled.
0 Allah, grant him intercession for me""].' "" The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) added, ""And ifthere is some need, do the same
"" Scholars of Sacred Law infer from this hadith the recommended character of the prayer of need, in which someone in need of something from Allah Most High performs such a prayer and then turns to Allah with this supplication together with other suitable supplications, traditional or otherwise, according to the need and how the person feels
The express content of the hadith proves the legal validity of tawassul through a living person (n: as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was alive at the time)
It implicitly proves the validity of tawassul through a deceased one as well, since taw\lssul through a living or dead person is not through a physical body or through a life or death, but rather through the positive meaning (ma'na tayyib) attached to the person in both life and death
The body is but the vehicle that carries that significance, which requires that the person be respected whether alive or dead; for the words ""0 Muhammad"" are an address to someone physically absent-in which state the living and dead are alike-an address to the meaning, dear to Allah, that is connected with his spirit, a meaning that is the ground of tawassul, be it through a living or dead person.
THE HADITH OF THE MAN IN NEED Moreover, Tabarani, in his ai-Mu'jam aisaghir, reports a hadith from 'Uthman ibn Hunayf that a man repeatedly visited 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (Allah be well pleased with him) concerning something he needed, but 'Uthman paid no attention to him or his need
The man met Ibn Hunayf and complained to him about the matter-this beiilg after the death of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and after the caliphates of Abu Bakr and 'Umar--so 'Uthman ibn Hunayf, who was one of the Companions who collected hadiths and were learned in the religion of Allah, said: ""Go to the place of ablution and perform ablution (wudu), then come to the mosque, perform two rak'as of prayer therein, and say, "" '0 Allah, I ask You and turn to You through our prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy; 0 Muhammad, I turn through you to my Lord, that He may fulfill my need,' ""and mention your need
Then come so that I can go with you [N: to the caliph 'Uthman]."" So the man left and did as he had been told, then went to the door of 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (Allah be well pleased with him), and the doorman came, took him by the hand, brought him to 'Uthman ibn 'Affan and seated him next to him on a cushion.
'Uthman asked, ""What do you need?"" and the man mentioned what he wanted, and 'Uthman accomplished it for him and then said, ""I hadn't remembered your need until just now,"" adding, ""Whenever you need something, just mention it."" Then the man departed, met 'Uthman ibn Hunayf, and said to him, ""May Allah reward you!
He didn't see to my need or pay any attention to me until you spoke with him."" 'Uthman ibn Hunayf replie.d, ""By Allah, I didn't speak to him, but I have seen a blind man come to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and complain to him of the loss of his eyesight
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'Can you not bear it?' and the man replied .
'0 Messenger of Allah, I do not have anyone to lead me around, and it is a great hardship for me.' The Prophet (Allah bless hini and give him peace) told him, 'Go to the place of ablution and perform ablution (wudu), then pray two rak'as of prayer and make these supplications.' "" Ibn Hunayf went on, ""By Allah, we didn't part company or speak long before the man returned to us as if nothing had ever been wrong with him."" This is an explicit, unequivocal text from a prophetic Companion proving the legal validity of tawassul through the dead
The account has been classed as rigorously authenticated (sahih) by Bayhaqi, Mundhiri, and Haythami.
'THE AUTHENTICITY OF 'THE HADITHOF 'THE BLIND MAN Tirmidhi has stated that thehadith of the blind man is ""a hadith that is well or rigorously authenticated but singular, being unknown except through this chain of narrators, from the hadith of Abu Ja'far, who is not Abu Ja'far Khatmi,"" which means that the narrators of this hadith, despite Abu Ja'far being unknown to Tirmidhi, were acceptable to the degree of being well or rigorously authenticated in either case
But scholars before Tirmidhi established that Abu Ja'far, this person unknown to Tirmidhi, was Abu Ja'far Khatmi himself
Ibn Abi Khaythama said, ""The name of this Abu Ja'far, whom Hammad ibn Salama relates from, is 'Umayr ibn Yazid, and he is the Abu Ja'far that Shu'ba relates from,"" and then he related the hadith by the channel of transmission of 'Uthman from Shu'ba from Abu Ja'far.
Ibn Taymiya, after relating the hadith of Tirmidhi, said, ""All scholars say that he is Abu Ja'far Khatmi, and this is correct."" Reflect on this
The hadith master Ibn Hajar notes in Taqrib al-tahdhib that he is Khatmi, and that he is reliable (saduq)
Ibn 'Abd aI-Barr likewise says that he is Khatmi in al-Isti'ab fi rna'rita al-ashab
Moreover, Bayhaqi related the hadith by way of Hakim and confirmed that it was rigorously authenticated (sahih), Hakim having related it by a chain of transmission meeting the standards of Bukhari and Muslim, which the hadith master Dhahabi confirmed, and Shawkani cited as evidence.
Dhahabi and Shawkani, who are they?
The meaning of this is that all the men of the hadith's chain of transmission are known to top Imams of hadith such as Dhahabi (and who is severer than he?), Ibn Hajar (and who is more precise, learned, or painstaking than he?), Hakim, Bayhaqi, Tabarani, Ibn 'Abd aI-Barr, Shawkani, and even Ibn Taymiya
This hadith was recorded by Bukhari in his al- Tarikh al-kabir, by Ibn Majah in his Sun an, where be said it was rigorously authenticated (sahih), by Nasa'i in 'Amal al-yawm wa al-layla, by Abu NU'aym in Ma'rifa al-Sahaba, by Bayhaqi in Dala'i/ al-nubuwwa, by Mundhiri in ai- Targhib wa al-tarhib, by Haythami in Majma' al-zawa'id wa manba' al-fawa'id, by Tabarani in al-Mu'jam ai-kabir, by Ibn Khuzayma in his Sahih, and bv others
Nearly fifteen hadith masters (huffa;, hadith authorities with more than 100,000 hadiths and their chains of transmission by memory) have explicitly stated that this hadith is rigorously authenticated (sahih)
As mentioned above, it has come with a chain of transmission meeting the standards of Bukhari and Muslim, so there is nothing left for a critic to attack or slanderer to disparage concerning the authenticity of the hadith
Consequently, as for the permissibility of supplicating Allah (tawassul) through either a living or dead person, it follows by human reason, scholarship, and sentiment, that there is flexibility in the matter
Whoever wants to can either take tawassul or leave it, without causing trouble or making accusations, since it has been this thoroughly checked (Adilla Ahl ai-Sunna wa aIJama'a (y119), 79-83).
(n:) It is well to review some salient features of the above article, such as:
(1) that there are two hadiths, Tirmidhi's hadith of the blind man and Tabarani's hadith of the man in need to whom 'Uthman ibn Hunayf related the story of the blind man, teaching him the tawassul that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had taught the blind man.
(2) Tirmidhi's hadith is rigorously authenticated (sahih), being the subject of the above il1vestigation of its chain of narrators, the authenticity of which is established beyond a reasonable doubt and attested to by nearly fifteen of the foremost hadith specialists ofIslam
The hadith explicitly proves the validity of suppJieating Allah (tawassul) through a living intermediary, as the Prophet (Allah bless him anrl.give him peace) was alive at the time
The author ofthe article holds that the hadith implicitly shows the validity of supplicating Allah (tawassuI) through a deceased intermediary as well, since:
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told the blind man to go perform ablution (wudu), pray two rak'as, and then make the supplication containing the words, ""0 Muhammad, I seek your intercession with my Lord for the return of my eyesight,"" which is a call upon someone physically absent, a state in which the living and the dead are alike.
Supplicating Allah (tawassul) through a living or deceased intermediary is, in the author's words, ""not tawassul through a physical body, or through a life or death, but rather through the positive meaning attached to the person in both life and death, for the body is but the vehicle that carries that significance."" And perhaps the most telling reason, though the author does not mention it, is that everything the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) ordered to be done during his lifetime was legislation valid for all generations until the end of time unless proven otherwise by a subsequent indication from the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace), the tawassul he taught during his lifetime not requiring anything else to be generalized to any time thereafter.
(3) The authenticity of Tabarani's hadith of the man in need during the caliphate of 'Uthman (Allah be well pleased with him) is not discussed by the article in detail, but deserves consideration, since the hadith explicitly proves the legal validity of supplicating Allah (tawassul) through the deceased, for 'Uthman ibn Hunayf and indeed all the prophetic Companions, by scholarly consensus (ijma'), were legally upright ('udul, dis: w56) , and are above being impugned with teaching someone an act of disobedience, much less idolatry (shirk)
The hadith is rigorously authenticated (sahih), as Tabarani explicitly states in his al-Mu'jam al-saghir (y 131), 1.184
The translator, wishing to verify the matter further, took the hadith with its chain of transmitters tohadith specialist Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut, who after examining it, agreed that it was rigorously authenticated (sahih) as Tabarani indicated, ajudgement which was also confirmed to the translator by the Moroccan hadith specialist Sheikh 'Abdullah Muhammad Ghimari, who characterized the hadith as ""very rigorously authenticated,"" and noted that hadith masters Haythami and Mundhiri had explicitly concurred with Tabarani on its being rigorously authenticated (sahih)
The upshot is that the recommendedness of tawassul to Allah Most High-through the living or the dead-is the position ofthe Shafi'i school, which is why both our author Ibn N aqib at j13 .2, and Imam Nawawi in his al-Adhkar (yl02), 281-82, and al-Majmu' (y108), 8.274, explicitly record that tawassul through the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and asking his intercession are recommended
A final article below by a Hanafi scholar concludes the discussion.
CALLiNG UPON THE RIGHTEOUS
(Muhammad Hamid:) As for calling upon (nida') the righteous (n: when they are physically absent, as in the words ""0 Muhammad"" in the above hadiths), tawassul to Allah Most High through them is permissible, the supplication (du'a') being to Allah Most Glorious, and there is much evidence for its permissibility
Those who call on them intending tawassul cannot be blamed.
As for someone who believes that those called UpOH can cause effects, benefit, or harm, which they create or cause to exist as Allah does, such a person is an idolator who has left Islam (dis:
08.7(17))-Allah be our refuge!
This then, and a certain person has written an article that tawassul to Allah Most High through the righteous is unlawful, while the overwhelming majority of scholars hold it is permissible, and the evidence the writer uses to corroborate his viewpoint is devoid of anything that demonstrates what he is trying to prove
In declaring tawassul permissible, we are not hovering on the brink of idolatry (shirk) or coming anywhere near it, for the conviction that Allah Most High alone has influence over anything, outwardly or inwardly, is a conviction that flows through us like our very lifeblood.
If tawassul were idolatry (shirk), or if there were any suspicion of idolatry in it, the Prophet (Allah Most High bless him and give him peace) would not have taught it to the blind man when the latter asked him to supplicate Allah for him, though in fact he did teach him to make tawassul to Allah through him, And the notion that tawassul is permissible only during the lifetime of the person through whom it is done but not after his death is unsupported by any viable foundation from Sacred Law (Rudud 'ala abatil wa rasa'il al-Shaykh Muhammad ai-Hamid (y44), 2.39).
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(A:) Many contemporary scholars hold it is unlawful to buy, sell, use, or grow tobacco, because of the unlawfulness of consuming what has been proven to be harmful, which is attested to by the word of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), Let there be no harming, nor reCiprocating harm;' a well-authenticated hadith (n: of which Muhammad Jurdani says, ""The ostensive meaning of this hadith is the prohibition of all forms of harmful- .
ness, great or small, since the grammatical indefinite [n: of the words ""harming"" and ""reciprocating harm""] in a negative context indicates generality"" (al-Jawahir al-lu'lu'iyya fi sharh al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyya (y68), 244).)
EVIDENCE OF THEHARMFULNESS OF SMOKING (Richard Doll and R
Peto:) ...
Particularly large and impressive studies have been carried out in the United States (by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute), in Japan (by Hirayama), and in Sweden, and all point to the conclusion that, in countries in which many cigarette smokers have been smoking regularly since early adult life, lung cancer is some 10 to 15 times commoner in regular cigarette smokers than in lifelong non-smokers and up to 40 times commoner in very heavy smokers ....
These observations that smokers were at far greater risk of lung cancer than nonsmokers did not, in themselves, prove that smoke caused the disease, although it was difficult to think of any other way in which such a close quantitative relationship could have been produced; but other observations effectively exclude any alternative [n: emphasis the translator'S]
These include the fact that the relative risk of lung cancer increased with decreasing age of starting to smoke and decreased with the number of years that smoking had been stopped; that the increase in incidence appeared at an appropriate time after the increase in cigarette sales (after due allowance is made for a spurious increase due to improved diagnosis) and with an appropriate lag in time between the increase among men (who started to smoke cigarettes early this century) and that among women (who started about a quarter of a century later); and that there is a general parallelism between the incidence of the disease in different countries and social and religious groups and the corresponding figures for the consumption of cigarettes
(Furthermore, it was found that when extracts of cigarette smoke were applied repeatedly to the skins of laboratory mice many tumours developed.)
(Oxford Textbook of Medicine (y76), 4.61) (n: The foregoing is a statement by competent medical authorities that smoking is harmful to the body.)
(Sulayman Bujayrmi:) Whatever harms the body or mind is unlawful, from which the unlawfulness of the well-known tobacco (dukhan) is known (Tuhfa ai-habib 'ala Sharh ai-Khatib aimusamma bi al-Iqna' fi hall alfaz Abi Shuja' (y6), 4.276).
(A: This is an explicit text (nass) from a Shafi'i scholar that establishes the ruling for smoking in our school
As for the evidence that growing, buying, and selling tobacco is unlawful, it consists in the principle of Sacred Law that whatever leads to the unlawful is itself unlawful
A number of Islamic scholars have explicitly declared the total prohibition of tobacco, among them Hashim alKhatib, 'Ali al-Daqar, Badr ai-Din al-Hasani, Sheikh al-Qalyubi, and Muhammad Hamid
In past centuries, before the harmfulness of tobacco had been scientifically established, some formal legal opinions (fatwas) were given that smoking was merely offensive
In light of what we know today about the harm tobacco causes, such opinions are plainly no longer the reliable position for Jatwa
If uneducated Muslims who follow these opinions may plead ignorance, Islamic scholars, for their part, should fear Allah and remember that there is scholarly consensus that it is not lawful to judge by other than the soundest and most reliable position (dis: w12.2)
Someone with knowledge is obliged to teach people what is closer to Islam.)
(A:) In addition to the fact that they are usurious (riba, def: k3), buying and selling insurance policies are unlawful because of the Prophet's prohibition (Allah bless him and give him peace) of sales in which there is chance or risk (gharar)
Muslim relates from Abu Hurayra that ""The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) prohibited sales of 'whatever a pebble thrown by the seller hits,' and sales in which there is chance or risk (gharar).""
(Nasir al-Motarrizi:) Gharar is chance or risk, meaning it is not known whether it will come to be or not, such as selling fish in the water or birds on the wing
It includes transactions of unknown things, the particulars of which are not fully comprehended by the buyer and seller (alMughrib fi tartib al-Mu'rib (y94), 2.100).
(n;) Urging the permissibility of insurance, one Muslim modernist has written that the very precise statistical data possessed by insurance companies concerning the probabilities of various eventualities makes what they are selling determinately known (ma'lum)
This argument fails when one realizes that statistical data from a group of events yields probability figures that, properly speaking, are a description of the group as a whole, and are only analogically applied to the individual events within it
When generalized to similar groups of events in the future, such probabilities yield commercially useful knowledge about the likelihood of a particular outcome for these future groups
But they cannot and do not tell what the outcome will be for any particular member of the group
in this case the particular insurance policy
Thus
a ""17 percent probability"" that circumstances will enable one to collect such and such an amount on a policy is a mere description of the whole group of previous policy holders in similar circumstances, which does not tell whether one will collect the amount or not
One may collect a certain amount or may not collect it, which is precisely the gharar that is unlawful.
(A:) When one needs a car in a country whose laws force one to have car liability insurance, buying the insurance has effectively become a tax, and is the moral responsibility of the lawmakers, not the person forced to comply.
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AL-HARB) (from k3.0, end)
(Muhammad Hamid:) A formal legal opinion (fa twa) given by the mufti of Dar al' Ulum and his assistant in Deoband, India, states that dealing in interest (riba, def: k3.0(N:)) is permissible between Muslims and non-Muslims in enemy lands (dar al-harb), meaning areas in which the rules of Islam do not exist, such countries not holding its validity or believing in it
This fatwa states that it is permissible for a Muslim to both take interest (riba) and give it, and claims that India is an enemy land (dar al-harb), so there is no objection to dealing in interest there, and it lastly permits Muslims to put their money in the banks of non-Muslims and take interest from them, and likewise permits them to loan the state money for interest
That is a summary of the contents of the fatwa
It bases the permissibility of dealing in interest (riba) with non-Muslims in enemy lands (dar al-harb, def: w43.5) on the opinion of Imams Abu Hanifa and Muhammad ibn Hasan Shaybani, the colleague of Abu Hanifa (Allah Most High have mercy on them)
Without a doubt, this is what the two Imams have explicitly stated, and is the position of the Hanafi school, as conveyed in both its main texts and their commentaries.
Imams Shafi'i and Abu Yusuf, the eoUeague of Abu Hanifa, (Allah Most High have merey on them) eontradiet this opinion
What I, while unqualified to intervene in positions that are differed upon by mujtahid Imams (def: 022.1(d)), would nevertheless like to direet attention to is that the dissenting opinion of Shafi'i and Abu Yusuf is not a feeble viewpoint unsupported by evidenee-by no means is that the ease
Their position on an issue like this deserves to be given its due, so that one ean fully live up to the demands of religion
Nothing aetualizes one's innoeenee like taking reasonable preeautions, and perhaps a look at the evidenee will diet ate doing so.
THE EVIDENCE OF ABU HANIFAAND IMAM MUHAMMAD The evidenee of Abu Hanifa and Muhammad for the permissibility of taking interest (riba) from non-Muslims in enemy lands (dar aI-harb) is the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peaee) having said, ""There is no usury (riba) between the Muslim and the hostile non-Muslim in enemy lands (dar al-harb ),"" sueh that their property is lawful to us in their own lands
It is permissible for a Muslim who is there under a safe-eonduet to take it from them with their approval, unless it is by way of deeeit, whieh is unlawful beeause it violates the safe-eon duet agreement they have effeeted with him that permits him to enter their lands under stipulation that he honor it, it being unlawful for him to violate it.
As for when one of them enters our lands under a safe-eonduet, it is not permissible to deal in interest (riba) with him, for our safe-eonduet agreement with him makes his property inviolable to us, exeept what he transaets in a lawful way free of sin or blame, for the lands are those of Islam.
THE EVIDENCE OFSHAFI'I AND ABU YUSUF Shafi'i and Abu Yusuf hold that hostile non-Muslims in their own lands are like those of them with a safe-conduct agreement in our lands:
just as dealing in interest (riba) with one of them in our lands is not lawful, neither is dealing in it with them in theirs
They say that the above-mentioned hadith is singular (gharib), meaning it has reached us through but one single narrator
Kamal ibn alHumam states in Fath ai-Qadir that Shafi'i relates from Abu Yusuf that Abu Hanifa only held this position because a certain sheikh related from Makhul that ""the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "" 'There is no usury (riba) between enemy non-Muslims,' H[N: Makhul adding,] and I think he said, 'and people who are Muslims.' "" Bayhaqi reports that Shafi'i said, ""This hadith is not authenticated and there is no evidence in it."" The Hanafi Sarakhsi says in ai-Mabsut, ""This hadith is mursal [n: i.e.
reported by one of those (tabi'i) who had personally met and studied under one or more of the prophetic Companions (Sahaba) but not the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace), hadiths reported in the form of quoting the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) without mentioning the name of the Companion who related it directly from him], though Makhul I [n: the tabi'i in this case] is a reliable narrator, and a mursai hadith from someone like him is acceptable as evidence ...
""
(n: Several pages follow, discussing the evidence and ijtihad of Abu Hanifa and Imam Muhammad, as to why they allow:
(a) taking interest (riba), not giving it;
(b) from an enemy non-Muslim, not from a Muslim;
(c) when both parties are in enemy lands (dar al-harb), not when either party or both are in Muslim lands.)
...
Thus, what the Jatwa of the mufti of Dar al-'Ulum ofDeoband says about the permissibility of the Muslim giving interest (riba) to non-Muslims in enemy lands (dar al-harb) being like the permissibility of taking it from them, is wrong and unacceptable because it flatly contradicts the authoritatively transmitted position of the Hanafi school, as Imam Sarakhsi has explicitly stated in al-Sayr al-kabir wa sharhuhu, for the recorded position of the Hanafi school is for the permissibility of taking it from them only, not the permissibility of giving it to them ....
This then, and it should be noted that Muslims in enemy lands (dar al-harb) dealing with each other in interest (riba) is not lawful, even though the above-mentioned fatwa does not direct itself to the question ....
As for the fatwa's permitting Muslims to put their money in non-Muslims' banks for interest (riba), and to loan the state money for interest, this could only be done conformably with the opinion of Abu Hanifa and Imam Muhammad if the Muslim were in enemy lands (dar al-harb) and put his money in the enemy non-Muslims' bank there, and similarly with loaning the state money for interest
As for doing it in Muslim lands, it is not permissible, no matter whether the bank is located in Muslim lands or enemy lands, for the Muslim is forbidden to do such a thing in Muslim countries because Islam's rulings apply there, and scholars stipulate for the permissibility of his dealing in interest (rib a ) that firstly it be with non-Muslims, and secondly in enemy lands, so the prohibition applies in either case.
WHAT 1S MEANT BY ""ENEMY LANDS""(DAR AL-HARB) As for the fatwa's claim that India is an enemy land (dar al-harb), it is not in its generality true
Because areas where Muslims reside and there is a remnant of Islam's rules-even if this is limited to marriages and what pertains to them, for example-are considered Muslim lands
A Muslim land does not become an enemy land except under three conditions:
(a) that the security of Muslims through their leader no longer exists and the security of nonMuslims has taken its place;
(b) that they have been surrounded on all sides such that it is impossible for the aid of Muslims to reach them;
(c) and that not a single one of Islam's rules remains therein (N: which effectively means that none of the lands that Islam has spread to and in which something of it remains can be considered an enemy land
As for other countries, enemy lands (dar al-harb, lit, ""abode of war"") consist of those with whom the Muslim eountries (dar alIslam) are at a state of war) (n: in the light of which, it is clear that there is virtually no country on the face of the earth where a Muslim has an excuse to behave aifferently than he would in an Islamic country, whether in his commercial or other dealings).
(Rudud 'ala abatil wa rasa'il al-Shaykh Muhammad ai-Hamid (y44) , 2.267-79)
PROTECTING LENDERS FROMLOSS DUE TO INFLATION (n:) Muhammad Amin ibn 'Abidin records that if one borrows ten fils (a monetary unit) which then lose all their value (kasada), one is not obliged.
according to Abu Hanifa, to repay anything but the same amount of them
Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad, however, hold that one is obliged to repay their value (A: as it stood at the time of the loan) in silver (A: and since it is a financial obligation, the lender is entitled to accept other than silver in its place, such as the silver's value in currency at the market prices current on the day of repayment) (Hashiyat radd al-muhtar 'ala al-Durr al-mukhtar sharh Tanwir al-absar (y47), 5.162)
As for a lawful alternative to interest for protecting the lender from losing money because of simple inflation (which in contradistinction to the above is a mere decrease in the value of currency)
the best means would seem to be to initially loan a specific amount of gold or silver, and then repay the loan with the same amount of gold or silver, or its value in currency at the market prices current on the day of repayment, if the lender will accept this in place of it, as in (A:)
above.
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(Muhammad Amin ibn 'Abidin:)
(Question:) ""So-and-so bequeathed [wasiyya, def: Ll.O(A:)] all of his property to a nonfamily member and died insisting on this, and only a wife survived him
She did not agree to permit this bequest [N: by waiving her own estate division share of one-fourth]
What is the ruling on it?"" (Answer:) ""Bequeathing more than a third of one's property is not lawful when there is an estate division heir [n: or more than one] who deserves the whole estate
As for when an heir does not deserve the whole estate, such as a husband [N:
whose maximal estate division share is one-half (dis L6.3)] or wife [N: whose maximal share is one-fourth (dis: L6.4)] [A: or when there are no eligible estate division heirs at all], then it is permissible to bequeath more than a third of one's property"" (al-'Uqud al-durriyya fi tanqih alFatawa al-Hamidiyya (y53), 2.310).
OBLIGATIONS (from m5.I, end) *
(Abu Ishaq Shirazi:) A woman is not obliged to serve her husband by baking, grinding flour, cooking, washing, or any other kind of service, because the marriage contract entails, for her part, only that she let him enjoy her sexually, and she is not obligated to do other thar
that
(A:
Rather, it is considered sunna in our school for the wife to do the housework, and the husband (who is obliged to support her) to earn the living, since this is how the Prophet (Allah bless him and give.
him peace) divided the work between Fatima and 'Ali (Allah be well pleased with them)) (alMuhadhdhab fi fiqh ai-Imam al-Shafi'i (yI25),
2.68).A WIFE'S MARITAL OBLIGATIONSIN THE HANAFI SCHOOL (Nahlawi:) The wife's serving her husband at home-by cooking, cleaning, and baking bread-is religiously obligatory for her, and if she does not, she is committing a sin, though it is not something that she may be forced to do by the court (al-Durar al-mubaha fi ai-hazr wa ai-ibaha (y99),I72).
CONTRACEPTION (from m5.5) *
(Yusuf Qaradawi:) Islam has encouraged prolific reproduction and blessed children, male and female
But birth control has been made a dispensation for the Muslim when rational motives and real necessities call for it
The prevalent means people resorted to for preventing or diminishing births in the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was coitus interruptus, placing the sperm outside the womb when ejaculation was felt imminent, and the prophetic Companions did this during the time of prophethood and divine inspiration
Bukhari and Muslim relate from Jabir, ""We used to practice coitus interruptus in the time of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), While the Koran was being revealed."" And in Sahih Muslim: ""We used to practice coitus interruptus in the time of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Word of this reached him and he did not prohibit it."" A man came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and said: ""0 Messenger of Allah, I have a bondwoman with whom I practice coitus interruptus
I do not want her to get pregnant, but I want what men want
The Jews say that coitus interruptus is a lesser form of killing one's children."" The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""The Jews have lied
If Allah wanted to create it, you would not be able to prevent it."" (al-Halal wa al-haramfi aI-Islam (yllO), 191-92)
THE OFFENSIVENESS OFCONTRACEPTION IN THESHAFI'J SCHOOL (Ghazali:) It is of the etiquette of intercourse not to practice coitus interruptus, there being disagreement among scholars as to the permissibility or offensiveness of doing so, though the correct position in our opinion is that it is permissible, As for its offensiveness, offensive is a term applied to things whose prohibition is closer to the unlawful, things whose prohibition is closer to the permissible, and things involving merely the non-
performance of something meritorious; and it (n:
coitus interruptus) is offensive in this third sense, the nonperformance of a meritorious act, just as it is said, for example, that ""it is offensive for someone in a mosque to sit without invoking Allah (dhikr) or praying,"" or ""it is offensive for someone living in Mecca not to perform the hajj every year."" The meaning of this offensiveness is merely that it is forgoing what is fitter and more praiseworthy, as we established earlier in explaining the virtue of having a child (Ihya' 'ulum ai-din (y39) , 2.47).
UNBELIEF (from 08.7(11)) *
(Muhammad 'Alawi Maliki:) Many people error, may Allah correct them, in understanding the real reasons that put a person beyond the fold of Islam and necessitate that he be considered an unbeliever
One sees them rushing to judge Muslims as unbelievers for mere contraventions of Sacred Law, until there is hardly a Muslim on the face of the earth, save a handful.
While we endeavor to excuse such people and give them the benefit of the doubt, saying that perhaps they have a good motive such as the intention to fulfill the obligation to command the right and forbid the wrong, what has escaped them is that performing the duty of commanding the right and forbidding the wrong requires wisdom and goodly exhortation, and ifthe matter requires argument, it must be with that which is better, as Allah Most High says, ""Call to the path of your Lord with wisdom and goodly-exhortation, and argue with them with that which is better"" (Koran 16:125), for this is likelier to gain acceptance and achieve one's purpose, and to.do otherwise is error and folly.
If one tries to convince a Muslim-who prays, fulfills the obligations of Allah, avoids what He has prohibited, invites people to His religion, maintains His mosques, and keeps His covenants-- to accept something one feels is the truth, but he views the matter to be otherwise, and the opinion of Islamic scholars affirming and denying it has been divided since time immemorial, and he will not agree with one's point of view; then if one charges him with unbelief merely because he opposes one's opinion, one has committed lin enormous wrong and a grievous sin that Allah has forbidden, having rather called us to criticize with wisdom and graciousness
There is scholarly consensus that it is unlawful to charge with unbelief anyone who faces Mecca to pray, unless he denies the Almighty Creator, Majestic and Exalted, commits open polytheism that cannot be explained away by extenuating circumstances, denies prophethood, or something which is necessarily known as being of the religion, or which is mutawatir (def: o22.1(d(II))) (N: whether the latter is of the Koran or hadith), or which there is scholarly consensus upon its being necessarily known as part of the religion
Necessarily known means such things as the oneness of Allah, the attributes of prophethood, that prophetic messengerhood has ended with Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), the resurrection on the Last Day, the Final Reckoning, the recompense, and paradise and hell-the denier of any of which is an unbeliever, and which no Muslim has an excuse for ignorance of, unless he is a new convert to Islam, who is excused until he can learn, but not afterwards.
To judge a Muslim to be an unbeliever for anything besides the above is a very dangerous thing, as has come in the hadith, ""If someone says to his fellow Muslim, 'You unbeliever,' one of them deserves the name."" I t is not valid for such a judgement to proceed from anyone except someone who knows the things that involve unbelieffrom those that acquit one of it in the light of the Sacred Law, and the strict demarcation between faith and unbelief according to the standards of the Law of Islam
It is not permissible for any human being to rush onto the field and charge another with unbelief on the basis of opinions and imaginings without having checked and made sure, and without firm knowledge
Otherwise the torrent would flood the valley floor, and not a Muslim would remain on the face of the earth, except a few
The Imam of the Two Sanctuaries (n: Juwayni) has said, ""If we were asked to distinguish the expressions that deserve to be considered unbelief from those that do not, we would reply that this is a wish for something pointless to wish for, being too distant a reach and too stony a path to tread, involving as it does the very bases of the science of divine unity;
someone who does not attain to the furthest reaches of the facts cannot arrive at anything reliable to vindicate his criteria for unbelief."" Because of this, we urge the utmost caution, in other than the above-mentioned cases, against careless accusations of unbelief, for they are extremely dangerous
And Allah guides to the best of ways, and unto Him is the final destination (Mafahim yajibu an tusahhaha (y83), 5-7).
DEVIATIONS AND ABERRATIONSTHAT ARE UNQUESTIONABLY INVALID (Muhammad Sa'id Buti:) We do not consider deviations and aberrations to include any position reflecting a disagreement between Islamic scholars resulting from their differences on derived rulings or particular applications of Sacred Law, for these all return to its basic methodology
Rather
we categorically affirm that this is a normal variance entailed by the very nature of the case (dis b6.2) and its methodological bases, though we subject these various viewpoints to an examination of which is the soundest, classifying them according to their relative strengths and weaknesses
each of us through his own reasoning (ijtihad) and judgement.
Nor do deviant and aberrant opinions necessarily entail the unbelief of the people who hold them, or being beyond the pale of Islam
Rather, there are some opinions so deviant that they reach the degree of negating what is necessarily known as being of the religion, leading to what the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) termed open unbelief; others whose deviance reaches only the degree of being a violation of the methodological principles concurred upon by scholars of the Arabic language and hence by scholars of Islamic Law, entailing blameworthy innovation (bid'a)
and perhaps corruption and turning from the truth without excuse; and still others whose deviance and aberrance wavers between reaching actual unbelief and merely falling within the bounds of corruption and blameworthy innovation, the honest and sincere investigator not finding any firm basis to consider them unbe- I lief, yet not being able to accept with confidence that they are only a marginal deviance that does not compromise the person who holds them or put him outside of Islam
In dealing with this category of deviations and intellectual aberrances, we prefer to follow the way of greater precaution
which in this context consists of understanding people's states insofar as possible as if they were still within the fold of Islam and under its rubric
For the mistake of giving them the benefit of the doubt does not entail the losses entailed by making a mistake by not giving them it and accusing them of unbelief and having left Islam
Despite which, we spare no effort to explain their corruption, and that they have innovated something Allah Mighty and Majestic has not given leave to; explaining their deviation from the methodology agreed upon by the scholars of this Community and warning people not to be misled by them or affected by their falsehoods (al-Salafiyya marhala zamaniyya mubaraka la madhhab Islami (y34) , 109-10).
*
(A:) Weak (da'if) is a term for any hadithwith a chain oftransmission containing a narrator whose memory was poor, one who was not trustworthy, not identified by name, or for other reasons
But weak cannot simply be equated with false
Were this the case, mere analysis ofthe transmitters would be the universal criterion for acceptance or rejection of particular rulings based on hadiths
While scholars do use this measure in upgrading the work of preceding generations of legal authorities, they have not employed it as a simplistic expedientto eliminate every piece of legal information that is connected with a weak hadith, because of various considerations.
MULTIPLE MEANS OF TRANSMISSION One of these is that when a piece of information is received through a means of transmission that mayor may not be trustworthy, we generally have doubts about it
But when one and the same piece of information reaches us through several completely different channels, even though each one mayor may not be trustworthy, the logical probability of the information's falsity is much reduced
And if we receive the very same piece of information from ten such channels, the possibility of its falsity does not usually even come to mind.
This verificatory principle has two important implications, one being the obligatory nature of belief in hadiths that are mutawatir (def: 022.1(d(JI))), and the second being the weight that hadith scholars give to multiple means of transmission, which can raise a hadith from well authenticated (hasan) to rigorously authenticated (sahih), or from weak (da'if) to well authenticated, as described in the following account of a hadith's reclassification by a major specialist in hadith forgeries.
('Ali Qari:) The hadith ""I am the city of knowledge and' Ali is its gate,"" was mentioned by Tirmidhi in his Jami', where he said it was un acknowledgeable
Bukhari also said this, and said that it was without legitimate claim to authenticity.
Ibn Ma'in said that it was a baseless lie, as did Abu Hatim and Yahya ibn Sa'id
Ibn Jawzi recorded it in his book of hadith forgeries, and was confirmed by Dhahabi and others in this
Ibn Daqiq al-'Eid said, ""This hadith is not confirmed by scholars, and is held by some to be spurious."" Daraqutni stated that it was uncorroborated
Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani was asked about it and answered that it was well authenticated (hasan), not rigorously authenticated (sahih), as Hakim had said, but not a forgery (mawdu') as Ibn Jawzi had said:
This was mentioned by Suyuti
The hadith master (hafiz) Abu Sa'id 'Ala'i said, ""The truth is that the hadith is well authenticated (hasan), in view of its multiple means of transmission, being neither rigorously authenticated (sahih) nor weak (da'if), much less a forgery"" (Risala al-mawdu'at (y112), (A:) Thus, when the person who has related a hadith is an Islamic scholar of the first rank, it is not enough for a student or popular writer to find one chain of transmission for the hadith that is weak
There are a great many hadiths with several chains of transmission, and adequate scholarly treatment of how these affect a hadith's authenticity has been traditionally held to require a master (hafiz), those like Bukhari, Muslim, Dhahabi, Ibn Kathir, or Suyuti who have memorized at least 100,000 hadiths-their texts, chains of transmission, and nificance-to undertake the comparative study of the hadith's various chains of transmission that cannot be accurately assessed without such knowledge
Today, when not one hadith master (hafiz) remains in the Muslim Community, we do not accept the judgement of any would-be reclassifiers ofhadith, no matter how large their popular following, unless it is corroborated by the work of previous hadith masters.
Another reason why weak cannot simply be equated with false is the fact that weak is an attribute of the hadith's chain of transmission, while false is an attribute of the hadith's text
These are two different things, and the relationship between their respective reliabilities is a probabilistic expectation (istinbat) that is neither strictly causal, nor yet a necessary logical implication (lazim), there being four logical possibilities for any hadith:
(1) a sound text and sound chain of transmission, as with well-authenticated (hasan) or rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadiths;
(2) a sound text and an unsound chain of transmitters, reflecting the possibility that a transmitter with a poor memory, or unknown to the person who recorded the hadith, or one not trustworthy, is in principle capable of relating the hadith correctly;
(3) an unsound text and unsound chain of transmitters, as with hadiths that are forged (mawdu');
(4) or an unsound text and a sound chain of transmitters, reflecting the possibility that one of those who classify the personalities and reliability of various hadith transmitters could in principle make an error in their ijtihad regarding a particular person.
Because of the distinction between text and transmission, forms of evidence other than the authenticity rating of the chain of narrators are sometimes admissible, as when there is a consensus of legal scholars who have received the hadith with acceptance, which is an acknowledged form of corroboration for hadiths of the second type mentioned above.
(Isma'il Ansari:) Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani says:
""Among the characteristics that necessitate acceptance is for scholars of Sacred Law to have concurred on applying the implications of a hadith
Such a hadith is acceptable, even obligatory to apply, as a number of the Imams of fundamentals of Islam (usul) have explicitly stated.
Shafi'i, for example, says, 'What I have said about water when its taste, odor, and color change, has been related from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) through a channel of transmission that hadith scholars do not confirm the like of, but it is the position of all scholars without a single dissenting voice I know of.' And he said of the hadith 'There is no bequest to an estate division heir'-'Scholars of hadith do not corroborate it, but all scholars receive it with acceptance and apply it.' "" Ibn al-Qayyim, in his !'lam al-muwaqqi'in, when discussing the hadith of Mu'adh about judgements (A: in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) asked Mu'adh ibn Jabal when dispatching him to Yemen how he would judge, to which Mu'adh replied that he would judge first by the Koran, then by the sunna, and then by his own reasoning (ijtihad)), says, ""Legal scholars accept it and employ it as evidence, from which we learn that they hold it to be rigorously authenticated (sahih), just as we learn of the authenticity of the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace):
(1) ""'There is no bequest to an estate division heir.' (2) ""'[The hadith about the sea,] Its water is purifying,' (3) ""'When buyer and seller differ about the price they have agreed upon and the merchandise still exists, each swears [N: that his side of tlie story is correct] and [N: if they cannot agree 1 they cancel the sale.' (4) ""'The killer's extended family is responsible for the indemnity ..
""Even if these hadiths are unauthenticated in their chains of transmission, since virtually all scholars have related them, the hadiths' authenticity, which they accept, eliminates their need to verify the channels of transmission, and so it is too with the hadith of Mu'adh: the fact that all scholars have adduced it as evidence eliminates the need for their checking its means of transmission."" And Ibn 'Abd ai-Barr says in al-Istidhkar, concerning Tirmidhi's having related that Bukhari said of the hadith of the sea ""Its water is purifying"" that it was rigorously authenticated (sahih)"" Hadith scholars do not consider hadiths with the like of its chain of transmission to be rigorously authenticated (sahih), though I hold it to be so, because scholars have received it with acceptance"" (al-Isaba fi nusra al-Khulafa' al-Rnshidin wa al-Sahaba (yl0), 11.8-9).
(A:) Among the primary textual evidence for the admissibility of such hadiths is the word of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace):
""Allah will never make my Community concur upon misguidance, and Allah's hand is over the group."" So it is inadequate for someone who proposes to annul a ruling of Sacred Law to adduce that the hadith supporting it has a weak chain of transmission, unless he can also establish both that there are not a number of similar variants or alternate channels of transmission that strengthen it, confirming this by means of a text by a hadith master (hafiz); and that the meaning of the hadith has not been received with acceptance by the scholars of the Muslim Community.
*
(A:) A Muslim may take wages for lawful work from a government whose main income is non-Islamic tax revenueS on condition that at least some of the government's property is from lawful transactions such as the money taken from customers paying for postal services, etc.; the legal basis for which is the principle that ""the legitimate in Sacred Law is that whose origin is unknown,"" meaning not established to be unlawful
Similarly, it is lawful to accept money from a merchant, for example, who deals in interest with a bank, since one is able to presume that the money one is accepting is from the lawful part of his wealth.
('Abd al-Ghaffar 'Uyun ai-Sud:) One should realize that the prohibition of picture making is extremely severe, that it is counted among the enormities, and the threats against doing it are very emphatic
Bukhari and Muslim relate that a man came to Ibn 'Abbas (Allah be well pleased with him and his father) and said, ""My livelihood comes solely from my hands, and I make these pictures.
Can you give me a legal opinion about them?"" Ibn 'Abbas told him, ""Come closer,"" and the man did
""Closer ,"" he said, and the man did, until he put his hand on the man's head and said:
""Shall I tell you what I heard from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)?
I heard the Messenger of Allah say, .
'Every maker of pictures will go to the fire, where a being will be set upon him to torment him in hell for each picture he made.' ""So if you must, draw trees and things without animate life in them,"" And Tinnidhi relates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""On the Day of Judgement, part of the hellfire wiil come forth with two eyes with which to see, two ears with which to hear, and a tongue with which to speak, saying, 'I have been ordered to deal with three: he who holds there is another god besides Allah, with every arrogant tyrant, and with makers of pictures.' "" And Bukhari, Tirmidhi, and Nasa'i relate the prophetic hadith from Ibn 'Abbas, ""Whoever makes a picture, Allah shall torture him with it on the Day of Judgement until he can breathe life into it, and he will never be able to.""
IMITATING THE CREATIVE ACT OF ALLAH The reason for the unlawfulness of pictorial representation is that it imitates the creative act of Allah Most High, as is indicated by the hadith related by Bukhari and Muslim that' A'isha (Allah be well pleased with her) said, ""The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) returned from a trip, and I had draped a cloth with pictures on it over a small closet
When he saw it, he ripped it down, his face COlored, and he said, "" , 'A'isha, the people most severely tortured by Allah on the Day of Judgement will be those who try to imitate what Allah has created,' "" the representation in question consisting of winged horses, as is mentioned in Muslim's version.
(A: If the sole basis for the prohibition of pictures was that they were worshipped in preIslamic times as gods, as has been claimed by certain contemporary scholars, there would have been no point in the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) tearing the cloth down, since 'A'isha was not an idol worshipper or raised among idolators.)
PROCURING PICTURES The foregoing hadiths show that producing representations is unlawful under any circumstances, and just as making a picture is unlawful, so too is procuring one, because the threat that pertains to the maker pertains to the user, for pictures are only made tp be used.
(A:) The determining factor in the prohibition of procuring images is the purpose for which they are procured
For example, someone who buys cookies with the shape of animals is not doing wrorig if his purpose is to eat, though the maker of them is doing wrong
And similarly with books containing pictures, if the buyer intends obtaining the text, then the presence of pictures is the fault of the printer, not the buyer
The same holds for photographs (dis: w50.9) required for official documents: the authorities are responsible for the sin, not the individual forced to comply
As for dolls, making them is unlawful, though using them is merely offensive
And with rugs, making pictures in them is unlawful, though using such rugs is permissible.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES Regarding the prohibition, it makes no difference whether the figure is three-dimensional (lit
""has a shadow"") or not, meaning when it has a solid form; as opposed to when it is portrayed on paper, a garment, a wall, or something else
This position (N: of there being no difference between images that are three-dimensional or otherwise) was held by the majority of the Companions, those who came after them, and the following generation, as is mentioned by Nawawi
Some of the early Muslims held that two-dimensional images were permissible, a view for which they adduced the Abu Talha hadith related by Bukhari and others, in which an exception is made for images depicted on cloth; But Nawawi understands the exception as referring to the depiction of trees and similar objects without animate life, interpreting the hadith this way to reach an accord between it and the above hadith (w50.2) about the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) tearing down the cloth with which' A'isha had covered the small closet, for it consisted of mere drawn images without three dimensions
Nawawi says, ""The view that non-three-dimensional images are unobjectionable is a falsehood,"" declaring it invalid
But if not an outright falsehood, it is a position that the evidence is against
(A: This was the position of some of the later followers of Imam Malik
As for the Imam himself, he held that pictures were as unlawful as statues.)
IMAGES PREVENT ANGELS FROMENTERING A HOUSE Another reason pictures are unlawful is that they prevent angels from entering the house where they are found (N: meaning the angels of mercy, though protecting angels enter such houses), as is attested to by the hadith related by Bukhari that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures,"" house meaning any place a person is, whether it be a building
tent
or other
Qurtubisays, ""Angels do not enter a house where there are pictures because the person who puts them there is imitating non-Muslims, who put pictures in their homes and 'honor them, the angels abandoning such a person for this."" Nasa'i relates that Abu Hurayra (Allah be well pleased with him) said, ""Gabriel (upon whom be peace) asked the Prophet for permission to enter his house, and when the Prophet told him to come in, Gabriel replied, 'How can I come in when there is a curtain in your house with pictures on it?
You should either remove their heads or make it a mat to walk on, for we angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures,' "" which shows that the pictures that prevent angels from entering are those that retain their original form and are in an unhumiliated deployment
As for images that are abased and walked upon by feet, or those whose form has been altered, these do not bar the angels' entry
altered meaning the onlooker imagines it is not the form of a living being
as is clearly implied by the version of this hadith related in the Sunan as .
' ...
Order that the heads of the images be removed so they resemble the form of trees.""
PORTRAITS Some people might think there is no harm in having portraits made today because they are not full length but are rather from the chest up, imagining this to be permissible from the words of the scholars that ""if a picture lacks a portion without which the figure could not liye, there is no harm in it
"" This is a mistake that should be abandoned, for by the expression without which the figure could not live, scholars mean that the beholder's mind does not register the figure is a living one but rather perceives it as dead
Now, someone looking at pictures of only the upper half does not apprehend the figure as dead, but rather as living, save only that the lower half is as though sunken in a place that conceals it, or covered by something, which is because the lower half is not met by the viewer's gaze, and the area in view is merely confined to the upper half
For this reason, some scholars prohibit portrayal of the head alone, and whoever reflects on Gabriel's words, ""Order that the heads of the figures be removed so that they resemble trees,"" can plainly see the truth of what we have mentioned.
Others suppose that the sole reason for prohibiting pictures is that they were worshipped as gods apart from Allah, and that today there is no longer any danger of it, so there is no harm in having them
And this is totally wrong, for the banning of images is not only because they were worshipped, but also because of their imitating the creative act of Allah Most High, and the emulation therein of non-Muslims.
To summarize, the use of pietures comes of weakness of faith and unconcern for religious matters.
Whoever prefers what his Master wishes above what gratifies his own ego and what he would personally care for will stay as far from them as possible (al-Riyad al-nadira suratayy al-Fatiha wa al-Baqara 1.139-44).PHOTOGRAPHS OF ANIMATE LIFE fi ta/sir (y133),
(n: Photography did not exist in previous eras of Islamic scholarship, and contemporary scholars are divided about it
Some, like Muhammad Bakhit Muti'i, contend that photography is not picture making, but merely ""the retention of an object's shadow"" (habs al-zill) and therefore permissible, while others, like the author of the passage below, have not accepted such reasoning
Because of scholarly disagreement concerning its permissibility, one is not entitled to condemn Muslims who use photographs, though one may still distinguish between this dispensation (rukhsa, def: c6.3) and what is the stronger position and more precautionary in religion, and to this end the following article has been translated.)
(Muhammad Hamid:) A factual question arises here, namely that the photographic deviee does not act except through an agent, who causes this ""shadow"" to be fixed and retained by aiming and focusing the camera at a particular object to permit this fixation and make this retention appear
But since this is really an aquisition and is precisely image making, and since the prohibition of making pictures by the hand alone is not merely because of the hand""s motion but because of what it thereby produces, then if the result is the same, should not the ruling also be?
Moreover, handmade images do not give the picture the fidelity of the camera-made image, which delineates features;
conveys reality, and reveals details so that nothing great or small escapes it, being thus abler than the unaided hand to achieve pictorial representation, beeause of which the prohibition of making pictures thereby applies to it with still better right, and can never be mitigated by the mere fact that it consists in pressing a button as long as what is .forbidden is even more fully realized thereby, since matters are judged by their intended outcomes; in permissibility or being unlawful
Just as killing someone by pressing a particular button on a device is unlawful, so too making a picture by this pressure is unlawful in view of the effect and result
Nor does the fact that it is widespread among people justify it
It is no different than interest (riba), adultery, drinking, gambling, or other blameworthy acts whose night has overspread the people and darkness enveloped them
The commonness of something that is wrong never makes it permissible
And groping for support from Sacred Law for each new reprehensible practice that appears is a dangerous misstep that forebodes great evil
Allah Most High says, 'These are Allah's limits, so transgress them not, for whoever goes beyond Allah's limits, those are the wrongdoers"" (Koran 2:229).
(Rudud 'ala abatil wa rasa'il al-Shc..:;kh Muhammad ai-Hamid (y44), 1.164-(5)
TELEVISION:
(n:) The Council ofIslamic Scholars (Majlisul Ulama) of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, have published a booklet on Islam and television in which they list the factors present in television that are unlawful or offensive, the existence of any one of which is sufficient to make watching it a violation of Sacred Law, including:
(1) pictures of animate objects and picture making (dis: w50);
(2) music (r40.1);
(3) immorality, nudity, illicit sex, pornography, etc
(m2.3-8);
(4) obscene language (r26.2);
(5) incitement to fornication (pI2);
(6) negation of modesty (haya', dis: r26.1(2));
(7) scenes of violence, sadism, and crime in general portrayed (r 13.1);
(8) the addictive influence exercised by TV;
(9) it encourages the acceptance of aggression as a mode of behavior (p48.1);
(10) it encourages imitation ofthe crimes portrayed (r7.1(3,(end)));
(11) the brainwashing action of TV, especially on the young (t3.16);
(12) TV stunts intellectual growth (w41.3);
(13) it wastes time (r13.3);
(14) it interferes with one's religious duties and one's necessary and important worldly duties (k29.5(4));
(15) it diverts one's attention from the remembrance of Allah (rl.2(S));
(16) and it falls under the category described by Islam as pointless amusement( lahw, def: rI3.3).
(MajJisul Ulama:) In the face of this formidable array of evil factors and harmful effects no one can have any doubt of the illegality oftelevision in Islam.
Television, as has been seen, is an embodiment of sin and immorality
Islam can never condone or permit an institution which plays havoc with the spiritual, mental, and moral development of mankind (Islam and Television (y78), 20-21).
*
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""May Allah curse women who wear false hair or arrange it for others, who tattoo or have themselves tattooed, who pluck facial hair or eyebrows or have them plucked, and women who separate their front teeth for beauty, altering what Allah has created.""
(Ibn Hajar ""Asqalani:) Nawawi says that ""an exception from the prohibition of plucking away facial hair is when a woman has a beard, mustache, or hair growing between her lower lip and chin, in which cases it is not unlawful for her to remove it, but rather is commendable (mustahabb),"" the permissibility being on condition that her husband knows of it and gives his permission, though it is prohibited if he does not, because of the deception it entails (Fath ai-Ban (y17),10.378).
*
(A:) Ibn Hajar's purpose in al-Zawajir 'an iqtiraf al-kaba'ir is to warn readers against any act that an Islamic scholar has classified as an enormity.
Because of the wider scope of the work, he does not confine himself, as does Imam Dhahabi, to sins agreed upon by scholars as being enormities, but also records those which are differed about, mentioning them by way of furnishing a fuller definition of godfearingness (taqwa).
INWARD ENORMITIES (1) Associating others with Allah Most High (shirk);
(2) the lesser form of associating others with Allah (shirk), which is showing off in good works;
(3) anger without right, malice, and envy;
(4) arrogance, pride, and conceit;
(5) cheating others;
(6) hypocrisy;
(7) excesses against others;
(8) keeping aloof from others out of pride or contempt for them;
(9) conversations about what does not concern one (def: w54);
(10) acquisitive greed;
(11) fear of poverty;
(12) resentment about what Allah Most High has destined;
(13) admiring the rich and honoring them for their wealth;
(14) sarcasm towards the poor because of their poverty;
(15) avarice in holding on to one's possessions;
(16) vying with others for worldly gain and taking pride in it;
(17) adorning oneself for the sake of one's fellow creatures with what is unlawful as adornment;
(18) compromising one's principles (def:
r17);
(19) enjoying being praised for what one does not do;
(20) being too occupied with others' faults to notice one's own;
(21) forgetting one's blessings;
(22) zealotry for other than Allah's religion;
(23) being unthankful;
(24) not accepting fate (dis: w59);
(25) for a person not to take the rights of Allah Most High and His commands seriously;
(26) sarcasm towards, looking down on, or having contempt for the servants of Allah Most High;
(27) following one's caprice and ignoring the truth;
(28) plotting and treachery;
(29) wanting the life of this world (N: more than the next);
(30) obstinately opposing the truth;
(31) thinking badly of a Muslim or not giving him the benefit of the doubt;
(32) not accepting the truth when it conflicts with one's own preference, or when it comes from someone one dislikes;
(33) exulting in disobedience;
(34) persisting in disobedience;
(35) loving to be praised for one's acts of obedience;
(36) satisfaction with the life of this world and being contented with it;
(37) forgetting Allah Most High and the next world;
(38) anger for the sake of one's ego and vindicating or justifying oneself when in the wrong;
(39) feeling secure from Allah's intrigue by committing acts of disobedience while relying on His mercy;
(40) despairing of Allah's mercy;
(41) thinking badly of Allah Most High;
(42) loss of all hope in Allah's mercy;
(43) learning Sacred Knowledge for the sake of this world;
(44) concealing Sacred Knowledge;
(45) not applying what one knows (N: in matters that occur);
(46) claims to knowledge, mastery of the Koran, or any act of worship, made out of pride and boastfulness;
(47) neglect that results in the loss of people such as Islamic scholars, or sarcasm towards them;
(48) intentionally lying about Allah Most High;
(49) intentionally ,ying about the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace);
(50) inaugurating a reprehensible innovation;
(51) abandoning the sunna; .WI!lj (0\) (52) disbelief in destiny;
(53) not fulfilling the terms of an agreement (A: if one intends this from its outset);
(54) love of oppressors or the immoral, no matter what the type of their immorality;
(55) hating the righteous (N: for their righteousness) ;
(56) harming the friends of Allah (awliya') and enmity towards them;
(57) reviling destiny;
(58) saying something that causes great harm or extensive damage, something that angers Allah Most High but to which the speaker pays little attention;
(59) being ungrateful to someone who does one a kindness;
(60) neglecting to say the blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) when one hears his name mentioned;
(Yusuf Nabahani:) Ibn Salah says: ""One should be diligent about writing Allah's blessings and peace on the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) whenever he is mentioned, and not grow weary of repeating it as often as it occurs, for this is one of the greatest benefits attained by students of hadith and their copyists, while someone oblivious to it misses an enormous reward
The blessings thus recorded are a written prayer, not words being quoted, so they are not restricted to the written version of the text that is related or the words of the original
..
One should avoid writing it in two defective styles, one of which is deficient in form, i.e
alluding to the blessings by two letters or the like, as certain lazy, ignorant, or unlearned people do, writing pbuh instead of 'Allah bless him and give him peace';
while the other is deficient in meaning, i.e
by not adding the words 'and give him peace' "" (Sa'ada al-darayn fi al-salat 'ala Sayyid al-Kawnayn (y96), 189);
(61) such hardheartedness as would prevent one from feeding a needy person, for example;
(62) acquiescing to any enormity;
(63) aiding someone in committing an enormity;
(64) persisting in wickedness and obscenity until people fear one for one's evil;
(65--{)6) cutting minted coins (N: into segments of which some are smaller than others and cause loss to users, and because it is destruction of Muslim moneys); or minting it in a fraudulent way that if people knew of, they would not accept;
PURIFICATION (67) eating or drinking from a gold or silver vessel;
(68) forgetting the Koran, any of its verses, or even a single letter (A: the prohibition of forgetting the Koran being taken literally by the Shafi'i school, according to whom repentance entails rememorizing what has been forgotten, though not for Malik and Abu Hanifa, who interpret forgetting as abandoning its implications);
(69) disputation and picking apart another's words--meaning to argue with another seeking merely to win or defeat him-when discussing the Koran or religion;
(70) defecating on a path;
(71) not eliminating all traces of urine from one's person or clothes;
(72) omitting any of the integrals of ablution (wudu);
(73) omlttmg any of the integrals of the purificatory bath (ghusl);
(74) disclosing one's nakedness when there is no need, including entering a (N: public) bathhouse without a covering;
(75) sexual intercourse with a woman during menstruation;
THE PRAYER (76) deliberately not performing the prescribed prayer;
(77) deliberately performing the prayer before or after its time without an excuse such as travel or similar;
(78) sleeping on a roof that lacks a wall around its edges;
(79) omitting an obligatory feature of the prayer;
(80) lengthening one's hair with false hair, or having it done;
(81) tattooing, or having it done;
(82) sharpening the teeth or having it done;
(83) plucking eyebrows or facial hair, or having it done;
(84) walking in front of someone at prayer who has placed a barrier before himself;
(85) the people of a village or town all hanging back from praying one of the five prescribed prayers in congregation when the conditions obliging them to perform it in a group exist;
(86) for an imam to lead a group of people who dislike him;
(87) leaving a row of people at prayer incomplete;
(88) not straightening the row of people praying;
(89) getting ahead of the imam in the actions of the prayer;
(90) raising one's eyes to the sky during the prayer;
i)L..aJi (91) turning (N: one's chest) to either side when performing the prayer;
(92) putting one's hands on the hips while at prayer;
(93-98) taking graves as places of worship (def: w21.1); lighting lamps over them; taking them as idols; circumambulating around them;
putting one's hands on them; or performing the prayer towards them;
(99-100) travelling alone «Ibn Hajar Haytami:) ...
The position ofIbn Khuzayma that this is disobedience is interpreted as referring to someone who knows that considerable harm would result from his travelling alone or with only one companion); or for a woman to travel alone where indecencies may occur (N: which is an enormity if this is likely, but merely unlawful if it is not);
(101) cancelling a trip or returning from one because of a ""bad omen"";
(102) neglecting to pray the Friday prayer in congregation when there is no excuse, even if one says one is ""performing the noon prayer (zuhr) alone"";
(103) stepping over people seated in the mosque for the Friday prayer;
(104) sitting in the center of a circle of people;
UNLAWFUL DRESS (105) for an adult male to wear pure silk (or cloth whose weight is mostly silk, even if it does not show) without an excuse such as preventing lice or itching;
(106) a male wearing gold, such as a ring, or wearing silver other than rings;
(107) men imitating wOJllen in things usually considered characteristic of women's dress, speech, and so forth; or vice versa;
(108) a woman wearing a thin garment that reveals her body contours, or her inclining (N:
showing desire for others) and making others incline towards her;
(109) having one's wraparound, robe, sleeves, or turban ends overly long from conceit;
(110) having a strutting gait;
(111) dying the beard or hair black for other than jihad or the like;
(112) for a person to say after it rains, ""The coming of such and such a star has brought us rain,"" believing it to have an effect;
THE FUNERAL PRAYER (113) clawing or slapping one's cheeks and the like (N: out of grief);
(114) ripping one's collar;
(115) cries of lamentation;
(116) listening to them;
(117) shaving off or pulling out one's hair;
(118) cries of ""woe"" or ""disaster"" in afflictions;
(119) breaking the bones of the dead (A: or autopsies);
(120) sitting on graves;
(121) praying upon graves or lighting lamps over them;
(122) women visiting graves (dis: w34.1, end);
(123) women following funeral processions;
(124) healing or protective words (ruqya) (N: that violate the conditions of Sacred Law (dis:
wI7.1));
(125) hanging on an amulet (dis: wI7.3);
(126) disliking to meet Allah Most High;
ZAKAT (127) not paying zakat;
(128) delaying payment after it is due, without lawful excuse;
(129) for a creditor who knows that his debtor cannot pay to show greed towards him by pestering him or detaining him;
(130) dishonesty in handling or taking charity;
(131) collecting un-Islamic taxes or getting involved with any of the proceeds thereof (dis:
p32);
(132) someone asking for charity who is not in need of it because of either having money or being able to earn some, but who rather asks out of greed or acquisitiveness;
(133) asking for charity with irritating insistence that injures the person being asked;
(134) not giving a relative the charity he has been compelled to ask one for, when able to give it and there is no excuse not to;
(135) reminding recipients of one's charity to them;
(136) not giving access to one's surplus water when the person asking it is in need of it;
(137) being ungrateful for Allah's creatures' kindness to one, which entails being ungrateful for Allah's kindness to one;
(138) to ask for anything besides paradise with the words ""for Allah's sake"" (bi wajh Allah);
(139) not to give to someone who asks ""for Allah's sake"";
FASTING (140) not fasting a day of Ramadan;
(141) breaking one's fast during it;
(142) delaying making up a fast-day of Ramadan missed without excuse;
(143) a woman fasting a day that is not obligatory for her to fast immediately, when her husband is present and without his consent;
(144) fasting on the two 'Eids, or on the three days that follow 'Eid al-Adha (Ayam alTashriq);
(145-46) nonperformance of a period of spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) that one has vowed for a certain time; or vitiating it by something such as lovemaking;
(147) lovemaking in a mosque, even if not in spiritual retreat (i'tikaf);
THE PILGRIMAGE (148) nonperformance of the pilgrimage (hajj) until one's death, after having been able to perform it;
(149) lovemaking on hajj or 'umra before partial release from ihram (def: j9.13);
(150) for someone in ihram for hajj or 'umra to kill a game animal;
(151) a woman entering ihram for a supererogatory hajj or 'umra without her spouse's permission;
(152) not considering the Kaaba sacrosanct (N: i.e
not respecting it as one should);
(153) violating the- sanctity of the Meccan Sacred Precinct (Haram) (dis: p72);
(154-59) frightening the people of the Prophet's city of Medina (upon its overseer be the best of prayers and peace); intending evil towards them; inaugurating an innovation (bid'a) therein, meaning a sin (N: like the opening of banks), or sheltering whoever does such a thing; cutting the trees of Medina; or cutting its grass;
(160) nonperformance of the 'Bid al-Adha sacrifice by someone (N: such as a Hanafi) who holds it to be obligatory and is able to perform it;
(161) selling the hide of an 'Bid al-Adha sacrifice animal;
(162-65) mutilating an animal by cutting off part of its nose or ear or the like; branding an animal's face; taking an animal as a target; or killing one for other than food;
(166) not killing and slaughtering as quickly and painlessly as possible;
(167) slaughtering in the name of other than Allah (N: is an enormity) when it is not outright unbelief, as when one does not intend the reverence of worship to the person for whom it is slaughtered (N: in which case it is not unbelief);
(168) to release a camel to roam and pasture freely for the rest of its life unridden and unused, in fulfillment of a vow;
(169) calling someone ""the King of Kings"";
(170) to take an intoxicant such as hashish, opium, henbane, ambergris, and the like, of substances that are not ritually unclean (najis);
(171-73) to eat blood outpoured; pork; or unslaughtered meat;
(174) to burn an animal with fire;
(175-77) to consume something unclean (najis); revolting; or harmful;
TRADE (178) selling a freeman as a slave;
(179-85) consuming usurious gain (riba, def:
k3); feeding the proceeds to others; recording a transaction involving it in writing; being a witness to one; acting as a go-between for two parties dealing in it; abetting it; or taking it through a subterfuge by someone who holds the subterfuge to be unlawful;
(186) not lending one's stud animal for use;
(187) consuming wealth gotten through invalid transactions, or any other unlawful earnings;
(188) hoarding a commodity for later sale at a high price when it becomes scarce;
(189-93) selling grapes, raisins, or similar to someone who will make wine out of them; or wood or the like to someone who will make a musical instrument; weapons to non-Muslims who will use them against us; wine to someone who will drink it (N: as opposed to selling it to a vinegar maker, for example); or hemp or similar to someone who will use it as a drug;
(194) having someone ""bid up"" a price to fool another bidder;
(195-96) undercutting another's price or deal (def: k4.7);
(197) cheating in sales or the like, such as by not milking a dairy animal for several days before the sale to give the impression she's a good milk producer;
(198) selling merchandise at a higher price by lyingly swearing that it was purchased for more than it was;
(199) plotting and deceit;
(200) selling short-measure, short-weight
or short -footage;
(201) any loan made to benefit the lender;
(202) to borrow money with the intention not to repay;
(203) to borrow money when one has no hope of repaying it, as when one does not urgently need it, there is no obvious source to get the money to repay, and the lender is ignorant of the borrower's condition;
(204) fora borrower who can afford to pay back a debt to delay doing so without excuse when asked to repay;
(205) consuming an orphan's property;
(206) spending money, no matter how little, on something that is unlawful, even if only a lesser sin;
(207) to annoy one's neighbor, even if a non-Muslim subject, by thy likes of having a view overlooking his walls, or building something uncountenanced by Sacred Law that is a nuisance to him;
(208) to build higher than one needs to, out of pride;
(209) surreptitiously changing property-line markers;
(210) misleading a blind person from the way;
(211-12) doing something to a dead-end path or street without the permission of the people living on it; or doing something to a street that results in considerable and unlawful annoyance to people passing along it;
(213) for someone (who holds that it is not permissible) to do something not customarily tolerated to a shared wall without the other owner's permission;
(214) for the guarantor of a debt to refuse to cover the debt that he has guaranteed with a guarantee he believes to be valid;
(215) for one member of a partnership to cheat the other;
(216) for a person commissioned as an agent to betray the trust of the person who commissionedhim;
(217) for a person to make a formal acknowledgement that he owes one of his heirs or a nonheir a debt, or that he has property belonging to such a person in his possession, when this is not true (N: but is rather done to cheat his estate division heirs of their just due, by thus effectively ""willing"" (wasiyya, def: Ll.O) more than the law"" ful one-third of his property to such a person, who would be able to collect it as if it were his own, after the former's death);
(218) for an ill person not to make a formal acknowledgement of his debts or the articles in his keeping that belong to others when no one else whose word is acceptable knows of them except his heirs;
(219-20) a lying acknowledgement or denial of being someone's son;
(221-23) to employ an article lent for use ('ariyya) in other than the employment authorized by its lender; for the borrower to relend it to a third party without the original lender's permission when the borrower holds that such relending is not permissible; or for the person to whom the article has been lent to use it beyond the time stipulated by the lender;
(224) wrongful appropriation, meaning unjustly taking another's property (N: or right);
(225) to delay paying someone his wages, or not giving them to him after the work has been completed;
(226) for someone (who holds it is unlawful) to build at 'Arafa, Muzdelifa, or Mina;
(227) to forbid people things that are permissible to them, both in general and in particular;
(228) renting any part of the street to another and taking payment for it, even if it is within the confines of one's property or store;
(229) taking over water that is free for an to use, or forbidding such water to travellers;
(230) violating the stipulations of the founder of a pious endowment (waqf);
(231-32) to use a lost and found article without having fulfilled the conditions of advertising it before taking possession of it (dis: k27); or concealing it from its true owner after one knows who he is;
(233) not having witnesses attest to one's having found a foundling child;
INHERITANCE AND BEQUEST (234-36) harming heirs in bequests; willing more than a third of one's property in bequests (dis: L3.1); or to fraudulently affirm that part or all of one's property belongs to some non-heir, or that one owes a debt that does not really exist, when this is done to prevent the estate from going to one's rightful heirs; or to falsely affirm that a debt someone owes one has been paid off; or to sell something for a token price or buy something at an exorbitant sum when it is done to keep property
MARRIAGEJUSTICE2.3-230) (n:) Some twenty-five of the enormities listed by Ibn Hajar have been omitted above because of being repetitions or about matters that are rare
As stated in the preface, many scholars do not consider all of the foregoing to be enormities, among them Abu Talib Makki, who restricts them solely to sins explicitly designated as enormities by the primary texts.
(Abu Talib Makki:) ...
My own position, to join between the different views mentioned above, is that they are seventeen in number
Four of them are of the works of the heart:
(1) associating others with Allah Most High (shirk);
(2) persisting in disobedience to Allah Most High;
(3) despairing of the mercy of Allah Most High;
(4) and feeling secure from the design of Allah Most High (def: p66).
Four are of the tongue:
(5) testifying to the truth of a falsehood;
(6) charging someone who could be chaste (def: of3.2) with adultery;
(7) swearing an engulfing oath, meaning one which negates something true and affirms something false, termed engulfing because it engulfs its swearer in the wrath of Allah Most High, or in hellfire;
(8) and sorcery, meaning words and acts that transmute substances, alter people (n: changing one's love for someone to hate, for example), or remove meanings from the things for which they were created.
Three are of the stomach:
(9) drinking wine or other intoxicating beverages;
(10) wrongfully consuming an orphan's property;
(11) and knowingly consuming usurious gain (riba).
Two are of the genitals:
(12) adultery;
(13) and sodomy.
Two are of the hands:
(14) murder;
(15) and theft.
One is of the feet:
(16) fleeing from combat with unbelievers when one is not outnumbered by more than two to one, unless falling back to regroup or separating to join another unit, believing one will attack again.
And one is of the whole body:
(17) a person's undutiful treatment of his parents, meaning, in summary, that when they swear an oath for him to do something that is not blameworthy, he does not fulfill their oath; if they ask him for something they need, he does not give it to them; if they trust him, he betrays them; if they are hungry, he eats his fill and does not feed them; and if they revile him, he strikes them;
Other scholars hold that any sin that is deliberate is an enormity ..
but what we ha\fe mentioned of the above bodily traits is among the soundest and most equitable opinions, is what scholars
agree upon, and is what is conveyed by a great number of primary texts
These, then, are the deadly enormities that if one avoids them, one's wrongs will be forgiven and one's supererogatory works that are like in kind to the five duties that are the pillars of Islam (N: i.e
the Testification of Faith ""La ilaha ill Allah Muhammadun rasul Allah,"" the prayer, zakat, fasting Ramadan, and ham-are counted for one
The reason for this is because the pillars of Islam and these enormities are antipodal counterparts, antithetical to each other in magnitude and significance, the enormities being so great that avoiding them expiates the other, lesser sins, and if the five duties that are the pillars of Islam are fully performed, they too expiate other wrongdoings, the servant is rewarded for his supererogatory works, and his bad deeds are changed for good ones
Such a person attains to great favor, and paradise is to be hoped for him and the stations of those who strive, for he is of the outstrippers in good deeds.
Allah Most High says, ""If you avoid the enormities of what you have been forbidden, We shall acquit you of your wrongdoings"" (Koran 4:31), and says, after mentioning the enormities, "" ..
save he who repents, believes, and works righteousness: those Allah will change their bad deeds for good"" (Koran 25:70).
And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The five prayers entail forgiveness for what is between them as long as the enormities are avoided."" When the enormities are committed, they annul (N: supererogatory) good deeds just as the five duties of Islam annul the bad deeds that occur between them other than
the enormities, which are too great for them to annul (N: but rather require a sincere repentance in order to be forgiven).
So with a servant's committing enormities, nothing can remain for him on Judgement Day of his good works except the five duties of Islam, the enormities having devoured all his supererogatory works: hell is to be feared for such a person, and the stations of the profligates, and he has truly wronged himself, which Allah Most High warns believers against by saying, ""0 you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Prophet, and do not nullify your works"" (Koran 47:33), and, ""Nay, but whoever earns a wicked deed and is encompassed by his error, those are the inhabitants of hell"" (Koran 2:81), referring, it is said, to enormities that encompass one's good deeds and efface them (Qut al-qulub (y81),2.148-49).
(Shu'ayb Arna'ut:) Bukhari and Ahmad relate that Jabir ibn 'Abdullah said, ""I heard of a hadith that a certain man had heard from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), so I bought a camel, cinched my saddle on it, and travelled for a month to reach him, coming upon him in Damascus, the man being 'Abdullah ibn Unays
Itold the doorman, 'Tell him labiris at the door,' and the reply came, 'Ibn 'Abdullah?' and when I said yes, he rushed out,
stepping on the hem of his garment
He embraced me and I returned his embrace and said, 'Tell me the hadith I am informed you heard from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) about retaliation
I have been afraid that you or I would die before I heard it.' He said, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) say:
People shall be mustered on the Day of Judgement naked, uncircumcized, and possessionless, and a call will be made to them in a voice that those who are far shall hear as well as those who are near, saying: 'I am the King, 1 am He who gives recompense: it is not meet for any inhabitant of hell to enter it while any of the inhabitants of paradise owes him something until I exact it of them
And it is not meet for any inhabitant of paradise to enter it while he owes any of the inhabitants of hell something until I exact it from him, even if it be the requital of a single slap of the face.' "" We asked the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), ""How will this be, when we will meet Allah Mighty and Majestic naked, uncircumcized, and without a thing?"" And he said, ""With good and bad deeds."" , "" (Sharh al-sunna (y22) , 1.280--81) *
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The excellence of a person's Islam includes leaving what does not concern him."" The excellence of a person's Islam (Muhammad Jurdani:) Meaning the fullness and perfection of a person's Islam and his submission to its rules includes leaving what does not concern him meaning that which is not connected with what is important to one, be it in word or deed.
The matters that concern a person are those connected with necessities of life in gaining a livelihood and having a safe return in the afterlife.
These do not amount to much in comparison with what does not concern one (al-Jawahir al-Iu'lu'iyya fi sharh al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyya (y68),99).
(n:) The view that the punishment of unbelievers in hell is not eternal has been misrepresented by some Muslim writers and Koran translators as if it were a matter over which there is scholarly disagreement, or as if the proof of it from the Koran, hadith, and consensus of Muslims (ijma', def: b7) were capable of bearing more than one interpretation
The present section, by two of the foremost Sunni scholars in tenets of Islamic belief (usul), has been translated to clarify the question.
('Abd al-Qahir Baghdadi:) The scholars of Ahl al-Sunna and all the previous righteous of the Muslim Community are in unanimous agreement (ijma') that paradise and hell are eternal, and that the bliss of the inhabitants of paradise and the torment of unbelievers in hell will endure forever (Usui ai-din (y23) , 238).
(Taqi ai-Din Subki:) The faith of Muslims.
is that paradise and hell do not perish
Abu Muhammad Ibn Hazm having transmitted scholarly consensus (ijma') on this point and on the fact that whoever denies it is an unbeliever (kafir) by scholarly consensus
And there is no doubt of this, for it is necessarily known (def: fl.3(N)) as part of the religion ofIslam, and proof after proof bears it out
Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Nay, but whoever earns a wicked deed and is encompassed by his error, those are the inhabitants of hell, abiding therein forever"" (Koran 2:81).
(2) ""Verily those who disbelieve and die as unbelievers; the curse of Allah, the angels, and people, one and all, is upon them, abiding therein forever; the torment shall not be lightened from them, nor shall they be respited"" (Koran 2:161- 62).
(3) ""Whoever of you leaves his religion and dies as an unbeliever, those are they whose works have failed in this world and the next, and those are the inhabitants of hell, abiding therein forever"" (Koran 2:217).
(4) ""Those who disbelieve, their friends are the evil ones, who lead them from the light to darknesses
Those are the dwellers of hell, abiding in it forever (Koran 2:257).
(n: There follow some fifty-six Koranic verses of similar purport which have been left un translated for the sake of brevity:
2:162 23:103 2:167 35:363:116 32:14 2:102 17:974:14 25:69 3:22 40:49-504:93 33:64-65 4:56 42:454:168-69 39:72 4:121 69:366:128 41:28 5:37 78:307:36 43:74-75 11:8 87:139:63 47:15 11:16 90:209:68 59:17 14:21 82:16.)10:27 64:10 14:2911:106-7 72:23 23:10813:5 98:6 29:2316:29 2:86 45:3521:99 32:20 22:22 ...
The other verses that mean the same thing are very many, a fact that eliminates the possibility of explaining them away figuratively and necessitates complete conviction of them; just as the verses proving bodily resurrection, because of their great numbers, eliminate any possibility of explaining them away figuratively
We adjudge whoever explains these verses as if they were figurative to have committed unbelief because of the knowledge which the evidence en masse affords
And so it is too with the very numerous and intersubstantiative hadiths about this, such as the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace):
(1) ""Whoever kills himself with a knife will abide in the fire of hell, perpetually stabbing his belly with it, undying therein forever
And whoever hurls himself from a mountain and kills himself shall abide in the fire of hell, perpetually falling to his death, undying therein forever."" (2) ""As for the inhabitants of hell who are its people, they shall be undying therein and unliving."" (3) ""When the people of paradise go to paradise and the people of hell go to hell, Death shall be brought forward, placed between paradise and hell, and slaughtered
And a crier shall be heard, '0 people of paradise, there is no death; 0 people of hell, there is no death!' "" And there is the like ofthe above evidence concerning paradise, as Allah Most High says:
(1) ""Those who believe and do good works, they are the dwellers of paradise, abiding therein forever (Koran 2:82).
(2) ""Whoever obeys Allah and His meso senger, He will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever
That is the mighty triumph"" (Koran 4:13).
(n: Thirty-eight verses of similar purport follow, which have been left untranslated, as before, for brevity:
2:82 11:23 23:11 56:173:15 10:26 25:15 57:1210:62 11:108 25:76 58:223:198 13:35 29:58 50:344:13 14:23 4:122 64:94:57 15:48 39:73 65:115:85 18:3 41:8 95:65:119 18:107 43:71 98:8.)9:89 20:76 41:309:100 21:102 48:5 ...
So these are the verses we can recall about the eternality of paradise and hell
We have mentioned hell first because we've come across a work about hell perishing by one of the people of the present era
We have quoted about one hundred Koranic verses, approximately sixty concerning hell, and forty on paradise
Immortality (khuld) or words derived from it are found in thirty-four of those dealing with hell and thirty-eight of those about paradise
Everlastingness (ta'bid) has been mentioned in conjunction with immortality in four of those dealing with hell, and mentioned eight times abou t paradise, seven of them in connection with immortality
Never leaving and so forth has been plainly stated in over thirty verses
The consequence of the concatenate and intersubstantia· tive character of these and similar verses is absolute certainty that what Allah Most High thereby intends is their literal meaning and significance.
It is not something in which the outward sense might be used to imply other than the plain purport, which is why Muslims unanimously concur upon faith in it, descendants having taken it from ancestors in unbroken succession from their Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
It is integrally embedded in the innate faith (fitra) of the Muslims, necessarily known as part of the religion of Islam, and even held by all non-Muslim sects
Whoever denies it is an unbeliever (kafir), and whoever explains it away figuratively is the same as someone who figuratively explains away Koranic verses about the bodily resurrection, meaning that he too is an unbeliever, because knowing the verses necessitates belief.
I have come upon the above""mentioned work, whose author notes three positions about paradise and hell perishing: that both end, which he declares none of the early Muslims have said;
that neither ends; and that paradise remains but hell ends; the latter of which he inclines toward and adopts, saying that it is the position of the early Muslims (salaf)
Allah be our refuge from this!
I exonerate the early Muslims from it and do not believe a single one of of them said it
There are only some words that have been ascribed to certain individuals of them that are to be taken as all problematic utterances are, meaning they are construed and interpreted in light of other than their ostensive sense, for just as there occur expressions requiring such exegesis in Koranic verses and hadiths, so too words occur in the discourse of scholars that must be fittingly explained.
Whoever takes words of early Muslims that were spoken to motivate people to do good or be afraid of doing evil and so forth, and interprets them literally, recording them as if they were a ""school of thought"" has misled himself and others
Nor is this scholarship, for the way of scholars is to uncover the meaning of words and what is intended by them
When we are certain that what has been ascribed to a speaker is his actual position on a matter and his belief, we attribute it to him
But unless we are certain, we do not attribute it to him, this being especially true of basic tenets of Islamic belief like the above, about which Muslims unani- mously agree on one position
How can one proceed to the opposite of what they believe and then attribute it to the greatest of Muslims and exemplars of the believers, considering it a topic of scholarly disagreement as if it were a question about ablution (wudu)?
How remote whoever does this is from knowledge and guidance!
This is a reprehensible innovation (bid'a) of the most ominous and ugliest sort, and Allah has knowingly led whoever says it astray ....
(n: Several pages follow, examining various objections to the eternality of hell raised by the above-mentioned author, some of them citing statements ascribed to early Muslims, which, as Subki points out, apply to disobedient Muslims who will one day leave the hellfire, not to unbelievers, polytheists, or the likes of Pharaoh and Satan
Only a few of these objections could be translated below because of their length
) (Objection:) There is a hadith in the Musnad of Ahmad that herbiage will one day grow on the floor of hell.
(Reply:) It is not in the Musnad of Ahmad, but in others, and is a weak hadith
If it were rigorously authenticated (sahih), it would be interpreted as referring to the level where disobedient Muslims ('usat) are.
(Objection:) Harb Kirmani said, ""I asked lshaq about the word of Allah Most High, except as your Lord wills' (Koran 11:107), ""and he replied, 'This verse applies to every threat of punishment in the Koran.' "" Andit is related from Abu Nadra that one of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""This verse applies to the entire Koran wherever the words' Abiding therein forever' are mentioned
"" (Reply:) If authenticated, these statements are interpreted as applying to disobedient Muslims, for the departure of Muslim sinners from hell is not explicitly stated in the Koran, but only in the sunna, and is through intercession (dis: v2.8)
So the meaning of these statements is to show the agreement between the Koran and sunna on this, for the early Muslims had great fear, and did not find in the Koran that true monotheists would leave hell, and were afraid of unending punishment.
(Objection:) Allah has informed us that His mercy encompasses everything (Koran 7:]56), and has said, ""My mercy has outstripped My wrath"" (Sahih al-Bukhari (y30), 9.411), while if one hypothesizes an unending torment, there is no mercy at all.
(Reply:) The hereafter is of two abodes, an abode of mercy unmixed with anything else, which is paradise; and an abode of torment unmixed with anything else, which is hell; this being a proof of A'llah's omnipotence, while the present life is compounded of both
So if by saying, ""If one hypothesizes an unending torment, there is no mercy at all,"" one means to absolutely deny that there is any mercy, it is not true, for there is the very perfection of mercy in paradise;
while if one means there is no mercy in hell, we reply that even if one holds that mercy and torment are things, Allah Most High says (n: in the remainder of the verse ""My mercy encompasses everything"") , ""I shall inscribe it for those who are godfearing"" (Koran 7:156).
(Objection:) It is established that Allah is allwise and all-compassionate, and that wicked souls (who, if they were returned to this world, would go back to their wrongdoing) are unfit to dwell in the abode of peace
Now, if given a torment that would purge their souls of this evil, it would be tenable with respect to the divine wisdom, but as for creating souls who do evil in this world and for whom there is nothing but torment in the next, this is a contradiction than which few things are more inconsistent with wisdom and mercy
This is why Jahm denied that Allah is the Most Merciful of the Merciful, but rather said that He does whatever He wills, and those who follow Jahm's path, like Ash'ari and others, do not hold that He actually has wisdom or mercy
But since it is established that He is all-wise and all-compassionate, and the falsity of Jahm's position is realized, this necessitates that we affirm what wisdom and mercy entail-so the position of the Mu'tazilites concerning His wisdom and mercy, as well as that of the Qadarites, determinists, and deniers of the divine attributes, are equally false, and the most glaring of their errors is considering hell eternal.
That is what their positions imply, while Allah has informed us that the inhabitants of paradise and hell will not die, so they must have some abode, and it is impossible that they should be tormented after entering paradise, so no alternative remains except the abode of happiness
A living being is never without either pleasure or pain, and if pain is excluded, this necessarily implies eternal pleasure.
(Reply:) Having openly said what he has said at the end of the above, this person implies that Satan, Pharaoh, Haman, and all unbelievers will end up in eternal bliss and perpetual enjoyment, something that no Muslim, Christian, Jew, polytheist, or even philosopher has ever said.
Muslims believe that paradise and hell last forever, while a polytheist holds that there will be no resurrection, and a philosopher believes that wicked souls will be in a state of pain
So we do not know of anyone who has made the statement this man has, which entails leaving Islam, because of the knowledge afforded by the
sheer amount of the evidence against it
Glory be to Allah Most High, who says, ""Those who disbelieve in the signs of Allah and in meeting Him, it is they who shall despair of My mercy"" (Koran 29:23), and says, ""Whenever it abates, We shf\U increase for them the blaze"" (Koran 17:97).
Allah's prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has informed us that Death shall be slaughtered between paradise and hell, which without doubt could only be done to show the people of hell's despair and their certainty of living forever in torment
Were they to move on to pleasure and enjoyment, it would be a great hope for them, better than death, and they would be without despair
How can anyone who believes in these verses and hadiths say such a thing?
What he said about wisdom is ignorance, and what he said about Ash'ari (Allah be well pleased with him) is a deliberate lie against him that we seek refuge in Allah Most High from.
(Objection:) One could hold that souls are cleansed of wickedness by this torment and then become Muslims.
(Reply:) Allah be our refuge!
Their becoming Muslims in the hereafter will be of no benefit to them, by unanimous consensus of Muslims, and by the word of Allah Most High, ""Its faith will not benefit any soul that did not believe before"" (Koran 6:158).
(Objection:) What wisdom is there in creating such people?
(Reply:) The wisdom lies in making manifest the divine omnipotence so that believers may contemplate it and reflect upon the immensity of the majesty of Allah Most High, who has the power on the one hand to create the angels, the righteous, the prophets, and the Liegelord of Creation Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace);' and the power on the other hand to create Pharaoh, Haman, Abu Jahl, the fiends ofjinn and mankind, and Satan, the Chief of Misguidance;
and who has the power to create the two final abodes, each pure and unadmixed: one for everlasting happiness, the other for agonizing torment, and yet a third abode, this world, compounded of both
Glory to Him whose omnipotence is such, and whose magnificence is so exalted!
Allah Most Glorious is well able to create all people as obedient believers, but He Most Glorious has willed to manifest the thing and its opposite, those who know to know it, and those who are ignorant to be ignorant of it, knowledge being the origin of all felicity and that from which true faith and obedience grow, and ignorance being
the origin of all damnation and that from which all unbelief and disobedience grow
I have not seen anything ruinous to the affairs of this world or the next save that it was the result of ignorance, which is truly the most baneful of all things
.
Whoever says that heaven or hell perish is an unbeliever (al-Rasa'il al-Subkiyya (y52), 196-208).
*
(Nawawi: (n: with commentary by lalal alOin Suyuti)) The prophetic Companions (N:
meaning anyone who personally met the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and died believing in Islam) are all legally upright ('adal, def: O24.4), both those of them who took part in conflicts (dis: w56.3) and those who did not, by unanimous consensus of all scholars whose opinion matters
«Suyuti:) Allah Most High says, ""Thus have We made you a justly balanced nation"" (Koran 2: 143), meaning upright, and He says, ""You are the best nation ever brought forth for people"" (Koran 3:110), the address being to those who were alive at that time
And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""The best of people are those of my time."" (Tadrib al-rawi fi sharh Taqrib al-Nawawi (y109),
2.214)) (Wasiyyullah 'Abbas:) Among the evi-.
dence of the legal uprightness ('adala) ofthe Companions is the word of Allah Most High:
(1) ""Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are hard against the unbelievers, compassionate towards one another
You see them bowing and prostrating, seeking bounty from Allah and His good pleasure
Their mark is upon their faces from the effect of prostrationthat is their likeness in the Torah; and their likeness in the Evangel is as a grain that sends forth its shoot, strengthens it, and it thickens and rises straight upon its stalk, pleasing the sowers, that through them He may enrage the unbelievers.
Allah promises those who believe and do good works of them forgiveness and an immense reward"" (Koran 48:29).
(2) "" ..
And the outstrippers, the first of the Emigrants and the Helpers, and those who followed them in excellence: Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens· under which rivers flow, abiding therein forever
That is the mighty triumph"" (Koran 9:1(0).
(3) "" ..
it is for the poor Emigrants, who were forced out of their homes and possessions, seeking bounty from Allah and His pleasure, aiding Allah and His messenger: those are the ones who are true"" (Koran 59:8).
(4) ""Allah was pleased with the believers when they swore fealty to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, sent down tranquility upon them, and rewarded them with a nigh victory"" (Koran 48:18).
And as for evidence from the prophetic sunna, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Do not revile my Companions, for by Him in whose hand is my soul, were one of you to spend gold equal to Mount Uhud, you would not attain the reward of the handsful of one of them or even half of it [N: because what they spent benefited Islam more]."" (n: While there is no disagreement among scholars that merely being a Companion is itself an excellence and rank that cannot be reached by anyone who came after them, one may appreciate yet another facet of their position with Allah by considering the hadith, ""When a human being dies, his work comes to an end except for three things: ongoing charity, knowledge benefited from, or a pious son who prays for him,"" which scholars say shows that whenever a member of the Muslim Community benefits from religious knowledge transmitted by a Companion from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the reward for it is counted among the Companion's works
To realize the station of 'Vmar, for example (Allah be well pleased with him), one has only to reflect on the number of Muslims throughout the centuries who have benefited from the hadith, ""Works are only according to intentions enters into the validity of virtually every act of worship in a Muslim's life (dis: t1.1), and which no one besides 'Umar (Allah be well pleased with him) related from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Or consider the hadith, ""He who inaugurates a good sunna [custom] in Islam earns the reward of it and of all who perform it after him without diminishing their own rewards in the slightest..
"" and reflect that 'Uthman (Allah be well pleased with him) ordered the Koran to be gathered into the single volume that innumerable Muslims have recited and studied from that century to this, 'Uthman's share therein being renewed, according to the above hadith, each time a Koran is opened
Nor is it difficult to imagine a similar rank for those whose efforts and jihad led to whole nations and their posterity becoming
Muslims down to the present age, from which examples and similar ones we may understand the superiority of both our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who is the exemplar of all who worship Allah on the face ofthe earth until the end oftime, and ofthe early Muslims in general over all those who came after them.)
There is schOlarly consensus of the Sunni Community that all the Companions are legally upright
Khatib (N: Baghdadi) says: ""There are many hadiths of this purport, everyone of them in conformity with the explicit text of the Koran, all of which attests to the purity of the Companions and necessitates the conviction of their uprightness and faultless character
None of them requires the exoneration of other human beings alongside the declarfltion of their unimpeachability by Allah Most High, who is well aware oftheir inmost state
Thus are they characterized until one of them should prove to have deliberately committed an act unexplainable as anything besides intentional disobedience, uninterpretable by extenuating circumstances, that they should be considered to have lost their legal uprightness; but this Allah has declared them innocent of, and has raised their station in His sight
Had none of what we have mentioned reached us from Allah Mighty and Majestic or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) concerning them, the mere way they were-their emigration, jihad, backing of Islam, spending of lifeblood and possessions, slaying of fathers and sons, sincere advice in religion, and strength of faith and certitude-would necessitate the conviction of their uprightness, the certainty of their blamelessness, and their superiority over any appraisers or vindicators coming after them until the end of time."" As for the beliefs of the Mu'tazilites, and those of the Shiites who reject the legitimacy of the first three caliphs (n: these being termed Rawafid (lit
""Rejectors""), including the Twelver Shiites, as opposed to the Ghulat (""Extremists"") on the one hand, who may believe that 'Ali is God, or that Gabriel (upon whom be peace) made a mistake in delivering the Koran to Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) instead of 'Ali, and because of such convictions are unquestionably unbelievers; and as opposed to, on the other hand, the Mufaddila (""Preferers""), such as the Zaydis, who believe that 'Ali had a better claim to the imamate than the first three caliphs, though the latters' caliphates were nevertheless legally valid-which distinctions are courtesy of Sheikh Yusuf Rifa'i)-it is sufficient to mention the position of Ibn Kathir, who says: ""All of the Companions are legally upright according to the People of the Sunna and Community (A hi alSunna wa al-Jama'a)
The view of the Mu'tazilites that all of the Companions are upright except those who fought against 'Ali (dis: w56.3) is untrue, base, and unacceptable
As for the various sects of Shiites (Rawafid), their ignorance, lack of intelligence, and their contention that the Companions all committed unbelief except for seventeen of them, whom they name, it is gibberish without any corroboration except the corrupt opinion of benighted minds and caprice blindly pursued, and which does not even deserve a rebuttal, so patent is the evidence to the contrary"" (Kitab fada'il al-Sahaba (y3), 1.13-16).
(Ghazali:) The true imam after the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) was Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman, and then 'Ali (Allah be well pleased with them)
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) never explicitly appointed an imam at all, since if one had been designated, he would have been likelier to have been known than the individuals appointed to oversee various lesser commissions of authority, or those assigned to lead the armies in various countries, and the identity of these was not hidden from anyone, so how should the identity of an imam have been?
And if it had been known, how should it have been lost so as not to have been conveyed to us?
Abu Br.kr was thus not installed as imam save through being chosen and sworn fealty to, and as for the hypothesis that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) explicitly appointed someone else, it amounts to an accusation against all the Companions of contravening the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), which is a violation of scholarly consensus (ijma'), and something that no one has had the effrontery to invent except the Shiites (Rawafid)
The People ofthe Sunna and Community (Ahl al-Sunna wa alJama'a) believe in the blamelessness of all the Companions, and praise them as Allah Most Glorious and Exalted has praised them, and as has His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace)
The events that occurred between Mu'awiya and 'Ali (Allah be well pleased with both of them) proceeded from the personal reasoning (ijtihad) of each, not from any avid ness of Mu'awiya for the imamate
'Ali (Allah be well pleased with him) believed that delivering up those responsible for the death of 'Uthman, because of the numerousness of their clans and their dispersal throughout the army, would lead to an upheaval in the matter of the supreme leadership at its very inception, and he felt that to postpone dealing with them would be fitter; while Mu'awiya believed that in view of the enormity of their crime, to delay their apprehension would incite people against the leadership and cause needless loss of life
Some of the most outstanding scholars of Sacred Law have held that both sides in a disagreement between those qualified to do independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) are correct, while others hold that only one side is; but no one of any scholarly competence has ever suggested that 'Ali was in error (lhya' 'uium ai-din (y39), 1.102).
*
(n:) In fundamentals of Islamic faith (usul), virtually all of the scholars quoted in the present volume are Ash'aris, whose school of thought has been presented for readers to examine themselves in sections u3, vI, v2, and w8
The school's position on figurative interpretation (ta'wil) of primary texts has also been discussed at a4.2 and w6.3, the latter of which explains that like all orthodox Muslims, the Ash'aris interpret matters of the afterlife-heaven, hell, and so on-as literal realities, while interpreting certain expressions referring to attributes of Allah Most High-His 'hand', 'eyes', and the like-as figurative, meaning as allusions to His power, omniscience, and so forth
Though many, like Imam Ash'ari himself and Imam Nawawi, consign the knowledge of the real meaning of such expressions to Allah (tafwid), others of the school, originally in reply to anthropomorphists of their time, have found figurative interpretations both more useful to Islam, and ultimately, more convincing
To support their position, they adduce that since words such as hand must be either figurative (majazi) or litcral (haqiqi), and since the literal meaning of hand is a bodily limb, an attribute that is unbelief (kufr) to ascribe to Allah Most High, the only other possibility is that it is figurative
The Koran contains many examples of figures of speech, such as, ""Whoever was blind in this life shall be blind in the hereafter, and even further astray"" (Koran 17:72), which does not refer to the physieally blind in this life, but rather to those blind, figuratively speaking, to the signs of Allah and heedless of His warnings
Or the verse, ""Today We forget you, as you have forgotten this day of yours"" (Koran 45:34), in which Allah's forgetting cannot be literally interpreted as a divine attribute, for Allah forgets nothing, but must rather be understood in its intended figurative sense as meaning that Allah will abandon unbelievers to their punishment
Like virtually all languages of mankind, the ancient classical Arabic in which the Holy Koran was revealed abounds in metaphors, metonyms, figures of speech, and rhetorical embellishments-indeed, a revelation devoid of such features would have had little claim to eloquence among the Arabs-and the figurative interpretations of the Ash'aris are in general supported by compellingly similar linguistie examples, parallels, and lexieal precedents drawn from the language's long history.
Despite which, because of the possibility that Allah intends something other by such expressions than the particular interpretations suggested by scholars, the best and safest path for a Muslim is consignment of the knowledge of such things to Allah (tafwid), unless forced to refute anthropomorphists, who do not in effect worship the transcendent deity of Islam but rather a form like themselves, something unquestionably rejeeted by the Koranic verse, ""There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him"" (Koran 42:11).
The Ash'ari school has naturally earned the criticism of misconceived contemporary efforts to revive anthropomorphism, the excesses of whose proponents have inspired the author of the section below to remind Muslims of the fundamentally orthodox character of the school that has represented the majority of Sunni Muslims for the greater part of Islam's history.
(Muhammad' Alawi Maliki:) Many sons of Muslims are ignorant of the Ash'ari school, whom it represents, and its positions on tenets of Islamic faith, and yet some of them are not godfearing enough to refrain from accusing it of deviance, departure from the religion of Islam, and heresy about the attributes of Allah
This ignorance of the Ash'ari school is a cause of rending the unity of Ahl al-Sunna and dispersing its ranks
Some have gone so far as to consider the Ash'aris among the categories of heretical sects, though it is beyond me how believers can be linked with misbelievers, or how Sunni Muslims can be considered equal with the most extreme faction of the Mu'tazilites, the lahmites.
""Shall We deal with Muslims as We do criminals?
How is it that you judge?"" (Koran 68:35- 36).
The Ash'aris are the Imams of the distinguished figures of guidance among the scholars of the Muslims, whose knowledge has filled the world from east to west, and whom people have unanimously concurred upon their excellence, scholarship, and religiousne.ss
They include the first rank of Sunni scholars and most brilliant of their luminaries, who stood in the face of the excesses committed by the Mu'tazilites (dis:
w6.4), and who constitute whole sections of the foremost Imams of hadith, Sacred Law, and Koranic exegesis
Sheikh aI-Islam Ahmad ibn Hajar 'Asqalani, the mentor of hadith scholars and author of the book Fath al-Bari hi sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, which not a single Islamic scholar can dispense with, was Ash'ari
The sheikh of scholars of Sunni Islam, Imam Nawawi, author of Sharh Sahih Muslim and many of other famous works, was Ash'ari
The master of Koranic exegetes, Imam Qurtubi author of al-Jami' li ahkam alQur'an, was Ash'arL Sheikh ai-Islam Ibn Hajar Haytami, who wrote al-Zawajir 'an iqtiraf alkaba'ir, was Ash'ari
The sheikh of Sacred Law and hadith, the conclusively definitive Zakariyya Ansari, was Ash'ari
Imam Abu Bakr Baqillani;
Imam 'AsqaJani; Imam Nasafi; Imam Shirbini;
Abu Hayyan Tawhidi, author of the Koranic commentary al-Bahr al-muhit; Imam Ibn Juzayy, author of al- Tashil fi 'ulum al-Tanzil; and othersall of these were Imams of the Ash'aris
If we wanted to name all of the top scholars of hadith, Koranic exegesis, and Sacred Law who were Imams of the Ash'aris, we would be hard put to do so and require volumes merely to list these illustrious figures whose wisdom has filled the earth from east to west
And it is incumbent upon us to give credit where credit is due, recognizing the merit of those of knowledge and virtue who have served the Sacred Law of the Greatest of Messengers (Allah bless him and give him peace)
What good is to be hoped for us if we impugn our foremost scholars and righteous forebears with charges of aberrancy and misguidance?
Or how should Allah give us the benefit of their scholarship if we believe it is deviance and a departure from the way ofIslam?
I ask you, is there a single Islamic scholar of the present day, among all the Ph.D.'s and geniuses, who has done what Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani or Imam Nawawi have, of the service rendered by these two noble Imams (Allah enfold them in His mercy and bliss) to the pure prophetic sunna?
How should we charge them and all Ash'aris with aberrancy when it is we who are in need of their scholarship?
Or how can we take knowledge from them if they were in error?
For as Imam Zuhri (Allah have mercy on him) says, ""This knowledge is religion, so look well to whom you are taking your religion from."" Is it not sufficient for someone opposed to the Ash'aris to say, ""Allah have mercy on them, they used their reasoning (ijtihad) in figuratively interpreting the divine attributes, which it would have been fitter for them not to do""; instead of accusing them of deviance and misguidance, or displaying anger towards whoever considers them to be of the Sunni Community?
IT Imam Nawawi, 'Asqalani, Qurtubi, Baqillani, al-Fakhr al-Razi, Haytami, Zakariyya Ansari, and others were not among the most brilliant scholars and illustrious geniuses, or of the Sunni Community, then who are the Sunnis?
I sincerely entreat all who call others to this religion or who work in the field of propagating Islam to fear Allah respecting the honor of the Community of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), especially its greatest sages and scholars in Sacred Law
For the Community of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) is possessed of goodness until the Final Hour, while we are bereft of any if we fail to acknowledge the worth and excellence of our learned (Mafahim yajihu an tusahhaha (y83), 38-40).
*
(Jalal aI-Din Suyuti:) The Sheikh of Islam and hadith master of his lj.ge, Ahmad ibn Hajar (N: 'Asqalani) was asked about the practice of commemorating the birth of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and gave the following written reply: ""As for the origin of the practice of commemorating the Prophet's birth (Allah bless him and give him peace), it is an innovation (bid'a) that has not been conveyed to us from any of· the pious early Muslims of the first three centuries, despite which it has included both features that are praiseworthy and features that are not
If
one takes care to include in such a commemoration only things that are praiseworthy and avoids those that are otherwise, it is a praiseworthy innovation (dis: w29.2), while if one does not, it is not.
""An authentic primary textual basis from which its legal validity is inferable has occurred to me, namely the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith in the collections of Bukhari and Muslim that 'the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) came to Medina and found the Jews fasting on the tenth of Muharram ('Ashura'), so he asked them about it and they replied, ""It is the day on which Allah drowned Pharaoh and rescued Moses, so we fast it in thanks to Allah Most High,"" , which indicates the validity of giving thanks to Allah for the blessings He has bestowed on a particular day in providing a benefit or averting an affliction, repeating one's thanks on the anniversary of that day every year, giving thanks to Allah taking any of various forms .of worship such as prostration, fasting, giving charity, or reciting the Koran
And what blessing is greater than the birth of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the Prophet of Mercy, on this day?
In light of which, one should take care to commemorate it on the day itself in order to conform to the above story of Moses and the tenth of Muharram, though those who do not view the matter thus do not mind commemorating it on any day of the month, while some have expanded its time to any day of the year, whatever exception may be taken at such a view.
""The foregoing is in regard to its legal basis.
As for what is done therein, it should be confined to what expresses thanksgiving to Allah Most High, of the like of the above-mentioned practices such as reciting the Koran, feeding others, giving charity, and singing something of the odes that praise the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) or encourage one to do with less of thisworldly things, inspiring the hearts of the listeners to do good and to work for the hereafter
As for what is added to this, of listening to singing, amusement, and so forth, what should be said of it is that the permissible therein that displays rejoicing over the day is of no harm if conjoined with it, while what is unlawful, offensive, or unpraiseworthy (khilaf al-awla) is forbidden"" (al-Hawi Ii alfatawi (y130) , 1.196).
(from w52.1(24) lliINGS INCONSISTENT WHli lliE ACCEPTANCE OF FATE
(Ghazali:) Complaining, no matter what the circumstances, is inconsistent with accepting fate
Criticizing food and finding fault with it is a rejection of what Allah Most High has destined, since blaming what is made is blaming the maker, and everything is Allah's work
For a person to say that ""poverty is an affliction and trial,"" or ""having a family to support is worry and fatigue,"" or ""working for a living is a burden and hardship""all this is inconsistent with accepting fate
One should rather leave the plan to its planner, the kingdom to its king, and say, as 'Vmar did (Allah be well pleased with him), ""I do not care whether I become rich or poor, for I don't know which is better for me.""
THINGS THAT ARE NOT INCONSISTENTWITH THE ACCEPTANCE OF FATE As for prayers (du'a'), Allah requires us to worship Him thereby, as is substantiated by the great many supplications made by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and all the prophets (upon whom be peace)
Praying for forgiveness, for Allah's protection of one from acts of disobedience, and indeed for all means that assist one to practice one's religion--none of these is inconsistent with accepting what Allah Most High has destined, for Allah demands the worship of supplications from His servants so that their prayers may bring forth the purity of His remembrance, the humility of soul, and the softening of earnest entreaty so as to polish the heart, open it to spiritual insight, and obtain the manifold blessings of His kindnesses--just as carrying a pitcher and drinking water are not inconsistent with the acceptance of Allah's having decreed thirst
As drinking water to eliminate thirst is merely to employ one of the means that the
Creator of means has arranged, so too is prayer an instrumental relation that Allah Most High has devised and ordered to be used
To employ such means, in conformity with the normal way Allah Most High deals wi th the world (sunna Allah) , is not inconsistent with full confidence in divine providence (tawakkul)
Nor is hating acts of disobedience, detesting their perpetrators and causes, or striving to remove them by commanding the right and forbidding the wrong (ql); none of which is inconsistent with accepting fate, though some deluded good-for-nothings have erred in this, claiming that since acts of disobedience, wickedness, -and unbelief are from the destiny and decree of Allah Mighty and Majestic, accepting them is obligatory-while this is rather from their lack of understanding and blindness to the deeper purposes of Sacred Law
For Allah requires that we worship Him by condemning acts of disobedience, hating them, and not acquiescing to them, and blames those who accept them by saying:
""They willingly accept a worldly life [dis: w5] and are contented with it"" (Koran 10:7);
and, ""They accept to remain with the women who stay behind; Allah has set a seal upon their hearts"" (Koran 9:87).
And in a famous hadith, ""Whoever sees something wrong and accepts it is as though he had committed it.·J It might be objected that Koranic verses and hadiths exist about accepting what Allah Most High has destined, while it is impossible and inconsistent with the divine unity that acts of disobedience should not be through Allah's having decreed them, and yet if they are from the decree of Allah Most High, then hating and detesting them is hatred of the decree of Allah, so how can one reconcile these two seemingly contradictory aspects or join between the acceptance and hatred of one and the same thing?
The answer to this is that acceptance and displeasure are only inconsistent when directed towards a single aspect of single object in a single respect
For it is not inconsistent to dislike something in one respect and accept it in another, as when one's enemy dies who was the enemy of another of one's enemies and was striving to destroy him, such that one dislikes his death insofar as the nemesis of one's enemy has died, yet accepts it in that at least one of them has died
And so too, disobedience has two aspects, one regarding Allah Most High, since it is His effect, choice, and will, in which respect one accepts it out of deference to the Sovereign and His sovereignty, assenting to His disposal of the matter; and another aspect regarding the perpetra tor , since it is his acquisition and attribute (dis: u3.8), the sign of his being detested and odious to Allah, who has afflicted him with the causes of remoteness and hatred, in respect to which he is condemnable and blameworthy
And this clarifies the Koranic verses and hadiths about hatred for the sake of Allah and love for the sake of Allah, being unyielding towards the unbelievers, hard against them, and detesting them, while accepting the destiny of Allah Most High insofar as it is the decree of Allah Mighty and Majestic (Ihya' 'ulum ai-din (y39) , 4.300-303).
(Ibn Hajar Haytami:)
* (Question:) ""Is someone who says, 'A believer knows the unseen (al-ghayb),' thereby considered an unbeliever, because of Allah Most High having said:
"" 'No one in the heavens or earth knows the unseen except Allah' (Koran 27:65), ""and, "" '[He is] the Knower of the Unseen, and discloses not His unseen to anyone ..
' (Koran 72:26), ""or is such a person asked to further explain himself, in view of the possibility of knowing some details of the unseen?"" (Answer:) ""He is not unconditionally considered an unbeliever, because of the possibility of otherwise construing his words, for it is obligatory to ask whomever says something interpretable as either being or not being unbelief for further clarification, as has been stated in [n: Nawawi's] al-Rawda and elsewhere ....
""If asked to explain and such a person answers: 'By saying, ""A believer knows the unseen,"" I meant that Allah could impart certain details of the unseen to some of the friends of Allah (awliya')'-this is accepted from him, since it is something logically possible and its occurrence has been documented, it being among the countless miracles [karamat, dis: w30] that have taken place over the ages
The possibility of such knowledge is amply attested to by what the Koran informs us about Khidr (Allah bless him and give him peace), and the account related of Abu Bakr Siddiq (Allah Most High be well pleased with him) that he told of his wife being pregnant with a boy, and thus it proved; or of 'Vmar (Allah Most High be well pleased with him), who miraculously perceived [n: the Muslim commander] Sariya and his army who were in Persia, and while on the pulpit in Medina giving the Friday sermon, he said, '0 Sariya, the mountain!' warning them of the enemy ambush intending to exterminate the Muslims
Or the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said of 'Vmar (Allah Most High be well pleased with him), (, 'He is of those who are spoken to [Le
preternaturally inspired].' "" ...
What we have mentioned about the above Koranic verse [n: on the unseen] has been explicitly stated by Nawawi in his Fatawa, where he says: 'It means that no one except Allah knows this independently and with full cognizance of all things knowable
As for [n: knowledge imparted through] inimitable prophetic miracles (mu'jizat) and divine favors (karamat) it is through Allah's giving them to know it that it is known; as is also the case with what is known through ordinary means' "" (al-Fatawa al-hadithiyya (y48), 311-13).
(Muhammad Hamid:) Allah Most Glorious is the All-knower of things unseen and their inmost secrets, with primal, intrinsic, supernatural knowledge whose basis no one else has a share in
If any besides Him has awareness or knowledge, it is through their being made aware or given knowledge by Him Magnificent and Exalted
They are unable-being servants without capacity-to transcend their sphere or go beyond their limit to draw aside the veils from things unseen, and if not for His pouring something of the knowledge of these things upon their hearts, they would know nothing of it, little or much
Yet this knowledge is disparate in degree, and some of it higher than other of it and more certainly established.
The divine inspiration of it to prophet messengers is beyond doubt and above question, like the rising sun in its certitude and clarity, of which the Koran says, ""[He is] the Knower of the Unseen, and discloses not His unseen to anyone, save a messenger He approves: for him He places protectors before and behind"" (Koran 72:26-27), protectors meaning guards from among the angels, so that nothing of it is leaked to devils when it is being delivered to the Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), to safeguard its inimitability and it remain a unique prophetic sign (mu'jiza)
• The miraculous perceptions (kashf) of the friends of Allah (awliya') are a truth we do not deny, for Bukhari relates in his Sahih from Abu Hurayra(AlIah Most High be well pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
""In the nations before you were people who were spoken to [Le
inspired] though they were not prophets
If there is anyone in my Community, it is 'Umar ibn Khattab."" and Muslim relates in his Sahih from 'A'isha (Allah Most High be well pleased with her) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: .
""There used to be in the nations before you those who werc spoken to
Ifthere are any in my Community, 'Umar ibn Khattab is one of them."" But this intuition (ilham) does not equal the divine inspiration (wahy) of the prophets in strength (n:
of certainty), because of the possibility that what is apprehended by the friend of Allah (wali) is merely the thoughts of his own mind
As it is sometimes admixed, and other things are mistaken for it, the possibility of error exists in it, and it cannot be a basis for establishing legal rulings or a criterion for works.
As for what astrologers and fortune-tellers say, there is no way it can be accepted, for soothsaying was annulled when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was sent and the heavens were safeguarded by stars, after which devils no longer had access to the heavens as they had had before, to eavesdrop on what angels were saying about the events on earth that Allah Most Glorious informed the angels of before they happened (n: Koran 15:17-18 and 72:8-10)
The Holy Koran is explicit that ""they [the devils] are prevented from hearing"" (Koran 26:212), and in a hadith, ""Whoever goes to a 'psychic' ('arraf) or fortune-teller and believes what he says has disbelieved in what has been revealed to Muhammad [Allah bless him and give him peace]."" The things that such people inform of that actually come to pass belong to the category of coincidence, which is not given the slightest value in Islam.
All of which is on the topic of the unseen generally.
As for the Final Hour, Allah Most High has veiled the knowledge of the time it will occur from all creatures entirely, and no one, archangel or prophetic messenger, knows when it will be, the Koranic verses and hadiths being intersubstantiative and in full agreement on this
Were I to list them it would be a lengthy matter, and what I have mentioned is adequate and sufficient for whomever the divine assistance reaches (Rudud 'ala abatil wa rasa'il al-Shaykh Muhammad alHamid (y44), 2.61-63).
*
uncle of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and born before him by two years
In the pre-Islamic period of ignorance he was responsible for the custodianship ofthe Sacred Precinct and giving water to its visitants
He entered Islam and emigrated to Medina before Mecca was conquered by the Muslims, and died in Medina in A.H
32 (al-Shifa (y116), 1.181).
exegete of the present century who was a member of a family of scholars from Horns, Syria
He completed his three-volume commentary on the first two suras of the Koran, al-Riyad al-nadira fi tafsir suratayy al-Fatiha wa al-Baqara [The verdant gardens: an exegesis of the suras al-Fatiha and al-Baqara], sometime before
134311924-25 (A).
al-Nabulsi, born in Damascus in 10S011641
He was a prolific Hanafi Imam, mufti, Sufi, and poet, the author of nearly five hundred books and treatises in the natural and religious sciences, among them Idah al-maqsud min wahdat alwujud [Clarifying what is meant by the 'unity of being'], in which he explains that by the 'unity of being' Sufis do not mean that the created universe is God, for God's being is necessary (wajib al-wujud) while the universe's being is merely possible Ga'iz al-wujud), i.e
subject to nonbeing, beginning, '!nd ending, and it is impossible that one of these two orders of being could in any sense be the other, but rather the created universe's act of being is derived and subsumed by the divine act of creation, from which it has no ontie independence, and hence is only through the being of its Creator, the one true Being
'Abd ai-Ghani travelled to Baghdad, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Hijaz, returning to settle in Damascus, where he authored most of his works and died in 1143/1733 (ldah al-maqsud min wahdatal-wujud (y98), 30; Sheikh 'Abd ai-Rahman Shaghouri; and n).
and in 1289/1872 completed his major work, comprising the most reliable positions of the later Shafi'i school in a ten-volume exegesis of Ibn Hajar Haytami's interlineal commentary on Nawawi's Minhaj al-talibin [The seekers' road], (Hawashi al-Shaykh 'Abd ai-Hamid al-Sharwani (y2), 10.432-33).
www.islamicbulletin.com 'Abd aI-Qadir al-Jaza'iri x8 Jilan, born in 768/1365
A great-grandson of 'Abd ai-Qadir al-Jilani, he was a Sufi, gnostic, and scholar of Sacred Law who authored many works, among the most famous of which is his al-Insan al-kamil fi ma'rifa al-awakhir wa al-awa'il [The perfected man: on the knowledge of last and first things]
He died in 8321 1428 (al-A 'lam (y136), 4.50).
al-Hasani al-Jaza'iri
Born in Qaytana, Algeria, in 122211807, he was a leader of men, fighter for Islam (mujahid), and the author of the three-volume Sufi classic al-Mawaqif [Standpoints] that attests to both his mastery of the traditional Islamic disciplines and adepthood in the mystic path
Originally educated in Oran, he later performed the pilgrimage to Mecca with his father, visiting Medina, Damascus, and Baghdad
In 124611830, when the French entered Algeria, his fellow countrymen swore fealty to him and made him their leader, and he stood in the face of the invasion, personally leading his army into battle against the enemy until 1263/1847, when the Sultan of the West 'Abd ai-Rahman ibn Hisham made a peace with the French, and 'Abd ai-Qadir was taken to Toulon
In 128111864-65 he was allowed to move to Damascus, where he died in 130011883 (ibid., 4.45-46).
Muhammad ibn' Abdullah ai-Baghdadi, a Shafi'i scholar, Imam in fundamentals ofIslam (usul) , and heresiologist who was born and raised in Baghdad, later moving to Nishapur
He was a teacher who used to lecture in seventeen subjects to students, and was the author of Usul ai-din [The fundamentals of the religion] and al-Farq bayn al-firaq [The distinction between heretical sects], both major works on the beliefs of Ahl al-Sunna
He died in Asfara'in in 429/1037 (ibid., 4.48; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 5.136).
'Abd 'Awf al-Qurashi, among the ten Companions whom the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) affirmed would enter paradise
An early convert to Islam, he emigrated twice in the path of Allah, first to Ethiopia and then to Medina, and was one of those who fought in the battle of Badr
He died in A.H.
31 in Medina and is buried in al-Baqi' cemetery there (al-Shifa (y116), 1.281).
xU 'Abd ai-Rahman Ba'alawi (b7.6) is 'Abd aI-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Husayn ibn 'U mar Ba 'alawi, Shafi'i scholar and the mufti of Hadramawt, Yemen.
He finished writing Bughyat al-mustarshidin fi talkhis fatawa ba'd al-a'imma min al-muta' akhkhirin [The goal of guidance-seekers: a summary of the formal legal opinions of certain later Imams] in 125111835 (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.333).
al-Jawzi, born in Baghdad in 508/1114
A Hanbali Imam and one of the greatest scholars of his age in history and hadith, he authored nearly three hundred works in the sciences of hadith, Arabic grammar, Koranic exegesis, history, Sufism, physiognomy, medicine, and biographies of famous Muslims
He is sometimes confused with Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, whom he was not related to, though the former's name (lit
""son of the superintendent of the Jawziyya"") was derived from the name of the Jawziyya School founded by a grandson of Ibn alJawzi in Damascus where Ibn Qayyim's father worked: Ibn al-Jawzi died in Baghdad in 597/1201 (ibid., 3.316; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
'Awad al-Jaziri, born in Gezira Shandawil, Egypt, in 1299/1882
Educated at alAzhaT University in Cairo, he later taught there and authored his well known fivevolume work on comparative Islamic law, al-Fiqh 'ala al-madhahib al-arba'a [Jurisprudence according to the four schools]
He died in Helwan, Egypt, in 1360/ 1941 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 3.334-35).
ibn 'Abd ai-Rahman al-Shaghouri, born in Homs, Syria, in 133211914
A Shafi'i scholar, poet, and Sufi, he moved at a young age to Damascus, where he was educated in Arabic grammar and lexicology, Sacred Law, and the Islamic religious sciences by such sheikhs as Husni al-Baghghal, Muhammad Barakat, 'Ali alDaqar, Isma'il al-Tibi, Lutfi al-Hanafi, and others, and in Sufism by Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi, with whom he associated more than twenty years as a disciple and as the leader of his chorus of singers of mystical poetry (munshidin) at public circles of dhikr
Originally a weaver, then mechanic of textile machinery, and later foreman of technicians at a fabrics plant, he was instrumental in unionizing workers in the present century in Damascus, and served on the executive committee that led the Syrian Textile Workers' Union in a successful forty-day strike for workmen's compensation
He represented Syria in the United Arab Workers' Union, and has since led an active public life in seeing to the needs of Muslims
A Sufi adept, he has composed a volume (diwan) of his own poetry similar in tone and content to that of Sheikh Ahmad aI-'Alawi, whose tariqa he is the heir and sheikh of in Damascus
In lessons with students, he teaches not only from classic texts like those of Sha'rani, and Ibn al-' Arabi's al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya [Meccan Revelations], but from the poetry, usually sung as odes before it is exposited, of such masters as Ibn al-Farid, al-Ghawth Abu Madyan, 'Abd ai-Ghani Nabulsi, Ahmad al-'Alawi, and himself, explaining that their words are ""scientific texts"" (mutun 'ilmiyya) that may be correctly or incorrectly understood, depending on whether one has the knowledge and depth of Islamic learn!ng to recognise their profound accord with the Sacred Law and faith of Islam
For this reason his tariqa emphasizes not only the illumination of the heart through dhikr, particularly by the solitary retreat (khalwa) under his strict supervision, but also the mastery of the tenets of faith of Ahl al-Sunna from classic Ash'ari texts which provide the meanings that are only given life and seriously comprehended through the gnosis of those who remember Allah much and whom Allah remembers
Sheikh 'Abd alRahman currently works as a professor of Islamic faith ('ilm ai-taw hid) and the sciences of Arabic at a religious academy in Damascus (n).
Arifin ibn 'Ali ibn Zayn al-'Abidin al-Munawi, born in 95211545
A majorShafi'i scholar in the religious and traditional sciences, he lived in Cairo, where he devoted himself to research and writing, producing nearly eighty works, of which perhaps the most signal contribution is his six-volume Fayd ai-Qadir sharh alJami' al-saghir [The outpouring of the Omnipotent: an exegesis of ""The minor compendium""], a commentary on a famous hadith collection by Suyuti
Towards the end of his life, he weakened himself through lack of food and sleep, became ill, and finally had to dictate his works to his son
He died in 103111622 (al-A 'lam (y136), 6.204; and n).
Khallaf, a twentieth-century Arabist, scholar, and specialist in Islamic jurisprudence.
Born in 1305/1888 in Kafr al-Ziyat, Egypt, he graduated from the school of Islamic judiciary in Cairo in 1912, and also served as an inspector of Islamic courts in Cairo and as a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language
He was appointed assistant professor of Islamic jurisprudence in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cairo in 1935 and became full professor in 1948, authoring several works on Sacred Law and Koranic exegesis, among them 'llm usul al-fiqh [The science of the fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence], which is widely used in universities throughout the Islamic world
He died in Cairo in 137511956 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 4.184).
al-Hanafi al-Sha'rani, born in 898/1493 in Qalqanshada, Egypt
A Shafi'i scholar and prolific author of works in Sufism, Sacred Law, and tenets of faith, he is probably most famous in the legal sphere for his classic, al-Mizan al-kubra [The supreme scale], in which he comparatively studies the rulings of all four Sunni schools of Sacred Law as if they were a single school, treating their differences according to their difficulty as either strictness ('azima) or dispensation (rukhsa).
He was also a sheikh and adept in Sufism, among its outstanding Arab spokesmen, showing the unity between law and way in works that have remained popular to this day, among them Lata'if al-minan wa al-akhlaq [Subtleties of gifts and character], Lawaqih al-anwar al-qudsiyya [The fecundating sacred illuminations], and Kitab al-yawaqit wa al-jawahir fi bayan 'aqa'id al-akabir [The book of rubies and jewels: an explanation of the tenets of faith of mystic luminaries]
He died in Cairo in 973/1565 (ibid., 4.180-81; andn).
knew Hasan al-Basri and other spiritual figures of his time, and was among those given to praying at night ,for forty years performing the dawn prayer (subh) with the ablution (wudu) he had made for the nighfall prayer ('isha) (al-Tabaqat alkubra (yl24), 1.46).
al-Wahid ibn Sa'id al-Durubi, Shafi'i sheikh, Sufi, and imam of Jami' Darwish Pasha (al-Darwishiyya) Mosque in Damascus
Born in 133311914 in Homs, Syria, he moved at the age of eighteen to Zabadani, where he read various Shafi'i works with Sheikh Ibrahim Tayyib al-Ghazzi, teacher in the school of Islamic judiciary, and with Sheikh Muhammad Salim Taha, the mufti of Zabadani
He studied a number of Shafi'i legal classics with them during his eighteen-year residence there including al-Iqna' fi hall alfaz Abi Shuja' [The persuading: an explanation of the terms in ""Abu Shuja""'] by Muhammad Shirbini Khatib, the Hashiya [Commentary] of Sheikh Ibrahim Bajuri, and others in Shafi'i law, as well as works on fundamentals of Islamic belief ('ilm al-tawhid), hadith, Koranic exegesis, and Sufism, before moving in 1950 to Damascus, where he was appointed imam of the Darwishiyya
The translator can attest to both his remarkable memory, which holds a number of traditional works in the Islamic sciences (mutun) in their entirety, and to his deep comprehension of Sacred Law and its ancillary disciplines, enriched by over thirty-five years of reading and discussion in his library and bookshop off the courtyard of the mosque
He has published a number of the works of scholars and mystics, among them a volume of poetry by 'Abd aI-Ghani Nabulsi entitled Diwan al-haqa'iq wa majmu' al-raqa'iq [The collected poems of higher spiritual realities and compendium of heartfelt subtleties], Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi's Diwan [Collected poems] andal-Minahal-quddusiyyafisharhal-Murshid al-mu'in bi tariq al-Sufiyya [Sacred gifts: a Sufi exegesis of ""The helping guide""], Abul Mawahib Shadhili's Qawanin hukm al-ishraq [The laws of the dawning of illumination], and others
'Umdat al-salik was chosen to be translated for the present volume at his suggestion
His first sheikh in Sufism was Sa'd ai-Din al-Jabawi of the Sa'diyya tariqa in Horns, who sent him to Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi when he moved to Damascus
As someone who knows through firsthand experience, he emphasizes the need for students of the Islamic disciplines to have a spiritual path to train the heart and avoid the dangers of pride and unworthy intention inherent in acquiring and teaching such knowledge
If there are increasingly fewer scholars like Sheikh' Abd al-Wakilleft in the world, it may happen that Allah will make the present work endure as a testimony to future generations of Muslims as to the seriousness and depth with which men like him understood Sacred Law, for the spirit that imbues the book is his (n).
well pleased with him), one of the most renowned Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), an ascetic whose keen intelligence was reflected in his devotion to worshipping Allah Most High, which he did until the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had to remind him, ""Verily, your body, your wife, and your eyes have rights upon you ...
"" Among the main transmitters of hadiths, he was literate before entering Islam
He participated in the Muslim's battles, and at the end of his life lost his eyesight, dying in 65/684 (alA'lam (y136), 4.111).
a reliable hadith transmitter (thiqa) whose hadiths are recorded in Bukhari, Muslim, and other main collections, and who lived and served as a judge in Medina.
He died in A.H
135 at seventy years of age (Taqrib al-tahdhib (y16), 297).
al-Aslami
One of those who met and studied underthe Companions, he was the judge of Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.) and a reliable hadith transmitter (thiqa) whose hadiths are recorded in all six main hadith collections.
He died in AR 105 at one hundred years of age (ibid., 297; and n).
[Correspondences] of al-Shatibi in fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence, and was among the religious scholars of Dumyat, Egypt, at the turn of the present century (Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
aI-Haddad al-Ba'alawi, a contemporary Shafi'i scholar who was born in alDeys, South Yemen, in 1923
He studied at religious academies in Hadramawt, was appointed as a judge in 1946, as presiding head of the court of appeals in Mukalla in 1960, and as head of the judiciary of Hadramawt in 1965, a position from which he resigned in 1970
In 1976 he was appointed lecturer in 'Aden University (al-Sunna wa al-bid'a (y20), back cover).
al-Siddiq ibn Ahmad al-Ghimari, born in Tangiers, Morocco, in 1328/1910, a descendant of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) through Hasan, the son of 'Ali and Fatima (Allah be well pleased with them), and on his mother's side from the Moroccan Sufi Ibn 'Ajiba
A specialist in Maliki and Shafi'i jurisprudence, fundamentals of Islamic law and faith (usul), and Arabic lexicology, he is among the foremost living hadith experts (muhaddithin) and scholars in Sacred Law
He first studied the Islamic sciences under the traditional scholars of Morocco of his day ,among them his father, the hadith specialist Muhammad ibn Siddiq Ghimari, and Sheikh 'Abbas Bannani, after which he attended the Qarawiyyin Madrasa in Fez, and then al-Azhar, whose scholars took him as an authority and reference in the sciences ofhadith, and where he studied under such sheikhs as the grand mufti of Egypt Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti'i before returning to Morocco, where he deepened his knowledge of hadith under the tutelage of his brother, the hadith master (hafiz) Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Siddiq
He has authored nearly 150 books and treatises on the sciences of Islam, which amply attest to his rank among contemporaries, among the most famous of which are his Bida' al-tafasir [The blameworthy innovations of Koranic exegeses], and al-Radd al-muhkam al-matin [The invincibly strong rebuttal], which explains in detail why Sunni Islam rejects the innovations of the Wahhabi sect in faith and works
He is the sheikh of the Siddiqiyya branch of the Shadhili tariqa, and presently lives and teaches at the order's zawiya in Tangiers (Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf; and n).
reliable transmitter (thiqa) who related hadiths from such narrators as' Abdullah ibn Suraqa and 'Abdullah ibn Abi Jadh'a (Allah be well pleased with them), and whose hadiths appear in the collections of Bukhari, Muslim, and others
He died in A.H
108 (Siyar a 'lam al-nubala' (y37), 1.6, 11.110; and Taqrib al-tahdhib (y16),
307).
well pleased with him), a prophetic Companion who lived in Medina, swore fealty to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) at 'Aqaba, and fought at the battle of Uhud
He died in Damascus in A.H
54 during the caliphate of Mu'awiya (Taqrib al-tahdhib (y16), 296).
Musa, Abu 'Abd aI-Rahman al-Sulami, born in Nishapur, Persia, in 325/936
A Shafi'i scholar and one of the foremost historians and sheikhs of the Sufis, he wrote over a hundred works, among the most widely read of them his Tabaqat alSufiyya [The successive generations of Sufis]
He died in Nishapur in 412/1021 (alA'lam (y136), 6.99; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28), 4.143).
Abu 'Ali al-Daqqaq, the Imam of the Sufis of his time and sheikh of Abu!
Qasim Qushayri
Originally from Nishapur, he learned Arabic there and fundamentals of Islamic faith and law, after which he travelled to Merv, where he studied Shafi'i jurisprudence and became an outstanding scholar, and then took the way of Sufism, applying himself to living what he had learned
He died in A.H
405 (Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 4.329-30).
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (Allah be well pleased with him) one of the greatest Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Born fifty-one years before the Hijra (A.D
573) in Mecca, he was a prominent and wealthy figure among the Quraysh, learned, noble, and brave, and became the first adult male to accept Islam from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the first of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs after him
He forbade himself wine in the pre-Islamic period and did not drink
A man who saw many remarkable events during the lifetime ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he fought in the Muslims' battles, bore their hardships, and spent his wealth to establish Islam
'Umar ibn Khattab (Allah be well pleased with him) once attested that if the faith of Abu Bakr were placed on one side of a scale and the faith of the entire Muslim Community (Umma) on the other, Abu Bakr's would outweigh it.
An eloquent speaker who was clement and forbearing towards all, he nevertheless possessed a tremendous personal courage and presence of mind that saved the day after the Prophet's death (Allah bless him and give him peace) when the desert Arabs turned from Islam and attacked the Muslims
If not for Abu Bakr's valiant and decisive leadership of the swift, hard-fought campaign that ended the insurrection, Islam might well have been lost and Allah not worshipped on the face of the earth
During his caliphate, Syria and Palestine were added to the Islamic lands as well as much of 'Iraq
He died in Medina in 13/634 (al-A'lam (yI36), 4.102; and n).
Muhammad ibn Ja'far, Abu Bakr al-Baqillani
An Islamic judge who was born in Basra in 338/950, he became one of the foremost figures in Islamic scholastic theology ('ilm al-kalam), and because of his logical acumen and swift, unhesitating replies, the caliph 'Adud al-Dawla dispatched him as an envoy to the Byzantine court in Constantinople, and he debated with Christian scholars in the presence of their king
He lived most of his life in Baghdad, where he authored a number of works on tenets of Islamic belief, and died in 403/1013 (al-A'/am (y136), 6.176).
w34 Abu Darda' (a2.4) is 'Uwaymir ibn Malik ibn Qays ibn Umayya, Abu Darda' al-Khazraji (Allah be well pleased with him), one of the Medinan Helpers (Ansar) and Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), as notable among his contemporaries for his superb horsemanship as for his piety and wisdom in giving legal judgements
Before the prophetic mission he was first a merchant in Medina, and then devoted himself exclusively to worship, though when he became a Muslim he gained renown for his considerable courage in fighting for Islam
He was one of those who memorized the entire Koran during the lifetime of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and when Mu'awiya, then a regional governor, appointed him to the judiciary in Damascus at the behest of 'Umar, he became its first judge
He died in Damascus in 32/652 (al-A 'lam (y136), 5.98}.
Bashir al-Azadi al-Sijistani, born in 2021817 in Sijistan, Persia, a Shafi'i scholar who, through numerous journeys to gain knowledge of the prophetic traditions, became a hadith master (hafiz) and the Imam of the science in his time
Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Saghani once remarked of him, ""Hadith was made subject to Abu Dawud as iron was made subject to the prophet Dawud (upon whom be peace)."" And hadith master Musa ibn Ibrahim said: ""Abu Dawud was created in this world for hadith, and in the next world for paradise
I have never seen better than he."" Hakim observed, ""Abu Dawud was the undisputed Imam of the people of hadith in his age."" He died in Basra in 275/889 (ibid., 3.122; Tabaqat alShafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 2.293; and al-Targhib waal-tarhib (y9), 1.20).
Greatest Imam, born in A.H
80 in Kufa
He was the scholar of Iraq and the foremost reprcsentative and exemplar of the school of juridical opinion (ra'y).
The Hanafi school, which he founded, has decided court cases in the majority of Islamic lands for the greater part of Islam's history, including the Abbasid and Ottoman periods, and maintains its preeminence in Islamic courts today
Abu Hanifa was the first to analyse Islamic jurisprudence, divide it into subjects, distinguish its issues, and determine the range and criteria for analogical reasoning (qiyas) thcrein
Shafi'i used to say of him, ""In jurisprudence, all scholars are the children of Abu Hanifa."" The Imam and his school have been misunderstood by some who have believed that the Imam's knowledge of hadith was largely limited to what was transmitted by the narrators of Kufa, especially through the Companion Ibn Mas'ud
In fact, the Imam was a hadith expert who had all the hadiths of the Companions of Mecca and Medina in addition to those of Kufa, and only lacked the relatively few channels of narrators who were in Damascus
His Musnad [Ascribed traditions] is comparable in size to the Muwatta' of Imam Malik and the Musnad of Shafi'i which the latter based their respective schools upon, and when one reads Muwatta' aI-Imam Muhammad, Malik's work which Abu Hanifa's disciple Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shaybani studied and annotated for three years under Malik at Medina, one gains complete conviction from Muhammad's notes that virtually every hadith therein was familiar to Abu Hanifa before he arrived at the positions of his school, all of which is a persuasive case against the suggestions of the unlearned that Abu Hanifa did not know hadith
Nevertheless, the Imam was of an age that was plagued by hadith forgers, and he was www.islamicbulletin.com
moved by his extreme piety to reject any hadith that he was not reasonably sure was authentic, for which reason he applied a relatively selective range of hadith evidence in Sacred Law
His school, for example, does not accept qualifications or modifications of any ruling established by a Koranic verse (takhsis ayah) when such qualification comes through a hadith with but one, even if rigorously authenticated (sahih), channel oftransmission, but only iiit comes through a hadith with three separate channels of transmission
So despite Abu Hanifa's being a hadith specialist, his school reflects a legacy of extensive use of analogy and deduction from specific rulings and general principles established by primary texts acceptable to the Imam's rigorous standards, as well as the use of inference and juridical opinion as to what conforms to the human interests in general protected and furthered by Sacred Law.
With his legal brilliance, he was equally well known for his piety and asceticism, and though he had wealth from a number of shops selling cloth, to which he made occasional rounds in superintending their managers, he devoted his fortune to helping students and researchers in Sacred Law, and many a scholar was to realize how much the Imam's financial help had meant when it was discontinued after his death
He shunned sleep at night, and some called him the Peg because of his perpetual standing for prayer therein, often reciting the entire Koran in his nightly rak'as
He performed the dawn prayer for forty years with the ablution (wudu) made for the nightfall prayer, would only sleep a short while between his noon and midafternoon prayers, and by the end of his life, had recited the Holy Koran seven thousand times in the place where he died
He would never sit in the shade of a wall belonging to someone he had loaned money, saying, ""Every loan that brings benefit is usury."" He died in Baghdad in A.H
150 at seventy years of age, leaving an intellectual and spiritual legacy that few scholars have ever equalled (al-Tabaqat al-kubra (yI24), 1.53-54; al-Targhib wa al-tarhib (y9), 1.13; Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut; and n).
Abu Hatim al-Hanzali, born in Rayy, Persia, in 195/810
He was a Shafi'i hadith master (hafiz) who was a contemporary of Bukhari and Muslim
He travelled much during his lifetime, to Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia, and wrote a number of works in the field of hadith
He died in Baghdad in 277/890 at eighty years of age (al-A 'lam (y136), 6.27; and Tabaqat al-Shaji'iyya al-kubra (y128), 2.207).
Hayyan al-Tawhidi
Born in Shiraz, Persia, where he taught in A.H
400, he was an Imam in Arabic grammar and lexicology, a scholar in Shafi'i jurisprudence, history, and Sufism
Though stigmatized by Ibn J awzi and Dhahabi as having corrupt beliefs, Taj ai-Din Subki studied his works and declared: ""Nothing has been established to my satisfaction about Abu Hayyan that gives reason to vituperate him
I have examined a great deal of what he said, and found nothing except a few things indicating that he had a strong personality and disdained his contemporaries, which does not deserve the criticism he has received"" (Tabaqat alShafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 5.286-88).
first promulgated his heretical innovations in Damascus, where he taught that every human being endowed with beauty,was infusediwith the spirit of the'Deity, He is also related to have said that whoever held his beliefs had no obligation to obey the Sacred Law (Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf),
well pleased with him), one of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the greatest of them in memorizing and relating hadiths, He came to Medina when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was at Khaybar, and he became a Muslim in A.H
7
He oversaw affairs at Medina for a time, and in the caliphate of 'Umar was made governor of Bahrain, though 'Umar found him too lenient and devoted to worship, and removed him, and when he later wanted to reinstate him, Abu Hurayra refused
He lived most of his life in Medina and died there in 59/679 at seventy-seven years of age (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.308).
aI-Shirazi, a Shafi'i Imam, teacher, and debater
Born in Fayruzabad, Persia, in 393/1003, he studied in Shiraz and Basra before coming to Baghdad where he displayed his genius in Sacred Law, becoming the mufti of the Islamic Community (Umma) of his time, the sheikh of the Nizamiyya Academy which the vizier Nizam al-Mulk built in Baghdad to accomodate Abu Ishaq's students
He was known for the persuasiveness with which he could urge a case in discussions, and he authored many works, among the most famous of them his two-volume al-Muhadhdhab fi fiqh ai-Imam al-Shafi'i [The rarefaction:{)n the jurisprudence of Imam Shafi'i] wltich took him fourteen years to produce, and which furnished the basic text for Nawawi's al-Majmu': Sharh al-Muhadhdhab [The compendium: an exegesis of ""The rarefaction""]
He died in Baghdad in 476/ 1083 (ibid., 1.51; and n).
the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) of whom little else is known
No one else among the Companions had this agnomen, though scholars disagree as to his true name, whether it was Qushayr, Yusayr, Qaysar, or Qays
He was ofthe Quraysh, though some have mistakenly supposed that he was of the people of Medina (Fath al-Bari (yI7), 11.590).
Abu Ja'far al-Khatmi, a reliable hadith transmitter (saduq) who was the contemporary of some of the generation who met the prophetic Companions, though it is not established that he himself met any of them
Hadiths related by him appear in the collections of Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah.
Originally from Medina, he lived in Basra and died sometime after A.H
100 (Taqrib al-tahdhib (yI6), 432).
a noble of the Quraysh in Mecca, and enemy of Allah and His prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He was slain at the battle of Badr in 21624 (al-A'lam (yI36), 5.87; and al-Shifa (y116), 1.270).
paternal uncle ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
A noble ofthe Ouraysh, he was among the greatest in enmity against the Muslims, a proud and wealthy man who would not follow a religion brought by his brother's son
Surat al-Masad (Koran 111) was revealed in connection with him
He died after the battle ofBadr in 2/624 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.12).
the Imam of Ahl al-Sunna in tenets of faith, born in Basra in 260/874
A descendant of the Companion Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, he was a Shafi'i scholar and the founder of the school of tenets of faith that bears his name and reflects his powerful intellect and profound knowledge of the Holy Koran and hadith
Imam Ibn Hajar Haytami has defined Sunni Muslims (Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'a) as ""those who follow Abul Hasan Ash'ari and Abu Mansur Maturidi, the Two Imams of Ahl al-Sunna."" The substantive differences between the two Imams amount to about six questions, though because the scholars of the Maturidi school were mainly confined to the lands beyond the Oxus before the Mongol depredations, and decimated thereafter, the Ash'ari school has been the standard-bearer for the faith of Sunni Islam for most of its history
Originally educated in the school ofthe Mu'tazilites (dis: w6.4), Imam Ash'ari saw the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in a dream three times one Ramadan, who told him, ""0 'Ali, support the positions that have been transmitted from me, for they are the truth,"" after which he abandoned the MU'tazilites and became the champion of Islamic orthodoxy as embodied in the Koran and hadith, defending it alike from the danger of image-worship by interpreting the divine attributes anthropomorphically, and the danger of denying the positive significance of the attributes of Allah and the life of the hereafter by explaining them away
Imam Ash'ari did not give figurative interpretations (ta'wil, dis: w6.3, w57) to problematic expressions of divine attributes, but rather urged they be accepted as they have come without saying how they are meant, while affirming that Allah is absolutely beyond any likeness to created things; though later members of his school did give such interpretations in rebuttal of anthropomorphists, preserving the faith of Islam from their innovations in the same spirit and with the same dedication that the Imam had preserved it before them by his rebuttals of the Mu'tazilites
He authored nearly three hundred books and treatises on all aspects of the faith of Ahl al-Sunna, and died in Baghdad in 324/936 (ibid., 4.263; al-Fatawa alhadithiyya (y48), 280; Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28), 3.347-49; A; and n).
Abu aI-Hasan al-Mawardi, born in Basra in 364/974
The head of the judiciary under the Abbasid caliph al-Oa'im bi Amr lilah, he was one of the foremost Shafi'i scholars of his era, and published major works in Islamic jurisprudence, Koranic exegesis, principles of law, and literature, of which his work on the caliphaJ system of Islamic government al-Ahkam al-sultaniyya wa al-wilayat aldiniyya [The rules of power and positions of religious authority] is still among the most professional available
He was respected by the caliphs of his time, and occasionally interceded for someone with them
He died in Baghdad in 450/1058 at eighty-six years of age (al-A'lam (y136), 4.327; Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 5.267; and n).
al-' Adawi (Allah be well pleased with him), a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Some commentators say that the Prophet's advice (Allah bless him and give him peace) to a woman not to marry him because ""he never leaves his stick"" was an allusion to his perpetual travels away from home, while others say it referred to his harshness towards women (al-Futuhat airabbaniyya (y26), 7.13).
of Samarkand (in present-day Uzbek S,S.R.), called the Imam of Guidance, a principle Hanafi scholar who authored works in Sacred Law, Koranic exegesis, and Islamic ethics and character (akhlaq), among the most famous of which were his Tanbih al-ghafilin [The apprising of the heedless] and Bustan al-'arifin [The grove of the gnostics]
He died in A,H
383 (al-Shifa (y1l6),
1.51).
Abu al-Qasim ai-Baghdadi
Imam of the Sufis, he comprehensively joined between law and way, outward and inward, one of the most renowned mystics of Islamic history and at the same time an outstanding scholar of Sacred Law in the school of Abu Thawr
The historian Ibn al-Athir described him as ""the Imam of the World of his time."" Junayd once defined Sufism as ""dissociating the beginninglessly eternal from tbat which originates in time (iirad al-qadim 'an alhadith),"" and on another occasion simply as ""the experience (al-dhawq),"" both of which are typical of his succinctness
Though he left few written works, his sayings are preserved among the Sufis, to whom he remains an important authority in the path, He died in Baghdad in 297/910 (al-A 'lam (yI36), 2.141; and n).
Ahmad ibn Mahmawayh, Abu al-Qasim al-Nasrabadhi al-Naysaburi, born in Nasrabad, Persia
He was the sheikh of the Sufis of Khurasan in his time, and a scholar in hadith who studied with Ibn Khuzayma and others
Among those who transmitted hadiths from him were Imam Hakim, Sulami, and Abu' Ali Daqqaq.
At the end of his life he went on pilgrimage and remained close to the Kaaba in Mecca until his death in A.H
367 (Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 16.263-64; and Tabaqat al-Sufiyya (y129), 484).
Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri, born in Khurasan in 376/986
He was a Shafi'i scholar, Koranic exegete, and Sufi master who lived in Nishapur and authored several works, of which his al-Risala al-Qushayriyya [The Qushayri letter] is perhaps the most famous
He died in Nishapur in 465/1072 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 4.57;
and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 5.153).
(Allah bless him and give him peace) wbo were known by this name, the one referred to by tbe hadith of our text being al-Harith ibn Haritb, Abu Malik alAsh'ari (Allah be well pleased with bim) , who later settled in Syria
Hadiths from him have been recorded by Muslim, Tirmidhi, and Nasa'i (Taqrib al-tahdhib (y16), 145; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
(Allah be well pleased with him), one of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who conquered and ruled new lands for Islam
Born in Yemen twe:lty-one years before the Hijra (A.D
602), it is related that he had the most beautiful voice of any of the Companions in reciting the Koran
He came to Mecca when Islam appeared and accepted it, and emigrated to Ethiopia, after which the Prophet (AHah bless him and give him peace) appointed him to govern Zabid and' Aden in Yemeri
In A.H
17, 'Umar made him governor of Basra, from whence Abu Musa proceeded to conquer Ahvaz and Isfahan, which 'Uthman, in his caliphate, confirmed him as governor over but later removed him, whereupon Abu Musa went to Kufa, whose inhabitants asked 'Uthman to appoint him as governor over them, which he did
Upon 'Uthman's death, 'Ali confirmed his appointment, but when 'Ali asked the people of Kufa to aid him in the Battle of ai-Jamal, Abu MUSil ordered them not to participate, and 'Ali rescinded his confirmation
He died in Kufa in 44/665 (al-A'lam (y136),
4.114).
Basra, a reliable hadith narrator (thiqa) of the generation who met and studied under the Companions
His hadiths appear in the collections Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidbi, Nasa'i, and others
He died in A.H
108 or 109 (Taqrib al-lahdhib (y16),
546).
al-Asbahani, born in Isfahan, Persia, in 336/948
He was a Shafi'i scholar, hadith master (hafiz), and historian, who was reliable in memory and transmission
He is perhaps most famous for his ten-volume Hilya al-awliya' [The adornment of the saints], in which he records the lives and sayings of the early Muslims and friends of Allah (awliya')
He died in Isfahan in 430/1038 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.157; and Tabaqal al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 4.18).
Salah ai-Din al-' Ala'i, horn in Damascus in 69411295
He was educated in Damascus and became a hadith specialist and Shafi'i scholar, authoring many works in both Sacred Law and hadith
After much travel, he settled in Jerusalem, where he took a post as a teacher in al-Salahiyya school in A.H
731, and later died there in 76111359 (al-A'lam (y136), 2.321).
al-Khazraji (Allah be well pleased with him) one of the Medinan Helpers (Ansar), a Companion ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who was horn ten years before the Hijra (A.D
613)
He constantly kept the company ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and some 1,170 hadiths were related by him
He participated in twelve of the Muslims' battles, and died in Medina in 74/693 (ibid., 3.87).
'Abd al-Manaf, Abu Sufyan (Allah be well pleased with him), born fifty-seven years before the Hijra (A.D
567)
One of the nobles of the Quraysh in the preIslamic period, he was a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the father of Mu'awiya, head of the Umayyad caliphate
He led the Meccan idolators against the.Muslims in the battles of Uhud and the Confederates, and entered Islam the day Mecca was conquered by the Muslims
A redoubtable warrior, he lost one eye fighting for Ishlm in the battle of Ta'if, and the other in the battle of Yarmouk, becoming totally blind
He died in Medina in 31/652 (ibid., 3.201).
well pleased with him) a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who was born thirty-six years before the Hijra (A.D
585) in Medina
A superb and valiant archer, he was one of the most celebrated Medinan Helpers (Ansar), swearing fealty to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) at 'Aqaba, and fighting in the battles of Badr, Uhud, and the rest
He died in Medina in 34/654 (ibid., 3.58-59).
al-Harithi al-Makki
Born in Iraq between Baghdad and Wasit, he was a Sufi, preacher (wa 'iz), ascetic, and scholar of Sacred Law
His most influential work is probably the two-volume Qut al-qulub fi mu' amala al-Mahbub wa was!
tariq aimurid ila maqam al-tawhid [The sustenance of hearts: on dealing with the Beloved, and a description of the way to seekers of the spiritual station of witnessing the divine unity], a direct ancestor in its arrangement and style to Ghazali's Ihya' 'ulum ai-din [Giving life to the sciences of the religion]
He died in Baghdad in 386/996 (ibid., 6.274; and n).
(Allah be well pleased with him), a Companion ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He was with 'Ali in the battle ofSiffin, and later settled in Syria
Some 250 hadiths are related from him by Bukhari and Muslim
He died in Homs in 81nOO, the last of the Companions to die in Syria (al-A'lam (y136),
3.203).
'Uthman al-Hiri, originally from Rayy, Persia
He was a Sufi who first kept the company of Yahya ibn Mu'adh and Shah al-Kirmani, and then travelled to Nishapur, where he met Hafs ai-Haddad, who married his daughter to Abu 'Uthman and took the the way from him
At his hands the path of Sufism spread in Nishapur, where he died in A.H
292 (al-Tabaqat al-kubra (yI24), 1.86; and Tabaqat al-Sufiyya (yI29), 170).
Abu Ya'la al-Mawsuli
He was a hadith master (hafiz) who was known as the Hadith Scholar of Mosul (in northern Iraq), and people undertook journeys to learn from him
He compose several collections of hadith and was nearly one hundred years old when he died in Mosul in 307/919 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.171).
the famous Sufi born in 188/804 in Bistam, a city between Khurasan and Iraq
His grandfather was a Zoroastrian who became a Muslim
Many miracles and ecstatic utterances are attributed to Abu Yazid, whom some consider to have been the first to speak of the 'unity of being' (wahdat al-wujud, dis: x5) in a direct way.
Among his numerous sayings on Sufism is ""When Allah loves a servant, He imbues him with three attributes as a proof of His love: generosity like that of the sea, beneficence like that ofthe sun, and humility like that ofthe earth."" When a prominent scholar once asked him from whence he had acquired his knowledge, he replied that it was from applying the maxim, ""Whoever applies what he knows, Allah bequeaths him knowledge of what he did not know."" He died in Bistam in 2611875 at seventy-one years of age (ibid., 3.235; ai-Imam al-'Izz Ibn 'Abd alSalam (y38), 1.136; al-Tabaqat al-kubra (y124), 1.77; and Tabaqat al-Sufiyya (y129),67).
Yusuf aI-Kufi ai-Baghdadi, born in Kufa in 1131731
He was the companion and student of Abu Hanifa, and the first to propagate his school
A hadith master (hafiz) and one of the most brilliant judicial minds in Islamic history, he served as judge in Baghdad during the caliphates of al-Mahdi and al-Hadi, and as head of the judiciary under the caliph Harun ai-Rashid, who made the rulings of the Hanafi school the official state code for the entire Abbasid period
He was the first to write works on the fundamentals of Hanafi jurisprudence, a mujtahid Imam with an extensive knowledge of Koranic exegesis who authored works in hadith in addition to his many books and treatises in Sacred Law
He died in Baghdad in 1821798 (al-A'lam (y136), 8.193; and n).
High
Created by Allah without father or mother, commentators rdate that he lived 960 years, the Father of Mankind whose story is mentioned in many places in the Holy Koran (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 1.39; and n).
Muhammad Rayhan, born in Jarash, Jordan, in 1944
He is a Sufi ofthe HashmiDarqawi tariqa who first took the way in 1961 from Sheikh Muhammad Sa'id Kurdi, the successor in Jordan of Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi of Damascus
He served Kurdi until his death in 1972, and among the teachings he had from him are the words, ""The remembrance of Allah is the charter of saintship (al-dhikr manshur aI-wiIaya)""
He read Shafi'i jurisprudence with his sheikh as well as with Sheikh Barakat, the late mufti of Irbid, Jordan, and he currently studies with Sheikh Yunus Hamdan in Amman, where he lives and has a grocery store (n).
Asad, Abu 'Abdullah al-Shaybani, Imam of Ahl aI-Sunna, born in 1641780 in Baghdad, where he grew up as an orphan
For sixteen years he travelled in pursuit of the knowledge ofhadith, to Kufa, Basra, Mecca, Medina, Yemen, Damascus, Morocco, Algeria, Persia, and Khurasan, memorizing one hundred thousand hadiths, thirty thousand of which he recorded in his Musnad [Ascribed traditions].
Imam Ahmad was among the most outstanding students of Shafi'i, who when he left Baghdad for Egypt, said, ""In departing from Baghdad, I have left no one in it more godfearing, learned in Sacred Law, abstinent, pious, or knowledgeable than Ibn Hanbal."" Out of piety, Imam Ahmad never gave a formal legal opinion (fatwa) while Shafi'i was in Iraq, and when he later formulated his school of jurisprudence, he mainly drew on explicit texts from the Koran, hadith, and scholarly consensus, with relatively little expansion from analogical reasoning (qiyas)
He was probably the most learned in the sciences of hadith of the four great Imams of Sacred Law, and his students included many of the foremost scholars of hadith
Abu Dawud said of him: ""Ahmad's gatherings were gatherings of the afterlife: nothing of this world was mentioned
Never once did I hear him mention this-worldly things."" And Abu Zur'a said: ""Ahmad was even greater than Ishaq [Rahawayh] and more knowledgeable in jurisprudence
I never saw anyone more perfect than Ahmad."" He never once missed praying in the night, and used to recite the entire Koran daily
He said, ""I saw the Lord of Power in my sleep, and said, '0 Lord, what is the best act through which those near to You draw nearer?' and He answered, 'Through [reciting] My word, 0 Ahmad.' I asked, 'With understanding, or without?' and He answered, 'With understanding and without.' "" Ibrahim aI-Harbi noted of Ahmad, ""It is as though Allah gathered in him the combined knowledge of the first and the last."" Ahmad was imprisoned and tortured for twenty-eight months under the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim in an effort to force him to publicly espouse the Mu'tazilite position that the Holy Koran was created, but the Imam bore up unflinchingly under the persecution and refused to renounce the belief of Ahl alSunna that the Koran is the uncreated word of Allah, after which Allah delivered and vindicated him
When Ahmad died in 2411855, he was accompanied to his resting place by a funeral procession of eight hundred thousand men and sixty thousand women, marking the departure of the last of the four great mujtahid Imams ofIslam (al-A'iam (y136), 1.203; Siyara'[am al-nubala' (y37), 11.198-99;
al- Tabaqat al-kubra (y124), 1.55; al-Targhib wa al-tarhib (y9), 1.17; and n).
aI-' Abbas al-'A1awi, born in Mostaghanem, Algeria, in 129111874
He was a Sufi, Maliki scholar, Koranic exegete, poet, and the sheikh and renewer of the Shadhili tariqa, of which he founded the 'Alawi-Darqawi order that bears his name
His teaching stressed the threefold nature of the Muslim religion (din) as mentioned in the Gabriel hadith (dis: ul): Islam, represented by one's inward and outward submission to the rules of Sacred Law; true faith (iman), in the tenets of faith of Ahl aI-Sunna; and the perfection of faith (ihsan), in the knowledge of Allah which the way of Sufism provides the means to
He authored works in each of these spheres, though his most important legacy lay in the spiritual way he founded, which emphasized knowledge of Allah (ma'rita) through the practice of solitary retreat (khalwa) under the supervision of a sheikh, and the invocation (dhikr) of the Supreme Name.
Europeans visited the sheikh, but some who met him later wrote works that tried to assimilate him to a sort of perenniaIist philosophy that would consider all religious traditions as valid an<:\ acceptable reflections of but a single truth, substituting traditional spirituality versus modern materialism for Islam versus unbelief The sheikh's own works emphatically deny their philosophy, and the reason Allah afflicted them with it would seem to be that they did not remain with the sheikh long enough to absorb his state or become as he was, a follower of the way of the prophets and purified ones, rather taking their affiliation with him as a means to legitimize opinions they had from the first and were unwilling to ever relinquish, remaking the master, as it were, in their own image
The true measure of a spiritual way, however, does not lie in books produced by writers, in the wrong or in the right, but in the hearts it opens to knowledge of divine realities conveyed by prophetic revelation, and in this Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi, whose order has spread to the farthest reaches of the Muslim world, certainly stands as one of the greatest Sufi masters of Islamic history
He died in Mostaghanem in 1353/1934 (al-A 'lam (y136), 1.258; Sheikh 'Abd ai-Rahman Shaghouri; and n).
al-Rumi, Shihab ai-Din Ibn al-Naqib al-Misri
His father was a Christian convert to Islam from Antakya, Turkey, who was originally captured and made a slave by a Muslim prince who then educated him and set him free, whereupon he served the prince as a captain (naqib) and later became a Sufi in the Baybarsiyya of Cairo, where his son was born in 70211302
Ahmad grew up among Islamic scholars, memorizing the Holy Koran in its seven canonical readings (qira'at), and at the age of twenty studied Sacred Law, which he pursued until he excelled at it
Among his sheikhs were the great Shafi'i mujtahid and hadith master (hafiz), Imam Taqi ai-Din Subki in Islamic jurisprudence, the hadith master Ibn Mulaqqin in the sciences of hadith, and Abu Hayyan in Arabic grammar
A master of Koran recitation, Shafi'i law, Koranic exegesis, fundamentals of Islamic faith and law, Arabic, and Sufism, he memorized a great many hadiths, expeciaUy those connected with dhikr and devotions, and worked at length correcting and refining Abu Ishaq Shirazi's al-Muhadhdhab (The rarefaction], condensing Shirazi's alTanbih (The notification], and annotating Nawawi's Minhaj al-talibin (The seekers' road], all of which are reflected in his most famous work, 'Umdatal-salik wa 'uddat al-nasik (The reliance of the traveller and tools of the worshipper], the basic text of the present volume, which follows the order of Shirazi's alMuhadhdhab and the conclusions of Nawawi's Minhaj in a work he seemingly designed and edited for practical application in life, avoiding rare and obscure legal questions, and presenting only the soundest positions of the school
He never gave formal legal opinions or accepted an official teaching position, but rather applied himself to worship, writing, and teaching a relatively small circle of students
Those who knew him described him as learned, humble, quiet, dignified, intelligent, polite, godfearing, and ascetic
Despite his rigorous self-discipline in worship, he had a good sense of humor and a talent for relating amusing anecdotes
Devoted like his father to Sufism, he performed the hajj several times, and stayed for extended periods near the Kaaba
He died of the plague in the mid- dIe of Ramadan at sixty-seven years of age in Cairo in 769/1368 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.200; 'Umdatal-salik wa 'uddat al-nasik (y90), 7; and n).
ibn Hamdan, Abu al-Husayn al-Quduri, born in Baghdad in 362/973
He was a scholar in Sacred Law who became the Hanafi school's foremost representative in Iraq
His most famous work is Kitab al-Quduri [Quduri's book], which has remained a classic in the school for nearly a thousand years
He also authored the seven-volume al-Tajrid (The abstract] on differences between the Shafi'i and Hanafi schools, and died in Baghdad in 428/1037 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.212).
Abu al-'Abbas Zarruq al-Bumusi, born in Fez, Morocco, in 846/1442
He was a Sufi, Maliki scholar, and hadith specialist who studied Sacred Law in Fez, Cairo, and Medina
He then became dedicated to Sufism, withdrew from the world, and took to a wandering life
He was one of the most renowned sheikhs of the Shadhili tariqa and authored a number of works, well written and concise, that attest to their author's illumination in the spiritual way
He died in Takrin, Libya, in 8991 1493 (ibid, 1.91; and n).
(Allah be well pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and Mother of the Faithful, born of the Quraysh nine years before the Hijra (A.D
613) in Mecca
She was the most knowledgeable of Muslim women in Sacred Law, religion, and Islamic behavior (adab), having mimied the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in the second year after the Hijra, becoming the dearest of his wives to him in Medina
She related 2,210 hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
and after his death, leading figures of the Companions would come and ask her for legal opinions, which she would supply
She died in Medina in 58/678 (al-A 'lam (yl36), 3.240).
Amin ibn 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz 'Abidin, born in Damascus in 124411828.
The son of Imam Muhammad Amin Ibn 'Abidin, he was a first-rank Hanafi scholar in his own right who was appointed during his lifetime to many posts in the Islamic judiciary
He travelled to Istanbul and was one of the members of the panel of scholars who authored al-Majalla [The lawbook], among the most famous works on Islamic governmental law produced during the Ottoman period.
Though he originally wrote his al-Hadiyya ai- 'Ala'iyya [The gift of 'Ala'] as a primer in Sacred Law for schoolchildren, it has become an important Hanafi legal reference for subsequent scholars
Appointed as a judge in Tripoli, Lebanon, in 1292/1875, he later returned to Damascus, where he died in 1306/1889 (ibid ..
6.270; and n).
al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (Allah be well pleased with him), the Friend (WaH) of Allah, Commander of the Faithful, and fourth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, born of noble lineage in Mecca twenty-three years before the Hijra (A.D
600) and raised from the age of five by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) , who was the son of 'Ali's paternal uncle and later married his own daughter Fatima to him
When the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) paired off the Meccan Emigrants and Medinan Helpers as brothers, he told 'Ali, ""You are my brother."" Strong, young, and valiant, he bore the Muslims' standard into battle after battle, was a renowned swordsman, and at Khaybar the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) attested to 'Ali's love of Allah and Allah's love of 'Ali
He was of the ten who were informed that they would enter paradise, and was the first male to accept Islam from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), as well as the first to pray behind him
When 'Ali became caliph in A.H.
35 after the death of 'Uthman, he made Kufa his capital and patiently bore up under the dissension and civil strife with which the Muslims were afflicted during his caliphate (dis: w56.3)
Heroically courageous, a wise and fair judge, a speaker of surpassing eloquence, and a sea of spiritual wisdom, he was among the most learned of the Companions, and related hundreds of hadiths
His signet ring was engraved with the words, ""Allah is the King"" (Allah ai-Malik)
When he was assassinated while at prayer by a Kharijite at Kufa in 40/661 , his last words were, ""There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah"" (al-A'lam (y136), 4.295; al-Tabaqat al-kubra (y124), 1.20; and n).
tribe
He lived in Homs, Syria, and was of the generation who were contemporaries with some of those who met the prophetic Companions, but it is not established that he himself met any of them
He was an honest hadith transmitter, but made occasional mistakes
He died in A.H
143 (Taqrib al-tahdhib (yI6), 402).
born in Damascus in 129411877
He was a Shafi'i scholar known among his contemporaries for his learning, piety, and efforts in the cause of Islam
Of a wealthy family, he brought about a virtual renaissance of Islamic learning in Damascus by founding, al-Jami'iyya al-Ghurra', an institutioll-Of more than eleven separate schools that provided food, clothing, housing, and traditional instruction to needy students, particularly those from outlying rural areas and the Horan Plain south of Damascus, who returned to their homes to teach a whole generation of Muslims the religion
During the French occupation he travelled the Syrian countryside to towns and villages with the hadith scholar Badr al-Din al-Hasani, explaining to people the obligatory character of armed jihad against the colonialists.
He was a sheikh of the Tijani tariqa who had all his students take the way, and many considered him a friend (wali) of Allah Most High
An ascetic in his private life, he spent himself, his wealth, and his life in the service of Islam, and died in Damascus in 136211943 (Tarikh 'ulama' Damashq (yl), 2.586-90; Sheikh 'Abd ai-Rahman Shaghouri; and n).
born in Herat, Afghanistan
One of the foremost Hanafi scholars of his time, he lived in Mecca, and it is related that he used to earn his income by writing out one copy of the Holy Koran each year embellished with marginal notes containing commentary and canonical readings (qira'at), and selling it to live on the proceeds until the following year
He authored a number of works in Hanafi jurisprudence, fundamentals of Islamic faith, the sciences of hadith, Sufism, history, Arabic lexicology, and Koranic exegesis, though the most frequently used of his works may well be his litany al-Hizb al-a'zam [The supreme daily dhikr], in which he gathered hundreds of supplications from prophetic hadiths and divided them into seven parts, one to be read each day of the week-a litany that forms an integral part of Muhammad al-Juzuli's celebrated manual of dhikr, Dala'i/ al-khayrat [Guides to blessingsj
He died in Mecca in 1014/1606 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.12;
and n).
Sayf aI-Din al-Amidi, a specialist in fundamentals of Islamic law and faith who was born in 55111156 in Amid (present-day Diyarbakir, Turkey)
Originally a Hanbali, he became a Shafi'i when he came to Baghdad to study hadith, after which he travelled first to Damascus and then to Cairo, where he taught and became widely known
Some scholars there later grew envious of his reputation and accused him of
heresy , forcing him to leave Cairo secretly and take refuge in Hama,Syria, from whence he proceeded to Damascus
He wrote some twenty works, the most famous of which is his four-volume al-Ihkam Ii usul al-ahkam [The proficiency: on fundamentals oflegal rulings]
He died in 63l/1233 (aI-A' lam (yl36), 4.332; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 8.306).
be well pleased with him), a Medinan Helper and Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He participated in the Battle ofthe Confederates and in subsequent battles, and when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) appointed him governor over Najran, he wrote him a lengthy letter of covenant containing legislation and instruction
He died in 53/673 (al-A'lam (y136),5.76).
ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As, a reliable hadith narrator (saduq) ofthe generation of whom some met the Companions
His hadiths were related by Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah
He died in A.H
118 (Taqrib al-tahdhib (yI6), 423).
pleased with him), a Medinan Helper and Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Born ten years before the Hijra (A.D
612) in Medina, he entered Islam while young, was the personal servant of the Prophet during the last ten years of his life (Allah bless him and give him peace), and related over 2,200 hadiths
After the Prophet's death (Allah bless him and give him peace), he travelled to Damascus and later settled in Basra
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) prayed that Allah would bless him with abundance (baraka) in his wealth, life, and offspring, and grant him forgiveness; and he became among the wealthiest of men, had over 120 children and grandchildren at the time of his death, an orchard that bore fruit twice a year, and he lived until he was tired of living any longer, dying in Basra at one hundred years of age in 93/712, the last of the Companions to die there (al-A'lam (y136), 2.24-25; and al-Shifa (y116),
1.47).
according to Imam Nawawi alive at the present day among the Jews
He will come forth at the end of time, claim to be a deity, and work wonders, bringing forth a heaven, a hell, and mountains of bread, though he will be unable to enter Mecca or Medina
The prophet 'Isa (upon whom be peace) will slay him at his Final Coming (al-Shifa (y116); 1.663; and A).
(upon whom be peace), a siddiq (great-faithed one) who was steadfastly true to Allah and to his fellow men, a friend (waH) of Allah Most High to whom Allah vouchsafed many miracles (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 3.315).
Ibrahim (upon whom be peace), the prophet and messenger of Allah Most High, who mentions him in various places in the Holy Koran
He is best known for his proverbial steadfastness and patience in affliction (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 2.58; and al-Shifa (y116), 1.293).
born in al-' Aziziyya, Egypt
He was a scholar of Shafi'i jurisprudence and hadith who authored various works, of which his three-volume al-Siraj al-munir sharh al· Jami' al-saghir [The Hghtgiving lamp: an exegesis of ""The minor compendium""], a commentary on a famous hadith collection by Suyuti, is perhaps the most well known
He died in Bulaq in 1070/1660 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 4.258).
only as the ""Angel of Death"" (Malak al-Mawt)
In reality it is Allah who reclaims the souls of men from their bodies, but He does so by means of the Angel of Death, whom He orders to take a person's soul when the time arrives
' Azra'il has helpers in this from the angels of mercy and angels of torment, depending on whom the deceased is, and they draw out the spirit of the deceased until it reaches the throat, when 'Azra'il takes it himself
The whole world has been made as if it were the size of an open palm for him, and he takes the soul of anyone he wishes, from east to west, without difficulty (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 2.40, 3.415;
and n).
Badr ai-Din ibn 'Abd ai-Rahman al-Hasani, born in Damascus in 126711850
The son of a Moroccan Maliki scholar, Badr aI-Din followed the Hanafi school and became the hadith scholar of Damascus of his time
He memorized the Holy Koran, the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim with their texts and channels of transmission, and twenty thousand verses of the rhyming mnemonic texts (mutun) that Islamic scholars formerly used to commit to memory to have a framework within which to remember and understand the more detailed works of the Islamic sciences that they would read with their sheikhs
After this, he devoted himself to worship and teaching, living an ascetic life of fasting and service to the Muslim community
He wrote works in many fields, including hadith, tenets of Islamic faith, Koranic exegesis, mathematics, logic, and Arabic grammar
The attribution to him of the formal legal opinion (fatwa) mentioned at e14.1 of the present volume was made by Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut, Sheikh' Abd al-Wakil Durubi, and others
He died in Damascus in 1354/1935 (al-A'lam (y136) , 7.157-58; and n).
Abu Muhammad Muhyi al-Sunna al-Baghawi, born in Bagha, Persia, in 436/1044
Known to contemporaries as the Reviver ofthe Sunna, he was an Imam in Shafi'i jurisprudence, hadith, and Koranic exegesis, writing valuable works in each, among them his sixteen-volume Sharh al-sunna [The explanation of the sunna]
which proceeds through the usual chapter arangement of works on Shafi'i jurisprudence, discussing the hadiths and Koranic verses upon which the rulings of the school are based, and how the various other Imams have understood them.
His commentary on the Holy Koran Lubab al-ta'wil fi ma'alamal-Tanzil [The quintessence of interpretation: on features of the Revelation], has also proved very popular among scholars and been printed in several editions
He died in Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.) in 510/1117 (al-A'lam (y136) , 2.259;
and n).
Bajur; Egypt, in 1198/1784
Educated at al-Azhar, he was one of the foremost Shafi'i scholars and theologians of his time, authoring over twenty works and commentaries in Sacred Law, tenets of faith, Islamic estate diVision, scholastic theology, logic, and Arabic
In A.H
1263 he was appointed Sheikh of al-Aihar, an office he remained in until his death in Cairo in 128811860 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 1.71).
x 102 Baydawi (r21.1) is 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali, Nasir ai-Din ai-Shirazi al-Baydawi, born in Bayda, near Shiraz, Persia
He was a Shafi'i scholar, judge, and Koranicexegete whose commentary Anwar al-Tanzil wa asrar al-ta'wil [The lights of the Revelation and secrets of interpretation] is so well known that whenever scholars mention ""The Judge"" (aI-Qadi) in the context of Koranic commentary, it is Baydawi who is meant
He wrote a number of other scholarly works in tenets of faith, jurisprudence, and Arabic, as well as a history in Persian
After serving as a judge in Shiraz, he moved to Tabriz, where he died in 685/1286 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.110; and n).
born in Khasrajand, a village around Bayhaq near Nishapur, Persia, in 384/994.
A principle hadith master (hafiz) and Shafi'i Imam, he was raised in Bayhaq, but travelled to gain Sacred Knowledge to Baghdad, Kufa, Mecca, and other cities.
Dhahabi was to say of him, ""Had Bayhaqi wanted to found his own school of jurisprudence and be its mujtahid, he would have been able to, because of the vast range of subjects of which he was a master, and his knowledge of scholarly differences."" Bayhaqi's works amount to nearly one thousand volumes, treating the sciences of hadith, Koranic exegesis, Sacred Law, tenets of faith, and other subjects.
The Imam of the Two Sanctuaries Juwayni once observed
""Every Shafi'i scholar is indebted to Shafi'i except Bayhaqi, to whom Shafi'i is indebted for his writing so many works strengthening the school, expanding questions on which the Imam had been brief, and supporting his positions."" He died in Nishapur in 458/1066 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.116).
and written about Sufism and Muslim Africa since 1963
The preface to his Muslim Brotherhoods in Nineteenth-Century Africa was written in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1976
Tjle book accurately reports the names and dates of the events it discusses, though its explanations of Muslim figures, their motives, and their place within the Islamic world are observed through the lens of unbelief (kufr).
giving an inverted image of many of the realities thus beheld
and perhaps calling for a word here on the literature that has been termed Orientalism, or in the contemporary idiom, ""area studies."" It is a viewpoint requiring that scholarly description of something like"" African Islam"" (Martin's phrase) be first and foremost objective
The premises of this objectivity conform closely, upon reflection, to the lived and felt experience of a post-religious, Western intellectual tradition in understanding religion; namely, that comparing human cultural systems and societies in their historical succession and multiplicity leads the open-minded observer to moral relativism, since no moral value can be discovered which on its own merits is transculturally valid.
Here, human civilizations, with their cultural forms, religions, hopes, aims, beliefs, prophets, sacred scriptures, and deities, are essentially plants that grow out of the earth, springing from their various seeds and soils, thriving for a time, and then withering away
The scholar's concern is only to record these elements and propose a plausible relation between them.
Such a point of departure, if de rigueur for serious academic works like Muslim Brotherhoods, is of course non-Islamic and anti-Islamic
As a fundamental incomprehension of Islam, it naturally distorts what it seeks to explain, yet with an observable disparity in the degree of distortion in any given description that seems to correspond roughly to how close the object of explanation is to the core of Islam
In dealing with central issues like Allah, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the Koran, or hadith, it is at its worst; while the further it proceeds to the periphery
such as historical details of trade concessions, treaties, names of rulers, weights of coins, etc., the less distorted it becomes
In either case, it is plainly superior for Muslims to rely on fellow Muslims when Islamic sources are available on a subject (and there are few imaginable subjects that Islamic scholars have not discussed in detail and written highly interesting and professional works about), if only to avoid the subtle and not-so-subtle distortions of non-Islamic works about Islam
One cannot help but feel that nothing bad would happen to us if we were to abandon the trend of many contemporary Muslim writers of faithfully annotating our works with quotes from the founding fathers of Orientalism, if only because to sleep with the dogs is generally to rise with the fleas
And where Islamic works cannot be found and non-Islamic sources are used, we should keep in mind that their premises are those of unbelief, and how this colors the whole process of scholarly inquiry
We find in Muslim Brotherhoods, for example, a discussion of a hypothesized alteration in the ""carbon dioxide-oxygen balance in the brain,"" resulting from communal remembrance of Allah (dhikr) and producing a susceptibility to visions, hallucinations, and intense emotional experiences that enabled African Sufi brotherhoods to ""generate much love and devotion"" between members, who could thereby be more successfully directed towards collective action
When one looks at the men being explained, however, those who risked their lives in jihad against the enemies of Allah for four, twelve, fifteen, twenty-one, or thirty-five years, an explanation of their motivations that downplays faith in Allah and His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) must surely need a great deal more to be convincing than this type of fatuous detail
Or the suggestion that a mujahid scholar who had memorized the Holy Koran and the Sahih collections of Bukhari and Muslim, and lived and taught the strictest adherence to Islam by precept and example for a lifetime of seventy years ('Umar Tal, x355) might have committed suicide after a defeat in battle-a report based on a single story told by a blacksmith of unknown veracity some twenty-six years after the event--such aspects show little appreciation of psychological absurdities in an Islamic context.
Though there is little doubt that B.G
Martin's work is a sincere attempt to understand its subject matter, and one that incidentally uses much original African source material, it should be understood by Muslims for what it is, an aceount of ""African Islam""--of religious men, sacrifices, and motives-from a point of view that has been sanitized of anything religious to guard its ""objectivity"" (Muslim Brotherhoods (y86), preface and bibliography; Sharif 'AbdulKarim;
and n).
x 105 Bilal (w29.2) is Bilal ibn Rabah, Abu 'Abdullah al-Habashi (Allah be well pleased with him), the muezzin of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his watchman over the Muslim common fund (bayt aI-mal)
A hadith says of him, ""Bilal is the foremost ofthe Ethiopians
"" One of the earliest converts to Islam, he was present at every battle with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and when the latter died, Bilal called the Muslims to prayer for his last time
He lived in Medina until Muslim armies were dispatched to Syria and then travelled with them, dying in Damascus in 20/641 (al-'Alam (y136), 2.73).
who killed Khubayb ai-Ansari (x220) (Fath al-Bari (y17), 7.382).
x 107 Bukhari (Introduction) is Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Ibrahim ibn Mughira, Abu 'Abdullah al-Bukhari, born in Bukhara (in present-day Uzbek S.S.R.) in 194/810
Raised as an orphan, he was aShafi'i scholar who Icarned Sacred Law in Mccca from' Abdullah ibn Zubayr al-Humaydi, the disciple of Shafi'i, and he became the greatest Imam in hadith that the world has ever known
He began his long travels in search of hadith in A.H
210, visiting Khurasan, Iraq, Egypt, the Hijaz, and Syria, hearing hadiths from nearly a thousand sheikhs, gathering some 600,000 prophetic traditions from which he selected the approximately 4,400 (not counting those repeated) that compose his Jami' al-Sahih [Rigorously authenticated collection]
Choosing them for their authenticity, he was the first scholar in Islam to compile a work on this basis, and his book is the foremost of the six gryat hadith, collections
Ibn Khuzayma said of him, ""No one under the sky is more knowledgeable in hadith,"" and Abu 'Umar al-Khaffaf once referred to him as the ""pure, godfearing scholar whom I have never seen anyone comparable to, Muhammad ibn Isma'il Bukhari, twenty times greater in knowledge of hadith than Ishaq [Rahawayh], Ahmad, or anyone else."" At the end of his life some bigots attacked him for not agreeing with their misunderstanding of the uncreatedness of the Koran, and for his steadfastness in the convictions of Ahl al-Sunna they hounded him from Bukhara to Samarkand, where he died in the village of Khartan in 256/870 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 6.34; Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra (y128), 2.212-14; al-Targhib wa al-tarhib (y9), 1.19; N; and n).
al-Aslami (Allah be well pleased with him), a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who entered Islam before the battle of Badr and participated in the siege of Khaybar and conquest of Mecca
He related 167 hadiths
He lived in Medina, later moved to Basra, and finally to Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.), where he died in 63/683 (al-A'lam (y136), 2.50;
and n).
'Umar, Abu al-Faraj al-Darami, born in Baghdad in 358/969
A gifted speaker in Arabic, he was a mathematician and legal scholar who did in-depth research in the Shafi'i school and produced a number of copious works including Jami' al-jawami' wa muda' al-bada'i' [The compendium of compendiums and storehouse of wonders], which details the positions of the school and evaluates the evidence for them, and al-Istidhkar [The reminding], which contains a large number of rare legal questions
He died in Damascus in 44911057 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.254; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 4.182--85).
al-Daraqutni, born in Dar al-Qutn, a neighborhood in Baghdad, in 306/919
He was a Shafi'i scholar who was among the Imams of his time in hadith, and the first to record the canonical readings of the Holy Koran (qira'at) in a work
He travelled to Egypt, where he helped Ibn Hanzaba compose his Musnad [Ascribed traditions] and then returned to Baghdad
He wrote a number of works on hadith, the most famous of which is his Sunan [Sunnas]
He died in Baghdad in 385/995 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.314).
Allah Most High to Bani Isra'il
He was the first to forge iron into chain maiL and is mentioned more than once in the Holy Koran
While still a boy, he slew the giant Jalut (Goliath), a deed for which King TaIut (Saul) gave him his daughter in marriage and half his kingdom
Dawud lived with the king for forty years until the latter's death, after which he lived another seven years and then died too (alFutuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 1.204).
ibn Qaymaz, Abu 'Abdullah Shams ai-Din al-Dhahabi, the great Shafi'i hadith master (hafiz) and historian of Islam, born in Damascus in 673/1274
Of Turkoman origin, he first studied in Damascus and then travelled to Cairo and other cities in pursuit of Sacred Knowledge
He authored nearly a hundred works, some of them of considerable size, like his twenty-three volume Siyar a'lam al-nubala' [The lives of noble figures], or his thirty-six volume Tarikh aI-Islam al-kabir [Major history ofIslam]
In addition to his mastery of hadith, he was also an Imam in canonical Koranic readings (qira'at) and textual criticism
He went blind about seven years before his death, and died in Damascus in 74811348 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.326; Kitab al-kaba'ir (y36), 23-25; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128),
9.1(0) .
High to Bani Isra'il
He was the third prophet to succeed Musa (upon whom be peace), and commentators relate that he was nicknamed Dhul Kifl (lit
""He ofthe Guarantee"") because he gave his guarantee to the wicked of Bani Isra'il that he would ensure the appearance on a particular day of seventy prophets whom they wished to kill, putting up his own life in forfeit, after which he told the prophets, ""Go, it is better that I should he killed than you."" When the time for the execution arrived and Dhul Kifl was asked about them, he merely said he did not know where they had gone, after which Allah Most High saved him too (al-Siraj almunir (y72), 1.158).
al-Misri, the famous Egyptian ascetic and saint
One of the greatest of the early Sufis, he was of Nubian origin and had a gift for expressive aphorisms, of which a large number have fortunately been preserved
He was the first in Egypt to speak of the states and spiritual stations of the way
The Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil charged him with heresy (zandaqa) and had him brought to him, but upon hearing Dhul Nun speak he realized his innocence and released him, whereupon he returned to Egypt
He died in Giza in 245/859 (al-A'lam (y136), 2.102; and n).
peace), created from him to become the Mother of Mankind
She was named Hawa' because she was created directly from a living being (hayy), Adam, in his sleep without his being aware of it or feeling any pain therefrom (al-Siraj al-munir (y72),1.49).
Abu 'Abdullah Fakhr ai-Din al-Razi, hom in Rayy, Persia Gust south of present-day Tehran, Iran), in 544/1150
A Shafi'i scholar of genius and a mujtahid Imam in tenets of faith, he was among the foremost figures of his time in mastery of the rational and traditional Islamic sciences, and preserved the religion of Ahl al-Sunna from the deviations of the Mu'tazilites, Shiites, Anthropomorphists, and other aberrant sects of his era by authoring a number of brilliant works that came to enjoy a wide readership among his contemporaries and have remained popular with scholars to this day
His thirty-two-volume Koranic exegesis Mafatih al-ghayb [The keys of the unseen] is one of the most famous of his works, though he also wrote on tenets of belief, heresiology, fundamentals of Islamic law and faith, scholastic theology, rhetoric, geometry, and poetry in Arabic and Persian, in both of which he was a preacher of considerable eloquence
His efforts to purify Islam from the heresies of anthropomorphists reached the point that when unable to answer his arguments against them, they resorted to writing ugly remarks and insinuations on scraps of paper and attaching them to the pulpit (minbar) from which he gave the Friday sermon
He arrived one day and read one of these, and then spoke to those present in an impassioned voice, saying: ""This piece of paper says that my son does such and such
If it is true, he is but a youth and I hope he will repent
It also says that my wife does such and such
If it is true, she is a faithless woman
And it says that my servant does such and such
Servants are wont to commit every wrong, except for those Allah protects
But on none of these scraps of paper-and may Allah be praised!-is it written that my son says Allah is a corporeal body, or that he likens Him to created things, or that my wife believes that, or my servant-So which of the two groups is closer to guidance?"" He travelled to Khawarzim and Khurasan, and finally to Herat, Afghanistan, where he died in 606/1210 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.313; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128),
8.81-89).
of Giza, Egypt, in 1930
He memorized the Holy Koran at nine years of age and in 1946 entered al-Azhar, where he studied at the secondary level and then at the College of Arabic Language, from whence he received his first degree in 1959, after which he pursued his studies in the language to receive a master's degree in 1960
In 1%5 he joined al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy, which, according to the terms of its charter, is ""the highest scholarly body for Islamic research"" and is presided over by the Sheikh of al-Azhar
In addition to research, propagating Islam (da'wa), sending delegates to Muslim countries to teach, and checking and certifying new books for accuracy and conformity with the tenets of Islam, the academy also examines all Korans published in Egypt and those sent to it from abroad for authorization
Sheikh Fath Allah worked in the latter capacity until 1971, when he was sent as al-Azhar's delegate to Tripoli, Lebanon, to foster Islamic education through teaching and publishing
In 1977, he returned to the academy's General Department of Research as trustee, and was subsequently named as General Director of Research, Writing, and Translation in 1985, the position he currently holds
The present volume, The Reliance of the Traveller, was submitted to the academy for checking and authorization on 14 May 1990 and was certified on 11 February 1991 (n).
with her) born to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his wife Khadija eighteen years before the Hijra
With Maryam, the mother of the prophet 'Isa (upon whom be peace), Fatima is the purest and best of womenkind
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) gave her to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib in marriage when she was eighteen years old
and they had four children, ai-Hasan, al-Husayn, Umm Kalthum, and Zaynab
She was the only one of the Prophet's children to survive him (Allah bless him and give him peace), though she died after him by only six months in A.H
11, at twenty-nine years of age (al-A (lam (yI36), 5.132; and al-Shifa (y1l6), 1.412).
Abu al-Qasim al-Furani, born in Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.) in 388/998
He was a Shafi'i scholar in applications ofIslamic jurisprudence and fundamentals of law and faith who authored works in Sacred Law, scholarly differences of opinion, tenets of faith, and heresiology
He died in Merv in 461/1069 (alA'lam (y136), 3.326).
ibn' Abd al-' Aziz, Abu al-Baqa al-Futuhi ai-Han bali, also known as Ibn ai-Najjar, born in 898/1492
He was an Egyptian Hanbali scholar, judge, and author
'Abd al-Wahhab Sha'rani once said of him, ""I kept his company for forty years, and never saw anything reprehensible in him, nor anyone who spoke better than he or showed more politeness to those he sat with."" He died in 97211564 (ibid., 6.6).
descended to the prophets of Allah Most High bearing the divine revelation
He is also the angel entrusted with visiting Allah's punishments upon men, for which reason Bani Isra'il have traditionally feared him
A hadith relates that 'Umar once asked the Jews about Gabriel, and they said, ""He is an enemy of ours, for he reveals our secrets to Muhammad and is the one entrusted with making the earth swallow (khasf) those to whom it happens, and with inflicting every divine punishment."" Qurtubi records the position of some Koranic exegetes that Gabriel is meant by the verses, ""Do you feel secure that he who is in the heavens [lit.
""sky""] will not make the earth swallow you while it quakes?
Or do you feel secure that he who is in the heavens will not send a storm of pebbles against you, that you shall know how My warning is?"" (Koran 67:16-17)
Allah Most High also describes Gabriel as ""a noble messenger endowed with power, of station with Him of the Throne, obeyed there and trustworthy"" (Koran 81:19-21) (al-Jami' Ii ahkam al-Qur'an (y1l7), 18.215; al-Shifa (y116), 1.710; and al-Siraj al-munir (y72), 1.79,4.344).
ibn Ahmad, Abu Hamid Hujjat ai-Islam al-Ghazali al-Tusi, the Shafi'i Imam, Proof of Islam, and Sufi adept born in Tabiran, near Tus Gust north of presentday Mashhad, Iran), in 450/1058
The Imam of his time, nicknamed Shafi'i the Second for his legal virtuousity, he was a brilliant intellectual who first studied jurisprudence at Tus, and then travelled the Islamic world, to Baghdad, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexandria, Mecca, and Medina, taking Sacred Knowledge from its masters, among them the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries Juwayni, with whom he studied until the Imam's death, becoming at his hands a scholar in Shafi'i law, logic, tenets of faith, debate, and in the rationalistic doctrines of the philosophical schools of his time, which he was later called upon to refute
When Juwayni died, Ghazali debated the Imams and scholars of Baghdad in the presence of the vizier Nizam al-Mulk, who was so impressed that he appointed him to a teaching post at the Nizamiyya Academy in Baghdad, where word of his' brilliance spread, and scholars journeyed to hear him.
His worldly success was something of a mixed blessing, and in mid-career, after considerable reflection, he was gripped by an intense fear for his soul and his fate in the afterlife, and he resigned from his post, travelling first to Jerusalem and then to Damascus to purify his heart by following the way of Sufism
In Damascus he lived in seclusion for some ten years, engaged in spiritual struggle and the remembrance of Allah, at the end of which he emerged to produce his masterpiece lhya' 'ulum aI-din [Giving life to the religious sciences], a classic among the books of the Muslims about internalizing godfearingness (taqwa) in one's dealings with Allah, illuminating the soul through obedience to Him, and the levels of believers' attainments therein
The work shows how deeply Ghazali personally realized what he wrote about, and his masterly treatment of hundreds of questions dealing with the inner life that no one had previously discussed or solved is a performance of sustained excellence that shows its author's well-disciplined legal intellect and profound appreciation of human psychology
He also wrote nearly two hundred other works, on the theory of government, Sacred Law, refutations of philosophers, tenets offaith, Sufism, Koranic exegesis, scholastic theology, and bases ofIslamic jurisprudence
He died in Tabiran in 505/1111 (al-A 'lam (y 136) , 7.22; lhya' 'ulum ai-din (y39), 1.330; al-Munqidh min al-dalal (y41), 46-50; al-Shita (y116), 2.602;N; and n).
Abu 'Abdullah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, born in Nishapur, Persia, in 3211 933
A Shafi'i scholar, hadith master, and Imam, he journeyed far in quest of knowledge of prophetic traditions, travelling to 'Iraq, to the Hijaz, and then to the lands beyond the Oxus, hearing hadiths from nearly two thousand sheikhs
He was appointed to the judiciary in Nishapur in A.H
359, whence the nickname alHakim (the Magistrate), and subsequently in Jurjan, but refused the secondposition.
He was among the most knowledgeable scholars in distinguishing rigorously authenticated from poorly authenticated hadiths, and among the most prolific.
Ibn' Asakir estimates that Hakim's works on hadith and other subjects amount to approximately fifteen hundred volumes, though he is most famous for his fourvolume al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn [The addendum to the two ""Sahih"" collections of Bukhari and Muslim]
He died in Nishapurin 40511014 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 6.227; and Tabaqatal-Shafi'iyyaal-kubra (yI28), 4.155).
x:130 Hakim Tirmidhi (w9.4) is Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn ai-Hasan ibn Bishr, Abu' Abdullah aI-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, a muezzin and author originally from Termez (in present-day Uzbek S.S.R.)
A Sufi and Shafi'i scholar in Sacred Law, hadith, and tenets of faith, he was exiled from his native Termez over a book its inhabitants did not agree with, and went to Balkh (present-day Wazirabad, Afghanistan), where he was welcomed and honored
He wrote a number of works in hadith, Sacred Law, and Sufism, among which his Nawadir al-usul [Rare hadith sources] is perhaps the best known
He died in Balkh at ninety years of age, probably around A.H
320 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.272; and Tabaqatal-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 2.245; and n).
was to build a tower of baked bricks so that Pharaoh, imagining Allah to be a corporeal entity in the sky, might climb up and look for him (al-Futuhat alilahiyya (y65), 3.349-50).
x 132 Hammad ibn Salama (w40.5) is Hammad ibn Salama ibn Dinar, Abu Salama al-Basri, the mufti of Basra and a trustworthy memorizer and principle narrator.of hadith, though his memory grew poor in his advanced years
Dhahabi relates that he was an Imam in the field of Arabic, and an author and scholar in Sacred Law who uncompromisingly opposed reprehensible innovations (bid'a).
He died in 167n84 (al-A'lam (y136), 2.272).
x 133 Harb Kirmani (w55.3) is Harb ibn Isma'il, Abu Muhammad al-Kirmani, a Hanbali scholar who studied under Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and others
Dhahabi states that his Masa'il [Legal questions] is among the most valuable works in the Hanbali school
He died in A.H
280 at about ninety years of age (Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 13.244-45).
x 134 Harith al-Muhasibi (t1.8) is al-Harith ibn Asad, Abu 'Abdullah alMuhasibi, born in Basra
Notable for his abstinence and self-discipline, he was the teacher of most of the Sufis of Baghdad in his time, a scholar in fundamentals of law and faith who possessed considerable eloquence in giving sermons
Among his sayings is, ""The finest people of this Community are those whose hereafter does not prevent them from attending to their this-worldly concerns, nor this world prevent from attending to their hereafter."" He authored works on Sufism, asceticism, and rebuttals of the Mu'tazilites, and died in Baghdad in 243/857 (alA 'lam (y136) , 2.153).
Ya'qub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (upon whom be peace), the prophet of Allah Most High to Bani Isra'il and brother and vizier of the prophet Musa (upon whom be peace)
Commentators relate that he died a year before the death of Musa during the forty years Bani Isra'il were wandering in the desert, having gone forth with his brother to some caves, where he died and was buried by him (al-Futuhat alilahiyya (y65), 1.56, 3.89).
sorcery to the wicked, as a temptation and trial from Allah, who commanded the two to warn people not to learn it from them
Ghazali explains sorcery as ""a type of learning deduced from the knowledge of properties of substances and arithmetical relations concerning the positions of stars, from which properties a form is taken resembling the image of the victim, and the stars are observed for a particular time to come, when words of unbelief (kufr) and obscenity, violating the Sacred Law, are pronounced, whereby the help of devils is sought, and through which, by virtue of natural rebations of instrumentality that Allah has disposed and arranged, strange states are brought about in the person ensorcelled."" Another position is that the two angels were sent down to teach men sorcery so that the difference between sorcery and inimitable prophetic miracles (mu'jiza, def: w30.2) might be recognized, and people not be misled by sorcerers, of whom many existed at that time and some claimed to be prophets (al-Futuhatal-ilahiyya (y65), 1.87; and al-Siraj al-munir (y72), 1.82).
x 137 Hasanayn Muhammad Makhluf (L10.2) is a contemporary Egyptian scholar, the son of the Maliki scholar Muhammad Makhluf
The former grand mufti of Egypt (mufti al-diyar al-Misriyya), he is a member of the Faculty of Outstanding Islamic Scholars at al-Azhar University, and a member of the founding council of the Islamic World League (Mafahim yajibu an tusahhaha (y83), 30).
x 138 Hasan al-Basri (w26.1) is ai-Hasan ibn Yasar, Abu Sa'id al-Basri, born in Medina in 211642 and raised at the side of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (Allah be well pleased with him)
He was the Imam of Basra and scholar ofthe Islamic Community of his time; learned, eloquent, devout, courageous, and held in such awe by contemporaries that he could walk into the chambers of rulers and command the right and forbid the wrong, which he did on several occasions without fear of whoever might blame him
Ghazali said of him; ""His speech was the closest of any to that of the prophets, and his guidedness the closest of any to that of the Companions."" He died in Basra in 110/728 (al-A'lam (y136), 2.226).
Hashim al-Saqqaf al-Husayni, a contemporary Shafi'i scholar who lives in Amman, Jordan
His sheikhs include Hashim Majdhub of Damascus in Shafi'i jurisprudence, Muti' Hammami in estate division, and Muhammad Hulayyil of Amman in Arabic grammar, and he has been given written authorizations in the Shadhili tariqa and hadith from Sheikh 'Abdullah Ghimari of Tangiers
He teaches a circle of students in Amman and has published over forty-five books and treatises on tenets of faith, jurisprudence, and heresiology (n).
ibn' Abdullah ai-Khatib, born in Damascus in 1304/1890
He was a Shafi'i scholar, public speaker, and teacher who studied under nearly twenty-eight ofthe foremost sheikhs of his time in Damascus and received written authorizations from each of them to teach the subjects he read with them
He knew the Holy Koran by heart and was a master of its recitation and exegesis
Of the Qadiri tariqa, he was one of the scholars who travelled the Syrian countryside during the French occupation and urged the Muslims to rise in jihad against it
He taught in the Umayyad Mosque, the Sulaymaniyya Takiya, and at the Qalbaqjiyya Mosque, where he devoted the latter part of his life to teaching students
He authored a number of treatises and pamphlets on contemporary religious issues, and died in Damascus in 1378/1958 (Tarikh 'ulama' Dimashq (yl), 2.710-14).
be well pleased with him), born thirty-five years before the Hijra (A.D, 586), a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who was present at every battle with him
Among the greatest archers of the Companions, an outstanding horseman of the Quraysh, and a poet from the pre-Islamic period of ignorance, he had extensive trade dealings, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) selected him as his envoy to the Muqawqis of Alexandria
He died in 30/650 in Medina (al-A'lam (y136) , 2.159).
ai-Din al-Haythami, born in Cairo in 735/1335
He was a Shafi'i scholar, hadith master (hafiz), and Imam who compiled many hadith collections, among the most famous of which is his ten-volume Majma' al-zawa'id wa manba' al-fawa'id [Compendium of hadiths not mentioned in the six main collections, and wellspring of information], which has become a virtual necessity for modern students of hadith.
He is sometimes confused with Ibn Hajar Haytami, whom he is unrelated to
He died in 807/1405 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.266; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
Abu 'Umar al-Bahili
A hadith master (hafiz) and Imam who was a reliable (saduq) transmitter, he died in A.H
280 or 281 (Siyar a'lam al-nubula' (y37),
13.309-10).
Manaf (Allah be well pleased with her), the mother of the caliph Mu'awiya and wife of Abu Sufyan, the Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
She was an eloquent and courageous woman of the Quraysh who was noted for her outstanding poetry
At first a bitter foe of Islam and the Muslims, she entered Islam after the conquest of Mecca and made good her Islam
She had extensive trade dealings in the caliphate of 'U mar, was present at the battle of Yarmouk, and with her poetry inspired and encouraged the Muslim forces in their jihad against the unbelievers on the Syrian campaign
She died in 14/635 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 8.98).
whom be peace), the Arabian prophet of Allah Most High to the people of 'Ad, in the northern part of what is now the Hadramawt region of South Yemen
They were idol worshippers and Hud called them to worship the one God, but they cried lies to him and were destroyed for their unbelief (al-A 'lam (y136), 8.101;
and Koran 26:123-40).
al-Hallaj, originally from Bayda, Persia, but raised in Wasit, Iraq
He kept the company of lunayd, Abu al-Husayn al-Nuri, 'Amr al-Makki, and others of the Sufis
Sulami records that most of the sheikhs of his own time rejected alHallaj and denied that he had any standing in the Sufi way, though others praised him, among them Muhammad ibn Khafif (xl66), who called him ""a godly scholar."" Allah knows best as to his spiritual state, but he was executed in Baghdad in 309/922 for saying ""Ana al-Haqq"" (""I am the Truth,"" i.e
God), and among the evidence that he wronged himself was that his former sheikh, lunayd, was among those who gave the verdict that he should die (Tabaqat al-Sufiyya (y129), 307-8;
and n).
Jewish tribe of Bani Nadir
Huyay participated in their plan to invite the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to a meal to kill him, but Gabriel warned him of it and he got up and left, after which he sent a messenger telling them that they had vitiated their solemn covenant and would have to leave Medina
The tribe resettled in Khaybar, from whence they endeavored to recoup their losses by sending a delegation of their leaders, among them Huyay, to Mecca to enter into a pact with Abu Sufyan, Safwan ibn Umayya, and other leaders of the Quraysh to extirpate the Muslims
The pact eulminated in the Battle of the Confederates, after which Huyay was captured and executed with the Medinan Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayza, whom he had also persuaded to violate their covenant with the Muslims by joining the hostilities against them (Muhammad (y75), 203, 215, and
268).
well pleased with him), born three years before the Hijra (A.D
619) in Mecca
He was the cousin and Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and kept his company during his lifetime, relating some 1,660 hadiths from him
Among the most knowledgeable of the Companions, much Koranic exegesis is also related from him, and the caliph 'Umar used to call for Ibn 'Abbas when he could not reach a conclusion on a particular legal question, telling him, ""This and the likes of it are what you are for,"" and he would adopt Ibn' Abbas's judgement on the matter without consulting anyone else
His memory was phenomenal, and when the poet Ibn Abi Rabi' delivered an eighty- stanza ode in his presence, Ibn 'Abbas could recite it by heart upon hearing it the once
The scholar of the Muslims of his time, he was visited by many people seeking knowledge of the lawful and unlawful, poetry, Arabic, and geneology
He went blind in his later years and resided at Ta'if, where he died in 68/687 (ai-A 'lam (y136) , 4.95).
al-Barr, born in Cordova (in present-day Spain) in 368/978
A major hadith master (hafiz), Maliki scholar, and author, he was nicknamed the Hadith Master of the West, and was known for his travels throughout Andalusia in pursuit of hadith
He was appointed to the judiciary more than once, and authored works in hadith, Sacred Law, biographies offamous Muslims, canonical Koranic readings (qira'at), geneology, and history
He died in Shatiba in 463/1071 (al-A'lam (y136),8.240).
Harb ibn Shidad, Abu Bakr al-Nasa'i, born in Baghdad in 185/801
A historian, hadith master (hafiz), and the Imam of his own now-extinct school of jurisprudence, he authored a fifty-volume history entitled al-Tarikh ai-kabir [The major history], of which Daraqutni said, ""I know of no work richer in notes (fawa'id) than his history,"" but of which only fragments remain
He died in Baghdad in 279/892 (al-A 'lam (y136), 1.128).
born in Morocco in 116011747
He was a Maliki scholar, Sufi, and Koranic exegete who authored works in Arabic grammar, Sufism, Maliki biographies, and history, as well as a mystical Koranic exegesis called al-Bahr al-madid fi tafsir alQur' an aI-Majid [The far-stretching sea: an exegesis of the Noble Koran] in four volumes
He took the Shadhili tariqa from the Moroccan master al-' Arabi al-Darqawi by way of his deputy, Muhammad Buzaydi (not the Muhammad Buzidi who was the sheikh of Ahmad al-' Alawi), and Darqawi addresses him in various places of his al-Rasa'i/ al-Darqawiyya [The Darqawi letters]
He is said to have written some seventeen commentaries on the Hikam [Aphorisms] of Ibn 'Ata' IUah, of which his Iqaz al-himam fi sharh al-Hikam [The awakening of spiritual powers: a commentary on ""The aphorisms""] is the most widely known
He died in 'Anjara, Morocco, in 1224/1809 (ibid., 1.245; Sheikh 'Abdullah Muhammad Ghimari;
and n).
Abbas ai-Adami, of Baghdad
A Sufi ascetic and devotee, it is related that for a space of years he would recite the whole Koran daily, but later spent more than twenty years finishing it but once, for his pondering its meanings
He died in Baghdad in A.H
309 (Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 14.255-56).
aI-Fadl Taj aI-Din Ibn' Ata' Illah al-Iskandari, Sufi Imam and authorofal-Hikam aI-'Ata'iyya [The aphorisms of 'Ata'], one of the greatest works of the Shadhili tariqa, in which he was the second successor to Imam Abul Hasan al-Shadhili himself.
Originally from Alexandria, he moved to Cairo, where he attracted a large following and gave public lectures that were well attended
He was a scholar in Arabic grammar, hadith, Koranic exegesis, fundamentals of law and faith, and jurisprudence; and Dhahabi notes that when he spoke at al-Azhar Mosque, he would combine the words of the Sufis with hadiths, stories of the early Muslims, and scholarly topics
Among the words he conveyed from the founder of his order were, ""This path is not monasticism, eating barley and bran, or the garrulousness of affectation, but rather perseverence in the divine commands and certainty in the divine guidance."" He was also the sheikh of the Shafi'i Imam Taqi ai-Din Subki, whose son Taj ai-Din feels that Ibn 'Ata' Illah was more probably a Shafi'i than a Maliki, as others have held
But his true legacy lies in the path he served and the disciples he left to further it, their hearts opened to the knowledge of Allah Most High through his instruction in the mystic way, which his Hikam and other works amply attest to his profound mastery of
He died in Cairo in 709/1309 (al-A'lam (y 136) , 1.221-22; al-Durar al-kamina (y13) , 1.273-74; Tabaqat alShafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28), 9.23; and n).
Abu al-Fath Taqi ai-Din al-Qushayri, born in Yanbu' on the Hijaz side ofthe Red Sea, and known, like his father and grandfather, as Ibn Daqiq al- 'Eid
He was a Shafi'i mujtahidImam who was educated in Damascus, Alexandria, and in Cairo, where he was appointed to the judiciary in A.H
695
One of Islam's great scholars in fundamentals of law and belief, he authored ai-lim am bi ahadith al-ahkam [An outline of the hadiths for the rulings of Sacred Law] and other works in law, principles of jurisprudence, hadith, tenets of faith, and poetry, and died in Cairo in 70211302 (al-A'lam (y136) , 6.283; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28),
9.207).
Abu al-Fadl Shihab ai-Din Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, born in Cairo in 7731 1372
A Shafi'i Imam and hadith master (hafiz), he reached the level of Commander of the Faithful in Hadith, the only rank above that of hadith master (hafiz).
He first learned literature and poetry, but then devoted his considerable talents to hadith, which he studied under the renowned African master al-Zay\a'i and others in Cairo, Yemen, and the Hijaz
His works were popular in his own lifetime and were hand-copied by the greatest scholars of the era and given by kings to one another as gifts
Known as Sheikh ai-Islam, scholars travelled to take knowledge from him, and he was appointed to the judiciary in Egypt several times
He authored a number of works on hadith, history, biography, Koranic exegesis, poetry, and Shafi'i jurisprudence, among the most famous of them his fourteenvolume Fath al-Bari bi sharh Sahih al-Bukhari [The victory of the Creator: a commentary on the ""Sahih"" of Bukhari] which few serious students of Islamic knowledge can do without
He died in Cairo in 85211449 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 1.178;
Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut; Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf; and A).
Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Hajar, Abu al'Abbas Shihab ai-Din al-Haytami alMakki, born in 909/1504 in Abu Hay tam , western Egypt
He was the Shafi'i Imam of his time, a brilliant scholar of in-depth applications of Sacred Law, and with Imam Ahmad al-Ramli, represents the foremost resource for legal opinion (fatwa) for the entire late Shafi'i school
He was educated at al-Azhar, but later moved to Mecca, where he authored major works in Shafi'ijurisprudence, hadith, tenets of faith, education, hadith commentary, and formal legal opinion
His most famous works include Tuhfa al-muhtaj bi sharh al-Minhaj [The gift of him in need:
an explanation of ""The road""], a commentary on Nawawi's Minhaj al-talibin [The seekers' road] whose ten volumes represent a high point in Shafi'i scholarship; the four-volume al-Fatawa al-kubra al-fiqhiyya [The major collection of legal opinions1;
and al-Zawajir 'an iqtiraf al-kaba'ir [Deterrents from committing enormities], which with its detailed presentation of Koran and hadith evidence and masterful legal inferences, remains unique among Muslim works dealing with godfearingness (taqwa) and is even recognized by Hanafi scholars like Ibn 'Abidin as a source of authoritative legal texts (nusus) valid in their own school
After a lifetime of outstanding scholarship, the Imam died and was buried in Mecca in 974/1567 (al-A'lam (y136), l.234; A; and n).
aJ-Zahiri, born in Cordova (in present-day Spain) in 384/994
A gifted author, minister in government, poet, and the scholar of Andalusia in his era, he followed Imam Dawud al-Zahiri (""the literalist""), a student ofImam Shafi'i who accepted only the Koran, hadith, and scholarly consensus (ijma') as sources of evidence in Sacred Law, denying the validity of analogical reasoning (qiyas)
As nothing remains of Dawud's writings, Ibn Hazm, with the Sufi Muhyiddin ibn al-' Arabi, remains virtually the only written representative of the Zahiri school.
Though he authored works on heresiology, poetry, logic, history, biography, grammar, and fundamentals of Islamic Law, Ibn Hazm is perhaps most famous for an eleven-volume work in his own school of jurisprudence entitled al-Muhalla [The embellished], whose good aspects are somewhat alloyed with bitter attacks on other Imams of jurisprudence, misrepresentations of their lines of evidence, and abuse of any who would disagree with his own methodological premises, none of which have traditionally been the hallmarks of Islamic scholars
Were one to eliminate these features from it, as Ibn al-' Arabi did in an unfortunately lost work, much would remain that would be valuable
Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani praises Ibn Hazm's accuracy in relating hadiths, and because of his extremism in restricting the validity of scholarly consensus (ijma') to the prophetic Companions exclusively, when he does report consensus on an issue, it carries particular weight
His acrimonious way of making a case against opponents has endeared him to some contemporary Muslim students, but few of the great scholars of Islam have accepted many of his premises.or conclusions, not only because of his unfair attacks and misrepresentations, but also because of the inflexibility of the Zahiri school's method, whose inability to use analogy makes it something of a dinosaur in dealing with a changing world
The scholars of his time agreed that Ibn Hazm was misguided, warned their rulers against the strife he was causing, and the common people from approaching him, and he was exiled and fled to Labia in the Andalusian countryside, where he died in 456/1064 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.254; N;
and n).
Mu'adh ibn Ma'bad, Abu Hatim al-Tamimi al-Busti, born in Bust (in present-day Afghanistan)
A Shafi'i Imam and hadith master (hafiz), he was an extremely prolific author whom Yaqut once said ""produced works in the sciences of hadith that no one else could have written."" In his search for knowledge of hadith, he travelled to Khurasan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, and Nishapur, before returning to his native city, after which he served as a judge for a period in Samarkand
He authored al-Anwa' wa al-taqasim [Types and categories], also known as al-Musnad al-sahih [Authenticated ascribed traditions] and other voluminous works in hadith, encyclopediology, biography, and history, and died in Bust in 354/965 (al-A 'lam (y13t1) , 6.78; and Tabaqatal-Shafi'iyyaal-kubra (y128),
3.131).
ibn 'Abdullah, Abu al-Qasim Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi of Granada (in present-day Spain), born in 69311294
He was a Maliki scholar and Imam in Koranic exegesis and Arabic lexicology who also did research in fundamentals of Sacred Law and hadith
His Koranic commentary al- Tashilli 'ulurn al- Tanzil [The facilitation of the sciences of the Revelation] enjoys a prodigious reputation and is widely quoted
He died in 741/1340 (al-A 'lam (y136), 5.325; and n).
Dara', Abu al-Fida' 'Imad ai-Din, born in 70111302 in a village outside of Damascus, where he moved with his brother at the age of five
He later travelled in pursuit of Sacred Knowledge, becoming a principle Shafi'i scholar, hadith master (hafiz), and historian who authored works in each of these fields, though he is perhaps best known for his four-volume Tafsir al-Qur' an al-'Azim [Commentary on the Mighty Koran], which reflects its author's magisterial command of the sciences of hadith
He died in Damascus in 774/1373 (al-A 'lam (y136), 1.320).
x 166 Ibn Khafif (w9 .11) is Muhammad ibn Khafif ibn Isfikshar, Abu' Abdullah aI-Shirazi, born in 276/890
The son of a prince, he later turned to asceticism, wandered much, and became a Sufi of whom Sulami said, ""He is today the Sheikh of Sheikhs ...
No Sufi remains who is more advanced than he
He kept the company of Ruwaym ibn Ahmad and Ibn 'Ata', met al-Hallaj, and is among the most knowledgeable sheikhs in outward learning, strictly adhering to the Koran and sunna, a Shafi'i scholar."" He lived in Shiraz, Persia, where he died at ninety-five years of age in 371/982 (ibid., 6.114; and Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 16.342-47).
Abu Zayd Ibn Khaldun, born in Tunis in 732/1332
He was a philosopher and historian who grew up in Tunis and travelled to Tlemcen, Fez, Granada, and Andalusia, where he was appointed to various governmental positions, which he lost through the vicissitudes of the day and eventually returned to Tunis
He then set out for Egypt, where the sultan al-Zahir welcomed and honored him, appointing him to the Maliki judgeship, a position from which he was dismissed for preferring his native Tunisian dress during the hours of work over the customary judicial robes, but to which he was later reinstated
He is most famous for his seven-volume al-'lbar wa diwan al-mubtadi' wa al-khabar fi tarikh al-'arab wa aI' ajam wa al-barbar [The reflections and record of subject and predicate: a history of the Arabs, Persians, and Berbers], whose al-Muqaddima [The prolegomenon] is considered the world's first work on social theory
He died in Cairo in 808/1406 (al-A flam (136), 3.330).
Bakr al-Sulami, born in Nishapur, Persia, in 223/838
He was a Shafi'i scholar and mujtahid, the Imam of Nishapur in his time, a hadith specialist who travelled for Sacred Knowledge to Iraq, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt
He authored more than 140 works, among them his main contribution to the science ofhadith, Mukhtasar al-Mukhtasar [The abridgement of ""The abridgment""], also known as his Sahih
He died in Nishapur in 311/924 (ibid., 6.29; and Tabaqat alShafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 3.109).
aI-Baghdadi, born in Niqya, a village near al-Anbar, Iraq, in 157/775
Among the greatest Imams of hadith and in knowledge of its narrators, Imam Ahmad referred to him as ""the most knowledgeable of us in transmitters of hadith,"" and Dhahabi called him the ""Master of Hadith Masters."" His father left him a large fortune which he spent in learning and gathering hadiths
He once said, ""I have written a million hadiths with my hand."" He lived in Baghdad, authored a number of valuable works on the sciences of hadith, and died while on hajj in 233/848 (alA'lam (y136), 8.172-73).
Ibn Majah al-Qazwini, of Qazvin, Persia, born in 209/824
He was a hadith master (hafiz), Imam, and Koranic exegetewhose travels in pursuit of knowledge of hadith led him to Basra, Baghdad, Syria, Cairo, the Hijaz
and Rayy, and enabled him to author his Sunan [Sunnas], one of the six principle collections of Sunni Islam
He died in 273/887 (ibid., 7.144; and al-Targhib wa al-tarhib (y9),
1.21).
'Abd aI-Rahman al-Hadhali (Allah be well pleased with him), of Meeca
One of the greatest of the Companions in virtue, intelligence, and in closeness to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he was among the earliest converts to Islam, the first to recite the Holy Koran aloud in Mecca, and a trusted servant ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who kept his secrets, carried his sandals, and accompanied him while travelling or at home
'Vmar once referred to him as ""a vessel replete with knowledge."" He made both the emigration to Ethiopia and to Medina, was present at the battle of Badr and all the others, and was put in charge of the Muslim common fund (bayt ai-mal) at Kufa after the Prophet's death (Allah bless him and give him peace), though he returned to Medina during the caliphate of 'Vthman
He loved perfume and when he left home, people could tell where he had passed by the beautiful scent
Among the great scholars of the Companions, he related 848 hadiths, and died in Medina in 32/653 at about sixty years of age (al-A'lam (y136), 4.137; and al-Shifa (y116),
1.214).
'Abd aI-Rahman al-Hanzali al-Tamimi, originally of Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R), born in 1181736
He was a hadith master (hafiz) and scholar of Sacred Law and Arabic who spent nearly his whole life travelling, whether for hajj ,jihad, or trade, and he joined in his person between learning, generosity, and courage
The first author in Islam to produce a work onjihad, he died in Hit, Iraq, after a battle with the Byzantines in 1811797 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 4.115).
Abu' Abdullah al-Zura'i Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, born in Damascus in 691/1292.
He was a Hanbali hadith scholar and author who wrote a number of works, among them Zad al-ma'ad [The provision for the return] in hadith, and I'lam almawaqqi'in LThe instruction of those who sign formal legal opinions] in fundamentals of Islamic law
His most significant contribution however, was his editing and preparing for publication the writings of Ibn Taymiya, whose devoted pupil he was
He went to prison with his sheikh in the citadel of Damascus and suffered with him until Ibn Taymiya's death in 728/1328, when he was released
He thereafter worked to spread and popularize the master's ideas, as dedicated to him after his death as he had been in life, supporting him in what was right and what was wrong
A specimen of the latter is Ibn al-Qayyim's al-Qasida al-nuniyya [Ode rhyming in the letter n], a lengthy poem on tenets of faith that is filled with corrupt suggestions about the attributes of God, which Imam Taqi ai-Din Subki analyses in detail in his ai-Say!
al-saqil [The burnished sword], giving the verdict that the poem's anthropomorphisms of the Divinity are beyond the pale of Islam
The poem could not be openly circulated in Ibn al-Qayyim's lifetime but only secretly, and it seems that he never abandoned it, for the Hanbali historian and biographer Ibn Rajab heard it from its author in the year of his death.
A second unfortunate peculiarity the poem shares with some of Ibn alQayyim's other works on Islamic faith is that it presents the reader with a false dilemma, namely that one must either believe that Allah has eyes, hands, a descending motion, and so forth, in a literal (haqiqi) sense, or else one has nullified ('attala) or negated (nata) these attributes
And this is erroneous, for the literal is that which corresponds to an expression's primary lexical sense as ordinarily used in a language by the people who speak it, while the above words are clearly intended otherwise, in accordance with the Koranic verse, ""There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him"" (Koran 42:11), for ifthe above were intended literally, there would be innumerable things like unto Him in such respects as having eyes, hands, motion, and so forth, in the literal meaning of these terms
The would-be dilemma is also far from the practice of the early Muslims, who used only to accept such Koranic verses andhadiths as they have come, consigning the knowledge of what is meant by them-while affirming Allah's absolute transcendence above any resemblance to created things-to Allah Most High alone, without trying to determinately specify how they are meant (bi la kayf), let alone suggesting people understand them literally (haqiqatan) as Ibn al-Qayyim tried to do.
While granting that his other scholarly achievements are not necessarily compromised by his extreme aberrances in tenets of faith, it should not be forgotten that depicting the latter as a ""reform"" or ""return to early Islam"" represents a blameworthy innovation on his part that appeared more than seven centuries after the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his Companions.
A particularly unsavory aspect of it is that in his attempts to vindicate the doctrine, Ibn al-Qayyim casts aspersions upon the Islam of anyone who does not subscribe to it, at their forefront the Ash'ari school, whom his books castigate as ""Jahmiyya"" or ""Mu'attila,"" implying, by equating them with the most extreme factions of the Mu'tazilites, that they deny any significance to the divine attributes, a misrepresentation that has seen a lamentable recrudescence in parts of the Muslim world today
Whether such views are called ""fundamentalism"" or some other name, the scholars of the Muslims remember history, and that it was Abu Hanifa who first observed, ""Two depraved opinions have reached us from the East, those of Jahm, the nullifier ofthe divine attributes [dis: x202], and those of Muqatil [n: ibn Sulayman al-Balkhi
d
ca
A.H.150], the likenerofAliah to His creation."" To make of these two an either-or for Muslims, or depict the latter as ""sunna"" when it has been counted among heresies and rejected by the Muslim Community for the first seven centuries of Islam that preceded Ibn al-Qayyim and his mentor Ibn Taymiya, is to say the least difficult to accept, and it would seem fitter to simply acknowledge that Ibn al-Qayyim was a talented author in fundamentals of law, hadith, and other fields, but unfortunately enamored with his teacher to the extent of following him in innovations (bid'a) in tenets of faith and misrepresenting the positions of those who opposed them
He died in Damascus in 75111350 (al-A'iam (yl36), 6.56; ai-Say!
al-saqil (y70) , 2-192; Sharh al-Qasida al-nuniyya (y45), 1.268-88; Siyara'iam al-nubala' (y37), 7.202; and n).
x 175 Ibn Oudama (wI8.2) is 'Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Oudama, Abu Muhammad Muwaffaq ai-Din al-Jama'ili al-Maqdisi, born in Jama'iI, Palestine, in 54111146
A Hanbali scholar and Imam, he was educated in Damascus, and was the author of the nine-volume al-Mughni [The enricher] in Hanbali jurisprudence as well as other works in fundamentals of Sacred Law, tenets of faith, geneology, biography, and Koranic exegesis
He travelled to Baghdad in A.H
561 and lived there four years before returning to Damascus, where he died in 620/1223
Both he and the subject of the next entry were called Ibn Oudama al-Maqdisi, as were others, all from a single family that was blessed with Hanbali scholars (al-A'lam (y136), 4.67; and n).
x 176 Ibn Oudama al-Maqdisi (qO.1) is Ahmad ibn 'Abd ai-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Oudama al-Maqdisi, born in Damascus in 65111253
He studied hadith and Hanbalijurisprudence with his father, who was head of the judiciary (qadi al-qudah), and when he was himself appointed as a judge before thirty years of age, he performed the office diligently and well
A Hanbali scholar of great personal virtue and integrity, he taught at many schools in Damascus, and was a well-known preacher at Friday prayers on Mount Oasiyun
He participated in the campaign in which the sultan Malik Mansur liberated Tripoli, Lebanon, from foreign occupation, and died in Damascus at thirtyeight years of age in 689/1290 (Mukhtasar Minhaj al-qasidin (y62), 8).
x 177 Ibn Salah (b7.6) is 'Vthman ibn 'Abd aI-Rahman Salah ai-Din ibn 'Vthman ibn Musa, Abu 'Amr Taqi aI-Din al-Shahrazuri, born in Sharkhan of Kurdish deseent in 577/1181
One ofthe greatest Shafi'i Imams in knowledge and godfearingness, he was a hadith master (hafiz) who studied in Mosul, Baghdad, Nishapur, Merv, and in Damascus under Hanbali Imam Muwaffaq ai-Din Ibn Oudama al-Maqdisi
He taught for a period in the Salahiyya School in Jerusalem, after which he returned to Damascus, where he was appointed as the head of Dar al-Hadith
He authored a number of works in Shafi'i jurisprudence, Koranic exegesis, hadith, the methodOlogy of formal legal opinion, and biography, and died in Damascus in 643/1245 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.207-8; Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yi28), 8.326; and Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf).
'Abdullah, Abu al-'Abbas Taqi ai-Din Ibn Taymiya al-Harrani, born in Harran, east of Damascus, in 66111263
A famous Hanbali scholar in Koranic exegesis, hadith, and jurisprudence, Ibn Taymiya was a voracious reader and author of great personal courage who was endowed with a compelling writing style and a keen memory
Dhahabi wrote of him, ""I never saw anyone faster at recalling the Koranic verses dealing with subjects he was discussing, or anyone who could remember hadith texts more vividly."" Dhahabi estimates that his legal opinions on various subjects amount to three-hundred or more volumes.
He was imprisoned during much of his life in Cairo, Alexandria, and Damascus for his writings, scholars of his time accusing him of believing Allah to be a cor- poreal entity because of what he mentioned in his al-'Aqida al-Hamawiyya, and al-Wasitiyya and other works, such as that Allah's 'hand', 'foot', 'shin', and 'face', are literal (haqiqi) attributes, and that He is upon the Throne in person
The error in this, as mentioned above at x174, is that suggesting such attributes are literal is an innovation and unjustifiable inference from the Koranic and hadith texts that mention them, for the way of the early Muslims was mere acceptance of such expressions on faith without saying how they are meant, and without additions, subtractions, or substituting meanings imagined to be synonyms, while acknowledging Allah's absolute transcendence beyond the characteristics of created things, in conformity with the Koranic verse, ""There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him"" (Koran 42:11)
As for figurative interpretations that preserve the divine transcendence, scholars of tenets of faith have only had recourse to them in times when men of reprehensible innovations (bid'a), quoting hadiths and Koranic verses, have caused confusion in the minds of common Muslims as to whether Allah has attributes like those of His creation or whether He is transcendently beyond any image conceivable to the minds of men
Scholars' firmness in condemning those who have raised such confusions has traditionally been very uncompromising, and this is no doubt the reason that a number of the Imams of the Shafi'i school, among them Taqi al·Din Subki, Ibn Hajar Haytami, and al-'Izz Ibn Jama'a, gave formal legal opinions that Ibn Taymiya was misguided and misguiding in tenets of faith, and warned people from accepting his theories
The Hanafi scholar Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari has written, ""Whoever thinks that all the scholars of his time joined in a single conspiracy against him from personal envy should rather impugn their own intelligence and understanding, after studying the repugnance of his deviations in belief and works, for which he was asked to repent time after time and moved from prison to prison until he passed on to what he'd sent ahead."" While few deny that Ibn Taymiya was a copious and eloquent writer and hadith scholar, his career, like that of others, demonstrates that a man may be outstanding in one field and yet suffer from radical deficiencies in another, the most reliable index of which is how a field's Imams regard his work in it
By this measure, indeed, by the standards of all previous Ahl al-Sunna scholars, it is clear that despite a voluminous and influential written legacy, Ibn Taymiya cannot be considered an authority on tenets of faith, a field in which he made mistakes profoundly incompatible with the beliefs of Islam, as also with a number of his legal views that violated the scholarly consensus (ijma') of Sunni Muslims
It should be remembered that such matters are not the province of personal reasoning (ijtihad), whether Ibn Taymiya considered them to be so out of sincere conviction.
or whether simply because, as Imam Subki said, ""his learning exceeded his intelligence."" He died in Damascus in 728/1328 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.144; al-Durar al-kamina (y13) , 1.144-55; al-Fatawa al-hadithiyya (y48) , 114; al-Rasa'if alSubkiyya (y52) , 151-52; al-Sayfal-saqil (y70) , 6; Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf; and n).
al-' Adawi (Allah be well pleased with him), born to one of the noblest families of the Quraysh in Mecca ten years before the Hijra (A.D
613)
He was a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who emigrated to Medina with his father 'Umar ibn Khattab and was raised in Islam
Though too young to fight at Badr, he was daring and courageous, and participated in the Battle of the Confederates and the conquest of Mecca
One of the most knowledgeable of the Companions, he gave formal legal opinions to Muslims for sixty years and related 2,630 hadiths
He fought in jihad in North Africa on two separate campaigns, lost his eyesight at the end of his life, and was the last of the Companions to die in Mecca, in 73/692 (ai-A 'lam (y136), 4.108; and n).
ibn Arghu ibn Faligh (upon whom be peace), the prophet and messenger of Allah Most High
The blessing upon ""Ibrahim and the folk of Ibrahim"" in the final Testification of Faith (Tashahhud) of the prayer (salat) refers to the prophets, siddiqs (great-faithed ones), martyrs, and pious of his descendants
for all the prophets (upon whom peace) of Bani Isra'il were descended from Ishaq, Ibrahim's son by Sarah, while the only prophet descended from Isma'il, his son by Hajar, was the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace).
Ibrahim is mentioned in various places in the Holy Koran, which records how he built the Kaaba with his son Isma'il, how he smashed the idols of his people
and how he obeyed what he was bidden to do in a dream by going to sacrifice his son, who did not have to be sacrificed in the end, but for which Ibrahim became the Friend of the All-merciful (Khalil ai-Rahman)
He is buried in ai-Khalil (Hebron) in Palestine (al-Futuhat aZ-ilahiyya (y65), 1.102; al-Futuhat al-rabbaniyya (y26), 2.348; and n).
Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) of Mariya the Copt, the Prophet's concubine who was given to him by the Muqawqis of Alexandria.
Ibrahim was born in A.M
8, and when he died before reaching two full years of age, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Verily, 0 Ibrahim, we are in deep sorrow over your departure"" (Sheikh Yunus Hamdan; and n).
al-Tamimi al-Balkhi, an early Sufi saint and ascetic
Originally born into a wealthy family of Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan), he eschewed the comfortable life, studied Sacred Law, and then travelled to Baghdad, after which he wandered at length through Iraq, Syria, and the Hijaz, taking knowledge from many famous scholars while supporting himself by working as a reaper, porter, guard for orchards, and miller
He fought in jihad against the Byzantines, and when a slave brought him the news at Massisa (south of present-day Antakya, Turkey) that his father had died, leaving him a tremendous fortune in Balkh of which the slave was carrying ten thousand dirhams, Ibrahim freed him and gave him the dirhams, informing him that he had no desire for the rest
He used to fast whether travelling or not, always spoke faultless Arabic, and many of his sayings have been preserved
When he attended the homilies of Sufyan al-Thawri, the latter would curtail his words for fear of making a mistake
He died, probably at Sufnan on the southern Byzantine frontier, in 1611778 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.31; and n).
teacher in the school of Islamic judiciary in Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, and the sheikh and mentor of Sheikh 'Abd al-Wakil Durubi, who was with him from approximately 1933 to 1950 (n).
to commentators, was Akhnukh ibn Shith ibn Adam (upon whom be peace)
The grandfather of the prophet Nuh, he was called ""ldris"" for his devoted study (darasa) of Sacred Scripture, since when Allah made him a prophet, He revealed to him thirty-three pages
He was a tailor, and the first to write with a pen, sew, and wear cloth garments (skins were worn before him), the first to take weapons and fight unbelievers in jihad, and the first to study astronomy and mathematics.
He is mentioned in the Holy Koran (19:56-57), where he is described as a siddiq (lit
""great-faithed one"") and prophet, and Allah says, ""We raised him to a high place,"" which refers to the fourth heaven where he presently is, having been seen there by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) on the night of his nocturnal ascent (mi'raj), as mentioned in a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 3.67).
(upon whom be peace), a prophet of Allah Most high who was a descendant of the prophet Harun, brother of Musa (upon whom be peace)
Commentators relate that he was sent to a tribe of Bani Isra'il who lived around Baalbek (in present-day Lebanon) under King Arhab, who erected a huge gold statue with four faces that he called Baal and had them worship
Satan used to enter the statue and issue commands and prohibitions to its priests, who would memorize his directives and convey them to the people, while Uyas called them to the worship of the one God.
As Ilyas saw that the people but followed their king, he convinced the king to enter his religion, and there was a period of guidance, after which the king forsook the true path and returned to his former ways, with great anger and spite against Ilyas
He was forced to flee tothe mountains and live in caves and ravines on herbs and fruits, while the people sought in vain to find and slay him
After living thus for seven years, llyas supplicated Allah Most High to relieve him of them, and Allah made his companion al-Yasa' a prophet in his stead (ibid., 2.58, 3.550).
Abu al-Fadl Zayn ai-Din ai-Hafiz al-'Iraqi, born in 725/1325 in Razanan, near Arbil, Iraq
A Shafi'i scholar of Kurdish origin, he moved with his father while still young to Cairo, where he was educated and became one of the greatest hadith masters (huffaz) of his time
He travelled to the Hijaz, Syria, and Palestine before returning to Egypt, where he settled and authored works in hadith, fundamentals of Islamic law and faith, principles of jurisprudence, prophetic biography, and biographies of Islamic scholars
He died in Cairo in 806/1404 (al-A'lam (y136), 3.344; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
messenger of Allah Most High to Bani Isra'il, who denied him and plotted against him
He was known as the Word of God because Allah created him without a father by the mere word ""be"" (kun), whereupon his mother Maryam conceived him
Among the inimitable prophetic miracles (mu'jizat) vouchsafed to him was that by the leave of Allah he raised the dead, made the blind see, healed lepers, and when he molded a bird from clay and breathed into it, it became a living bird.
It is related that when the Sacred Law was summarized before him by a lawyer in the words ""It is that you love the Lord your God with your whole heart, whole soul, whole strength and whole mind; and that you love neighbor as yourself,"" 'Isa confirmed him in this
When Bani Isra'i1 wanted to kill him, Allah Most High saved him, as described in the words of the Holy Koran, ""They did not slay him or crucify him, but thus was it made to seem to them"" (Koran 4:157), referring to when Yahuda, chief of the Jews, met with a band of his people to kill 'Isa out of fear of his message, but Allah sent Gabriel to 'lsa to lead him to a covered alleyway that had a skylight, through which he was taken up to the sky
When Yahuda, in pursuit, ordered one of his companions to follow him into the passageway and murder him, Allah cast the likeness of 'Isa upon the man as he entered, and when he came out again after a fruitless search, the Jews attacked and killed him, thinking him to be 'Isa, and hung him upon a cross (al-Shifa (y116), 1.192; al-Siraj almunir (y72) , 1.213, 1.216--17, 1.220; and n).
peace), the prophet of Allah Most High and son of the prophet Ibrahim and Sarah
All the prophets of Bani lsra'il were descended from Ibrahim through him, and commentators relate that he lived 180 years (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65),
1.102, 2.57).
Ya'qub Ibn Rahawayh al-Hanzali al-Tamimi, originally of Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.), born in 161n78
The scholar of Khurasan of his time, he is counted among the great hadith masters (huffaz) of Islam
He travelled in pursuit of knowledge to Iraq, the Hijaz, Syria, and Yemen, hearing hadiths from such sheikhs as Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, and others, and he authored numerous works in the science, including his four-volume Musnad [Ascribed traditions]
Khatib Baghdadi once said of him, ""He combined in his person hadith, Sacred Law, scholarship, truthfulness, piety, and abstinence,"" and Darami observed, ""His sincerity was greater than the peoples of the east and west."" He settled in Nishapur, and died there in 238/853 (al-A 'lam (y136), 1.292).
peace), the prophet of Allah Most High
The son of Ibrahim and Hajar, he was born before the prophet lshaq, and was eighty-nine years old when his father died, after which he lived another forty-one years
He is called the Father of the Arabs because he married into the tribe of Jurhum, from whom the Arabs are descended (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65) , 1.102,2.57; and al-Shifa (y116) , 1.296).
Egyptian scholar of hadith and Sacred Law who works at the Department of Islamic Legal Opinion (Da'ira al-Ifta') in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (A; and N).
the Sur, a hom-like trumpet whose call will usher in the events ofthe Last Day (alShifa (y116), 1.709; and n).
Yusuf al-Hamdani al-Shaybi'i of Kufa, born in A.H
100
He was a memorizer and trustworthy narrator whose hadiths appear in the works of both Bukhari and Muslim.
It is related that he had a book of hadiths he memorized from
Shaqiq al-Balkhi said of him, ""I learned awe (khushu') from Isra'il
We would be around him, and he would not know who was on his right or left, for his absorption in the hereafter, so I knew him for a pious man."" He died in A.H
160 (Siyar a'iam alnubala' (y37), 7.355-60).
ibn Abu al-Qasim ibn ai-Hasan, 'Izz al""Din al-Sulami, nicknamed the Sultan of Scholars, born in Damascus in 577/1181
A Shafi'i scholar and mujfahid Imam, he was educated in Damascus, went to Baghdad inA.H
599, and then returned to his native city, where he first taught and gave the Friday sermon at the Zawiya of alGhazali, and then at the Great Umayyad Mosque
When the ruler al-Salih Isma'il ibn aI-'Adai willingly surrendered the Palestinian citadel of Safad to the Franks, Ibn 'Abd ai-Salam condemned him from the pulpit and omitted mentioning him in the post-sermon prayer, for which he was imprisoned
Upon his release, he moved to Cairo, where he was appointed as judge and imam of the Friday prayer, gaining such public influence that he could (and did) command the right and forbid the wrong with the force of law
He later resigned from the judiciary and remained at home to produce a number of brilliant works in Shafi'i jurisprudence, Koranic exegesis, methodological fundamentals of Sacred Law, formal legal opinion, government, and Sufism, though his main and enduring contribution was his masterpiece on Islamic legal principles Qawa'id al-ahkam fi masalih alanam [The bases of legal rulings in the interests of mankind]
It is recorded that he kept the company of Imam Abul Hasan al-Shadhili, founder of the Shadhili tariqa, and his works on Sufism bespeak an understanding of the way
He died in Cairo at the age of eighty-one in 66011262 (al-A'lam (y136) , 4.21; al-Imamal-'/zz ibn 'Abd ai-Salam (y38), 1.130-31; and n).
(Allah be well pleased with him), a Medinan Helper and Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who was born sixteen years before the Hijra (A.D
607)
He participated in all the Muslims' battles except Badr
A prolific narrator of hadith, 1,540 traditions have been related from him by Bukhari, Muslim, and others
In later years he used to teach in the Prophet's mosque, and was the last of the Companions to die at Medina, in 78/697 (al-A 'lam (y136), 2.104; and al-Shita (y116), 1.154).
(in present-day Vzbek S.S,R.), a writer who inaugurated reprehensible innovations (bid'a) in tenets of faith, founding the Jahmiyya school that bore his name.
His doctrines first appeared in Termez, and represented among other things a denial of the Divine attributes afftnned by the Koran and hadith, claiming that Allah was beyond them; that man's acts were purely determined by Allah; that Allah was ""everywhere""; and that the Koran was created
He was killed by Salam ibn Ahwaz in Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.) in 128n45 for denying that Allah spoke to Moses (al-A'lam (y136), 2.141; Sharh al-sunna (y22), 1.172; and Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 6.26-27).
Jala1 ai-Din al-Kinani al-Bulqini, born in 763/1362
He was an Egyptian Shafi'i scholar and hadith specialist who succeeded his father Siraj ai-Din as the foremost Shaft'i authority of his time for formal legal opinion (fatwa)
Appointed to the Islamic judiciary in Egypt several times, he served as a judge until the end of his life, and authored works in Sacred Law, Koranic exegesis, hadith commentary, and admonitions (wa'z)
He died in Cairo in 82411421 (al-A'lam (y136),
3.320).
'Abdullah ibn Yusuf ibn Muhammad, Abu al-Ma'ali Rukn ai-Din Imam alHaramayn al-Juwayni, a scholar in tenets of faith and the Imam of the Shaft'i school of his time, originally from Juwain (in present-day Afghanistan), born in 419/1028, He was educated by his father, and after his death read his father's entire library and then took his place as teacher at Nishapur, though he was later forced to travel to Baghdad because of trouble between the Ash'aris, Mu'tazilites, and Shiites
After meeting the greatest scholars of Baghdad, he went on to Mecca, living in the Sacred Precinct for four years, after which he moved to Medina and taught and gave formal legal opinion (fatwa), gaining his nickname, the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries, i.e
of Mecca and Medina
At length he returned to Persia, where the vizier Nizam al-Mulk, having built a first Nizamiyya Academy in Baghdad for Abu Ishaq Shirazi to teach in, built a second one for al- Juwayni at Nishapur
It was here the Imam wrote in earnest, completing his fifteen- volume Nihaya al-matlab fi diraya al-madhhab [The utmost of what is sought: on understanding the evidence of the Shafi'i school] which no one in the field of Islamic law had ever produced the like of, as well as other works in tenets offaith, Ash'ari theology, fundamentals ofIslamic legal methodology, and Shafi'i law
Among his greatest legacies to Islam and the Muslims was his pupil Ghazali, who is said to have surpassed even the Imam at the end of his life
He died in Nishapur in 47811085 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.160; Introduction to Sharh al-Waraqat (y64), 3-4; Tabaqatal-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 5.165; andn).
ibn Muhammad, Abu Muhammad, Abu Hudayb al-'Abbadi al-Balqawi, born in 1953 in Khilda, in the al-Balqa' region of Jordan to the northwest of Amman
He took the Shadhili tariqa from Sheikh 'Abd aI-Rahman Shaghouri of Damascus in 1977, and has studied Arabic grammar, tenets of faith, Shaii'i jurisprudence, and hadith with Sheikh Yunus Hamdan
He lives in Khilda, where he presently manufactures and distributes concrete building blocks (n).
aI-Hamid ibn Mas'ud, Kamal aI-Din Ibn al-Humam, born in Alexandria in 790/1388
He was among the foremost Imams of the Hanafi school, and a scholar in Sacred Law, hadith, tenets of faith, Koranic exegesis, estate division, mathematics, Arabic lexicology, and logic
He was educated in Cairo, and lived for a time in Aleppo, Mecca, and Medina before returning to Egypt, where the came to enjoy considerable prestige among the rulers and heads of state
His major work is the eight-volume Fath ai-Qadir [Triumph of the Omnipotent], a commentary on Marghiyani's al-Hidaya [Guidance]
Though unfinished by its author, it ranks among the greatest Hanafi works for explaining primary textual evidence from the Koran and hadith and the reasoning of the school's Imams in deriving rulings from them
He died in Cairo in 861/1457 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 6.255;
and Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
a Hanafi scholar of Damascus
He did not live to publish his al-Durar al-mubaha fi al-hazr wa al-ibaha [The uncovered pearls: on the unlawful and lawful], but died in Damascus in 135011931, after which his sons printed the work (al-Durar almubaha (y99) , 235; and Mu'jam al-mu'allifin (y69), 4.121).
aI-Baghdadi, born in Ghuzayya, midway between Kufa and Mecca, in 39211002
He .was a Shafi'i scholar, hadith master (hafiz), and historian who was raised in Baghdad and travelled to Mecca, Basra, al-Dinawar, Kufa, and other cities in quest of hadith before returning to Baghdad, where his ability won recognition from the caliph's vizier Ibn MusaUam
A turn in political fortunes toward the end of his career caused him to leave Baghdad for a period, during which he travelled to Syria and resided in Damascus, Sur, Tripoli, and Aleppo before returning
He authored some fifty-six works in hadith, Sacred Law, and history, though he is best known for his fourteen-volume Tarikh Baghdad [The history of Baghdad]
In his final illness he made a pious endowment of his entire library and distributed his money and property to charitable causes
He died in Baghdad in 46311072 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.172; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128),
4.29).
Sulayman al-Khattabi of Bust, Afghanistan, born in 319/931
An Imam in Shafi'i jurisprudence, hadith, and Arabic lexicology, he studied hadith in Mecca, Basra, Baghdad, and Nishapur, and later taught many students, including the hadith master (hafiz) aI-Hakim
He wrote a number of works in Sacred Law and hadith, but is perhaps best known for his outstanding four-volume commentary on the Sunan of Abu Dawud, Ma'alim ai-Sun an [The waymarks of 'The sunnas'""]
He died in Bust in 388/998 (al-A'lam (y136), 2.273; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya alKubra (y128), 3.282).
al-'Abbas al-Khidr (upon whom be peace), who is referred to in the story of Moses in sura al-Kahf of the Holy Koran (18:65)
It is said that he was of Bani Isra'il, while others relate that he was a prince who left his this-worldly possessions for a life of asceticism and devotions
He was nicknamed al-Khidr (derived from ""greenness"") because when he sat on withered patch of vegetation it would become thriving and green
Scholars disagree as to whether he is presently alive, though most believe he is and will remain so until the Day of Judgement because of having drunk of the water of life-and also as to whether he is a prophet, angel, or friend of Allah (waH), the majority holding him to be a prophet (al-Futuhat alilahiyya (y65), 3.35; al-Siraj al-munir (y72), 2.391; and A).
ibn J ahjaba (Allah be well pleased with him), one of the Medinan Helpers and a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Dispatched on the raid of ai-RaW, Khubaybwas captured and later sold in Mecca to the sons of al-Harith ibn 'Amir, whom he had previously slain at the battle of Badr
He remained their prisoner until his killers assembled, and they took him to Tan'im, outside the Sacred Precinct, where he asked to be allowed to pray two rak'as, after which he said, ""By Allah, were I not afraid of your thinking I fear death, 1 would have prayed more."" Then he supplicated, ""0 Allah, reckon them in number, kill them one by one, and let none of them remain alive."" Then 'Uqba ibn al-Harith rose and killed him, Khubayb thus being the one to establish the sunna for Muslims being killed to pray two rak'as (Siyar a 'lam al-nubala' (y37),
1.246-47).
al-Kirmani, born in 717/1317
A scholar of hadith and Sacred Law originally from Kinnan, Persia, he became famous in Baghdad, where he taught for thirty years;
He resided for a period in Mecca, where he devoted himself to writing his twentyfive- volume commentary on Bukhari's Sahih called al-Kawakibal-darari fi sharh Sahih al-Bukhari [The brilliant stars: an exegesis of ""Sahih al-Bukhari""]
He also authored works on Koranic commentary and fundamentals of Islamic law and faith .
He died in 786/1384 on his return from hajj to Baghdad, where he was buried (al-A 'lam (y136), 7.153).
Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, a cousin of the prophet Musa (upon whom be peace), as his father Yas-hur and Musa.'s father 'Imran were brothers
He believed in Musa, though he later grew jealous of Musa's being sent as a prophet and Harun's being an Imam, and finally became an unbeliever because of his wealth, seeking to be superior to Musa by wearing his garments long and by oppressing Bani Isra'i!
when Pharaoh appointed him over them
Allah gave him such wealth that carrying the very keys to it weighed heavily on a group of strong men, and when his people told him not to exult in it but to seek the life of the next world by spending it in obedience to Allah, he replied that he had only been given it because of his knowledge, for he was the most learned of them in the Torah after Musa (upon whom be peace)
One day, as he came out in his finery to the people, some of whom envied him for his wealth and success, Allah caused the earth to swallow both him and his house (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 3.359-62).
prophet of Allah Most High to the people of Sadhum (Sodom)
His father Haran was the brother of the prophet Ibrahim (upon whom be peace)
Commentators relate that they lived in Babylon in Iraq, but emigrated west, Ibrahim settling in Palestine, and Lut in Jordan, from whence he was sent to Sadhum
The story of Lut and the people of Sad hum is told in the Holy Koran (7:80-84), and how Allah Most High rained down stones upon them and destroyed them for their wicked practice of sodomy (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 2.58-59, 2.161-62).
Fadil ibn Muhammad May'man, Abu ai-Anwar Ma' al-' Anayn al-Qalqami, born near Walata in the Hawd of southeastern Mauritania in 1831
Of Mauritanian and Moroccan descent, he was a traditional religious figure, Sufi sheikh of the Qadiri order, and a prolific writer who was also widely known as a digger of wells and energetic founder of Sufi hospices (zawaya)
He participated, after making a personal alliance with the Sharifian dynasty of Morocco, in armed resistance to the French in which he lost several sons, dying in Tiznit in southern Morocco in 1910 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 7.243; and Muslim Brotherhoods (y86) , 125).
Abu Muhammad al-Khazraji (Allah be well pleased with him) of Medina, born in A.H
6
He met the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) when four years old in his family's home, where the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) spat a mouthful of water from the family well upon his face for the blessing of it.
An Imam and reliable transmitter, he related hadiths from Abu Ayyub ai-Ansari, 'Ubada ibn al-Samit, and others; and among those who related hadiths from him were Anas ibn Malik, Makhul, and Zuhri
He died in A.H
99 at ninety-three years of age (Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 3.519)
'Abdullah al-Shamil, born in Kabul, Afghanistan
The scholar of Syria of his time, he was a freed slave who learned Sacred Law and travelled to many places in search of knowledge, among them Iraq, Medina, and Damascus, where he settled
Imam Zuhri said of him, ""No one of his time had more insight in giving fonnallegal opinions."" He died in Damascus in 1121730 (aI-A' lam (y136), 7.284).
al-Himyari, the mujtahid Imam born in Medina in 93/712
The second of the four greatest Imams of Sacred Law, his school has more followers than that of anyone besides Abu Hanifa
He was known as the Scholar of Medina, and was as renowned for his sincerity, faith, piety, and godfearingness as for his command of the sciences of hadith and knowledge of Sacred Law.His generosity was legendary, as was his love for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
whom he held in such awe and respect that he would not mount his horse within the confines of Medina out of reverence for the ground that enclosed the Prophet's body (Allah bless him and give him peace)
His piety was such that he was never too proud to say he did not know when asked about matters he was not sure of, and he would not relate·a hadith without first performing ablution
He was the author of al-Muwatta' [The trodden path], the greatest hadith collection of its time, nearly every hadith of which was accepted by Bukhari in his Sahih
His disciple Imam Shafi'i used to say (;If it, ""After the Book of Allah, no book has appeared on earth that is sounder than Malik's."" He was uncompromising in his religion and kept far from the rulers and princes of his time
When he gave the opinion that the caliph ai-Mansur should be removed and Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah of 'Ali's family be instated, the caliph's uncle Ja'far ibn Sulayman, governor of Medina, had Malik scourged seventy lashes, dislocating his shoulder
The only effect of this was to increase the Imam's highmindedness and dignity, and when ai-Mansur learned of it, he apologized profusely and asked Malik to write a book of Islamic jurisprudence that he could enjoin with the force of law upon all Muslims regardless of their school, but the Imam refused
He authored outstanding works in Sacred Law, hadith, and Koranic exegesis, and left behind a host of brilliant scholars he had trained as part of his great legacy to Islam and the Muslims
He died in Medina in 1791795 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.257; al-Muwatta' (y82), introduction; alTarghib wa al-tarhib (y9) , 1.14; Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut; and n).
who receive his orders
His place in the midst of hell is connected to all parts of it by bridges which the angels of torment pass upon, above its inhabitants, and he sees the farthest reaches of it as easily as he sees the closest (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65) , 4.96) ..
the time of Ibn 'Abbas
He was an early Sufi and scholar who studied under Hasan al-Basri, from whom he related hadiths, as well as from Anas ibn Malik, Ibn Sirin, and others
Pious and abstinent, he lived from the work of his own hands, copying out Korans for payment
Among his sayings is, ""Since coming to know people I have not enjoyed their praise or disliked their blame, for those who praise exag- gerate, and those who blame exaggerate."" He died in Basra in 1311748 (al-A'iam (y136), 5.260-61; Siyara'lam al-nubala' (y37), 5.362-64; and n).
pleased with him) of Yemen, a prophetic Companion
It is related that when he returned to his people after visiting the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the latter sent them a letter that said, ....
I enjoin you to goodness towards him, for he is looked up to,"" and the Hamdan tribe gathered eighty-nine camels that they presented him as a gift (al-Isaba fi tamyiz aI-Sahaba (y14), 3.334-35).
scholar and hadith specialist of the present century
A teacher in the Zaynabi Friday Mosque in Cairo, his most well known work is the five-volume ai- Taj al-jami' Ii al-usul fi ahadith ai-Rasul [The crown containing the fundamentals of Sacred Law from the hadiths of the Prophet], which, with its 5,887 hadiths, is among the best works on the primary texts for the rulings of the Shafi'i schooL He died sometime after 137111951 (al-A'lam (y136) , 7.301; and n).
and Sufism
He took an English degree at Oxford and later lectured at Cairo University, mainly on Shakespeare, for twelve years
In 1952 he returned to England, took a degree in Arabic at London University, and was appointed in special charge of the Arabic manuscripts at the British Museum
Sheikh 'Abd al-Wakil remembers him visiting Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi in Damascus when researching his book on Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi, A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century
Among his other works are his outstanding prophetic biography Muhammad, as well as What Is Sufism?, Shakespeare in the Light of of Sac red Art, Quranic Arts of Calligraphy and Illumination, and Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions.
Despite many excellent passages of genuine insight, the latter work and parts of his others diverge from the teachings of Islam on such questions as the validity of non-Islamic religions ( dis: w4, x348), and the suggestion that all the inhabitants of hell will enter paradise (Muhammad (y75), 94), adducing the words of the Koran referring to hell's eternality, "" ..
except as your Lord wills"" (Koran 6:128, 11: 107, previously discussed in the twentieth paragraph of w55.3), together with a hadith to the effect that Allah will remove from hell a people (Ar
qawm, and in Bukhari's version ""some peoples"" (aqwam)) who did no good at all, and enter them into paradise (Sahih al-Bukhari (y30) , 9.398-99; and Sahih Muslim (y92), 1.170)
Some scholars understand the hadith as alluding to those who did no good in this life beyond mere acknowledgement of Allah and His messenger, even if this minimal· amount of faith was not perceptible to the angels previously commanded to remove those with ""a grain offaith in their hearts"" from the fire; while others say it refers not to those who refused to believe in the prophetic messengers sent to them, but rather to those who lived in the times between the coming of successive messengers such that Allah's commands did not reach them
Both groups of scholars interpret the hadith in this way to reach an accord between it and the more than fifty Koranic verses mentioned above at w55.3 that clearly prove that unbelievers shall remain in hell forever, for it is understood among scholars that while abrogation (nasikh wa mansukh) enters into certain primary texts about rites and acts, it does not under any circumstances enter into texts about tenets of faith ('aqida), such that one Koranic text should be believed and another discarded.
Rather, we look for a more comprehensive explanation thatjoins between all the texts, for all are the truth
Despite such interpretive shortcomings.
Lings's works are generally of a high quality, and some, like his What Is Sufism?
and Muhammad are unsurpassed in their genre, and seem destined to contribute much to the understanding of Islam in the West
He presently lives in England (Muhammad (y75), inside back cover; Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut; N; and n).
the wicked, discussed above atx136 (n).
and his wife Hanna, who when pregnant with Maryam, vowed to dedicate the child she bore to the service of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and at her birth accordingly named her Maryam, meaning ""servant of her Lord."" The purest of womenkind, she was a siddiqa (lit
""great-faithed one""), and miraculously conceived the prophet 'Isa (upon whom be peace)
Both she and her child were unfortunately later taken as objects of worship by some sects of Christians because of the strangeness of 'Isa's birth without a father, though as commentators point out, by such reasoning the prophet Adam (upon whom be peace) might better deserve to be worshipped, since he had neither father nor mother (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 1.262--63, 1.269; and n).
al-Maydani, of Damascus, born in 1222/1807
A Hanafi scholar who studied under Imam Muhammad Amin Ibn 'Abidin and authored works in Sacred Law, hadith commentary, tenets of faith, and Arabic grammar, his best known work is the four-volume al-Lubab fi sharh al-Kitab [The quintessence: an exegesis of ""The book""], which expounds Ahmad Quduri's classic inHanafijurisprudence Kitab al-Quduri
He died in 1298/1881 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.33).
together with Gabriel in the Holy Koran (at 2;98) because he is the angel of sustenance (rizq) , the life of the body; just as Gabriel is the angel of revelation (wahy), the life of the spirit (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 1.84; al-Shifa (y116), 1.710; and al-Siraj a/-munir (y72) , 1.79).
'Abd ai-Rahman al-Khazraji (Allah be well pleased with him), born twenty years before the Hijra (A.D
603)
A Medinan Helper, he was among the greatest of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in the knowledge of the lawful and unlawful, and one of the six who gathered the Koran in the lifetime of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He participated in the battles of Badr, the Confederates, and all the others
After the campaign of Tabuk, he was sent as a judge and teacher to the people of Yemen, where he remained until Abu Bakr had been made caliph following the Prophet's death (Allah bless him and give him peace), when he returned to Medina
He went with Abu 'Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah on the Syrian jihad, which he assumed command of when Abu 'Ubayda died of the plague, and he was confirmed in the position by 'Umar
He died of the plague in the same year, 18/639, and was buried in the Jordan Rift Valley to the west of present-day Irbid, Jordan (al-A 'lam (y136), 7.258;
and n).
ibn 'Abd ai-Shams ibn 'Abd Manaf (Allah be well pleased with him), born in Mecca twenty years before the Hijra (A.D
603)
A noble of Quraysh, collected, eloquent, and dignified, he entered Islam the day Mecca was conquered (A.H
8), and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made him one of the scribes who recorded the Koran in writing
He later became the governor of Syria and in A.H
41 assumed the Islamic caliphate, founding the Umayyad dynasty whose capital was Damascus
His reign was one that added great conquests to the domains of Islam, which was established in his time as the religion of peoples across North Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as Sudan, many of the islands of Greece, and the Dardenelles
He was the first to use the Mediterranean for naval jihad, and the first to build mihrabs (niches) in mosques, He died in Damascus in 60/680 (alA'/ am (y136) , 7.261-62).
Abu 'Abdullah al-Thaqafi (Allah be well pleased with him), born in Ta'iftwenty years before the Hijra (A.D
603)
A Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who was noted for his keen intellect, he entered Islam in A.H.
5, was present at Hudaybiya, fought against the false prophet Musaylima at alYamama, and also took part in the northern jihads that opened Syria-Palestine for Islam, losing an eye at the battle of Yarmouk
The caliph 'Umar made him governor of Basra, and he conquered several new lands for Islam before 'Umar removed him from the position, though he later instated him as governor of Kufa, an office which the caliph 'Uthman first confirmed him in, but then removed him.
He stayed alooffrom the discord between 'Ali and Mu'awiya, and the latter afterwards made him governor of Kufa a second time, and he remained in the position the rest of his life
He related 136 hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and died in Kufa in 50/670 (ibid., 7.277).
ibn Hashim, Abu al-Qasim (Allah bless him and give him peace), the unlettered Qurayshite Arabian prophet of Allah Most High to the entire world, the greatest and most influential human being in the history of mankind, born on the twelfth of Rabi' Awwal, fifty-three years beforthe Hijra (A.D
571), in Mecca.
The son of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb of Bani Zahra, his father died before his birth, leaving him an orphan
He first grew up in the desert, being nursed there for two years by Halima al-Sa'diyya, and when his mother died in his seventh year, his grandfather 'Abd al-Muttalib became his guardian
Despite being raised as an orphan, he developed the noblest character, and was known among his people as the Truthful and Trustworthy (al-Sadiq alAmin).
He first worked as a shepherd and then engaged in trade, travelling to Syria twice, and he married the owner of the goods he managed, the wealthy, beautiful, and virtuous Khadija bint Khuwaylid at her request when he was twenty-five years of age.
When he was forty, Allah Most High chose him to be the last of the succession of His prophets, sent to all mankind and jinn to teach them the religion of Islam, the most perfect and comprehensive system for felicity in this world and unending happiness in the next
The essence of the new religion was to proclaim that there was no god but the one living eternal God, Allah, who is without son, associate, or partner; to call to the worship of Him alone, obedience of His laws alone, and the recognition that the only superiority men possess over one another is in their godfearingness (taqwa) and sincerity in servanthood to Him; and to warn men that they would be accountable for their actions on a Day of Judgement, whence they would enter paradise or hell
In a word, it enjoined highmindedness and nobility and forbade all that was contemptible and base, ordering man to use every means to realize the right and eliminate the wrong.
After thirteen years of calling people in Mecca to Islam and enduring the persecution of idolators there, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was invited by a delegation of the notables of Medina (then called Yathrib) in the north to end their immemorial feuds by agreeing to rule them, and his emmigration (hijra) to them was to mark the beginning ofthe Islamic cakmdar
At Medina, a new phase began, deputations were sent to various peoples to invite them to Islam, and finally Allah ordered the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to fight to free mankind from the servitude of false gods and other men, and lead them to the light of revealed monotheism
In this undertaking, though a gentle and peaceable man, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) risked his person in some twenty-seven separate battles, including Badr in A.H
2 and Uhud in AH
3, both against the idolators of Mecca; Bani Nadir in A.H
4; the Confederates and Bani Qurayza in AH
5; Khaybar and the conquest of Mecca in A.H.
7; Hunayn in AH
8; and Tabuk in AH
9
Never in his life did the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) flee from battle or turn his back to the enemy, even in the deadliest peril, and by ten years after the Hijra, Allah was worshipped in the Arabian peninsula, and the one true religion had been established.
While abrogating the laws of all prior religions regarding particular religious rites and works (furu'), it was equally the primordial religion, identical with the message of every previously sent prophet in tenets of faith (usu\), in terms of enjoining belief and worship of the {)ne Supreme Being alone, in which sense Muslims say, ""We differentiate between none of His messengers"" (Koran 2:285), for all taught pure monotheism
At the same time, Allah Most High mentions the prophets by saying, ""Those are the messengers, We have favored some above
others"" (Koran 2:253), and He vouchsafed favors to Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) that no prophet had previously been given; among them that he was sent to all mankind, not just a particular tribe or race; that he was the final prophet and messenger; that his followers are greater in number than those of any other prophet; that he was sent as a mercy unto the worlds; and that he was granted the magnificent and incomparable Arabic Koran, a living miracle which no one has ever been able to compose anything similar to, which remains in its textual purity as it was revealed, preserved from alteration by human hand until the end of time
By any standards, no one has so profoundly influenced so many, in day to day manners, speech, dress, worship, belief, and culture, as has the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who died in Medina, his message delivered and mission wonderfully accomplished, in 11/633 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.218-19; al-Siraj al-munir(y72), 1.166; Suturmin hayatMuhammad (y115) , 2-4;
and n).
'Abd aI-Latif al-Jurdani, born in Dumyat, Egypt
One of the great Shafi'i scholars of nineteenth-century Egypt, he studied under Sheikh Ibrahim Bajuri and authored a number of valuable works in hadith commentary, tenets of faith, and Sacred Law, in the latter field being best known for his four-volume Fath al' Allam bi sharh Murshid al-anam [The victory of the All-knowing: an exegesis of ""The people's guide""], a commentary on a shorter work by himself
He died in Dumyat in 133111913 (al-A'lam (yI36), 6.244; and n).
Jamal ai-Din al-Shadhili of Cairo
He was an Islamic scholar, Sufi sage, and author of considerable eloquence in all aspects of the Sufi way
Among his works is Qawanin hukm al-ishraq [The laws of the dawning of illumination], which' Abd al-Wahhab Sha'rani describes as ""a marvelous work which no one else has produced anything comparable to, and which attests to the fullness of its author's experience in the path."" He lived near al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, and died sometime after A.H
851 (al-Tabaqatal-kubra (y124), 2.67, 2.74).
Moroccan Sufi of the Darqawi tariqa who went to the Hijaz on pilgrimage, and when he returned in 1799 via Egypt, which was under attack by the French, he gathered a force of Tunisians and Moroccans, many of whom lived in Cairo, to fight the invaders
He later fought the forces of the Bey of Constantine from the mountains of eastern Algeria, from which he was eventually dislodged and fled westward to the Oran region where he joined Muhammad ibn Sharif, after which history records nothing further of him (Muslim Brmherhoods (y86) , 43-44).
ibn 'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Maliki, a descendant ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
A contemporary Meccan scholar ofhadith, MaIikijurisprudence, Koranic exegesis, tenets of faith, and prophetic biography, he was born to a family of traditional Maliki scholars of ancestral residence in the Holy City and educated by his father, al-Sayyid 'Alawi MaIiki, who authorized him to teach every work he read with him, which he began to do while still in his childhood
He has a doctorate in hadith from al-Azhar, and has travelled to Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan, and India to learn hadiths, gather manuscripts, visit scholars, and record their knowledge
In A.H
139011970 he was appointed full professor in the college of Sacred Law at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca, and after his father's death, the scholars of Mecca met in his home to ask him to accept his father's position as teacher in al-Masjid al-Haram, which he did
He has authored a number of works on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), Sacred Law, and tenets of faith, including Muhammad al-insan al-kamil [Muhammad, the perfect man], Mafahim yajibu an tusahhaha [Notions that should be corrected], and Mawatta' ai-Imam Malik ibn Anas riwaya Ibn al-Qasim [""The trodden path"" of Imam Malik ibn Anas in the transmission received from Ibn al-Qasim]
Currently prevented from teaching in both the Sacred Mosque and the university, he gives free traditional Islamic instruction in Arabic grammar, hadith, Maliki jurisprudence, and other subjects at his own residence and mosque on Maliki Street in the Rusayfa district of Mecca (al-Ta'i' al-sa'id (y84) , 3-4; and n).
'Abdullah al-Sanusi aI-Khattabi al-Hasani aI-Idrisi, born in Mosteghanem, Algeria, in 120211787
The founder of the Sanusi tariqa, he was a scholar of the Koran, hadith, and Maliki jurisprudence, and a Sufi adept whose sheikhs included aI-'Arabi al-Darqawi and Ahmad Tijani, the respective founders ofthe Darqawi and Tijani orders
He was a prolific writer who produced more than forty books, poems, and treatises in Sacred Law, hadith, fundamentals of jurisprudence, tenets of faith, history, geneology, and mathematics
He travelled to Fez, Tunis, Tripoli, Egypt, and Mecca, and in 1842 founded his main Sufi center (zawiya) near ai-Bayda in Libya
His order worked continuously for the next fifteen years to proselytize for Islam in a sustained southerly movement along the trade routes to the interior of Africa, with considerable success in establishing the religion throughout the sub-Saharan region
Leaving the order's affairs in the hands of a deputy, he travelled to Mecca and remained there until 1853 , when he returned to establish a new center in the east of Libya, at Jaghbub, where he spent the final productive years of his life, and died in 1286/1859 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.299; and Muslim Brotherhoods (y86), 101-14).
'Allan ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn 'Allan aI-Bakri ai-Siddiqi, born in Mecca in 99611588
He was a Shafi'i scholar of hadith, Sacred Law, Koranic exegesis, and other subjects, which he acquired from the sheikhs of his time, memorizing the Koran in ail of its canonical readings (qira'at), and becoming learned enough in Shafi'i jurisprudence to be named mufti of Mecca at the age of twenty-four.
Called the Suyuti of His Time, he authored works about the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), as well as in Koranic exegesis, hadith, Sacred Law, formaIlegal opinion, Sufism, tenets offaith, history, and Arabic grammar
His two hadith commentaries, al-Futuhat al-rabbaniyya 'ala al-adhkar al-Nawawiyya [The godly victories: an exegesis of Nawawi's ""Remembrances of Allah""], and Datil alfalihin Ii turuq Riyad al-salihin [The guide of the successful to the ways of ""The gardens of the righteous""], are both extremely professionaI and attest to his knowledge of Sacred Law and hadith
He died in Mecca in 1057/1647 and was buried near Sheikh ai-Islam Ibn Hajar Haytami (al-A'lam (y136) , 6.293; alAdhkar (y102) , 7-10: and n).
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz 'Abidin, born in Damascus in 119811784
Originally a Shafi'i, he changed his school and became the HanaH Imam of his time
His most famous work, the eight-volume Hashiya radd al-muhtar 'ala ai-Dun al-mukhtar [The enlightenment of the baffled: a commentary on ""The choice pearls""], is highly thought of by Hanafi scholars, who consider every word of it an authoritative text (nass) in the school
He also authored works in fundamentals of Islamic law· and faith, formal legal opinion, Koranic exegesis, and estate division, and died in Damascus in 1252/1836 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.42; A; and n).
Allah al-Irbali al-Kurdi, born in Arbil, Iraq
Of Kurdish origin, he was Shafi'i scholar who was among the greatest Naqshbandi masters of the last century.
Instructed and authorized in the Sufi path in Iraq by Sheikh 'Umar Diya' ai-Din ibn 'Uthman Siraj ai-Din al-Naqshbandi, he travelled to the Hijaz on hajj and stayed in Mecca for a year before proceeding to Cairo, where he studied Sacred Law and other subjects at ai-Azhar, an education he turned to good account in his Tanwir al-qulub fi mu'amala 'Allam al-Ghuyub [The enlightenment of hearts: on one's dealings with the Knower ofthe Unseen], a manual on tenets offaith, Shafi'i Law, and the path of Sufism as taught by his masters
Of great personal sincerity, sanctity, and spiritual will, he gained a large following in Cairo and became the sheikh of his time in guiding seekers to the truth, placing particular emphasis in his training on the insight that only Allah Most High has any effect in the world, and that He is beyond any resemblance to created things
He authored a number of works in Sacred Law, tenets of faith, and Sufism, and Allah vouchsafed many graces to him during his lifetime, the greatest of which was his firm adherence to the Koran and sunna
He died in Cairo in 133111914 (al-A 'lam (y136), 6.43; Tanwir al-qulub (y74), 1-55; and n).
born in al-Muti'a, upper Egypt, in 127111854
The grand mufti of Egypt and one of the leading Hanafi scholars of his time, he was educated at al-Azhar, where he subsequently taught before being appointed first as judge in A.H
1297, and then as mufti in 1333/1914, which office he held for seven years
After contact with Jamal al-Din ai-Afghani, he became one of the bitterest foes of the ""Islamic Reform"" movement of Afghani and Afghani's pupil and fellow Mason, Muhammad' Abduh
An author of works in Sacred Law, formal legal opinion, fundamentals of jurisprudence, tenets of faith, and Koranic exegesis, he was a godfearing traditional scholar who chose to lose his position as mufti rather than bow to government pressure to issue an opinion that a Muslim who had killed a Christian deserved to be executed for it (dis: 01.2(2))
His legal opinion on the purity (tahara) of alcohol (dis: eI4.1(7)) appeared in the magazine ai-Islam, published at al-Azhar in Cairo in 1938, while his opinion on the permissibility of photographs (dis: w50.9) was mentioned to the translator by Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut, Sheikh 'Abdullah Muhammad Ghimari, and others
He died in Cairo in 13541 1935 (al-A'lam (y136) , 6.50; Sheikh 'Abdullah Muhammad Ghimari; Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut; and n).
prominent Hanafi scholar of the present century who was born in Hama, Syria, in 1328/1910
Orphaned while young, his brother the poet Badr ai-Din aI-Hamid sent him after primary school to the Dar al-'Ulum Islamic Secondary School, and then to Aleppo, where he enrolled in the Khusrawiyya School of Islamic Law, run at the time by a number of leading Hanafis such as Sheikh Ahmad Zarqa, Sheikh Ahmad al-Kurdi the Hanafi mufti of Aleppo, and others
Upon finishing, he returned to Hama and then travelled to Egypt where he attended al-Azhar, receiving a number of higher degrees in Sacred Law, specializing in judicial studies and taking a certification for the Islamic judgeship, though when he came home he preferred instead to teach and lead the Friday prayer at the Sultan Mosque, and to continue his education under the sheikhs of Hama of his time, including Muhammad Sa'id al-Jabi, Muhammad Tawfiq ai-Sabbagh, and the mufti of Hama Muhammad Sa'id Na'sani
He also took the Sufi path from Sheikh Muhammad Abu aI-Nasir al-Naqshbandi of Homs
He wrote a number of books and treatises on tenets of faith, Koranic exegesis, Sacred Law, and formal legal opinion, of which the best known is the two-volume Rudud 'ala abatil wa rasa'if al-Shaykh Muhammad ai-Hamid [RebuttalS of falsehoods, and the letters of Sheikh Muhammad Hamid], comprising letters, articles, and answers to questions on Sacred Law sent to him from all parts of the Arab and Islamic world.
When he died in 1389/1969, all of Hama.joined his funeral procession, and his passing was mourned in Damascus and other cities by public figures and religious scholars alike (Shuruh Risala al-Shaykh Arslan (y51), 286-87).
Farqad, Abu 'Abdullah al-Shaybani, born in Wasit, Iraq, in 1311748
A mujtahid Imam of powerful intellect, prodigious mastery of Koranic and hadith primary texts, and the matchless legal training of being educated by Imams Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf, and Malik, he was among the greatest figures in the history of Islamic jurisprudence
He was raised in Kufa where he first met Abu Hanifa, joined his school of thought, and distingu,ished himself before moving to Baghdad, where he was appointed by Harun ai-Rashid to the judiciary
He was among the sheikhs of Imam Shafi'i, who once observed, ""If I wished to say that the Koran was revealed in the language of Muhammad ibn Hasan, I could say it, for the purity of his Arabic."" He wrote a large number of works in Sacred Law and its methodology, as well as in the sciences of hadith, and it is related that when Imam Ahmad was once asked, ""From whence did you acquire these legal subtleties?"" he replied, ""From the books of Muhammad ibn Hasan."" He died in 189/804 in Rayy, Persia (al-A'lam (y136), 6.80; Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 9.134-36; Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut; and n).
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd ai-Rahman ibn Abu Jam'a al-Hashimi, born in Sabda near Tlemcen, Algeria, in 129811880
He was a Sufi, Maliki scholar, author in tenets of Islamic faith, and the successor in the East of Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi
Educated in Algeria before emigrating with his sheikh Muhammad ibn YaIlis to Damascus, he completed his studies in Syria with a number of the sheikhs of his time, among them Badr ai-Din aI-Hasani, Muhammad Ja'far aIKattani, Tawfiq al-Ayyubi, and others
Ibn Yallis authorized him to give the generallitany (al-wird al-'amm) of the tariqa to those who wanted it, but it was not until after Ibn Yallis's death that the great renewer of the Shadhili tariqa Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi (who had had the same sheikh as Ibn Yallis's teacher) came to Damascus on his way to hajj in 135011931 and authorized Hashimi as a sheikh in the order's' Alawi-Darqawi branch that he had founded, giving him full authority in all aspects of the way, including the solitary retreat (khalwa) that al-'Alawi emphasized
Hashimi's spiritual presence, humility, and ability to guide seekers to the truth gained him many disciples, and whot""versought Allah did not go away disappointed
He taught Islam at all levels, in classes at his home and in mosques, and would not permit disciples' ignorance in Islamic law or tenets offaith, the latter of which he taught from traditional Ash'ari classics and his own Miftah aljanna fi sharh 'aqida Ahl al-Sunna [The key to paradise: an explanation of the faith of Ahl al-Sunna]
He gave written authorizatiQns during his lifetime to a number of sheikhs in the path, among them 'Abd aI-Qadir 'Isa of Aleppo, author of Haqa'iq 'an al-Tasawuf [Facts about Sufism]; Muhammad Sa'id Burhani, his immediate successor in Damascus; and Muhammad Sa'id al-Kurdi, who brought the Shadhili tariqa to Jordan
When he died in Damascus in 138111961, he left a legacy not only of his writings, but also the illumined hearts of those he had led to Allah, and it was they who, out of regard for the master, renamed the tariqa the Hashimi-Darqawi way after his death (Tarikh 'ulama' Damashq (yl), 2.747-51;
Sheikh 'Abd aI-Rahman Shaghouri; and n).
Makhluf al-'Adawi al-Maliki, born in Bani 'Adi, Egypt, in 128811871
He was a Maliki scholar who was educated at al-Azhar University, where he taught and became a member of its supervisory board, in which capacity he founded and organized al-Azhar Library
After later appointments, first as sheikh of the Ahmadi Mosque and then as general director of religious academies, he retired in AH
1334 to devote himself to teaching Islamic theology (tawhid), philosophy, and fundamentals of law and faith .
He authored some thirty-seven works in Koranic exegesis, fundamentals of jurisprudence, and other subjects, and died in Cairo in 1355/1936 (al-A'lam (y136) 6.96).
Bakr, born is 1853 in Moroni on Grand Comoro Island, which lies between the northern tip of Madagascar and the East African Coast
He was a social reformer, preacher, and the sheikh of the Yashrutiyya branch of the Shadhili tariqa in East Africa, which is credited with contributing to a considerable expansion of Islam there, and is reported to have had, before the sheikh's death, many hospices (zawaya) along the islands and mainland of the East African Coast, including Madagascar, Mozambique, Zanzibar, Pemba, Mauritius, Mafia Island, and the Comoros, as well as in Kenya, Tanganyika, and even far-off New Guinea
He died in 1905 and was buried at his zawiya on Grand Comoro Island (Muslim Brotherhoods (y86) , 152-58).
ibn Muhammad Sa'id ibn Mustafa ibn 'Ali al-Daghestani al-Burhani, a Hanafi scholar in fundamentals of law and faith, Sufi, and commentator who was born in Damascus in 1311/1894
He fought against the French at the outset of the foreign occupation of Syria in 1920, after which he returned to Damascus to study the Islamic sciences,first with his father, and then with scholars such as 'Abd aIQadir al-Iskandari, Badr aI-Din al-Hasani, the mufti of Damascus 'Ata Allah aIKasam, and others
After first taking the Naqshbandi way from Sheikh Abu al-Khayr al-Maydani, he became a disciple of Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi
He taught at the Tawba and Umayyad Mosques, and upon his retirement devoted himself to helping Sheikh Hashimi, who was to appoint him as his successor
A voracious reader, he edited, annotated, and prepared indexes for a large number of books and treatises, among them' Ala'al-Din 'Abidin's classic primer in Hanafi law, al-Hadiyya al-'Ala'iyya [The gift of 'Ala'], and Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi's Sharh Shatranj al-'arifin [Explanation of ""The chess of the gnostics""], a mystical commentary on a chessboard-like diagram ascribed to Sheikh Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi
He died in 1386/1967 in Damascus (Shuruh Risala al-Shaykh Arslan (y51), 281-82; and Tarikh 'ulama' Dimashq (yl), 2.794).
Ramadan al-Buti, born of Kurdish descent in 1350/1931 in Damascus
The son of one ofthe foremost Shafi'i scholars of his time, Mulla Ramadan, he studied Arabic grammar, logic, and philosophy with his father, as well as Shafi'i jurisprudence and fundamentals of Islamic law and faith, and after graduating from the a1- Tawjih al-Islami Institute in Damascus, travelled to Cairo and took a degree from al-Azhar before returning to Syria, where he taught first in Horns and then in Damascus at the College of Sacred Law
He took a doctorate in principles of Islamic legal methodology from the University of Damascus in A.H
1385, and was appointed as a professor there in the Faculty of Sacred Law and Arts
He has written many works, among them Fiqh al-sira [Sacred Law inferred from the prophetic biography], and al-Lamadhhabiyya akhtar bid'a tuhaddidu al-shari'a al-IsLamiyya [Not following a school of jurisprudence is the most dangerous innovation threatening Islamic Sacred law], while his most recent work, al-Salafiyya rnarhala zamaniyya mubaraka La madhhab Islami [The ""way of the early Muslims"" was a blessed historical epoch, not an Islamic school ofthought], has gained a wide readership
He lives in Damascus, where he writes, teaches at the university, and gives well-attended public lectures at several mosques (Shuruh Risala aiShaykh Arslan (y51) , 283; and n).
aI-Din al-Shirbini al-Khatib of Cairo
A Shafi'i Imam and Koranic exegete of knowledge and piety, he studied in Cairo under Imam Ahmad al-Ramli, as well as Nur aI-Din Mahalli, Ahmad Burullusi, and others, who authorized him to give formal legal opinion and instruction
He educated a multitude of scholars, and his works won recognition in their author's lifetime for their outstanding clarity and reliability, among the most famous of them his four-volume Mughni al-muhtaj ita rna'rita rna 'ani alfaz al-Minhaj [The enricher of him in need of knowledge of the meanings of the words of ""The seekers' road""], a commentary on Nawawi's Minhaj al-talibin; and his Koranic exegesis al-Simj al-munir fi ai-i'ana 'ala ma'rita ba'd kalam Rabbina ai-Hakim al-Khabir [The light-giving lamp: an aid in knowing some of the words of our Lord, the All-wise and All-knowing]
He died in Cairo in 977/1570 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.6; Mughni al-muhtaj (y73) , 4.548; and n).
Suwayd governorate of Egypt in about 1934 and was educated in Cairo, where he graduated from the College of Arts at Cairo University
In 1985 he was appointed to his current post as Director of the Department of Translation at al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy (Sheikh Fath Allah Ya Sin Jazar).
ibn al-'Arabi, Abu Bakr Muhyi ai-Din al-Hatimi al-Ta'i, The Greatest Sheikh (alShaykh ai-Akbar), born in Murcia (in present-day Spain) in 560/1165
A mujtahid Imam in Sacred Law, Sufism, Koranic exegesis, hadith, and other Islamic sciences, and widely regarded as a friend (wali) of Allah Most High, he was the foremost representative of the Sufi school of the 'oneness of being' (wahdat alwujud, dis: x5), as well as a Muslim of strictliteral observance ofthe prescriptions' of the Koran and sunna
He first took the way of Sufism in AH
580, and in the years that followed authored some six hundred books and treatises in the course of travels and residences in Fez, Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo, Mecca, Baghdad, Mosul, Konya, Aleppo, and finally Damascus, where he lived till the end of his life and completed his al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya [The Meccan revelations] and Fusus al-hikam [The precious stones of the ring-settings of the wisdoms]
Since interest in his work continues among even non-Muslim scholars, a number of hermeneutical obstacles are worth mentioning here that have in some measure so far hindered serious efforts to understand the sheikh's works, by friend and foe alike.
The first is lack of common ground with the author, who has written, ""We are a group whose works are unlawful to peruse, since the Sufis, one and all, use terms in technical senses by which they intend other than what is customarily meant by their usage among scholars, and those who interpret them according to their usual significance commit unbelief."" While this may not be particularly intimidating to someone who is already an unbeliever, it does at least implicitly deny the validity of a do-it-yourself approach to the sheikh's thought and point up the relevance of the traditional maxim, Knowledge is to be taken from those who possess it.
A related difficulty is that the context of much of Ibn al-'Arabi's Futuhat and other works is not only the outward Islamic sciences, but also their inner significance, not by any means an ""esoteric symbolism"" that nullifies the outward content of the sheikh's inquiries, but a dimension of depth, a reflective counterpart to their this-worldly significance whose place and existential context is the world of the spirit, to which the physical universe-in which many of his would-be interpreters are firmly enmeshed and know nothing besides, especially those who are atheists-is like a speck of dust in the sea
While the present discussion cannot adequately do justice to the topic, one may yet observe that the heart of someone familiar only with the ""What will I eat,"" ""What will I say,"" ""Will it prove feasible,"" and other physical and intellectual relations of instrumentality that make up this world is no more capable of real insight into the world of someone like the sheikh than a person inches away from a giant Monet is capable of seeing the picture he believes is ""before his very eyes."" The way of Ibn al-'Arabi is precisely a way, and if one has not travelled it or been trained to see as Ibn al-' Arabi sees, one may well produce intelligent remarks about one's perceptions of the matter, as attested to by a whole literature of ""historical studies"" of Sufism, but the fact remains that one does not see.
A third difficulty is the problem of spurious interpolations by copyists, as once happened to 'Abd al-Wahhab Sha'rani, who had to bring his own handwritten manuscript to court to prove he was innocent of the unbelief that enemies had inserted into his work and published in his name
The Hashiya of Ibn 'Abidin notes that this has also happened to the Fusus al-hikam of Ibn al-'Arabi, the details being given in a promulgation by the Supreme Ottoman Sultanate exonerating the author of the statements of unbelief (kufr) it said that Jews had interpolated into the work
This is supported by the opinion of Mahmud Mahmud Ghurab, an Ibn al-'Arabi specialist of Damascus who has published more than twelve books on the sheikh's thought, among them al-Fiqh 'ind al-Shaykh alAkbar Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi [Sacred Law according to the Greatest Sheikh, Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi], which clarifies Ibn al-'Arabi's position as a Zahiri Imam and mujtahid in Sacred Law; and Sharh Fusus al-hikam [Exegesis of ""The precious stones of the ring-settings of the wisdoms""], in which Ghurab indicates eighty-six passages of the Fusus that he believes are spurious, adducing that they contradict the letter and spirit of al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, which must be given precedence because we possess a manuscript copy in the author's own handwriting, while there are no such copies of the Fusus.
One may summarize the above-mentioned difficulties and others by the general observation that without a master with whom to read these texts, someone who has himself read them with a teacher aware of their place in the whole of the sheikh's work, one is in danger of projecting one's own limitations onto the author
This happens in our times to various groups of interpreters, among them non-Muslim ""Sufis"" who have posthumously made Ibn al-' Arabi an honorary Mason, saying that he believed all religions to be equally valid and acceptablewhich Ghurab says is an ignorant misreading, and to which the sheikh himself furnishcs a sufficient reply in his account of his convictions ('aqida) at the first of the Futuhat where he says, ""Just as I charge Allah, His angels, His entire creation, and all of you to bear witness upon me that I affirm His unity, so too I charge Him Most Glorious, His angels, His entire creation, and all of you to bear witness upon me that I believe in the one He has elected, chosen, and selected from all His existence, Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), whom He has sent to all mankind entirely (ilajami' al-nas kaffatan) to bring good tidings and to warn and to call to Allah by His leave"" (al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (y55), 1.38)
It is fairly obvious that his being sent to all mankind would be pointless if all other religions were not now abrogated, as would jihad, something that Ibn al-'Arabi discusses, before going on to explain its spiritual side, in what is unmistakably a treatment of its outward military aspect and rules, believer against unbeliever, sword against sword, which Ghurab points out would be meaningless if both sides were upon guidance
Finally, in a chapter entitled ""The Levels of the Inhabitants of Hell"" (al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (y55), 1.301), the sheikh clearly explains that while disobedient Muslims ('usat) will one day leave the hellfire, those who associated others with Allah (mushrikun) and the Jews and Christians (Ahl al-Kitab) who did not accept the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after his coming wi)) remain in hell forever-which is as far from the universal validity of all religions as anything could be.
Other interpreters who error are well-meaning Muslims who do not and cannot understand the sheikh's work, which they read in their native Arabic as if it were a newspaper and then level accusations of unbelief against the author on the basis of what comes to their minds while doing so
For all groups of interpreters, there is a pressing need for scholarly modesty and candor about our exegetical limitations, and to draw attention to the fact that without a guide in reading the sheikh's thought, one is adrift in a sea of one's own guesswork.
Aside from these basic hermeneutic requirements for reading the work of Ibn al-'Arabi, other, existential qualifications are needed, for as mentioned above, the sheikh's method is a way, and as such entails not only curiosity, but commitment and most of all submission to Allah Most High as the sheikh had submission to Him, namely through Islam-as well as other conditions mentioned by Ibn Hajar Haytami in a legal opinion in which, after noting that it is permissible or even meritorious (mustahabb) to read the sheikh's works, but only for the qualified, he writes: ""Imam Ibn al-'Arabi has explicitly stated: 'It is unlawful to read [the Sufis'] books unless one attains to their level of character and learns the meaning of their words in conformity with their technical usages, neither of which is found except in someone who has worked assiduously, rolled up his sleeves, abandoned the wrong, tightened his belt, filled himself replete with the outward Islamic sciences, and purified himself from every low trait connected with this world and the next
It is just such a person who comprehends what is being said and is allowed to enter when he stands at the door.' "" The sheikh outlines what is entailed by working assiduously in a series of injunctions (wasaya) at the end of his Futuhat «y55), 4.444-551) that virtually anyone can benefit from, and by which one may infer some of the outward details of the sheikh's way
By all accounts, he lived what he wrote in this respect, and his legacy bears eloquem testimony to it
He died in his home in Damascus, a copy of Ghazali's lhya' 'ulum aldin on his lap, in 63811240 (al-A 'lam (y136) , 6.281; al-Fatawa al-hadithiyya (y48) , 296-97; al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (y55), 1.38, 1.301, 2.425, 4.444-551; Hashiya radd al-muhtar (y47) , 4.238; Sharh Fusus al-hikam (y42) , 475-98; Mahmud Mahmud Ghurab; Sheikh 'Abd ai-Rahman Shaghouri; A; and n).
Durubi and Yasin 'Arafa who lives in Damascus
He frequently visits the Dar- .
wishiyya to sit with the circle that gathers there, and is about Sheikh 'Abd alWakil's age (n).
born in 211642
A Koranic exegete of the generation who followed that of the Companions, he is referred to by Dhahabi as ""the sheikh of Koran reciters and interpreters"" and took his knowledge of Koranic exegesis from Ibn 'Abbas, with whom he read the Koran three times, stopping at every verse and asking him how and in reference to what it was revealed
He moved from place of place and finally settled in Kufa
Unable to hear of anything strange or marvelous without personally going to investigate, he went to the Well of Barahut in Hadramawt, Yemen, which is said to contain the souls of unbelievers and hypocrites, and went to Babylon to look for Harut and Marut
It is said he died while prostrate in prayer, in 1041 722 (al-A 'lam (y136), 5.278; and Mu'jam al-buldan (y43), 10405).
Salama, Abu Muhammad Zaki ai-Din al-Mundhiri, born in Egypt in 58111185.
He was a Shafi'i scholar, historian, lexicographer, and the hadith master (hafiz) of his time, a saintly ascetic who was regarded by contemporaries as a friend (wali) of Allah Most High
He studied hadith under masters in Mecca, Damascus, Harran, al-Ruha, and Alexandria before returning to Cairo, where he.was appointed as sheikh in the Dar al-Hadith al-Kamaliyya
He held this position for twenty years, teaching, writing, and not leaving the school except for the Friday prayer, and he authored a lexicon, a history, and a number of works on hadith, of which the four-volume al-Targhib Wll al-tarhib [The instilling of desire and fear] is the most well known
He died in Cairo in 657/1258 (al-A'lam (y136) , 4.30; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (y128), 8.259).
in their graves, as discussed above at v2.2 and w32.1(2) (n).
ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (upon whom be peace), the prophet and messenger of Allah Most High to Bani lsra'il
He is mentioned in many places in the Holy Koran, among them sura al-A'raf, which tells of the two great signs that Allah vouchsafed to him to convince Pharaoh to let Bani Isra'illeave Egypt with him.
The first of these was that when he cast his staff, it became a snake, while the second was that when Musa drew forth his hand from his bosom, it illumined the earth to the sky, after which he returned it to his bosom and it became as it had been
But the members of Pharaoh's council told him that Musa was merely a sorcerer, and Pharaoh refused to heed what he had been shown
The Koran describes the afflictions that were visited on Pharaoh's people in the wake of his refusal, how Musa left Egypt with Bani Isra'il, the drowning of Pharaoh and his host, and the wanderings of Bani Isra'il in the desert for forty years, during which Musa's brother Harun died, and then Musa a year later (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 1.56; Qisas al-anbiya' (y59), 296; al-Siraj al-munir (y72), 1.499; and n).
Habib al-Hanafi al-Wa'ili, born in al-Yamama in a village now known as alJubayla in the Najd highlands of eastern Arabia
It is related that he wrote a letter to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after the conquest of Mecca, saying: ""From Musaylima the Messenger of Allah to Muhammad the Messenger of Allah
Peace be upon you
To commence: I have been given to share with you in the matter
We shall have halfthe earth and the Quraysh have half, though the Quraysh are a people who transgress."" The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) answered, ""From Muhammad the Messenger of Allah to Musaylima the Liar
Peace be upon whoever follows guidance
To commence: the earth belongs to Allah, who bequeaths it to whomever He wills of His servants, and the outcome is to the godfearing."" Musaylima composed rhyming verse in attempts to imitate the Koran, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) died before he could finish him, though when Abu Bakr became caliph he gathered a large army he placed under the leadership of Khalid ibn al-Walid, who proceeded to Yamama and attacked Musaylima in A.H, 12 in a pitched battle that extirpated the false prophet and his followers, but at a cost of some 1,220 Muslim lives, 450 of whom were Companions (aZ-A'lam (y136), 7.226).
al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, born in Nishapur, Persia, in 204/820
A Shafi'i scholar, and a hadith master (hafiz) and Imam second only to his mentor Bukhari, he was the author of the famous hadith collection Sahih Muslim [The rigorously authenticated collection of Muslim], which has inspired many commentaries and is considered among the greatest works on hadith in Islam
Besides studying with Bukhari, he travelled to the Hijaz, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, learning hadiths from over 220 of the principle sheikhs of the time, including Ahmad and Ishaq ibn Rahawayh
While some scholars have considered Muslim's Sahih to be greater than Bukhari's because of the excellence of its arrangement and other editorial features, the truth is that Bukhari's collection is superior because of its additional strictures for a hadith's admissibility as ""rigorously authenticated"" (sahih)
Imam Muslim also wrote a number of other works in hadith, and died in Nishapur in 261/875 (ibid., 7.221; Sharh Sahih Muslim (y93), 1.1-3; Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 12.557-61; al-Taj al-jami' Ii al-usul (yl00), 1.16; and n).
Abu Sa'd al-Naysaburi al-Mutawalli, born in Nishapur, Persia, in 426/1035
A Shafi'i Imam and scholar in Sacred Law, principles of jurisprudence, and tenets of faith, he studied in Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R) under 'Abd alRahman Furani (xI24) and authored Tatimma al-Ibana [The completion of ""The explanation""], a voluminous commentary on a work by Furani
He also studied Shafi'i jurisprudence under the sheikh of Imam Baghawi, aI-Qadi Husayn ibn Muhammad Marwazi, and took hadith from Abul Qasim Qushayri before succeeding Abu lshaq Shirazi as the sheikh of the Nizamiyya Academy at Baghdad, where he died in 478/1087 (ibid., 3.323; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya a.lkubra (yI28), 5.106-7).
Egypt, born in 1751791
A Shafi'i scholar of Sacred Law and student of the Imam himself, he was so expert at arguing a case that Shafi'i once remarked of him, ""Were he to debate the Devil, he would win."" Abu Ishaq Shirazi described him as ""an ascetic scholar and mujtahid, a debater of considerable skill at presenting an argument with an aptitude for subtle shades of meaning."" He wrote a number of works in Sacred Law, of which his summary of the school's rulings, alMukhtasar [The epitome], is perhaps the most famous
Devoted to worship, if he missed a prescribed prayer in congregation he would pray it twenty-five times alone, and it was his practice to wash the dead without payment in hope of Allah's reward, saying, ""I do it to soften my heart."" He died in 264/878 (al-A'lam (y136) , 1.329; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28), 2.93).
prisoner by 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, he grew up in Medina to become the mufti and Imam of the generation that followed the Companions
He was one of the sheikhs of Imam Malik, relating hadiths from Ibn 'Umar, 'A'isba, Abu Hurayra, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, and others
Not a single mistake is known in all the hadiths he related, and Imam Bukhari was to say, ""The most rigorously authenticated channel of transmission is that of Malik from Nafi' from Ibn 'Umar."" He died in 117n35 (al-A'lam (y136), 8.5; and Siyara'lam al-nubala' (y37), 5.95-97).
Abu al-Makarim Najm ai-Din al-Ghazzi, born in Damascus in 97711570
He was a Shafi'i scholar, researcher, litterateur, biographer, and historian who composed a number of books and treatises, including his well-known biographical collection al-Kawakib aI-sa 'ira fi tarajim a'yan al-mi'a al- 'ashira [The moving stars: on biographies of notables of the tenth century]
He died in Damascus in 106111651 (alA'lam (y136), 7.63; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
after burial, as mentioned above at v2.2 and w32.1(2) (n).
Hafiz ai-Din al-Nasafi ofIdhaj, a village near Isfahan, Persia
Among the great Hanafi Imams of his time, he authored major contributions in methodological fundamentals of Sacred Law, Hanafi jurisprudence, and tenets of faith, though he is most famous outside of his school for his three-volume Koranic commentary Madarik al-Tanzil [Realizations of the Revelation], which places particular emphasis on the lexical and grammatical dimensions of Koranic iriterpretation
He died in Idhaj in 710/1310 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.67).
Bahr ibn Dinar, Abu 'Abd ai-Rahman al-Nasa'i, originally of Nasa, Persia, born in 215/830
He was a Shafi'i scholar and judge, a hadith master (hafiz) and Imam.
Educated in hadith by scholars like Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Abu al-Qasim Tabarani, and others during travels to Khurasan, Iraq, Syria, the Hijaz, and the Arabian Peninsula, he eventually settled in Egypt
It is related that he used to fast every other day, and was fond of women, having four wives whom he took turns with as well as a number of concubines
While he authored works on the merits of the Companions and an outstanding volume on the excellences of Imam' Ali ibn A bi Talib (Allah be well pleased with him), his main work is his Sunan [Sunnas], one of the six great hadith collections of Islam
Daraqutni said of him, ""Abu' Abd alRahman leads all others of his time who are mentioned in the field of hadith,"" and when Dhahabi was asked who was more learned, Nasa'i or Muslim, he replied that the former was, a verdict that Imam Taqi ai-Din Subki concurred with
After a lifetime of worship and of devotion to Sacred Knowledge, Nasa'i was martyred in 303/915 in Damascus for his love of'Imam 'Ali by remnants of the Kharijite sect, who gave him a beating from which he died (ibid., 1.171; and Tabaqat alShafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28), 3.14-16).
Ali, Abu al-Fath Burhan aI-Din al-Mutarrizi
born in Jurjaniyya, Khawarizm (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.), in 538/1144
A Hanafi scholar and poet, he was a specialist in Arabic Jexicology and grammar who wrote a number of works of which his al-Mughrib fi tartib al-MU'rib [The causer of wonder: on the order of ""The clarifier""], an exposition of a shorter rhymed work on lexicology of his own composition, is still among the best books available for rare words appearing in Hanafilegal texts
He died in Khawarizm in 610/1213 (al-A'lam (y136), 7.348;
and n).
Abu Zakariyya Muhyi aI-Din al-Nawawi, born in the village of Nawa on the Horan Plain of southern Syria in 631/1233
He was the Imam of the later Shafi'i school, the scholar of his time in knowledge, piety, and abstinence, a hadith master (hafiz), biographer, lexicologist, and Sufi
When he first came to Damascus in A.H
649, he memorized the text of Abu Ishaq Shirazi's al-Tanbih [The notice] in four and a half months, then the first quarter of Shirazi's al-Muhadhdhab [The rarefaction], after which he accompanied his father on hajj, then visited Medina, and then returned to Damascus, where he assidously devoted himself to mastering the Islamic sciences
He took Shafi'i Law, hadith, tenets of faith, fundamentals of jurisprudence, Arabic, and other subjects from more than twenty-two scholars of the time, including Abu Ibrahim Ishaq al-Maghribi, 'Abd aI-Rahman ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi, and others, at a period of his life in which, as Dhahabi notes, ""his dedication to learning, night and day, became proverbial."" Spending all his time in either worship or gaining Sacred Knowledge, he took some twelve lessons a day, only dozed off in the night at moments when sleep overcame him, and drilled himself on the lessons he learned by heart while walking along the street
Fastidious in detail and deep in understanding of the subjects he thus mastered, he authored many great works in Shafi'ijurisprudence, hadith, history, and legal opinion, among the best known of which are his Minhaj al-talibin [The seekers' road1, which has become a main reference for the Shafi'i school, Riyad al-salihin [The gardens of the righteous1 and Kitab al-adhkar [The Book of remembrances of Allah] in hadith, and his eighteen-volume Sharh Sahih Muslim [Commentary on Muslim's ""Sahih""]
He lived simply, and it is related that his entire wardrobe consisted of a turban and an ankle-length shirt (thawb) with a single button at the collar
After a residence in Damascus of twenty-seven years, he returned the books he had borrowed from charitable endowments, bade his friends farewell, visited the graves of his sheikhs who had died, and departed, going first to Jerusalem and then to his native Nawa, where he became ill at his father's home and died at forty-four years of age in 676/1277, young in years but great in benefit to Islam and the Muslims (al-A'lam (y136), 8.149; Mughni almuhtaj (y73), 4.545-47; Riyad al-salihin (y107), introduction; Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf;
A; and n).
man to claim he was God, to tyrannize people, and to put a crown on his head, he was the enemy ofthe prophet Ibrahim (upon whom be peace), whom he threw into a fire and tried to bum, though Allah Most High commanded the fire to be cool and harmless to Ibrahim
After this, according to commentators, Nimrudh was killed when Allah sent an affliction of gnats upon his people as a punishment (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65) , 1.210,3.135).
Abu' Abdullah al-Khuza'i, originally of Merv (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.), who lived in Egypt
A scholar who knew the rules of Islamic estate division (fara'id), he is considered by Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani to hi:: an honest hadith narrator who had a poor memory and made many mistakes in transmission, though Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari and others have drawn attention to a number of hadiths he related containing corrupt convictions about basic tenets of faith
He died in A.H
228 (Taqrib al-tahdhib (y16), 564; and n).
be peace), the first prophet sent by Allah Most High after Idris
The first to bring a revealed law (shari'a), to warn against polytheism (shirk), and the first whose people were punished for rejecting his message, he was a carpenter by trade who was sent to his people when fifty years old
Commentators relate that his true name was' Abd al-Ghaffar, but he became known as Nuh for his copious weeping (naha) over his having prayed to Allah to extirpate his corrupt people, who, after rejecting his message for 950 years, were drowned in a flood
Allah preserved Nuh and the believers from the Deluge by inspiring him to build an Ark which carried them safely upon the waters
All the inimitable miracles (mu'jizat) that Allah vouchsafed to Nuh pertained to his person, for he lived a thousand years without loss of strength or his hair turning gray, even though he fasted perpetually, and no one ever bore the afflictions he endured from his people throughout his life (aiSiraj al-munir (y72) 1.345, 1.484; and n).
born in 1939 in 'Ayn Janna, near 'Ajlun, Jordan
His father was a Shafi'i scholar who was educated in Damascus under Sheikh' Ali al-Daqar, and when he returned to Jordan, studied various works of the Islamic sciences (among them Ghazali's Ihya 'ulum ai-din, which he read seven times) and taught his four sons Sacred Law, grammar, and tenets of faith before sending them, each in their tum, to Damascus for an Islamic education
Nuh went in 1954, spending seven years in the Islamic preparatory and secondary schools of al-Jama'iyya al-Ghurra' founded by his father's sheikh, where in addition to secular subjects, he studied tenets of faith and Shafi'i jurisprudence from works like 'Umdat al-salik [The reliance of the traveller], Matan Abi Shuja' [The text of Abu Shuja'], and Nawawi's Minhaj al-talibin [The seekers' road] with such sheikhs as 'Abd alKarim al-Rifa'i, Ahmad al-Basrawi, 'Abd a1-Razzaq al-Himsi, Nayyif al-'Abbas, Mahmud al-Ranqusi, and the judge Muhammad Khayr al-Shamma', and during which time he also attended the lessons of Sheikh Muhammad Hashimi, from whom he took the daily dhikr (wird) of the Shadhili tariqa
After secondary school, he attended the College of Sacred Law at the University of Damascus for four years, much of his study devoted to Hanafi jurisprudence, under Mustafa alZarqa, Wahbi a1-Zuhayli, 'Abd ai-Rahman al-Sabuni, Amin al-Misri, 'Abd a1-
Fattah Abu Ghudda, Muhammad al-Mubarak, Fawzi FayduUah, and others
He graduated in 1965 and returned to Jordan, where he joined the armed forces and worked with Sheikh 'Abdullah Muhammad al-'Azam whom he succeeded as mufti in 1972
In 1977, he went to Cairo and spent three years in the master's degree program at a1-Azhar, where he studied fundamentals of law and belief under Sheikh 'Abd aI-Ghani 'Abd aI-Khaliq, comparative jurisprudence with Sheikh Hasan al-Shadhili, and heard the late rector of al-Azhar Sheikh 'Abd aIHalim Mahmud lecture on Sufism
It was during this period that he wrote his Qada' al-'ibadat wa al-niyaba fiha [Making up acts of worship and performing them for others] with Sheikh Muhammad aI-Anbadhi as his supervisor, for which he received his master's degree in 1980
The following year, he enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Imam Muhammad ibn Sa'ud in Riyadh, and in 1986 took a doctorate for his second main work, Ibra' al-dhimma min huquq al' ibad [Fulfilling one's obligation to give others their rights].
From the time of his appointment as mufti in 1972, Sheikh Nuh has discharged the duties of his office with energy and competence, writing hundreds of formal legal opinions in response to questions on all aspects of the religion of Islam, many of them published in the Armed Forces monthly religious journaI alTadhkira [The reminder], in addition to lectures, books, and articles on Sacred Law, prophetic biography, tenets offaith, and other topics
During his tenure, the Jordanian Army has been .distinguished by having an imam in every unit who is not only part of it wherever it goes, but leads the obligatory prayers, gives weekly religious lessons, answers questions about Islam, and is subject
to regular refresher courses in Shafi'i jurisprudence, hadith, Koran, and tenets of faith
In the course of helping with the present volume, though busy with official duties, Sheikh Nuh generously spent his after-work hours with the translator in sessions often extending late into the night at his own home, never refusing any service he could render or declining to research any question connected with Sacred Law, and never asking for anything in return
He presently lives in Marj aI-Hamam, near Amman, Jordan (n),
northwestern United States
Born in 1954 and raised as a Roman Catholic, he worked as a commercial fisherman in the North Pacific for a space of years between travelling in the off-seasons and attending institutions of higher learning.
He studied philosophy, concentrating mainly on the epistemology of ethical theory, with Andrew J
Bjelland at Gonzaga University and with the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, author of The Symbolism of Evil and The Conflict of Interpretations, at the University of Chicago
It was at the latter that he first studied classical Arabic with Carolyn Killean and Galal Nahhal, then with Salim Hermis Yunus in Cairo-where he became a Muslim at al-Azhar by the mercy and grace of Allah in 1977-and then with Claude Audebert at UCLA, from which he received a degree in philosophy in 1980
Moving to Jordan, he pursued his learning of Arabic at the University of Jordan under Hala Nashif and later taught English at Yarmouk University
He took the Shadhili tariqa in 1982 in Damascus from Sheikh 'Abd aI-Rahman Shaghouri, his teacher in the way of tasawwuf from that time
In need of a basic manual of Islamic law, in the fall of 1982 he bought the copy of 'Umdat al-salik wa 'uddat al-nasik that with the help and instruction of Sheikh' Abd al-W akil Durubi and Sheikh N uh 'Ali Salman was completed in annotated translation as the present work, The Reliance of the Traveller, in 1990
Among his other teachers is Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut, with whom he studies Hanafi jurisprudence
He presently lives in Amman (n).
Algeria who went to Paris in 1879, studied at the School of Living Eastern Languages, and was appointed as secretary of the Department of Oriental Numismatics, after which he became a professor of Arabic at the University of France in 1909
He journeyed to Cairo three times and published works about Ibn Khaldun, Egypt, and studies on Islamic coinage, weights, and measures
He died in Cairo in 1334/1924 (al-A'lam (yI36), 2.78).
kings of ancient Egypt, though applied in the Koran to al-Walid ibn Mus'ab ibn Rayyan, the king at the time of the prophet Musa (upon whom be peace).
Described in many places in the Holy Koran, Pharaoh was the personification of evil for his enmity towards the prophet Musa and crimes against God and man
He lived more than four hundred years and was drowned in the Red Sea at the head of his armies while pursuing Bani Isra'it (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 1.51; alShifa (y116), 1.211; and n).
al-Yahsabi, born in Sabta (present-day Ceuta, on the Strait of Gibraltar) in 47611083
The Imam of western Muslimdom in hadith and Arabic lexicology, he was a gifted Maliki scholar and author who wrote a number of books in the sciences of hadi th, Maliki jurisprudence, and history, though he is best remembered for his two-volume al-Shifa bi ta'rif huquq ai-Mustafa [The cure, in outlining the attributes of the Chosen One], universally acknowledged as among the finest works ever written on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He was appointed as the judge (Ar
qadi, whence the nickname) of Sabta, then Granada, and finally Marrakesh, where he died of poisoning, allegedly by a Jew, in 544/1149 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.99).
Abbas Shihab ai-Din al-Qalyubi, of Qalyub
Egypt
He was a Shafi'i scholar in Sacred Law and hadith, a physician, and the author of a number of books, commentaries, and treatises in Islamic jurisprudence, hadith, medicine, history, and geography
He died in 1069/1659 (ibid., (y136), 1.92; Rudud 'ala abatil (y44), 1.646; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Ama'ut).
ai-Sufi of Wasit, Iraq, who used to travel without any provisions, and met many of the sheikhs of his time
From the fact that he related some of the sayings of al-Hallaj, he may be supposed to have died after the latter's death in 309f922 (Tabaqat al-Sufiyya (yI29), 165; and n).
al-Sadusi, of Basra, Iraq, born in 611680
Blind from birth, he was a hadith scholar and Imam of Koranic exegesis, Arabic, and genealogy who met and related hadiths from many of the prophetic Companions and from those who came after them, including Anas ibn Malik, Abu aJ-Tufayl al-Kinani, Sa'id ibn al- Musayyib, and others
Ahmad once called him ""the most learned person in Basra."" He died of the plague in Wasit in 1181736 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.189; and Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 5.269-70).
Ya'rab ibn Qahtan
It is related that her father, the king of Yemen, was unable to find a suitable wife among the princesses of outlying kingdoms, so he instead wed Rayhan bittt al-Sakan, a woman of the jinn, and from their marriage was born Bilqis, who inherited his kingdom
The Holy Koran tells how the hoopoe of Sulayman (upon whom be peace) went to her kingdom and saw the queen and her people prostrating to the sun, and describes the events that led to her accepting Islam from SUlayman
Commentators relate that Sulayman then married her and confirmed her in her kingdom, ordering the jinn to build three incomparable palaces for her in Yemen, where he would visit her each month for three days, and that her reign lasted as long as his (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 3.309-18).
Farah, Abu 'Abdullah aI-Ansari al-Qurtubi, of Cordova (in present-day Spain).
A Maliki scholar and hadith specialist, he was one of the greatest Imams of Koranic exegesis, an ascetic who divided his days between worship and writing.
Educated in hadith by masters like 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Yahsabi and ai-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Bakri, he wrote works in the sciences of hadith and tenets of faith, though his enduring contribution' is his twenty-volume al-Jami' Ii ahkam alQur' an [The compendium of the rules of the Koran], from which he mainly omitted the stories and histories customary in other commentaries, and recorded instead the legal rulings contained in the Koran and how scholars have inferred them, together with canonical readings (qira'at), Arabic grammar, and which verses abrogate others and which are abrogated (nasikh wa mansukh)
Scholars have used it extensively ever since it was written
It is related that Qurtubi disdained airs, and used to walk about in a simple caftan with a plain cap (taqiyya) on his head
He travelled east and settled in Munya Abi al-Khusayb in upper Egypt, where he died in 671/1273 (ai-A'iam (y136), 5.322; al-Jami' Ii ahkam ai-Qur'an (y117), 1.6-7; Sheikh ShU'ayb Arna'ut; and n).
ibn al-Fadl ibn aI-Hasan, Abu al-Qasim al-Rafi'i of Qazvin, Persia, born in 55711162
The Imam of his time in Sacred Law and Koranic exegesis, he represents, with Imam Nawawi, the principle reference of the late Shafi'i school
His main work, a commentary on Ghazali's al-Wajiz [The synopsis] entitled Fath ai' Aziz Ii sharh al-Wajiz [The victory of the Invincible: an exegesis of 'The synopsis""] was later to furnish the textual basis for Nawawi's Minhaj ai-tali bin (The seekers' road]
Taj aI-Din Subki noted of its author: ""Imam Rafi'i was steeped to repletion in the sciences of Sacred Law, Koranic exegesis, hadith, and fundamentals of Islamic legal methodology, towering above his contemporaries in the transmission of evidence, in research, guidance, and in attainment ...
It was as if .
jurisprudence had been dead, and he revived it and spread it, raising its foundations after ignorance had killed and buried it."" He authored works in Sacred Law and history, and taught Koranic exegesis and hadith in Qazvin, where the hadith master (hafiz) Mundhiri was among his students
Known as a pure-hearted ascetic who followed the mystic path, Nawawi observed of him that he ""had a firm standing in righteousness, and many miracles were vouchsafed to him."" He died in Qazvin in 62311226 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.55; Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28), 8.281-85; and n).
Medicine, University of Oxford, Gre.en College, Oxford, U.K
(Oxford Textbook of Medicine (y76), xiv).
Ahmad Baybars, Abu al-Na'im al-Jazari, born in 126411847 in Jazira al-Qibab, Egypt
He was a Shafi'i scholar and Sufi who authored works of litanies of the Blessings upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and Sacred Law, among the latter his Rawda al-muhtajin Ii ma'rifa qawa' id ai-din [The garden of those in need of knowing the fundamentals of the religion], which is distinguished by its clear presentation and discussions of contemporary legal questions.
He died sometime after 1323/1905 (Mu'jam al-mu'allifin (y69), 4.165; and n).
Mu'adh al-Zuraqi (Allah be well pleased with him), a Medinan Helper and Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He was among those who fought at the battle of Badr, and related twenty-four hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He died in 41/661 (aI-A' lam (y 136),
3.29).
Studies, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, U.K
(Oxford Textbook of Medicine (y76), xvi).
'Abd Manaf (Allah be well pleased with him)
A Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who entered Islam the day Mecca was conquered, he later settled in Medina, where he died in A.H 42 (al-Shifa (y116), 1.165; and Taqrib al-tahdhib (yI6), 210).
Fakhr ai-Islam al-Ruyani, of Ruyan in Tabaristan, Persia, born in 315/1O25
He was a Shafi'i Imam who was educated under the sheikhs of his time in Bukhara, Ghazna, Nishapur, Rayy, and Isfahan, and founded a school in Amul, Tabaristan (just south of the Caspian seacoast northeast of present-day Tehran, Iran).
He once said, ""If all Shafi'i's books were burned, I could dictate them anew from memory
"" Renowned in his lifetime for his scholarship and honored by the vizier Nizam al-Mulk, he authored Bahr al-madhhab [The sea of the school], one of the most extensive works in Shafi'i jurisprudence
He died in 402/1108 (al-A'lam (y136) , 4.175; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yl28), 7.193-94).
ibn 'Abd Manaf, Abu Ishaq al-Zuhri al-Qurashi (Allah be well pleased with him), born twenty-three years before the Bijra (A.D
600)
Among the great Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he entered Islam at seventeen years of age, fought at the battle of Badr, and led the Muslims to victory at the battle of Qadisiyya, conquering Iraq and the cities of Persia for Islam
He was the first Muslim to release an arrow in the path of Allah, and was one of the ten informed he would enter paradise
Appointed as governor of Kufa during the caliphate of 'Umar, he was confirmed therein for a period by 'Uthman but then dismissed, after which he returned to Medina
He later lost his eyesight, and died at home in 'Aqiq, about ten miles from Medina, in 55/675 (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.87;
Taqrib al-tahdhib, (y16), 232; and n).
Akhtab ibn Sa'ya (Allah be well pleased with her), a descendant of the prophet Hamn (upon whom be peace)
The daughter of Huyay, a notable of the Jewish tribes of Bani Qurayza and Nadir, when her husband was killed at Khaybar, she fell the lot of Dihya a1-Kalbi and was presented to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who freed her and married her
Safiyya was a noble and religious woman who possessed beauty and intelligence, and it is related that she had a bondswoman during the caliphate of 'Umar who went to him and said, ""Safiyya loves Saturday and has connections with the Jews,"" whereupon 'Umar sent for her and inquired about it, and she replied, ""As for Saturday, I have not loved it since Allah gave me Friday in its place, and as for the Jews, I have kinfolk among them and maintain my family ties."" When she asked her servant what made her do what she did, she was told, ""The Devil,"" to which Safiyya responded, ""You may go now, you are free."" She died in Medina in 50/670 (alA 'lam (y136), 3.206; and Siyar a 'lam al-nubala' (y37), 2.232-33).
ibn Hudhafa (Allah be well pleased with him), of Mecca, a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
A noble of the Quraysh renowned for his eloquence and generosity, he entered Islam after the conquest of Mecca and made good his Islam, being among those who fought in the battle of Yarmouk.
He related thirteen hadiths, and died in Mecca in A.H
41 (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.205; and Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 2.562-67).
al-Tustari, of Shushtar, Persia, born in 200/815
An Imam ofthe Sufis and scholar who wrote on Koranic exegesis and Sufism, no one of his time resembled him in piety, asceticism, and devotions, and he was vouchsafed many miracles.
Fine aphorisms on sincerity and self-discipline are related from him, and it is recorded that he met Dhul Nun al-Misri in Mecca in the year of the latter's hajj.
He died in 283/896 (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.143; al-Risala al-Qushayriyya (y118), 400;
and n).
(Allah be well pleased with him)
Among the Companions who swore fealty to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him) under the tree, he was a courageous archer and runner who participated in seven battles with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) including Khaybar and Hunayn, and fought in the Muslim jihad in North Africa during the caliphate of 'Uthman.
He related some seventy-seven hadiths, and died in Medina in 74/693 (al-A'lam (y136), 3.113; and n).
ibn Tamud ibn Ghabir ibn Sam ibn Nuh (upon whom be peace), the prophet of Allah Most High to the people of Thamud, who carved homes in the rock of mountainsides
He lived before the time of Shu'ayb and Musa (upon whom be peace), and was sent to guide his people, though all but a very few denied him.
When Allah enjoined them to allow a she-camel to graze and water freely as a sign to them, they hamstrung and killed it, and in punishment were taken by a great earthquake from beneath and a cry (sayha) from the sky, which slew them while sitting upon their knees in their homes (al-A'lam (y136) , 3.188; at-Futuhat atitahiyya (y65) , 2.158; and al-Siraj al-munir (yn) , 1.488-90).
Damascus in 1947
He is a contemporary Shafi'i scholar who studied Sacred Law with Sheikh 'Abd aI-Karim al-Rifa'i, Sheikh Muhammad 'Awad, and Sheikh Jamal aI-Din al-Sayrawan
In 1972 he took a degree in pharmacy from the University of Damascus, and now lives in Amman (n).
well pleased with him), a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Originally a devout Zoroastrian from near Isfahan, Persia, he converted to Christianity and travelled to a series of ascetic masters, serving each in turn until their death, in Damascus, Mosul, Nusaybin, and Ammuriyya (in present- day Turkey), whence he was directed to seek out a new prophet from Mecca whose time was imminent
Enslaved on the way, he was sold to a Jew of Bani Qurayza, met the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in Medina, and three years later with the help of his fellow Muslims was able to purchase his freedom from his master
Digging the trench before the Battle of the Confederates was his idea
He was a physically strong man of wisdom and learning who was well acquainted with the books of the Persians, Greeks, and Jews; when' Ali was once asked about him he said, ""He was a man of us and for us, the line ofthe prophetic house, and in relation to you was as the sage Luqman, having learned the first knowledge and the last, read the first scripture and the last: an inexhaustible sea."" He related some sixty hadiths, and died in 36/656 (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.111-12; and Siyara'lam al-nubala' (y37), 1.505-11).
Shams al-A'imma al-Sarakhsi of Serakhs (in present-day Turkmen S.S.R.)
He was a great Hanafi Imam, mujtahid, judge, and the author of the encyclopedic alMabsut [The extensive], whose thirty volumes he dictated to students from an underground cell where he was imprisoned in Uzjand near Fergana (in presentday Uzbek S.S.R.) for advising a local chief in the matter of religion
He wrote a number of outstanding works in Hanafi jurisprudence and methodological principles of Sacred Law, and died in Fergana in 483/1090 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.315;
and n).
Mahmiyya al-Kinani (Allah be well pleased with him)
A physically powerful man who could outstrip horses for his fleetness of foot, he was a brigand in the preIslamic period of ignorance who participated in many raids, but afterwards became a Muslim who made good his Islam
Ibn 'Asakir believes him to have known the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), though Ibn Hibban considers him among those (tabi'in) who met only the Companions
In 23 A.H., the caliph 'Umar (Allah be well pleased with him) placed Sariya at the head of an army which he dispatched to Persia, and when he was later giving the Friday prayer sermon in Medina, it came to his mind that the army was encountering the enemy in the middle of a valley near a mountain
They seemed to 'Umar to be on the verge of fleeing, so he called out in th(; midst of the sermon, ""0 Sariya, the mountain!
the mountain!"" raising his voice, which Allah miraculously caused to reach the hearing of Sariya and the army, and the Muslims rallied to the side of the mountain and fought the enemy from a united front until Allah gave them the victory
Imam Bayhaqi related this with a well-authenticated (hasan) chain of transmission from Nafi' from Ibn 'Umar, and the story is corroborated by a number of other parallel accounts of the event
It is said that Sariya also won Isfahan for Islam through peaceful negotiation (al-Isaba fi tarnyiz al-Sahaba (y14), 2.2-3; and Usud al-ghabafi rna'rifa al-Sahaba (y57), 2.306).
Allah Most High
Originally of the angels in kind but of the jinn in works, he was cast down from a high degree of obedience and faith through his pride and disobedience to Allah when ordered to prostrate out of respect to Adam (upon whom be peace)
He was then respited until the Last Day, as a trial and affliction for those who would accept his misguidance, though he has no power except through Allah's will and no influence over Allah's righteous servants (al-Siraj alrnunir (y72), 1.48; and n).
ibn Hasan ai-Somali, born in 1864 near Bohotle, in north central Somalia.
A scholar in Shafi'i jurisprudence, the Koran, and hadith, he was an important Somali intellectual and religious leader who led resistance to the British and Italians in his country for more than two decades (1899-1920)
He studied for five or six years in Mecca under Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih ai-Rashidi, founder of the Salihiyya tariqa of which he was made a sheikh before returning to Somalia via Aden in 1895
Among his recorded speeches are the words: ""Unbelieving men of religion have assaulted our country from their remote homelands
They wish to corrupt our religion, to force us to accept Christianity, supported by the armed force of their governments, their weapons, their numbers
You have only your faith in God, your arms and your determination
Do not be frightened by their soldiers or armies: God is mightier than they ...
"" Bradford Martin relates that with the Salihiyya tariqa as an organizational basis, Sayyid Muhammad mounted a military movement that was perhaps longer sustained and more successful than any other movement led by an African Muslim leader of the nineteenth or early twentieth century, for twenty years tying the hands of the British and Italians and making them spend huge sums and many lives on purely military operations;
through which means he maintained and defended traditional Somalian Muslim values and ways of life
He died, possibly of influenza, in 1920 at fifty-six years of age (Muslim Brotherhoods (y86) , 179-200).
he received his early education
He later studied in the West and received his B.S.
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.A and Ph.D
from Harvard, where he studied the history of science and learning with special concentration on Islamic science and philosophy
He has taught at Tehran University, the American University in Beirut, Temple University, and George Washington University, and is the author of a number of work .
that are among the best available in English on the relevance ·of traditional Islamic sciences and mystical disciplines to the situation of modern man, including Ideals and Realities of Islam, Man and Nature, Islamic Science: an Illustrated Study, :lnd Sufi Essays.
The translator is indebted to his writings for being among the reasons he became a Muslim
While from a Shiite background, Hossein Nasr has a firmer footing in traditional Islamic knowledge than many other western interpreters of Islam, Muslim or non-Muslim, and his works are generally free ofthe mistakes in detail found in others' books, though some passages are occasionally colored by the comparative religions approach (dis: x348) that mars the writings of a number of contemporary Muslim intellectuals
He lives and teaches in the United States (Ideals and Realities vf Islam (yl01), 4; and n).
'Uthman ibn Shafi' ibn al-Sa'ib ibn 'Ubayd ibn 'Abd Yazid ibn Hashim ibn alMuttalib ibn 'Abd Manaf, Abu 'Abdullah al-Qurashi al-Makki al-Shafi'i, descended from the great-grandfather of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Born in 1501767 in Gaza, Palestine, Shafi'i was the Imam of the World, the mujtahid of his time, one of the most brilliant and original legal scholars mankind has ever known
An orphan brought to Mecca when two years old and raised there by his mother in circumstances of extreme poverty and want, he memorized the Holy Koran at age seven, the Muwatta' of Imam Malik at ten, and was authorized to give formal legal opinion (fatwa) at the age of fifteen by his sheikh, Muslim ibn Khalid al-Zinji, the mufti of Mecca
He travelled to Medina and studied under Imam Malik, and then to Baghdad, where he was the student of Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan Shaybani, the colleague of Abu Hanifa
In Baghdad, Imam Shafi'i produced his first school""Ofjurisprudence (al-madhhab alqadim), but when the persecution arose over the uncreatedness of the Koran (dis:
x72), he spoke to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and they mutually agreed that rather than risk the loss of both of Islam's living mujtahids, they should part company, Shafi'i travelling with his books and belongings to Cairo, and Ahmad remaining in Iraq.
It was in Cairo that in the astonishing space of only four years, Shafi'i conceived and edited a second, entirely new school of jurisprudence (al-madhhab al-jadid), embodied in his seven-volume al-Umm [The mother].
The Imam and his legacy are monumental
His al-Risala [The letter] was the first work in the history of mankind to investigate the theoretical and practical bases of jurisprudence
In Koranic exegesis, he was the first to formulate the principles ofthe science of which verses abrogate others and which are abrogated ('ilm al-nasikh wa al-mansukh)
His knowledge of the Koran and sunna and of the accord between the differen t elements of each and the condi tionality and explanation of some by others were incomparable
His Arabic style and diction were recorded and used as lexical evidence by later grammarians and lexicologists, and despite his surpassing eloquence in the language, being Arabic in tongue, residence, and historical epoch, he studied it in depth for twenty years, and through the medium of it grasped the Koran and sunna
He paved the way for the enormous importance attached by subsequent generations of Muslims to the study of prophetic hadith, as reflected in the fact that most of the Imams in the field were of his school, including Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i
Ibn Majah, Bayhaqi, ai-Hakim, Abu Nu'aym, Ibn Hibban, Daraqutni, Ibn Khuzayma, Ibn Salah, al-'Iraqi, Suyuti, Dhahabi, Ibn Kathir, Nur ai-Din Haythami, Mundhiri, Nawawi, Taqi ai-Din Subki, and others
Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan Shaybani said of him, ""If the scholars of hadith speak, it is in the language of Shafi'i,"" and Hasan ibn Muhammad Za'frani observed, ""The scholars of hadith were asleep and awoke when Shafi'i woke them."" Imam Ahmad said, ""No one touches an inkwell or pen with his hand, save that he owes a debt to Shafi'L"" By the time Shafi'i reached Cairo in A.H
199, his fame had spread to the horizons, scholars from all parts of the Muslim world travelled to hear him, and his student and scribe Rabi' ibn Sulayman was to say, ""I have seen seven hundred riding camels tethered at Shafi'i's door, belonging to those who came to hear him exposit his writings."" The author of some 113 works, it was nonetheless Shafi'i's hope that ""people would learn this knowledge without ascribing a single letter of it to me,"" and as Zakariyya Ansari remarked, ""Allah granted his wish, for one seldom hears any position of his, save that it is ascribed to others of his school with the words, 'Rafi'i, or Nawawi, or Zarkashi says .
.' and the like."" Of proverbial generosity, it is recorded that when he once brought ten thousand dinars from Yemen, he pitched a tent outside of Mecca and had given it all away to passersby before the day ended
He was moderate in dress, and his ring bore the inscription, ""Allah suffices Muhammad ibn Idris as a reliance."" He once said, ""Knowledge is not what is memorized, but only what benefits,"" and this conviction imbued his personal religious life, for he divided his night into three parts, in thefirst of which he would write, in the second pray, and in the third sleep
He recited the entire Koran each day at prayer, and twice a day in Ramadan
When a remark was once made to him about his using a walking stick, he said, ""I do it to remind myself that I am on a journey out of this life."" A man of intense spiritual presence who could truthfully say of himself, ""I have never told a lie,"" his students were in such awe of him that they could not take a drink of water while he was looking on
Among his pupils were a number of the Imams of the time such as Ahmad, Rabi' ibn Sulayman, al-Muzani, Dawud ibn Khalaf al-Zahiri, and others
He studied and taught Sacred Law in Cairo until his death at fifty-three years of age in 204/820, the end of a lifetime of service to Islam and the Muslims by one of the greatest in knowledge of the Koran and sunna (al-A'iam (y136), 6.26; al-Majmu' (y108), 1.8-10; 'Umdat al-salik (y90) , 9-10; al-Tabaqat al-kubra (y124) 1.50-52; and n).
who helped spread the Naqshbandi tariqa throughout Caucasia and fought with the Muslim jihad there against Czarist Russia for some thirty-five years
His sheikh was Mulla Muhammad al-Ghazi al-Kamrawi, whose military career began when Russia declared protection for Christians in Khurjistan and then formal annexation of the region from Safavid Persia in 1215/1800
AI-Ghazi (lit
""the Warrior"") recruited hundreds of thousands of soldiers from his Naqshbandi dervishes and fought until his death in 124811832, when his successor aI-Amir Hamza al-Khanzaji took over but was martyred the same year, after which the jihad's leadership devolved to Sheikh Shamii
He fought many pitched battles with the Russians in the twenty-seven years of jihad that followed, in 1260/1844 freeing Daghestan of the unbelievers and capturing thirty-five of their cannon, which provoked Russia to send an even larger army to finish the mujahidin, who fought on fifteen more years until 127911859, when the sheikh was captured
Advanced in years, he was banished to Turkey, whence he travelled to Medina in hope of being buried there with the Companions and early Muslims
He spent the last of his life worshipping in the Rawda of the Mosque of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) between the pulpit and the noble tomb, and when he died he was interred, according to his wish, in al-Baqi' Cemetery (ai-Muslim un fi al-Ittihad alSufyati 'abr al-tankh (y28), 1.65, 1.149, 1.154-55, 1.398).
al-Shawkani, born in Shawkan near Khawlan, Yemen, in 1173/1760
A major scholar in Sacred Law and hadith, he was educated in San'a, where he was appointed as an Islamic judge in A.H
1229, a position he held throughout his life.
He authored 114 works in hadith, biography, Sacred Law, Koranic exegesis, fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence, and tenets of faith, though his greatest work was his eight-volume hadith commentary Nayl al-awtar min asrar muntaqa alakhbar [The realization of desires, from the secrets of selected hadiths]
He died in San'a in 125011834 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.298).
be peace), a prophet of Allah Most High who was nicknamed the Speaker of the Prophets for the fairness of his exhortations to the folk of Madyan, who were unbelievers who cheated when weighing and measuring out goods to people
He was descended of Ibrahim (upon whom be peace) and came after Hud and Salih, only a short time before Musa
Commentators relate that when his people repeatedly rejected his call to pure monotheism, Shu'ayb and those who believed departed from them, and Allah opened up to them one of the gates of hell, afflicting them with the most extreme heat
They entered tunnels to flee from it, but found it the more unbearable, so some of them came out onto an open plain, where they found a cloud above them and with it, a cool, pleasant breeze
They called the others to come and join them until the entire people were assembled under it, whereupon Allah caused the earth to quake, changed the cloud to fire, and burned them to ashes (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.165-66; and al-Siraj al-munir (y72) ,
1.495).
ibn 'Ali, Abu Usama al-Arna'ut, born in Damascus in 1928, two years after his father's emigration for religious reasons from Shkoder, Albania
He is a scholar of hadith, Hanafi law, Koranic exegesis, and Arabic grammar and lexicology who has edited many classic Islamic works from old manuscripts
Educated in Damascus, he studied Hanafi jurisprudence with sheikhs such as 'Abd al-Razzaq alHalabi, Nuh al-Albani, Sulayman al-Ghawji, and others, and hadith terminology under 'Abdullah al-Habashi, Sheikh ai-Kallas, and Salihal-Farfur, with the latter of whom he also read the eight-volume Hanafi Hashiya rood al-muhtar of Ibn 'Abidin during the course of seven years, and the Koranic commentaries of Zamakhshari and Nasafi
Among the better known scholars of his profession, he has edited, annotated, and judged the hadiths of more than eighty works to date, of which the most famous is perhaps the five-volume Zad ai-rna 'ad [The provision for the return] by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, though he feels that his most important scholarly contribution lies in the editing of three works: Sharh al-sunna [The explanation ofthe sunna] by Imam Baghawi, which presents the primary Koranic and hadith textual evidence for rulings of Sacred Law; Sharh mushkil ai-athar [The explanation of problematic hadiths] by Imam Tahawi, which explains the accord between ostensible contradictions among hadiths in terms of which ones are understood, abrogated, or conditioned by others or by the Koran; and alIhsan fi taqrib Sahih Ibn Hibban [The proficiency: on facilitating the ""Rigorously authenticated hadith collection"" of Ibn Hibban], whose basic text is 'Ala' ai-Din Farisi's commentary on the Sahih of Ibn Hibban
The preparation of these works, each of which has sixteen volumes, was by no means a mere exercise in editing.
With Ibn Hibban, for example, the original text consisted of eight volumes, to which Sheikh Shu'ayb supplied the equivalent of eight additional volumes of his own notes and commentary
In our times, as sheikhs qualified to teach the classic works of the Islamic sciences grow steadily fewer, Shu'ayb's hope is that such expanded and annotated editions will to some extent fulfill the educational needs of the Muslims who read them
Though he will probably be remembered for his work in hadith, he strongly believes that Muslims should take their religion from those with the best understanding of the primary texts of the Koran and prophetic traditions, at their forefront the Imams of the four schools
""They are explainers, not popes,"" he says, ""but in each of their schools there afterwards followed a hundred or more scholars who refined and added to their work, men whose stature in Islamic knowledge was like mountains, any of whom could put fifteen of the scholars available today in his pocket."" He presently lives in Amman, where he supervises the research staff and library of the Mu'assasa al-Risala publishing house (n).
of Wasit, Iraq, "",.id then of Basra, born in 82nOl
A reliable narrator and proficient hadith scholar, he was the first to search in Iraq for knowledge of the reliability of various hadith transmitters and to defend the sunna
Imam Shafi'i said of him, H If not for Shu'ba, hadith would have been unknown in Iraq."" He was noted for his devotions in his personal life, and died in 160n78 (al-A'lam (y136) , 3.164;
and Taqrib al-tahdhib (y16), 266).
Abu Hafs Siraj ai-Din al-Kinani al-Bulqini, born in Bulqina, Egypt, in 724/1324.
A Shafi'i mujtahid Imam, hadith master (hafiz), and judge, he was educated in Cairo and gained recognition as the foremost representative of the Shafi'i school in his time
In A.H
769 he was appointed to the judiciary in Damascus
He authored a number of works in Shafi'i jurisprudence, hadith, and formal legal opinion, and died in Cairo in 805/1403 (al-A 'lam (y136), 5.46; and n).
Muhammad al-Suddi, originally of the Hijaz and then of Kufa
An Imam of Koranic exegesis whom Ahmad ibn Hanbal names as a reliable narrator, he related hadiths from the Companions Anas ibn Malik, Ibn 'Abbas, and 'Abd Khayr al-Hamdani, while his hadiths were related by Shu'ba, Sufyan al-Thawri, Isra'il, and others
He died in A.H
127 (Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 5.264-65).
'Abdullah al-Thawri of Kufa, born in 971716
The Imam of hadith masters (huffaz) of his time and among the foremost in Sacred Knowledge and godfearingness, he possessed a phenomenal memory and was able to say, ""I have never learned something and then forgot it."" His father began educating him while young, and he studied under nearly six hundred sheikhs, the most important of whom were those who transmitted hadiths from Companions like Abu Hurayra, Jarir ibn 'Abdullah, Ibn 'Abbas, and others
A number of principle Imams took hadiths from him, such as Ja'far al-Sadiq, Abu Hanifa, al-Awza'i, Shu'ba, (all of whom died before he did) and a number of others
He once said, ""I've never heard a hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) without acting upon it, even if only once."" He authored a number of works in hadith and Islamic estate division, and many of his aphorisms have been rec.orded, among them, "" Asceticism is not eating coarse food or wearing poor clothes, but rather expecting life not to last, and being watchful for death."" He died in 1611778 (al-A'lam (y136), 3.104-5; and Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37), 7.229-43).
pleased with him), of the Ghatafan tribe, a Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
The incident mentioned in the hadith of the text (at w28.1) was related by Muslim and others, and is virtually the only information known about him (Usud al-ghaba fi ma'rifa al-Sahaba (y57) , 2.441-42).
the prophet of Allah Most High and son of the prophet Dawud
He knew the language of birds, inherited the kingship of Bani Isra'il from his father, and had an army of birds, jinn, and men
Allah Most High subjected the winds to his command, and according to commentators, he possessed a great platform that could hold all he needed of palaces, tents, belongings, horses, camels, men, and jinn;
and whenever he desired to make war, travel, or sojourn in any land on earth, he would laden it and command the winds to convey it there, and it would travel a month's journey in a single day
Many wonders are recorded of him in the Holy Koran and its commentaries, and he is said to have ruled for forty years before his death at the age offifty-two (Qisas al-anbiya' (y59), 498-519).
born in Bujayrm, Egypt
in 133111719
He was a Shafi'i scholar who moved to Cairo at a young age, was educated at al-Azhar, and later taught there.
Though he lost this eyesight, he produced a number of famous commentaries on Shafi'i classics, among them his four-volume al- Tajrid [The abstract], and Tuhfa aI-Habib [The gift of the beloved], a commentary on Shirbini's al-lqna' [The persuading] also in four volumes
He died in the village of Mastiyya, near Bujayrm, in 122111806 (al-A'lam (y136), 3.133).
ai-Din, lalal ai-Din al-Suyuti, born in 849/1445
He was a Shafi'i mujtahid Imam, Sufi, hadith master (hafiz), and historian, a prolific writer who authored works in virtually every Islamic science
Raised as an orphan in Cairo, he memorized the Koran at eight, then several complete works of Sacred Law, fundamentals of jurisprudence, and Arabic grammar; after which he devoted himself to studying the Sacred Sciences under some of the foremost sheikhs of the time in each discipline, among them Siraj ai-Din Bulqini, with whom he studied Shafi'i jurisprudence until his death; Sharaf ai-Din al-Munawi, with whom he read Koranic exegesis; Taqi ai-Din al-Shamani in hadith and the sciences of Arabic; and others.
He travelled to gain Sacred Knowledge to Damascus, the Hijaz, Yemen, India, Morocco, and the lands south of Morocco, as well as to centers of learning in Egypt such as MahalIa, Dumyat, and Fayyum.
When he reached forty years of age, he abandoned the company of men for the solitude of the Garden of al-Miqyas by the side ofthe Nile, avoiding his former colleagues as though he had never known them, and it was here that he authored most of his nearly six hundred books and treatises
Wealthy Muslims and princes would visit him with offers of money and gifts, but he put all of them off, and when the sultan requested his presence a number of times, he refused
Blessed with success in his years of solitude, it is difficult to name a field in which Suyuti did not make outstanding contributions, among them his ten-volume hadith work Jam' al-jawami' [The collection of collections]; his Koranic exegesis Tafsir al-Jalalayn [The commentary of the two Jalals], of which hc finished the second haIf of an uncompleted manuscript by 1 alai al-Din Mahalli in just forty days; his classic commentary onthe sciences of hadith Tadrib al-rawi fi sharh Taqrib al-Nawawi [The training of the hadith transmitter: an exegesis of Nawawi's ""The facilitation""];
and many others
A giant among contemporaries, he remained alone, producing a sustained output of scholarly writings until his death in Cairo at sixty years of age in 91111505 (al-A 'lam (y136), 3.301-2; Tadrib al-rawi (y109), 1.11-12; and n).
al-Qasim al-Lakhami al-Tabarani
born in Acre, Palestine, in 260/873
A great hadith master (hafiz) and Koranic commentator, he travelled to listen to hadith masters for sixteen years, to the Hijaz, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Persia, and the Arabian Peninsula, meeting approximately a thousand sheikhs
He finally settled in Isfahan, Persia, where he related hadiths for sixty years
was visited by scholars from all parts of the Muslim world, and authored his three main hadith collections, the largest of which is his twenty-five-volume al-Mu'jam al-kabir [The major lexicon], called a ""lexicon"" because of the alphabetical arrangement of its narrators
When once asked how he acquired such a prodigious store of hadith knowledge, he answered, ""By sleeping on reed mats for thirty years."" He died in Isfahan in 360/971 (al-A'lam (y136), 3.121; Siyar a 'lam tfl-nubala' (y37), 16.119- 23; al-Targhib wa al-tarhib (y9), 1.21; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Ama'ut).
specialist in fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence born of Kurdish parents in alFalluja, to the west of Baghdad, in 1935
After receiving his elementary and secondary education in Iraq, he attended al-Azhar, where he studied under Sheikh 'Abd aI-Ghani 'Abd al-Khaliq, author of Hujjiya al-sunna [The evidentiary character ofthe sunna], and other scholars and graduated in 1959 from the College of Sacred Law, then pursued his postgraduate studies to receive a master's degree and his doctorate in 1972
He has taught Islamic law and its principles at the University of Imam Muhammad ibn Sa'ud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is a member of the founding council of the Muslim World League in Mecca, a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Islamic Fiqh Academy at Jedda, and president of the Fiqh Council of North America
He has edited and annotated the six-volume al-Mahsul fi 'Urn al-usul [The summary: the science of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence] by al-Fakhr al-Razi, currently under preparation for its second printing, and has authored Adab al-ikhtilaf fi ai-Islam [The proper way of scholarly disagreement in Islam], Usul al-fiqh al-Islami [The bases of Islamic jurisprudence], and al-IjtihOO wa al-taqlid fi ai-Islam [Personal juridical reasoning versus following qualified scholarship in Islam], the latter two of which have been recently translated into English
The International Institute of Islamic Thought, which Dr
al-'Alwani helped found in 1981, is an autonomous, non-profit organization dedicated to articulating the relevance of Islam to the problems of thought and life of contemporary Muslims, and promoting and serving Islamic research throughout the world
From its headquarters in Washington D
C., and with offices from Cairo to Kuala Lumpur, it conducts specialized seminars, commissions the production of scholarly works, grants research scholarships, and disseminates an impressive array of publications to interested scholars around the globe
He has headed the institute as president since 1986 (n).
in Tahta, near Asyut, Egypt
He was educated at al-Azhar, where he was later appointed sheikh of the Hanafi school
He is best known for his Hashiya al-durr al-mukhtar [The commentary on ""The choice pearls""], a commentary on the basic text of Ibn 'Abidin's famous Rood al-muhtar [The enlightenment of the baffled]; and his Hashiya 'ala Maraqi al-falah sharh NUT al-idah [Commentary on ""The ascents of felicity: an exegesis of 'The light of clarity' ""]
He died in Cairo in 123111816 (al-A'lam (y136), 1.245).
al-Tamimi al-Qurashi (Allah be well pleased with him), born twenty-eight years before the Hijra (A.D
596) in Mecca
Among the most courageous and generous Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he was of the first eight men to enter Islam, of the ten informed that they would enter paradise, and one of the committee (shura) 'Vmar chose to name his caliphal successor.
Present with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) at the battle of Vhud, Talha stood unflinchingly by his side during the reverses suffered there, and swearing to remain with him to the death if need be, sustained twenty-four wounds from which he later recovered to fight in every subsequent battle
He had extensive trade dealings in Iraq, and never allowed a member of his clan to suffer want or debt save that he would pay for their needs at his own expense
He was killed at the Battle of aI-Jamal at the side of 'A'isha in 36/656 and buried in Basra (ibid., 3.229).
ibn Tamam, Abu ai-Hasan Taqi ai-Din al-Subki, born in Subk, Egypt, in 683/ 1284
The Shafi'i scholar and Imam of his time, he was a brilliant intellectual, hadith master (hafiz), Koranic exegete, and Islamic judge who was described by Ibn Hajar Haytami as ""the mujtahid Imam whose imamate, greatness, and having reached the level of ijtihad are agreed upon,"" and by Dhahabi as ""the mOst learned, eloquent, and wisest in judgement of all the sheikhs of the age."" Educated in Cairo by such scholars as Ibn Rif'a in Sacred Law, 'Alam ai-Din Iraqi in Koranic exegesis, and Sharaf ai-Din al-Dimyati in hadith, he also travelled to acquire knowledge ofhadith from the sheikhs of Syria, Alexandria, and the Hijaz, after which, as Suyuti records, ""he devoted himself to writing and giving legal opinion, authoring more than 150 works, his writings displaying his profound knowledge of hadith and other fields and his magisterial command of the Islamic sciences
He educated the foremost scholars of the time, was a painstaking, accurate, and penetrating researcher, and a brilliant debater in the disciplines
No previous scholar attained to his achievements in Sacred Law, of masterful inferences, subtleties in detail, and carefully worked-out methodological principles."" Salah ai-Din Safadi said of him, ""People say that no one like him had appeared since Ghazali, though in my opinion they thereby do him an injustice, for to my mind he does not resemble anyone less than Sufyan al-Thawri."" With his vast erudition, he was at the same time a godfearing ascetic in his personal life who was devoted to worship and mysticism, though vigilant and uncompromising in matters of religion and ready to assail any innovation (bid'a) or departure from the tenets of faith of Ahl al-Sunna
In addition to al-Takmila [The completion], his elevenvolume supplement to Nawawi's Sharh al-Muhadhdhab [The exegesis of ""The rarefaction""], he also authored the widely quoted Fatawa at·Subki [The legal opinions of Subki] in two volumes, as well as a number of other works on tenets of faith, Koranic exegesis, and fundamentals of Islamic law, in the latter of which his three-volume al-Ibhaj fi sharh al-Minhaj [The gladdening: an exegesis of ""The road""], an exposition of Baydawi's al-Minhaj on the methodological bases oflegal ijtihad, has won lasting recognition among scholars
In A.H
739 he moved from Cairo to Damascus, where he was appointed to the judiciary and presided for seventeen years, at the end of which he became ill, was replaced by his son Taj alDin, and returned to Cairo, where he died twenty days later in 756/1355 (ibid., 4.302; al-Fatawa al-hadithiyya (y48), 114; al-Rasa'i/ al-Subkiyya (y52), 9-13;
Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf; and n).
Ibn Ishaq mentions him among those who helped build the Mosque of alDirar (Koran 9:107) by which they intended, out of hypocrisy and unbelief, to compete with the Mosque of Quba' and disunite the Muslims, and in hopes that the longtime enemy of Islam Abu 'Amir the Monk would return from Syria to defeat the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and make the mosque his center
This Tha'laba is sometimes confused with Tha'laba ibn Hatib ibn' Amr ibn 'Ubayd ibn Umayya al-Aws, who fought at Badr and was martyred at Uhud
The hadith mentioned in the text (p75.15) of the former Tha'laba's nonpayment of zakat was researched by Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani, who said that its chains of transmission are weak, as they come through 'Ali ibn Yazid aI-Alhani, an extremely unreliable (matruk) hadith narrator (al-I saba fi tllmyiz al-Sahaba (yI4) 1.200-201; alSiraj al-munir (y72) , 1.649; and Zad al-masir fi 'Um al-tafsir (y12), 3.474).
'Isa al-Sulami al-Tirmidhi, of Termez (in present-day Uzbek S.S.R.), born in 209/ 824
A hadith master (hafiz) and Imam who was a student of Bukhari, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and others, he travelled in pursuit of knowledge to Khurasan, Iraq, Medina, and Mecca, and authored a number of works in history and hadith, among the most famous of which are his five-volume al-Jami' al-leab;r [The major collection], also known as Sahih al-Tirmidhi; and his al-Shama'il al-nabawiyya [The prophetic traits], which describes in detail the person, manners, and appearance of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
'Umar ibn 'Allak said of Tirmidhi, ""Bukhari died without leaving anyone in Khurasan like Abu 'Isa in knowledge, memory, piety, and asceticism ...
"" In later life he became blind, and died in Termez in 279/892 (al-A'lam (y136), 6.322; and Siyar a'iam al-nubala' (y37),13.270-73).
who was born in Horence, Italy, the son of the Swiss sculptor Carl Burckhardt and a member of a patrician family of Hasle
Although he first followed his father's profession, his strong attraction to oriental art led him to a theoretical study of eastern doctrines and repeated journeys to Islamic countries.
After some years of studying the history of art and oriental languages, he became director of the Graf-Verlag publishing house; which specialized in facsimile editions of ancient manuscripts
In 1972 he was appointed to UNESCO for the preservation of the ancient city of Fez
He is the author of The Moorish Culture in Spain, one of the best and most sensitive works on an Islamic civilization; Art of Islam: Language and Meaning; Sacred Art in East and West; An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine; and Letters of a Sufi Master, a translation of the Rasa'it [Letters] of al-'Arabi al-Darqawi
His books on Sufism have a wide readership, both Muslim and non-Muslim, for which reason it is worth mentioning here two points of departure in them that occasionally obscure the spirit of what they are intended to explain.
The first is his transposition of Sufi theosophy to Platonic philosophical language, not only in ordinary
needful metaphysical distinctions such as 'being', 'act', and 'essence', but also in substantive doctrinal conceptions of the Platonic worldview such as 'immutable essences', 'archetypes', 'Ideas', and so forth, which at Burckhardt's hands often generate passages of philosophical interest, but whose connection with their explanadum, Sufism, is not clear or convincing
For Sufis, whatever vocabulary they may choose, behold the Truth by the sun of divine revelation, not the movements of human introspection, and in a word, are illumined, while Plato is unillumined.
The second point of departure is a comparative religions approach to Islam and Sufism which understands them according to the ""essential unity"" (and universal validity) of all religions
On this point, Islam dearly teaches that all true religions, as originally revealed, were identical in fundamentals of belief (usuI) such as the oneness of God, the Final Judgement, and heaven and hell, in which sense ""we make no distinction between any of His messengers"" (Koran 2:285), though each prophetic messenger brought particular rules and rites (furu') that differed to some extent from those of previous messengers, and ""to every nation We appointed a worship"" (Koran 22:67)
So while the anciently revealed religions that are found today naturally show some similarities to Islam, this fact does not prove their ""essential unity"" with it as they presently exist, for the One who revealed the religions informs us not only that their beliefs and scriptures have since been altered by the hands of men, who ""changed the words from their places and forgot a share of what they were reminded of' (Koran 5:13), but also that their rites and laws have been abrogated by those revealed to the Final Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), which is why ""whoever seeks other than Islam as a religion will never have it accepted from him"" (Koran 3:85)
This is how Allah Most High has explained the similarities and differences between religions, and any comparative approach beyond this can never lay claim to the truth.
Aside from such ideas, which are far from Islam, the works of Titus Burckhardt contain many original discussions of the meaning of Islamic art, a field which few westerners have equalled his depth in and appreciation of, and for which he is likely to be remembered
He died in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1984 (Art of Islam (y31), inside back cover; and n).
al-Khazraji (Allah be well pleased with him), born thirty-eight years before the Hijra (A.D
586)
A Medinan Helper and Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he was known for his personal piety, and was among those who foughtat the battle of Badr, as well as the others, and in the conquest of Egypt
He related 181 hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and became the first person appointed as an Islamic judge in Palestine, where he died, in either Ramla or Jerusalem, in 34/654 (ai-A' lam (y 136), 3.258).
injure the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and once even incited 'Uqba ibn Abi Mu'it to spit in his face
When he told the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after Badr that he was feeding a horse each day in Mecca upon which he would kill him, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) replied, ""It is I who shall slay you, Allah willing,"" and kept his word the following year at the battle of Uhud, where he killed him with a stab from a short spear
A hadith declares, ""The wretchedest of men is whoever kills a prophet, or a prophet kills"" (al-Shifa (y116), 1.238-39).
Adawi (Allah be well pleased with him), born forty years before the Hijra (A.D.
584) in Mecca
He was one of the greatest Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), as renowned for his tremendous persona!
courage and steadfastness as for his fairness in giving judgements
Among the heroes of the Meccan nobles in the pre-Islamic period of ignorance, he entered Islam five years before the emigration to Medina, and Ibn Mas'ud was later to observe, ""We were not able to pray by the Kaaba until 'Vmar became Muslim."" He fought in all the battles of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and was sworn fealty to as the second caliph of Islam on the day of Abu Bakr's death
During his ten-and-a-half-year caliphate, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, and all the Arabian Peninsula were added to the dominions of Islam, and about twelve thousand mosques were built
He related 537 hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and was the first to date Islamic events from the year of the Hijra.
His sayings, addresses, and letters were of great eloquence, and a memorable event seldom befell him without his composing a line of poetry about it
His ring was inscribed with the words, ""Death suffices as an admonition, 0 'Vmar."" Stabbed by a slave while performing the dawn prayer, he died three nights later in 23/644 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.45-46).
Muhammad Barakat al-Shami al-Biqa'i, A scholar of Shafi'i jurisprudence and rhetoric, he was originally from al-Biqa', north of Damascus, Syria, and was educated at al-Azhar, where he studied under Sheikh Ibrahim Bajuri
He then moved to Mecca and authored his two-volume commentary on 'Umdat al-salik [The reliance of the traveller] entitled Fayd al-Ilah ai-Malik Ii hall allaz 'Umdat alsalik wa 'uddat al-nasik [The outpouring of the Sovereign Divinity in solving the words of ""The reliance of the traveller and tools of the worshipper""], which he wrote because, in his words, ""there was no explanative work to solve its words and clarify its meanings except for one commentary by the great teacher al-Jawjari, which is a valuable exegesis of the familiar short work, but which contains interpolations and misprints unnoticable to any save someone with experience in authoring works of Sacred Law, as well as some obvious errors
It has remained thus because it was printed in Mallibar, there being no one in those lands to correct it ...
"" He also authored a work on rhetoric about types of metaphors, and died sometime after 1307/1890, the date he completed Fayd al-Ilah ai-Malik (ibid., 5.65; and Fayd al-Ilah aI-Malik (y27), 1.2-3,2.224,2.355).
was available than that he was a disciple of the early ascetic and mystic, Hasan aIBasri, as is mentioned in Suyuti's narrative at w27.2 (n).
al-Kidiwi, born in Halwar, near Podor in the Gidi district of northern Senegal in 1794
A Tijani sheikh of impressive education, intellect, and remarkable organizational talents, he conducted jihad against French troops and pagan indigenous peoples in Guinea, Senegal, and Mali from 1852 to 1864
He first studied Arabic and Islamic subjects with his father, and by the time he left home to study elsewhere, had not only memorized the Koran, but also the two Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim
He taught the Sacred Sciences in Satina for about twelve years, during which period he joined the Tijani tariqa, a new order founded only thirteen years before his birth which was then spreading through West Africa from Mauritania
He first took the way from Sheikh 'Abd ai-Karim ibn Ahmad alNaqil, but in less than two years decided to perform the hajj, and made his way eastward across Africa to the Hijaz, where he fulfilled the pilgrimage and completed his training in the tariqa with the Moroccan sheikh Muhammad al-Ghali alTijani.
He stayed with the latter for three years in Medina before being authorized as an independent sheikh
After performing hajj again, he returned first to Cairo, where he authored a Koranic commentary, and then set off in 1830 for West Africa
Enroute, he stopped for a series of residences in various cities, among them Sokoto, Nigeria, where he remained six years with Muhammad Bello, the son of the Fulani mujahid 'Uthman ibn Fodi (x364), writing and acquiring the firsthand military and administrative expertise that he was later to use in his jihad in West Africa, the plans for which he was beginning to formulate in his mind.
Returning to his homeland after twenty years, he recruited many to t·he Tijani tariqa, which he marshalled for the purposes of jihad
In his military campaigns, which are too numerous to record in detail here, he fought occasional skirmishes with the French, but his main efforts were directed at spreading Islam eastward by fighting the pagan Bambara people of Karta and Segu, which he did with considerable success at the head of an army that at its peak numbered some thirty thousand men
His force was well disciplined and applied Islamic law, as for example at the surrender of Karta, where 'Umar ordered the indigenous idols be brought out to be smashed at his own hands with an iron mace
His opinions paralleled those of Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi and Muhammad 'Ali Sanusi on many issues, and he admired the writings of Sheikh 'Abd al-Wahhab Sha'rani
He died in Ghoro, Mali, in 1280/1864 after an escape from being besieged in Hamdallahi during an unsuccessful bid to take Masina (Muslim Brotherhoods (y86), 6&-98).
(Allah be well pleased with her), not the Prophet's daughter (Allah bless him and give him peace) of that name, but the half-sister of the caliph 'Uthman from his mother
Among those who entered Islam very early, when she learned that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had left for Medina, she set out on foot to follow him, refusing to return when her brothers caught up with her to take her back
She related hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that are recorded in the collections of both Bukhari and Muslim, and died in about 33/653 (al-A'lam (y136), 5.231).
ibn 'Umar, Umm Salama al-Makhzumiyya (Allah be well pleased with her), Mother of the Faithful, one of the wives ofthe Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
One of the most intelligent and refined of women, she entered Islam in the early years and emigrated with her first husband, Abu Salama, to Ethiopia before emigrating to Medina, where her husband died
Abu Bakr then asked for her hand in marriage but she refused, after which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) proposed to her and she accepted, marrying him in A.H
4
She lived a long life, relating 378 hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and died in Medina in 621681 (ibid., 8.97-98; and Taqrib .
al-tahdhib (y16), 754).
pleased with him)
One of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he was an archer, poet, and reciter of the Koran who was knowledgeable in Sacred Law
He was one of those who helped gather the Holy Koran, and he related fifty-five hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He participated in the Muslim conquest of Egypt with 'Amr ibn al-'As, and ruled it for a time before being relieved of command, after which he took charge of Muslim naval military expeditions, and later died in Egypt in 58/678 (alA'lam (y136), 4.240).
(Allah be well pleased with him), born in Mecca forty-seven years before the Hijra (A.D
577)
He was the third caliph of Islam and one of the ten whom the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) informed they would enter paradise
Of noble lineage, wealthy, and extremely handsome, he entered Islam shortly after the prophetic mission began, and among his greatest works was to outfit the ""army of hardship"" for the expedition to Tabuk, donating three hundred camels with their equipage and one thousand gold dinars, whereupon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ""Nothing 'Uthman does after today will harm him."" He accepted the caliphate after 'Umar's death in A.H.
23, and during His tenure, Armenia, Caucasia, Khurasan, Kirman, Sijistan, Cyprus, and much of North Africa were added to the dominions of Islam
He completed the gathering of the Koran begun by Abu Bakr, who had collected the written fragments of it that the Companions possessed, which 'Uthman now called for to be checked and collated with those who had memorized it, written into a single volume, and ordered everything else to be burned before he had the text copied and sent to all parts of the Muslim world
He related 146 hadiths from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who married two of his daughters to him at different times, Ruqayya and Umm Kulthum, for which reason 'Uthman was called He of the Two Lights (Dhul Nurayn)
At the end of his caliphate in 35/656, groups of men came from Egypt, Basra, and Kufa, complaining that 'Uthman had placed members of his clan, Bani Umayya, in prominent public offices, and demanded he remove them
When he refused, they surrounded his house in an attempt to force him to resign, but he would not, and finally some of them climbed over the walls of his home and murdered him as he sat reading the Koran (ibid., 4.210; and Sheikh Shu'ayb Arna'ut).
from Bukhara
He was a reliable transmitter (thiqa) whose hadiths were recorded in the works of Bukhari, Muslim, and in the other main collections
He died in A.H
209 (Taqrib al-tahdhib (y16), 385).
of Medina
A reliable hadith transmitter of the generation who came after the Companions, his hadiths were recorded in the collections of Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others
He died after A.H
120 (ibid., 385; and Siyar a'lam al-nubala (y37), 5.187).
Maratta in northern Nigeria in 1754
An Islamic scholar and Qadiri sheikh from a family of learned Muslims, he led the Fulani jihad in northern Nigeria with his younger brother 'Abdallahi and son Muhammad Bello
Having memorized the Koran and learned Maliki jurisprudence, hadith, and Arabic grammar when young, he became an accomplished scholar, author, poet, and Sufi
He recorded his experience of a stage of the mystic way in the words, ""When I reached the age ofthirty-six, God stripped the veil from my sight, the imperfection from my hearing and sense of smell, the flatness from my taste, the knots from my hands, and the heaviness from my feet and body
I saw things far away like near things and heard distant sounds like close ones
I smelt the good smell of the worshipper of God, sweeter than any sweetness, and the bad odor of the sinful man, more repugnant than any putrefaction ...
"" Though he authored a number of works in Arabic on Sufism, theology, and Sacred Law, his particular concern was syncretism, the compromise of Islam by admixture of pagan elements indigenous to the Nigeria of his time
These aberrant practices led first to an emigration (hijra) by him and his Qadiri followers from the lands of Gobir to the north and west, and then galvanized them to undertake a jihad that would physically bring all the region to orthodox Islam
It began with a vision of 'Abd aI-Qadir al-Jilani, who fastened upon him ""the sword of Allah to draw against His foes,"" and 'Uthman and his army were to fight for four years, mainly against the Gobir and Habe peoples, their hardest campaign being the siege on the Gobir capital of Alkalawa in 1806, which lasted two years
With its surrender, the Habe will to resist also disappeared and 'Uthman and his forces had effectively won the war
He divided the leadership of the Islamic state between his brother and son, and then retired to study and to teach his many students until his death in Sifawa in 1817 (Muslim Brotherhoods (y86), 15-25).
'Amr of Aws (Allah be well pleased with him)
A Companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) who participated in the battle of Uhud and those after it, he was appointed during 'Umar's caliphate as governor of southern Iraq (al-Sawad), and in 'Ali's time as governor of Basra
After the Battle of alJamal he went to live in Kufa, where he died in the caliphate of Mu'awiya some time after 411661 (al-A'lam (y136), 4.205).
Khayr, Abu 'Amr Diya' aI-Din al-Marani al-Kurdi al-Mawsuli, born near Mosul, Iraq, in 51611123
A Shafi'i scholar of Kurdish descent described by Taj aI-Din Subki as ""the most learned Shafi'i of his time in jurisprudence and fundamentals of law and faith,"" he first studied Sacred Law in Arbil, Iraq, and then Damascus before moving to Cairo, where he settled
He was appointed as head ofthe Egyptian judiciary by Sultan Salah aI-Din Ayyubi in A.H
566, though he later left the position and devoted himself to teaching and writing
He authored a commentary on Abu Ishaq Shirazi's al-Luma' [The effulgences] in fundamentals of jurisprudence, but is best known for his twenty-volume work in Shafi'i law, al-Istiqsa' Ii madhahib al-fuqaha' [The comprehensive: on jurists' schools of thought], a commentary on Shirazi's al-Muhadhdhab [The rarefaction]
He died in Cairo in 6021 1206 (ibid., 4.212; Siyar a'lam al-nubala' (y37) , 22.291; and Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-kubra (yI28), 8.337).
born in Brava on the southern Somalian coast in 1847
He studied Shafi'i jurisprudence, Koranic exegesis, Arabic grammar, and Sufism in his hometown before travelling to Baghdad, the headquarters of the Qadiri order to which he belonged, for fuller instruction in the way
After a number of years of study there with Sheikh Mustafa ibn al-Sayyid Salman al-laylani, he received authorization as a sheikh in the tariqa and returned home
Possessed of considerable organizational capacity, leadership, and spiritual gifts, he won numerous adherents, many of whom he trained for missionary activities, and his Uwaysi-Qadiri tariqa is credited with a considerable expansion of Islam in Tanganyika, southern Somalia, and eastern Zaire
He also founded agricultural settlements at BHad alAmin and at Biolay, 150 miles north of Brava, where he was assassinated at the age of sixty-three in 1909
B.G
Martin states: ""In its spread from Brava to Zanzibar to the mainland of Tanganyika and then westward into the Congo, the Uwaysiya Qadiriya became a major Muslimmovement in East Africa
Though it began as early as 1883, Qadiri proselytization is still continuing
In a region where adherence to a tariqa is synonymous with conversion to Islam, such a movement assumed more than ordinary significance"" (Muslim Brotherhoods (y86) , 152-65,
176).
Abu Zar'a Wali al-Din al-'Iraqi, born in Cairo in 762/1361
Of Kurdish descent, he was the son of Zayn ai-Din al-'Iraqi (xI88) and like him, was also a Shafi'i scholar and hadith master (hafiz)
His father took him to Damascus, where he was educated, and when he returned to Cairo, he succeeded lalal Bulqini as the head of the judiciary, though his uncompromising attitude towards rulers caused him to be later removed from office
He authored 'a number of works in Sacred Law, hadith and its sciences, Muslim biographies, and formal legal opinion, and died in Cairo in 82611423 (al-A 'lam (y136), 1.148).
and annotated Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal's Fada'i[ al-Sahaba [The excellences of the prophetic Companions] as his doctoral thesis at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca, His two-volume dissertation was first published in Beirut in 140311983 (n).
prophet of Allah Most High
Also known as Isra'il, the offspring of his twelve sons composed the twelve tribes of Bani Isra'il, who took their name from him
He is mentioned in the Holy Koran in various places, among them sura Yusuf, named for his son,
who was also a prophet
Commentators record that he lived for 147 years (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 2.433; and n).
of Allah Most High born to the prophet Zakariyya and his wife, who was the maternal aunt of 'Isa (upon whom be peace), though Yahya was born before 'Isa.
Commentators record that he was descended through Zakariyya from Sulayman (upon whom be peace), and that he was the last one sent before 'Isa to Bani Isra'il, who killed him when he was 120 years old, just as they had killed his father (alShifa (y116), 1.192).
al-Ta'i al-Yamami
Originally of Basra, he lived in Medina for ten years, taking hadiths from the foremost of the generation that followed the Companions, and then moved to Yamama, in the Najd, where he was famous as a hadith scholar, though he later suffered for his outspoken condemnation of some of the policies of the Umayyad caliphs
One of the leading early hadith Imams, some have considered him even more learned than Zuhri
He died in 1291747 (al-A'lam (y136),
8.150).
al-Najjari, originally of Medina
An Islamic judge first in Medina and laterin Iraq, he was one of the main figures in the early science of hadith, and al-Jumhi said of him, ""I have not seen anyone who resembled Zuhri more closely than Yahya ibn Sa'id
If not for the two of them, many sunnas would have been lost."" He died in al-Hashimiyya, Iraq, in 1431760 (ibid., 8.147).
peace), whom Allah Most High made a prophet and messenger to Bani Isra'i!
after Ilyas (x186) was raised up from among them
Allah inspired and aided him, and his people believed in him and honored him, applying the Sacred Law among themselves until his death (al-Futuhat al-ilahiyya (y65), 2.58, 3.550).
'Abd al-Wakil Durubi's of about his own age who has visited him almost daily for the past thirty-five years and been his business partner in editing and publishing a number of classic works on Sufism and Shafi'i jurisprudence (n).
Nun), was the prophet of Allah Most High to the people of Nineveh (in presentday Iraq) whom, as commentators relate, he called to the worship of Allah alone, but who rejected him and his message until he at length grew angry with them and departed, informing them that Allah's punishment would be visited upon them in three days
When he left them and boarded a ship, his people saw the seriousness of their plight and made a deep and sincere repentance, all of them coming forth from their dwellings to beg Allah to tum aside His punishment, and when it appeared above like a section of darkest night, Allah caused it to revolve harmlessly overhead
A storm at sea meanwhile assailed the ship carrying Yunus, and in the course of it, the passengers saw that their only hope was for one of their number to lighten ship by jumping overboard, but when they drew lots to see who it would be, the lot feU to Yunus
Unwilling to put him off, they cast lots again and again, but each time it fell.to the prophet, and at length they saw that some great matter was afoot and let him go
As he took to the water, a great fish swallowed him and he remained in its belly for some days, regretting his anger towards his people, and expressing his abject humility towards Allah with the words, ""There is no god but You, glory be to You, verily I was ofthe wrongdoers,"" and Allah saved him by causing the fish to cast him up on the shore (Qisas al-anbiya' (y59),
286-93).
Jamus, Abu Anas, born in the Marka area east of Amman, Jordan, in 1944
Educated in Amman, he served as a teacher for four years in the Jordanian Army before becoming the imam of a mosque under the Ministry of Endowments (Wizara al-Awqaf) in 1968
He took the Shadhili tariqa from Sheikh Muhammad Sa'id Kurdi in the summer of 1967, and by the time ofthe sheikh's death five years later, was one of his most advanced disciples
He studied Shafi'i jurisprudence with both his sheikh and with the mufti of lrbid, Sheikh Barakat, and in 1982 took a degree from the University of Jordan in Sacred Law
He has been the translator's neighbor since 1983, and was one of those who generously agreed to check the Arabic of the present volume before it was submitted for publication
One of the signs of Allah in humility, kindness, and patience, he currently lives in Amman, where he teaches Arabic grammar, Shafi'i jurisprudence, and Koran recital to a small circle of students (n).
Allah Most High whose story is recounted by the Holy Koran in the sura that bears his name; how his brothers, jealous of the love theirfather had for him, cast him into a well, how he was sold into slavery in Egypt, later rising to a high position there, and the forgiveness he showed them when they came to him in their hour of need (Koran 12; and n).
of Ardabil, Azerbaijan
He was a Shafi'i scholar whom Ibn Qadi Shuhba described as ""tremendous in Sacred Knowledge,"" and who authored Kitab ai-an war Ii a'mal al-abrar [The book of lights for the works of the pious 1 in Sacred Law
He died in Ardabil in 799/1397 at over seventy years of age (al-A 'lam (y136), 8.212).
al-Nabahani, born in the village of Ijzim, Palestine, in 1265/1849
He was a Shafi'i scholar, Sufi, judge, poet, and the author of works in Sacred Law, tenets of faith, prophetic biography, hadith, heresiology, and Sufism, including his two-volume Jami' karamat al-awliya' [Compendium of the miracles of the friends of Allah], Wasa'iJ al-wusul ila shama'i/ al-Rasul [The means of knowing the attributes of the Prophet], Sa'ada al-darayn fi al-salat 'ala Sayyid al-Kawnayn [Felicity in this world and the next through the blessings upon the Liegelord of the Two Abodes], and forty-five others, among them some of the most beautiful works that exist in commemoration of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
He was educated at al-Azhar, edited a newspaper in Istanbul for a period and corrected the books if published, and then returned to be appointed to the judiciary in Beirut, a capacity in which he served for twenty years before moving to Medina.
After the outbreak of the First World War, he returned to Ijzim, where he died in 1350/1932 (ibid., 8.218; Wasa'i/ al-wusul (y97) , 11; and n).
Islamic scholar, author, and poet, he memorized the Holy Koran before age ten and completed his education at al-Azhar, where he took a doctoral degree with highest honors in 1973
He has written more than twenty works which have gained a wide readership in the Islamic world, but is probably best known for his al-Halal wa al-haram fi ai-Islam [The lawful and unlawful in Islam] which, although it contains some unreliable positions in Sacred Law, represents an original effort to make the comprehensive rules of Islam accessible and understandable to nonspecialists
and shows its author as a modem thinker concerned with joining between the principles of the religion and the problems of the times
He is currently the Dean of a college of Sacred Law in Qatar (al-Sahwa al-Islamiyya (ylll), back cover; and n).
born in Kuweit in 135111932
A Shafi'i scholar, former minister of state, educator, Sufi, and author, he was given his primary education in the Holy Koran by Sheikh Ahmad al-'Aqil in Kuweit, and studied Sacred Law in Damascus and Shafi'i jurisprudence under Sheikh Muhammad Muhammad Salih of Kuweit and others
His father, al-Sayyid Hashim al-Rifa'i, was the captain of a pearl-harvesting sailing ship
then a state official, and finally an advocate in the Shari'a court of Kuweit
Sheikh Yusuf is descendant of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) through the friend (wali) of Allah Most High, Sheikh Ahmad atRifa'i.
He was made a member of Parliament in Kuweit in 1963, minister of telecommunications and postage in 1964, and he served as the minister of state from 1965 to 1970
He is also a sheikh ofthe Rifa'i tariqa founded by his ancestor, having been authorized in Zabadani, near Damascus, by Sheikh Makki al-Kattani, whose teacher Ibrahim al-Rawi was the student of Sheikh Abu al-Huda alSayyadi, one of the outstanding recent figures in the Rifa'i way, which Yusuf notes is especially distinguished, like its founder, for its rigorous adherence to the Sacred Law, outwardly and inwardly
The value of Sufism in Islam, he believes, is not only as a means to spiritual sincerity, but as a powerful force to convey Islam (da'wa) to non-Muslims and to regenerate the religion in the Muslim heartlands from within
Among his written works are Khawatir fi al-siyasa wa al-mujtama' [Thoughts on politics and society], comprising articles on contemporary issues such as the need for Muslims to defend the rights of Muslim minorities in nonMuslim countries; Adilla Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'a aw al-Radd al-muhkam almani' 'ala munkarat wa shubuhat Ibn Mani' [The evidences of the Sunni Community, or, The unassailably proficient rebuttal of the blameworthy and doubtful points of Ibn Mani'], which he wrote in response to a contemporary's attack on Sheikh Muhammad 'Alawi Maliki for the latter's having contradicted the tenets of the Wahhabi sect on a number of questions; and Adilla al-qunut fi salat alclajr [The evidences for standing in supplication at the dawn prayer]
He takes a keen interest in the problems of Muslims today, and at a recent symposium in Amman with Sheikh' Abdullah Muhammad Ghimari and Sheikh Hasan Saqqaf, he voiced his concern for the obstacles to the current Islamic revival and world propagation of Islam that are being put in its way by ""fundamentalists"" whose view of Allah is anthropomorphic, view.of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is that he is over-venerated and loved by Muslims, and view of Muslims is that they are unbelievers or immersed in unlawful innovations (bid'a)
The unity of the Community and its future, he said, lie in holding fast to the agreed-upon schools of jurisprudence and tenets of faith, directing our efforts to non-Muslims; not in trying to convince Muslims that everything their forefathers believed was a mistake.
He presently directs the al-Iman School, founded in 1973 in Kuweit, which provides Islamic and secular education patterned on the al-Azhar model at the elementary, preparatory, and secondary levels
He is a familiar figure at Islamic conferences around the world, and in 1988 was elected as president of the World Union of Islamic Propagation and Information at its London conference (n).
who was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1947 and raised in Duxbury, where his family has lived for several generations
He entered Islam in 1970 in Beirut, and in 1971 became the student of the hadith expert Sheikh Muhammad Yusuf alBannuri of Pakistan
After six years of study, the sheikh, author of Ma'arif alSunan [The knowledges of ""The sunnas""], a six-volume commentary on Jami' alTirmidhi [The hadith collection of Tirmidhi], and other works, authorized him to teach and relate the hadiths he had read before him and on which he had commented.
Yusuf has since taught hadith and principles of jurisprudence (usul alfiqh) in Pakistan, served as advisor on Islamic education to the late President Zia al-Haqq (Allah have mercy on him), been headmaster of the only private Muslim college in Sri Lanka-where he taught 'Umdat al-salik, the main text of the present volume-lectured at the International Islamic University in Islamabad, and served as Chief of the Translation Bureau at the Islamic Research Institute there.
In June, 1989, after nearly twenty years abroad, he was appointed as research coordinator for the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Washington, D.C.
A veteran Islamic translator, his more than ten works include English versions of a Hanafi manual of Sacred Law as well as Kitab al-halal wa al-haram [The book of the lawful and unlawful] from Imam Ghazali's Ihya' 'ulum ai-din [Giving life to the religious sciences], Usul al-fiqh al-Islami [The bases of Islamic jurisprudence], and al-Ijtihad wa al-taqlid fi ai-Islam [Personal juridical reasoning versus following qualified scholarship, in Islam], both by Dr
Taha Jabir al-'Alwani
His most recent effort, a pioneering translation of his own Arabic edition of Abu Bakr al-Jassas's multi-volume Koranic exegesis Ahkam al-Qur'an [Legal interpretations of the Koran 1, seems destined for wide recognition and use, representing the definitive Hanafi work on deducing legal rulings from the Holy Koran
He presently lives in Sterling, Virginia (n).
x384 Zakariyya (u3.5) is Zakariyya ibn Ladun ibn Muslim ibn Saduq ibn Hashban ibn Dawud ibn Sulayman (upon whom be peace), a prophet of Allah Most High to Bani Isra'il
The Holy Koran mentions how Allah gave him a son, the prophet Yahya, in his old age to inherit his knowledge and prophethood, and how, when his wife's sister gave birth to Maryam and vowed her to the service of the Sacred Temple, Zakariyya undertook to care for her in a room in the temple, where he brought her food, drink, and other necessities
Allah Most High describes him and family as ""vying in pious deeds, calling upon Us in hope and fear, and humble to Us"" (Koran 21:90) (Qisas al-anbiya' (y59), 543-44).
ibn Ahmad ibn Zakariyya, Abu Yahya Sheikh al-Islam al-Ansari, born in Sanika, Egypt, in 823/1420
Known as the Sheikh of Sheikhs, he was the Shafi'i scholar of his time, a hadith master (hafiz), judge, and Koranic exegete
He was educated in Cairo in circumstances of such poverty that he used to have to leave the mosque by night to look for watermelon rinds, which he would wash and eat
When his knowledge later won him fame and recognition, he was to receive so many gifts that his income before his appOintment to the judiciary amounted to nearly three thousand dirhams a day, which he spent to gather books, teach, and give financial help to the students who studied with him
When Sultan Quytubay al-lurkasi appointed him as head of the judiciary in Cairo, he accepted the post with reluctance after being repeatedly asked, but when the sultan later committed a wrong act and he sent him a letter upbraiding him, the sultan dismissed him and he returned to teaching
He authored works in Sacred Law, the sciences of Koran and hadith, logic, Arabic, fundamentals of jurisprudence, and Sufism, and was the sheikh ofImam Ibn Hajar Haytami
He died in 926/1520 at one hundred years of age (al-A'lam (y136), 3.46).
Badr ai-Din al-Zarkashi, born in Egypt in 745/1344
Of Turkish origin, he was a scholar of Shafi'i jurisprudence, fundamentals of law, hadith, and literature, who wrote many works, among them his three-volume ai-Bahr al-Muhit [The encompassing sea], on Islamic legal principles
He died in 794/1392 (ibid., 6.60).
Abi Talib, Abu al-Husayn al-Shahid al-' Alawi al-Hashimi, born in 79/698
He was an Imam of Sacred Law who lived in Kufa, Iraq, where Imam Abu Hanifa knew him and once said, ""I never saw anyone of his time more knowledgeable in Sacred Law, faster to answer, or clearer in discourse."" Two works have been ascribed to him, the recently discovered Majmu' fi al-fiqh [Collection in Sacred Law], which if his, is the oldest recorded work in Islamic jurisprudence; and Tafsir gharib alQur'an [Explanation of rare words in the Koran], whose ascription likewise remains unestablished
At the end of his life he headed an uprising against the Umayyads, and was killed in Kufa in 122/740 (ibid., 3.59).
(Allah be well pleased with him), born in Medina eleven years before the Hijra (A.D
611) and raised in Mecca
Among the great Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he was one of the scribes who recorded the Koran in writing
His father was killed when he was six years old, and he emigrated at age eleven to Medina, where he learned the religion of Islam and later became one of the Companions' principle scholarly resources in deciding cases, giving formal legal opinion
in Koranic recitation, and inheritance
When the caliph 'Umar used to travel from Medina, he would leave Zayd in his place until he returned
Ibn 'Abbas, with his immense erudition, used to visit him at home to take knowledge from him
He was among those who gathered the Koran in the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and checked it with him, who wrote it in the time of Abu Bah, and who copied out the Korans that 'Uthman sent to the cities of the outlying Islamic lands
He related ninety-two hadiths, and when he died in 45/665, Abu Hurayra said, ""The scholar of this nation has died today; haply Allah will make Ibn' Abbas his successor"" (ibid.,
3.57).
ai-Din ibn 'Ali ibn Ahmad al-Mallibari, originally of Mallibar, India
A Shafi'i scholar who studied under Imam Ibn Hajar Haytami, he authored Qurra al-'ayn bi muhimmat ai-din [The gladdening of the eye with the essentials of the religion] and its commentary Fath al-Mu'in [The victory of the Helper]; as well as lrshad al- 'ibad ila sabil al-rashad [The guidance of servants to the way of wisdom]
He died in 987/1579 (ibid
3.64; Mu'jam al-buldan (y43), 5.196; and A).
al-Asadi al-Qurashi (Allah be well pleased with him), born twenty-eight years before the Hijra in Mecca
One of the most courageous of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he entered Islam at the age of sixteen, was one of the ten informed they would enter paradise, and was the first to draw a sword for Islam, participating in the battles of Badr , Uhud, and others
He was the son of the paternal aunt of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and 'Uma); considered him one of those qualified to be caliph after him.
A wealthy man with wide trade dealings, his property was sold after his death for forty million dirhams
He was assassinated by Ibn Jarmuz in 36/656 on the day of the Battle of al-J amal, about twenty-one miles outside of Basra (al-A 'lam (y136) ,
3.43).
Shihab, Abu Bakr al-Zuhri of Medina, born in 58/678
Of the generation that met the Companions, Zuhri was reportedly the first to record prophetic traditions in writing, and one of the most important early scholars in hadith and Sacred Law.
He visited Syria and settled there, and the caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz wrote to some of his officials, ""See well to Ibn Shihab (Zuhri], for you will find no one more knowledgeable in the sunnas of the past than he."" He died in 124n42 in Shaghb, at the northern extremity of the Hijaz where it becomes Palestine (ibid., 7.97).
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