Tag: Islam

Lockdown – One Man’s Blessing is Another Man’s Curse

On By splendidpearlsIn Contemporary Wrongs, Tasawwuf (Spirituality)Leave a comment
Some are looking forward to Ramadan this year. It will give them time to be secluded and just focus on their worship. But it may even turn out that they were unable to carry out their spiritual plans because of too many distractions at home.

Some may not be looking forward to it as they are “secluded” with their wife and kids; praying for someone to save them. But then they may be amongst those who wished that they had spent more time with their families.

Some are enjoying the lockdown as they are able to work-from-home. Others have been made redundant or their profession doesn’t allow them to WFH.

Some are well-off, others are not. Some are healthy while others are not. Some will live on and others may not… What may be a blessing to us, may be a curse to another.

Everything, whether good or bad, blessing or “curse” is from Allah. All that we are expected to do is be content with His Decree by showing gratitude to Him for His blessings and be patient during calamitous times. By complaining and looking at what others have and wishing we had that, too, is just an unhealthy and shortsighted way of looking at things.

What they have is chosen for them by Allah; as it has been chosen by Him for us. If they are showing gratitude for something we find difficult to deal with and have to be patient with, then there is no need to get annoyed that we are not the centre of the universe.

It’s about Him, not us.

Delaying The Prayers Beyond Their Prescribed Times

On By splendidpearlsIn Contemporary Wrongs, Hadith (Prophetic traditions), Tasawwuf (Spirituality)Leave a comment
Allah says in the Qur’an
“…there came after them generations who neglected prayer and were driven by their own desires. These will come face to face with their evil (Ghayya), but those who repent, who believe, who do righteous deeds, will enter Paradise. They will not be wronged in the least…” [Surah Maryam 19:59-60]
Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
The meaning of ‘neglected’ here does not imply complete abandonment of the prayer but delaying it beyond it time.
Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, the Imam of the Tabi‘un, said:
It means not praying Zuhr until the time of ‘Asr; not praying ‘Asr until the time of Maghrib; not praying Maghrib until the time of ‘Isha; not praying ‘Isha until the time of Fajr, and not praying Fajr until the sun has risen. If someone dies persisting in this state without repenting, Allah has promised him Ghayy, which is a deep valley in Hell whose food is disgusting.
Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about ‘those who are forgetful of their prayer‘ (107:4-5), and he said, ‘It means delaying it’ – in other words, delaying it beyond its time.
[al-Bazzar]
Ibn Hazm [d. 465AH] said:
After Shirk, there are no wrong actions greater than delaying the prayer beyond its time and killing a believer without right.
Lastly, Imam adh-Dhahabi says, we find in a hadith:
Whoever presevers in the prescribed prayers, Allah Almighty will grant him five honours:
  1. He will release him from straitened circumstances,
  2. protect him from the punishment of the grave,
  3. give him his book (of deeds) in his right hand,
  4. let him pass over the Sirat (The Bridge over hellfire) like lightning, and
  5. admit him to Paradise without reckoning.

May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings and grant us the strength to worship Him in accordance with the Sunnah of our Master Muhammad ﷺ.

[Shams ad-Din adh-Dhahabi, al-Kaba’ir]

 

Is Islam a violent religion?

On By splendidpearlsIn Contemporary Wrongs, Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Islamic History2 Comments

After every terrorist attack, a question is always on the mind of millions of people, Is Islam a violent religion?

If we look at the military expeditions (ghazawat) in which the Prophet Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—took part in during the last two decades of his blessed life (27 being the largest number that has been narrated and fighting occurred in only 9 of them) then we will see that only 1,018 people were killed: 759 of them were non-Muslims and 259 were Muslims.

Before dispatching the military forces, Caliph Abu Bakr had the following commands for his army:

  • Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path.
  • You must not mutilate dead bodies.
  • Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man.
  • Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful.
  • Slay not any of the enemy’s flock, save for your food.
  • You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone.

So, is Islam a violent religion? Well, let’s drop the apologetic tone and be clear about what Islam does say: Islam does not prohibit war, but it has regulated war. It has set down clear guidelines as to when war is right:

  • To defend and protect.
  • Collective defence-to defend the Muslim lands when attacked by other nations.
  • To seek armed peace, where the two armies would meet before every battle and have peace talks.

How many people were killed in WWI? How many people were killed in WWII? How many people have been killed in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq, Levant, north Africa and several other places? Did Islam cause all of that? If Islam caused all of that, then were the Islamic regulations followed? Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed during the WW fighting for the British Empire. And 4-million have been killed so far in the US-NATO wars, wars with no regulations and clearly no accountability.

In Islamic polity, it is upon the Muslims to protect Muslims, as well as non-Muslims, from all external threats. The ruler and those in authority are bound to look after the interests of all subjects using all the resources at their command. The famous Maliki scholar, Imam al-Qarafi, quotes the statement of Ibn Hazm from his book Maratib al-Ijma’:

If enemies at war come to our lands aiming at a certain dhimmi (non-Muslim who lives under Islamic governance and enjoys the rights enshrined in the contract he makes under the Shariah), it is essential for us that we—Muslims—come out to fight the enemies with all our might and weapons since the dhimmi is under the protection of Allah and His Messenger. If we did anything less than this, it means we have failed in our agreement for protection.

The main emphasis of Shariah is the sanctity of the concept of due process to guarantee the life, liberty, property and honour of every human being. Therefore, Shariah has justly regulated the conduct of the believers in this world. It has sanctioned the private as well as the society’s public conduct.

Allah says in the Qur’an

“There is no coercion into the religion. Right guidance has become clearly distinct form error.” [Surah al-Baqarah 2:255]

Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi comments on the above verse:

“There is no coercion into the religion” means that the religion of Islam is at the furthest limit of clarity with the most obvious proofs of its authenticity, such that there is no need to coerce anyone to enter into it, but on the contrary every person possessing a sound intellect will enter into it voluntarily without coercion, and this is shown by His saying, “Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error,” i.e. it has become clear that Islam is right guidance and disbelief is error so that after this clarity there is no need for coercion.
[At-Tashil li’Ulum at-Tanzil, passage translated by Abdassamad Clarke]

The Significance of the Night of Emancipation—15th of Sha’ban

On By splendidpearlsIn Contemporary Wrongs, Hadith (Prophetic traditions)Leave a comment

Hadith on the virtue of this night:

Muʿaẓ ibn Jabal narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Allah pays special attention to his entire creation on the fifteenth night of Shaʿban and forgives all of them except one who ascribes partners to Him and one who harbours enmity in his heart.” [Al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr vol.20 pg.108-109]
— Ibn Ḥibbān has classified this narration as Ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) [Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān Vol.12 pg.482; Ḥadīth: 5665]
— Ḥāfiẓ Al-Haythamī has mentioned that all the narrators of this ḥadīth are reliable. [Majmaʿ al-Zawā’id Vol. 8 pg. 65]

ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar related that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“There are five nights on which duʿa is not turned back: Friday eve, on the eve of Rajab, the 15th night of Sha‘ban, Laylat al-Qadr, and on the eve of the two Eids.” [Muṣannaf ʿAbd ar-Razzāq, Ḥadīth 7927; authenticity unverified]

Statements of the Scholars:

Imam ash-Shafiʿi states in al-Umm:

“It has reached us that it is said that there are five nights when the duʿas are accepted; the night of Friday, the night of Eid al-Aḍḥa, the night of Eid al- Fiṭr, the first night of Rajab and the 15th of Sha‘ban.”

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qadir al-Jilani states in Ghunya al-Ṭālibīn:

“Malik ibn Anas reports from ʿUrwah, from ʿAisha (may Allah be pleased with her) who said she heard the Prophet ﷺ state that: ‘There are four nights in which the gates of righteousness are opened; the night of Eid al-Aḍḥa, the night of Eid al-Fiṭr, the night of ʿArafa (9th Dhu ʾl-Hajj) and 15th of Shaʿban.'” [pg. 448]

Al-Ajhuri al-Maliki records in Ḥusnul Bayān:

“‘Aṭā ibn Yasār—the great Tabiʿi of Madinah—said: ‘After Laylat al-Qadr, there is no other night in the year that is more virtuous than the middle (15th) night of Shaʿban.’” [pg.11]

Ibn al-Ḥajj states in al-Madkhal:

“This night has great virtue and abundant good.” He further says, “The salaf (pious predecessors) would sanctify this night and prepare themselves for it in advance.” [1/299]

Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi states in Mukhtaṣar Minhāj al-Qāṣidīn:

“The most virtuous nights, that the devout servant of Allah should observe Qiyam al-Layl therein, are:
—The odd nights from the last ten nights of Ramaḍan,
—1st and 10th of Muharram,
—1st and 15th of Rajab,
—15th of Sha’ban…”

Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī states in Laṭāʾif al-Maʿārif:

“…There is nothing established from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ nor from his companions with regard to spending the 15th night of Shaʿban in worship. But it is established that a group of Tābiʿūn —who were senior jurists of Shām—used to spend this night in worship.” He further says, “…It is thus the duty of every believer to free himself on the night for the remembrance of Allah and supplicating to Him for the forgiveness of sins, concealment of faults, and removal of hardships. And he should precede all this with repentance because Allah Almighty turns to the one who repents to Him on this night.” [pg. 264-265]

All of the above sufficiently confirms the significance of the 15th night of Sha’ban. As for a list of optional acts that can be performed on this night, see:
Optional Acts for the Night of Emancipation—15th of Sha’ban

May Allah ﷻ guide us all, and may He ﷻ allow us to maximise our benefit from the auspiciousness of this night.

Maliki School: The Timbukti Syllabus

On By splendidpearlsIn Book Recommendations, Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Seeking Islamic KnowledgeLeave a comment

The Timbukti syllabus is an old method of teaching; it was the exact method of teaching adopted by scholars in Medina before and after Imam Malik: A student reads before the scholar, just like children read to the teacher, and if he makes a mistake, the teacher corrects him. The teacher interprets and explains the sacred texts to the student. The order that is followed in teaching the series of books of jurisprudence (fiqh)—according to the Maliki school—differs from place to place and from one school to another. However, the most common order is as follows:

  1. Qawāʿid aṣ-Ṣalāh (or Kawaʿidi) is a treatise of about thirty pages by an unknown author. It concerns the principles of prayer and articles of faith.
  2. Mukhtaṣar al-Akhḍarī by Abū Zaid ʿAbdur-Raḥmān al-Akhḍarī, which is an introduction to Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) with emphasis on purification of the heart (taṣawwuf), ritual purity (tahārah) and prayer (ṣalāh).
  3. Al-ʿAshmāwiyyah by ʿAbd al-Bārī al-ʿAshmāwī ar-Rifāʿī, which is an introductory text that covers ritual purity (tahārah), prayer (ṣalāh) and fasting (ṣawm). It is studied alongside:
  4. Manẓūmah al-Qurṭubī fiʾl-ʿIbādāt by Yaḥyā al-Qurṭubī, which is another introductory text covering the five pillars of Islam: creed (ʿaqīdah), prayer (ṣalāh), fasting (ṣawm), alms (zakāh) and pilgrimage (ḥajj) to the holy sanctuary.
  5. Al-Muqaddimah al-ʿIzziyyah by Abul Ḥassan ʿAlī ash-Shādhilī is an intermediate text that concerns the jurisprudence of worship (ʿibādāt), commercial transactions (muʿāmalāt), as well as social ethics. It is studied alongside:
  6. Naẓmu Muqaddimah Ibn Rushd by ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ar-Rāfiʿī, which is an intermediate text that adds to Manẓūmah al-Qurṭubī. It explains the jurisprudence concerning the five pillars of Islam in detail.
  7. Al-Risālah by Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī is another intermediate text in the school. The first half is on worship (ʿibādāt), the second concerns aspects of jurisprudence such as marriage (nikāḥ), divorce (ṭalāq), commercial transactions (muʿāmalāt), inheritance (mīrāth), punishments (ḥudūd) and social ethics. This text has the distinction of being continuously taught for over a thousand years—the only fiqh text to have reached us with tawātur (mass-transmission). One unique feature is that the author often uses prophetic traditions (ahādīth) to construct the wording of the text.
  8. Al-Murshid al-Muʿīn by Ibn ‘Āshir, which is an extensive text, categorised into three sciences: Ashʿarī Theology (ʿaqīdah), Maliki Jurisprudence (fiqh) and Spirituality (taṣawwuf) based on the spiritual path of Imam Junaid al-Baghdādī.
  9. Miṣbāh al-Sālik by ʿAbd al-Waṣīf Muḥammad is one of the first advanced books of the Maliki school that is studied before studying later advanced works. This book covers theology, all chapters of jurisprudence (worship, marriage, transactions, commerce, judicial law etc.), and social ethics (akhlāq).
  10. Aqrab al-Masālik by Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Aḥmad ad-Dardīr is an advance text that is an abridgement of al-Khalil’s Mukhtaṣar. The author leaves out the differences of opinion, and clarifies some difficult passages from Mukhtaṣar.
  11. Mukhtaṣar Khalīl by Khalīl ibn Isḥāq al-Jundī is the last advance text that is covered by the students of the Maliki school.  It concerns the differences of opinion among major authorities within the school. It has an unrivalled position in the later Maliki school and is the relied upon and mufta bihi text today.

References:

— Hausa Women in the Twentieth Century, edited by Catherine M. Coles, Beverly Mack
— Maliki Law: The Predominant Muslim Law in Nigeria, by Barr. Abdullahi Ghazali