Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Sunnah Solah (continued)


Munyatul Musolli 23th November 2008

Solah Hajah - to ask Allah's favor for some neccessity. This is ghair-muakkad.

“I perform solah sunnah Hajah 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala.”

In the 1st raka’ah, recite “Qulyaa ayyuhal kafirun…”.
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite “Qulhuwallahu ahad…”.

After finishing the solah recite the du’a either (1) or (2) :

(1)

أَلحَمدُلِلّٰهِ حَمدًا يُوَافِي نِعمَهُ وَيُكَافِئُ مَزِيدَهُ يَا رَبَّنَا
لَكَ الحَمدُ كَمَا يَنبَغِي لِجَلاَلِ وَجهِكَ وَعَظِيمِ سُلطَانِك


Next recite salawat just like in the final tasyahhud, then ask Allah's favor to realize your special needs (hajat). Then salawat again, and recite:

سُبحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ العِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ وَسَلاَمٌ عَلَى المُرسَلِينَ وَالحَمدُلِلّٰه رَبِّ العَالَمِينَ


(2)


بِسمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
لاَإِلٰهَ إِلاَّأَنتَ سُبحَا نََكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمينَ حَسبُنَااللّٰهُ وَنِعمَ الوَكِيلُ،
إِنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ وأُفَوِّضُ أَمرِي إِلى اللهِ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ بَصِيرٌ بِالعِبَادِ يَا مَن ذَكرُهُ شَرَفُ الذَّاكِرِينَ يَا مَن طَاعَتُهُ نَجَاةُ الطَّاءِعِينَ وَيَا مَن رَأْفَتهُ مَلجَأُالعالَمِينَ وَيامَن لاَيَخفَى علَيْهِ نَبَأَاَرحَمنِي بِرَحمَتِكَ يَا أَرحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ


Among other ghair muakkad is the all-important Solah Tasbih. Ulama are of consensus that this should be performed everyday, or at least every Friday, or once a month or once every year. If you cannot do even once a year, then suffice to have performed it once in a lifetime. With this solah all previous sins shall be forgiven.
You can perform it 4 raka'ahs or 2 raka'ahs with one salam. Niat:
“I perform solah sunnah Tasbih 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala.” (or 4 raka'ahs).

In the 1st raka’ah, recite “Idza zulzilatil ard…”.
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite “Wal 'adiyaati…”.
In the 3rd raka’ah, recite "Alhakumuttakatsur…”.
In the 4th raka’ah, recite “Qulhuwallahu ahad…”.

This solah is unique in that we should recite a total of 300 Tasbih repetitions throughout:

(1a) 15x of Tasbih after finishing the surah (after al-Fatihah) in each raka'ah. OR
(1b) 10x Tasbih before al-Fatihah, followed by 15x Tasbih after the surah in each raka'ah.

(2) 10x Tasbih after the 3x "Subhanarabbial 'azimi..." during ruku'.
(3) 10x Tasbih during i'tidal.
(4) 10x Tasbih after the 3x "Subhanarabbial a'la..." in the first sujud.
(5) 10x Tasbih during sitting between 2 sujuds.
(6) 10x Tasbih after the 3x "Subhanarabbial a'la..." in the second sujud.

If you'd chosen (1a), then add step (7):
(7) 10x Tasbih during istirahah (momentary sitting between 2nd sujud and standing up) and 10x Tasbih during each tasyahhud.

The Tasbih is:

سُبحَانَ اللّٰهِ وَالحَمدُلِلّٰهِ وَلاَإِلٰهَ إِلاَّاللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ
وَلاَحَولَ وَلاَقُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللّٰهِ العَلِيِّ العَظِيمِ

You could recite the following Du’a Qutub after tasyahhud but before the salam:

اَللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسأَلُكَ تَوفِيقَ أَهلِ الهُدَى وَأَعمَالَ أَهلِ اليَقِينِ وَمُنَاصَحَةَ أَهلِ التَّوبَةِ وَعَزمَ أَهلِ الصَّبرِ وَجِدَّ أَهلِ الخَشيَةِ وَطَلَبَ أَهلِ الرَّغبَةِ وَتَعَبُّدَ أَهلِ الوَرَعِ وَعِرفَانَ أَهلِ العِلمِ حَتَّى أَخَافَكَ ،
اَللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسأَلُكَ مَخَافَةً تَحجُزُنِي عَن مَعَاصِيكَ حَتَّى أَعمَلَ بِطَاعَتِكَ عَمَلاً أَستَحِقُّ بِهِ رِضَاكَ وحَتَّى أُنَاصِحَكَ فِي التَّوبَةِ خَوفًا مِنكَ وَحَتَّى أُخلِصَ لَكَ فِي النَّصِيحَةِ حُبًّا لَكَ وَحَتَّى أَتَوَكَّلَ عَلَيْكَ فِي الأُمُورِ كُلِّهَا حُسنَ ظَنٍّ بِكَ سُبحَانَ خَالِقِ لنُّورِ


Sunnah Solah of the Two Eids

The solah is sunnah muakkad. Niat:

“I perform solah sunnah Eidul Adha 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala.”
Or
“I perform solah sunnah Eidul Fitr 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala.”

After takbir, recite the Du’a Iftitah, then raise both hands and say takbir (just like takbiratul-ihram). Repeat the takbir 6 more times. Between each takbir, say the tasbih:

سُبحَانَ اللّٰهِ وَالحَمدُلِلّٰهِ وَلاَ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ

After done 7 takbirs in all, recite the Fatihah and surah “Sabbihisma…”.

After raising up from the second sujud, do the same takbir interlaced with the same tasbih 5 times. Then recite the Fatihah and surah “Hal ataa..”

If this solah is performed in congregation, then it sunnah AFTER the solah to do the sermon (khutbah) as done in Friday solah. In the first khutbah, say the takbir 9 times continuously, and in the second khutbah, 7 times. If it is Eidul Adha, then it is proper to talk about animal sacrifice (udhiyah or qurban). On the other hand, talk about alms (zakah fitrah) if it is Eidul Fitr.

It is also sunnah to do the “takbir mursal” during the days for both Eid. The time for takbir mursal expires when you raise takbiratul-ihram for the day’s Zuhur (If you pray in congregation, it expires once the imam raises the takbiratul-ihram).

For Eidul Adha alone, the time window for takbir is longer, and this is called “takbir muqayyad”. It starts on Subuh of the day of ‘Arafah, and expires once the ‘Asr for the 3rd day of Tashriq ends. For a person performing the Haj, the window is between Zuhur of the Eidul Adha until end of Subuh 3rd day of Tashriq.
The lafaz for takbir both mursal and muqayyad is as follows:

اَللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ اللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ اللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ ، لاَ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ ، اَللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ وَلِلّٰهِ الحَمدُ

3 times. It is recommended to add:

اَللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ كَبِيرًا وَالحَمدُلِلٰهِ كَثِيرًا وَسُبحَانَ اللّٰهِ بُكرَةً وَأَصِيلاً ،
لاَ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللّٰهُ وَلاَ نَعبُدُ إِلاَّ إِيَّاهُ مُخلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الكَافِرُونَ ٭
لاَ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللّٰهُ وَحدَهُ صَدَقَ وَعدَهُ وَنَصَرَ عَبدَهُ (#) وَهَزَمَ الأَحزَابَ وَحدَهُ ،
لاَ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ

Perform solah Eid anytime between sunrise until the start of Zuhur. However the best is at the time of Dhuha (the sun about two feet up).

Ustaz Zakaria said:

  • In Hidayatus Sa’il, Tok Kelaba Fatoni wrote following method prescribed by Nabi Khidir for Sunnah Hajah:
    - 2 raka’ahs; 1st surah is “Qulyaa…” 10x, 2nd surah is “Qulhuwallahu ahad…” 10x.
    - After giving salam, sujud and recite:
    Tasbih 10x,
    “La haula wala…”,
    “Rabbana aatina…” 10x,
    State your special need.
  • Sometime ago a shopkeeper from came crying because some thieves stole dried latex from his store. Haji Mat Katang helped with solah and du’a. As Allah willed, he got back the latex after 2-3 days.
  • Some people allege Solah Tasbih has no origin in Islam because the hadith supporting it is fabricated (maudu’). What we know is that lazy people would jump at every opportunity to make up stories to justify their laziness.
  • Doa Qutub in solah tasbih has been written by a wali qutub, whose doa usually more accepted than ours. Recite it even if we’re weak in Arabic and don’t understand it fully.
  • Doa Tok Kenali is recited by many Kelantan ulama. Originally written by Imam Ghazali (rh).
  • Aqiqah can be performed for a deceased child even for infant who died due to miscarriage (of 6 months in pregnancy or more).
  • The takbir during Eid can be done after any solah fard/sunnah/janazah.
  • Refer to the takbir for Eid. At (*) you can replace with “mushrikun” instead of “kafirun”. And you can add “wa a’azzajundahu” at (#).
  • In Malaysia, best time to perform Solah Eid is between 8-8.30am.

Wallahu a'lam



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Comments Musolli 8/11/08

Comments for Munyatul Musolli 8th November 2008

Ustaz Zakaria said:

  • Solah rawatib done to make up for any flaw in the 5 fard solah. Considering many of us sit around in masjid making useless talk, might as well stand up for rawatib after completing the fard.
  • It is a good practice to fill the gap between Maghrib and Isha’ with sunnah solah.
  • We see more people in the cities attend solah in masjid compared to people in the villages.
  • It is good to perform rawatib for zuhur and asar for 4 raka’ahs.
  • Reward for perfect solah is higher compared to reward for zikir, fasting or other forms of worship.
  • Sufis do a lot of supererogatory worship while keeping the obligatory ones.
  • Perform sunnah solah before subuh; recite “Alam nashrah…” and “Alam taro kaifa…”. This would safeguard you from enemy’s scheming.
  • In mazhab Hanafi, witir is obligatory. That shows how important it is in Islam.
  • Some ulama maintain that solah ishraq and solah dhuha are the same thing.


Wallahu a'lam

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Sunnah Solah


Munyatul Musolli 8th November 2008

Sunnah Rawatib

Often those who take good care of their solah also take care to perform the rawatibs. These are the supererogatory (sunnah) solahs performed either before or after the obligatory (fard) solahs. If your fard is flawed due to inattentiveness or other mistakes, a rawatib can patch it up. Considering the huge rewards Allah has promised, a small mistake in performing a fard could mean missing a sizable chunk of divine returns.
In doing business, we want to get back the capital plus some profit. A fard solah is the capital and the sunnah is the profit.
In the after life, we will be taken account for our worldly actions. The first to be checked is quality of solah. If we score low in this department, then our sunnah solahs will be inspected so as to fill up the deficit.
The rawatib consists of 2 types:.
Muakkad rawatibs:
  • 2 raka’ahs before Subuh.
  • 2 raka’ahs before and 2 raka’ahs after Zuhur. (Same case for Jumu'ah) on Friday.
  • 2 raka’ahs after Maghrib and 2 after Isya’.
Ghair-muakkad rawatibs:
  • 2 more raka’ahs before and 2 more raka’ahs after Zuhur (on top of the above-mentioned rawatibs) .
  • 4 raka’ahs before Asr.
  • 2 raka’ahs before Maghrib.
  • 2 raka’ahs before Isya’.
The rawatibs are performed just like the fard. When doing the niat (statement of intention), be precise whether you performing the before- (qabliah) or after- (ba’diah) rawatib. Examples:
"I perform solah sunnah before-Zuhur two raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."
"I perform solah sunnah after-Zuhur two raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."
When there is only before-rawatib, you need not be specific. Example:
"I perform solah sunnah Subuh two raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."

Other Sunnah Muakkad Solahs
Witir is another sunnah muakkad that we should observe and be consistent with. The Prophet (saw) said:

الوترحق فمن لم يوتر فليس منا

Witir is for real, whoever does not observe it then he is not one of us.

Witir, by definition is anywhere between 1 and 11 raka’ahs but ideally should be performed at least 3 raka’ahs.
After the al-Fatihah in the 1st raka’ah, recite the surah "Sabbihisma…:
after al-Fatihah in the 2nd raka’ah, recite the surah "Qulyaa ayyuhal kafirun…"
after al-Fatihah in the 3rd raka’ah, recite the surah "Qulhuallahu ahad…"
For every two raka’ahs, the niat is:
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الْوِترِ رَكعَتَيْنِ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى
For the final 1 raka’ah, the niat is:
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الْوِترِ رَكعَةً لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى
Among sunnah muakkad is the Solah Dhuha. The prophet (saw) said:

من حافظ على شفعة الضحى غفرة له ذنوبه وإنكانة مثل زبد البحر
Whoever observes 2 raka’ahs of Dhuha, his sins will be forgiven – even if his
sins number as much as foam floating in the sea.

Hasten to do sadaqah. For every tasbih is sadaqah, every tahmid is sadaqah,
every tahlil is sadaqah, every takbir is sadaqah, for every encouragement to do
good is sadaqah, every discouragement from doing evil is sadaqah. And 2 raka’ahs
of Dhuha suffice to top them all.

The statement for niat is
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الضُّحَى رَكعَتَيْنِ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى
"I perform solah sunnah Dhuha 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."
The maximum number of raka’ah for Dhuha is 8 (a weaker position says max of 12). The time for Dhuha is when the sun has risen about 2 feet up in the morning (approx. 8 am Malaysian time).
In the 1st raka’ah, recite "Wasshamsi wa dhuhaha…" after al-Fatihah.
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite "Waddhuha wallaili iza saja…" after al-Fatihah.
Other Sunnah Ghair-Muakkad Solahs
It is also encouraged to perform sunnah Isyraq – in the morning just before Dhuha, as soon as the sun has risen (but outside the time that disallowed to do sunnah solah).

The statement for niat is:
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الإِشرَاق رَكعَتَيْنِ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى
"I perform solah sunnah Ishraq 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."
In the 1st raka’ah, recite "Qulyaa ayyuhal kafirun…".
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite "Qulhuwallahu ahad…".
Sunnah Awwabin are the solah performed between Maghrib and Isha’, any raka’ah between 2 and 20.
"I perform solah sunnah awwabin 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta’ala"
Other sunnah solahs are listed as follows:
Zawwal, Tahiyyatul Masjid, Wudhu’
Safar - before starting a journey
Qudum, Taubah
‘Arus – upon getting married
Manzil – upon halting in middle of journey
Ihram – upon donning ihram for Haj or Umrah
Tawaf
Istikharah – asking for Allah’s guidance in making important decision .
"I perform solah sunnah Istikharah 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."
In the 1st raka’ah, recite "Qulyaa ayyuhal kafirun…".
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite "Qulhuwallahu ahad…".
After finishing the solah recite the du’a as has been done by Nabi (saw) and narrated by Imam Bukhari (rh):

أََللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّي أَستَخِيرُكَ بِعِلمِكَ وَأَستَقدِرُكَ بِقُدرَتِكَ وَأَسْأَلُكَ
مِن فَضلِكَ العَِظِيمِ فَإِنَّكَ تَقدِرُ وَلاَ أَقدِرُ وَتَعلَمُ وَلاَ أَعلَمُ
وَأَنتَ عَلاَّمُىالغُيُوبِ
أَللّٰهُمَ إِن كُنتَ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ هٰذَاالأَمرَ(٭) خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي
وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمرِي (٭) عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ فَاقْدُرهُ لِي
وَيَسِّرهُ لِي ثُمّ بَارِكلِي فِيهِ وَإِن كُنتَ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ هٰذَاالأَمرَ
شَرٌّ لِي في دِينِي وَمَعَاشي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمرِي عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلهِ
فَاصرِفهُ عَنِّي وَاقدُرلِِي الخَيرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرضِنِي بِهِ

State your predicament at (*) - two times in total.

Wallahu a'lam

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Qurban And Aqiqah Explained

Qurban And Aqiqah (lecture by Ustaz Zakaria on 23/11/08)


Qurban or Udhiya is animal (livestock) sacrifice usually done at the time of Dhuha. It is accepted to slaughter at other times, but could pose problem with time constraint as it takes long time to slaughter, skin and cut the bones and meat.

In mazhab Shafi’i, it is sunnah muakkad to do qurban. This holds for a pilgrim or non-pilgrim alike. Qurban is never obligatory unless stated beforehand as a nazar. A nazar is like a vow where we impose obligation to ourselves to perform something sunnah as an appreciation if something that we wish for materialize.
Qurban could also become obligatory if we put a ta’yin on animal that belongs to us. This is another vow that we make to ourselves such as: "Once this goat matures, I’m going to slaughter it and make a feast."

In comparison to mazhab Hanafi, qurban is obligatory to every person who can afford.

Aqiqah is livestock sacrifice made anytime of the year when a child is born. In a hadith, a child is held ransom until he or she is paid off with an aqiqah. It is said that a child who dies before puberty can give shafa’ah (intercession) to his parents in the akhirah. Imam Ahmad (r.h.) also of the same opinion, but he said parents who have not done aqiqah on their child are not entitled to such shafa’ah.

The time for qurban starts once the sun rises on the day of Nahar (10th of Zulhijjah). However It is preferered to wait until the sun rises about 2 feet up. This time lapses 4 days later - once the sun goes down on the third day of tashriq (13th Zulhijjah).

Animals qualified to be slaughtered could be camels, cattle, buffaloes, sheep, or goats. Meat of a camel, cow, or buffalo can be distributed into 7 equal parts to be shared by 7 persons. 1 such part is equivalent to a whole goat. There is no restriction that all 7 parts of a sacrificed animal be used exclusively for qurban only. From the 7 parts, it is allowed to make 1 part as qurban, another as aqiqah, another to be sold at the meat market, another for family consumption etc.



Among the qualifications are that the animal must be of mature age and it has no defect. A cow missing an earlobe, or tail cut-off, or mad (diseased) all are not fit to be sacrificed since a part of the edibles is missing.

Our prophet (saw) has told us to select a meaty animal for sacrifice. In the day of Judgement, it will become our mount while crossing the Sirot (the bridge that makes the sinners slip down and the faithful pass through). The bridge is the most crucial moment of our life, if you cross safely, there is a good chance that you will be safe in the Akhirah.

If you cannot afford an animal, then you can always share with 6 other fellow muslims. Qurban is the most preferred sadaqah among all recommended sadaqah. (Zakah being the highest ranked sadaqah, but is obligatory.)

There is a hadith that says there are no deeds more noble on the day of nahar than shedding (livestock) blood. Ibnu Abbas (r.anhuma) made further commentary from this hadith that if you cannot afford even 1/7 of an animal, then at least slaughter a chicken. In this case, you get a reward for shedding blood even though you have no reward for qurban.

Allah demands that a financially able person make a qurban ever year.

In a hadith, Allah will give reward for every inch of the slaughtered animal. Even a single strand of hair is taken into account. Imagine the huge reward we get by sacrificing an animal and giving away the meat to the poor who rarely see meat on their dinner table.



The meat and other edible parts are to be given away to the needy, but a portion of them can still be consumed by the person who does the qurban or aqiqah.

It is not right to complain in case we do not get enough of our share of meat. Whenever we perform deeds for the sake of Islam, we should never expect worldly benefit from them. Look instead at the rewards Allah reserves for us in the Akhirah.

As of today, 3 parts of a cow have been pledged for our madrasah. We hope to get 4 more so we can slaughter a single cow and cook the meat for the students. The madrasah is there for the students, so we have to give the meat to them. It is unfortunate that in the past, a cow had been donated to the madrasah, but the meat was all eaten by the guests. The students could only watch from far. Even I myself was not offered.

As for our qurban initiative for the country of Kemboja, we already have 40 cattle. Our target is 50. Anyway my phone has been ringing feverishly, and a lot of interested Muslims have inquired because they want to participate.

Wallahu a'lam

Friday, November 7, 2008

Qurban and 'Aqiqah

All readers are invited to participate in the Qurban (Udhiyah) for Eidul Adha this year or 'Aqiqah. The cows will be bought and sacrificed in Kemboja as has been done the past few years.

One part (1/7) of a cow is priced at RM230. One whole cow is at RM1,610. Please register early before Ustaz Zakaria depart for Kemboja on 6th December.

The Qurban or Aqiqah form is available here (in Acrobat's pdf): English or Malay

Wallahu a'lam

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Hadith on Mercy

al-Awaail az-Zamzamiyyah al-Malikiyyah wa Ba’du al-Musalsalaat al-Mashhurah 25/10/2008
I had the opportunity to read under Ustaz Fahmi Zamzam al-Banjari an-Nadwi al-Maliki a few weeks ago in Pusat Pengajian Ba'alawi in Bukit Kemensah.

It'd been quite an adventure driving around past maghrib looking for the place, with my good friend on the phone guiding which landmark to look out for and so on.

This place is actually a semi-detached house bought by a generous brother (I heard for quite a sum!) and turned into sort of a zawiyah. The living room complete with women's section, air-conditioner and excellent sound system acts as the lecture hall. There are bedrooms upstairs that visiting shaykhs can use for the duration of their stay. no doubt this brother is the kind of muslim that we all should be envious with. May Allah return His favor to him, and may He send us more muslims as generous.

Fitting to the occasion, I got ijazah to practice the very first hadith (Musalsal Awwaliyyah Haqiqiyyah ) plus 2 more musalsalat ahadith from the shaykh. In full respect of the "musalsal" spirit, I write here exactly as narrated to me.

Hadith ar-Rahmah al-Musalsal bil-Awwaliyyah as narrated to us by Ustaz Fahmi Zamzam:
I, a poor servant striving for mercy of Allah The Most Powerful, Ahmad Fahmi Zamzam al-Banjari (named) by birth, and an-Nadwi by scholarship, and al-Maliki by tribute;


It has been narrated by our shaykh the knowledge of al-Hijaz, the fragrance of the land of al-Haram as-Sayyid Muhammad bin ‘Alawi al-Maaliki al-Hasani (rh) in the very first hadith, and he said: It has been narrated to us in Musalsal Awwaliyyah Haqiqiyyah from the shaykh of our shaykhs (al-Mu’ammar as-Syarif ‘Abdul Kabir bin Muhammad al-Mahi bin Ibrahim as-Saqali al-Husaini) at Masjid Nabawi as-Syarif in year 1380 A.H, and this is the very first hadith we heard from him. And he said: It has been narrated by (as-Sayyid ‘Ali bin Zohir al-Watari al-Madani), he said (Ahmad Minnatullahi al-Azhari) told us in 1287 AH and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said ('Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad bin ‘Abdul Rahman al-Kuzburi ad-Dimashqi) told us, and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (Badruddin Muhammad as-Shahir bi-Ibn Budair al-Maqdisi) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said:

(Abu an-Nasr Mustafa ad-Dimyati) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Sa’id As-Shahir bi-Ibn ‘Aqilah) Sohibul-Musalsalaat told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (as-Shaykh Ahmad bin Muhammad ad-Dimyati al-Mashhur Bi-Ibn ‘Abdul Ghani) told us in a gathering of people of knowledge, and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (al-Mu’ammar Muhammad bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz al-Manufi) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him and he gave ijazah to me together with all his narrations, he said (as-Shaykh al-Mu’ammar Abu al-Khair bin ‘Ammus asr-Rashidi) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him and he gave ijazah to me together with all his narrations in Rabi’ul Awwal 1002 (AH), he said Shaykhul Islam as-Sharif Zakaria bin Muhammad al-Ansori told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said:

The Seal of all Huffaz ash-Shihab Abu al-Fadil Ahmad bin ‘Ali bin Hajar al-‘Asqalani told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (al-Hafiz Zainuddin Abu al-Fadil ‘Abdul Rahimbin al-Husain al-‘Iraqi) informed us with it and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (as-Sadr Abu al-Fatah Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim al-Maidumi) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (an-Najib Abu al-Faraj ‘Abdul Latif bin ‘Abdul Mun’im al-Harrani) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (Al-Hafiz Abu al-Faraj ’Abdul Rahman bin ‘Ali al-Jauzi) informed us with it and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (Abu Sa’id Isma’il bin Abu Soleh an-Naisaburi) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said my father (Abu Soleh Ahmad bin ‘Abdul Malik al-Mu’zin) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (Abu Tohir Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Mahmish az-Ziadi) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (Abu Hamid Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Yahya bin Bilal al-Bazzar) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said (‘Abdul Rahman bin Bishr bin al-Hakim an-Naisaburi) told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said:

Sufyan bin ‘Uyainah told us and this is the first hadith I heard from him, he said from ‘Amru bin Dinar, from Abi Qabus (the freed slave of ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amru bin al-‘As), from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amru bin al-‘As (ra),

that Rasulullah (saw) said:


الراحمون يرحمهم الرحمن تبارك وتعالى، إرحمو من في الارض، يرحمكم من في السماء.


The Most Benificient (Allah) in His high Glory pour mercy upon those who love each other. So have mercy among those on earth, those in the heaven (angels) will have mercy upon you.

As-Sakhawi said this hadith has been quoted by al-Bukhari in his book "Kunya", Al-Humaidi and Ahmad in their "Musnid", al-Baihaqi in "Branches of Iman". Abu Daud mentioned it in his Sunan, and Tirmizi said in his Jami’:"hasan sahih". The hadith also quoted by al-Hakim in his Mustadrak as sahih.
This hadith is musalsal up to Sufyan bin ‘Uyainah.

Comments by Ustaz Fahmi Zamzam:

  • Hadith Musalsal bin-Awwaliyyah Haqiqiyyah literally means "the true first hadith". The first time you meet any hadith master, request from him "awwaliyyah haqiqiyyah", then he would know that you are a student with manners. Most likely he would narrate you this first hadith.
  • This hadith narrated to Ustaz Fahmi Zamzam by Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki al-Hasani in 1408 AH.
  • The second shaykh in the chain: Ibrahim as-Saqali – Ibrahim from island of Sicily. The ancient Jauhar as-Saqali was a general who built al-Azhar university in 358 AH.
  • The 4th shaykh in chain: Al-Kuzburi – of a Kurdish tribe. Shaykh Ramadan al-Buti, Salehuddin al-Ayyubi also Kurdish. Many of them Shafi’i in mazhab and either Naqshabandi or Qadiri in tariqah.
  • Al-Mu’ammar – somebody who lived to very old age.
  • Zainuddin ‘Abdul Rahim bin al-Husain al-‘Iraqi – the famous master who made takhrij on ahadith presented by Imam Ghazali in Ihya ‘Ulumiddin .
  • Fathul Bari by Imam Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani is by ulama' consensus the best ever commentary on Sahih Bukhari.
  • Al-Hafiz are the masters who memorize at least 100,000 ahadith (matan + sanad).
Wallahu a'lam

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Issue with Missing Solah

Munyatul Musolli 2nd November 2008

It is not allowed to make friends with those who deliberately forgo their obligatory solah, instead we have to show enmity towards them. We should not get acquainted with them, love them, or live in the same dwelling with them.

We behave so because these offenders clearly oppose the commands of Allah and His messenger. Allah has said:


لاَ تَجِدُ قَوْمًا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّٰهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِر يُوَالدُّونَ مَن حَادَّ اللّٰهَ وَرَسُولَهُ
وَلَوْ كَانُوْا آبَاءَهُم أَوْ أَبْنَاهُم


You will not find a group of people who believe in Allah and the hereafter, in amity with those who stand against Allah and His messenger – even if those were their own fathers or their own children.
(to the end of verse).

Having good relations with this type of offender is clearly denying yourself the true faith (iman).

Making Up Missed Solah
Those who miss their solah being unwary of the time (i.e. being overslept or forgetful) are excused provided that:
  • They immediately make up the solah once aware of the mistake.
  • They repent and vow not to repeat the mistake.


Other than the above, it is a grave sin to deliberately miss a solah, even if it is made up afterwards. There is no excuse in skipping solah for the sake of trying to accomplish some worldly pursuit no matter how important.

People of authority are responsible to make sure his populace perform the 5 obligatory solah, the jama’ah and the Friday solah. Whoever miss them should be dealt with force.

For those who are simply too lazy (but they do admit obligationof solah), the authority should ask them to repent and force them to start doing solah. Then if they still resist, capital punishment is not too harsh a sentence upon them.

The authority, be it the king, president, or community leader who fail to enforce obligation of solah (or for that matter, obligatory fasting or zakah) is considered a sinner. This responsibility is not to be taken lightly.

Ustaz Zakaria added:

  • All forms of worship must be done the right way (on basis of knowledge) so they don’t become helter-skelter.
  • The opinion that missed solah need not be made up is a khariji – outside of ulama consensus, and rejected.
  • It is preferred that you make up solah immediately if you miss it being unwary of time.
  • It is compulsory that you make up solah immediately if you miss it deliberately.
  • The community leader’s responsibility is not only to administer affairs of his people, he should also see that each person fulfil obligation to Allah.
  • Your country implement Islamic law or not, you still responsible to guide your populace to obey Allah.
  • Never punish your populace if you are not authorized (by your superiors) to met out punishment. But you still should command them to do good and prevent from doing evil (amar ma’ruf nahi munkar).
  • It is bizarre that some people avoid marrying more than 1 wives on the grounds of afraid being unjust. Yet they pursue political positions, which always carry the tendency to be unjust (to thousands of people under his jurisdiction).


Wallahu a'lam

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Never Take Solah Lightly

Munyatul Musolli 26th October 2008

Indeed Rasulullah (saw) has labeled Muslims who forgo their solah as disbelievers. So did all the sahabahs and salafus-soleh.

You should always be afraid being careless with solah. If you don’t have such fear, then be worried because you about to ruin yourself and become a loser in this world and the hereafter.

A man has the responsibility of solah not only on himself, but also those under his guardianship. He should fulfil this responsibility by force if necessary. If even force is not effective, then he should show enmity and drive the offender away. A man who cares less if his family performs solah or not is a man who takes his religion lightly and makes a mockery the commands of Allah.

You should break relations with a person who neglects his solah. He is almost a satan - there is nothing good about him, and there is no benefit he brings to you.

Ustaz Zakaria commented:
  • The period of salaf was the time within 300 years of death of Rasulullah. In a hadith, Rasulullah (saw) guaranteed that the best of people were his companions, then the generation that follows, and then the second generation that follows.
  • Whenever you try to do something for the sake of Islam, you almost always find people with trying to sabotage you. Such is the case with running of our madrasah.
Wallahu a'lam

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Less Than 40, No Jumu'ah

Munyatul Musolli 19th October 2008


Responsibilities Within Community
People of authority are responsible to make sure that the common folks learn how to perform solah correctly. Everybody should learn at least how to recite Fatihah and identify which elements are rukun and which are not. The authorities are entitled to use force if necessary. Scholars and people of knowledge are under obligation to teach, because in some cases a handful of ignorant people could cause the whole Jumu’ah to become invalid.

As much as we show anger towards anybody who ruins our property, we should show even more anger towards folks who take their solah carelessly.

If there are not enough qualified people to make up the 40-congregant minimum, then it is not sinful to skip Friday solah for that community. In fact it is compulsory that everybody perform Zuhur instead. However the authority must force the ignorant ones to learn day and night. There are ulama who take this issue even more seriously - saying it is haram for the authority to sit alone performing worship, while neglecting to educate his people.

Indeed it has been an ittifaq (agreement among Shafi’i scholars) that Jumu’ah is not valid until there are 40 qualified congregants. There is a weak position that Jumu’ah could be performed with only 3 congregants – we really should steer away from this. It has been an ikhtilaf (disagreement among scholars) whether Imam Shafi’i *really* took that position.

Refuting Other (Lame) Excuse
Some crafty Muslim may give excuse that he is following (doing taqlid) opinion of Imam Abu Hanifah (rh) in performing Jumu’ah with 3 people, or taqlid on Imam Malik (rh) doing Jumu’ah with 8, or 12, or 20 people. In this case his Jumu’ah is still invalid unless he follows the Jumu’ah and solah requirements exactly as demanded by those mazhabs.

Mixing up acts of worship according to different mazhabs is called ‘talfiq mazhab’ and is not allowed to a common Muslim. A Shafi’i follower has no business assuming acts of worship as recommended by other mazhab while being careless to educate himself with Shafi’i rulings. It would be very bad to the whole community if they perform Jumu'ah which is invalid due to failure to observe the rules. Add to this the sin of abandoning Zuhur.

Safeguard Your Obligatory Solah
Showing disregard towards demands of religion – particularly solah – is the worst kind of defiance, the worst kind of sin among major sins, the most degenerate among the haraams. It has been conveyed to us that a Muslim who has abandoned his solah is no longer a Muslim.
Said Rasulullah (saw):

العهدالذي بيننا و بينهم الصلاة فمن تركهافقد كفر
The pledge that is between us and them is to perform solah. So whoever abandons
solah has become a disbeliever.

من ترك الصلاة متعمدا فقدكفر جهارا
Whoever deliberately abandon his solah, then he clearly turns a disbeliever.

من ترك الصلاة فقد برءت منه ذمة الله وذمة رسوله
Whoever abandons his solah, indeed he has wandered beyond the protection of
Allah and His messenger.

من حافظ على الصلاة كانت له نورا و برهانا ونجاة يوم القيامة
Whoever safeguards his solah, so for him nur (light) and burhan (guidance) and
escape from the trials of the Qiamah.

ومن لم يحافظ عليهالم تكن له نورا ولا برهانا ولا نجاة وكان يوم القيامة مع فرعون وقارون وهامان و أُبَيِّ بن خلف

Whoever does not safeguard his solah, there shall be neither nur nor burhan nor
escape. And at the day of Qiamah, he is grouped together with Fir’aun, Qarun,
Haman, and Ubai son of Khalaf.

Ustaz Zakaria said:
  • It is haram for the authority to do personal acts of worship until he fulfil his responsibility with amar ma’ruf nahi munkar.
  • Never do talfiq on mazhab. In extreme cases where you have to perform solah according to Hanafi, then you must take wudu’ according to their method.
  • If you have skipped many obligatory solah before, you must make them up day and night. You are not allowed to do sunnah/nawafil until finish making up the missed ones.
  • All Muslims must learn. One of neighboring masjids did ‘Eid Takbir after completing solah ‘Eidul-Fitr – this incorrectly done probably due to ignorance.
  • Takbir for ‘Eidul-Fitr can be said anytime night of 1st Syawal until the imam commence sunnah solah ‘Eidul-Fitr. Takbir for ‘Eidul-Adha can be said Subuh (dawn) of 9 Zulhijjah until Asr (afternoon) 13th Zulhijjah.
Wallahu a'lam

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solat jumaat sembahyang juma'at

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Upcoming Hadith Lessons

Hadith Musalsal

As announced in http://al-fanshuri.blogspot.com/, Ustaz Fahmi Zamzam will give ijazah on hadith musalsal. I'm excited to go... I've heard about this kind of hadith, but never heard it narrated directly. Even Ibn Battuta mentioned about it in the Rihlah.

25 October 2008 (Saturday). After sholat Maghrib
Pusat Pengajian Ba'alawi No.9, Jalan UP2A, Prima Ukay, Kemensah (behind Zoo Negara)
Kitab: al-Awaail al-Zamzamiyah al-Maalikiyah wa ba'd al-Musalsalaat al-Masyhurah
Shaikh: Ustaz Ahmad Fahmi Zamzam al-Banjari al-Nadwi al-Maaliki.
And another hadith lesson:
25, 26 October (Sat, Sunday). Morning.
Shaikh Nuruddin Marbu al-Banjari al-Makki at Masjid al-Falah Subang Jaya.

Wallahu a'lam

Friday, October 17, 2008

Permissibility For Multiple Jumu'ah

Munyatul Musolli 12th October 2008

Need for Multiple Jumu'ah
Due to various reasons (masjid overflowing etc), it could be inevitable that multiple Jumu'ah be performed in a single vicinity. The final position of Mazhab Syafi'i (Qaul Mu'tamad) is that it is permissible to do this in accordance with the need. However, significant to note that:

  • Jumu'ah performed in the first (main) masjid is accepted. It is not allowed (haram) to follow it with Zuhur.
  • Jumu'ah at other masjids due to the need are also accepted. It is sunnah to follow those Jumu'ah with Zuhur in respect of the other qaul that disallows multiple Jumu'ah.
40 People To Make It Valid
Jumu'ah is not accepted if you have doubt that there are 40 qualified congregants in the masjid. However if you sure there 40 present, you need not make sure every one of them perform their solah correctly.

Some people claim that within mazhab Syafi'i itself, there is a Qaul Qadim (older position) that permits Jumu'ah with only 3 congregants. We counter that fallacy as follows:
  1. Did Imam Syafi'i himself said that? Ulama disagree on this. Hence this is a weak argument.
  2. Even if Imam Syafi'i had said that, this allowance had been directed specifically at people of rural communities where it is difficult to group together 40 congregants. And this permissibility was merely harus (allowed), netiher sunnah (encouraged) nor wajib (compulsory).
As a general rule, steering away from committing haram is more preferred than threading the difficult line trying to commit a sunnah. Considering importance of solah, falling into this trap is very grave and catastrophic to the ummah as a whole. Performing solah incorrectly due to lack of learning is equivalent to no solah at all.

We should follow the stronger position that says 'haram' (disallowed) to perform Jumu'ah with less than 40 congregants.

The authorities is responsible to make sure all muslims learn and be well-informed. They have the rights to hand out harsh punishment to the jama'ah that ignore the 40-congregant rule. This is part of commanding to do good and preventing from doing bad. Authorities that fail to enforce this will place the sin of muslims onto themselves.

Said Ustaz Zakaria:
  1. Basic ruling of Mazhab Syafi'i is that only one Jumu'ah performed within a vicinity. Exception given if the masjid cannot accommodate all congregants.
  2. Don't worry if you have exactly 40 people, and there are unlearned people among them. Jumu'ah still valid.
  3. It is preferred we follow the position that says Jumu'ah is invalid if you have less than 40 people. Play it safe.
  4. We seek islamic knowledge to satisfy the obligation of seeking knowledge. We don't do it for the sake of paper certificates.
  5. It is no good if you don't know basics of Islam, even if you hold high-ranking job.
Wallahu a'lam

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solat jumaat sembahyang juma'at

Monday, October 6, 2008

Solah Jumu'ah in Jama'ah

Munyatul Musolli 28th Sept 2008

Solah Jumu'ah = weekly solah on Friday
Jama'ah = congregation, a group of people, or a community.


Solah Jumu’ah (continued)
A latecomer who joins Jumu’ah during the second rak’ah counts as having fulfilled the Jumu’ah. Consider a second person coming to the masjid even later - after the imam concludes the solah - and follows this latecomer as a masbuq. If he joins before the ruku’ of the second rak’ah, this second person would get counted as part of the original Jumu’ah as well.

Prerequisites for Jumu’ah

The first prerequisite is the need for a jama’ah (congregation). There has to be at least 40 qualified congregants. Each of them has to be:

  • ‘Aqil baligh – achieved puberty and having sane mind.
  • Free – not owned as a slaved.
  • Mastautin - a local resident.

In addition, each congregant should also be reliable to fulfil all requirements for individual solah.
A person (literate or not) unable to recite al-Fatihah well enough and neglects to learn and improve himself should not be counted as reliable. Thus he should not be counted among the 40. This is a consensus between Syaikh Ibn Hajar (rh) and Syaikh Ramli (rh).


In contrast, a person unable to recite well, but continually tries to learn and improve; or simply too unintelligent to improve, counts as reliable. Syaikh Ramli had the opinion that this person can be counted among the 40 provided that other competent congregant taking responsibilities as the imam and khatib. Syaikh Ibn Hajar however disagreed - this person should not be counted among the 40 no matter if he is the imam or khatib or neither.


It is acceptable if a congregant is not well versed with elements of solah, such as which element is obligatory(rukun) and which is only encouraged (sunnah). This holds true as long as he does not skip a rukun (convinced it being a sunnah). Both Syaikh Ibn Hajar and Syaikh Ramli concur that this person is reliable and included in the 40.


Zuhur and Jumu’ah
Once Friday solah (Jumu’ah) is fulfilled, then it is disallowed (haram) to accompany it with Zuhur because it is not right to perform 2 fardu solahs within a prescribed period. Nabi (saw) never did so, neither did the 4 Guided Caliphs nor the ulama of the old (mutaqaddimin) or the recent (muta’akhirin).


There may be some exceptions as done in Mesir (Egypt) due to the large population, many cities and different mazhab (fiqh school of thought). According to Hanafi mazhab, it is acceptable to have multiple Jumu’ah congregations within a city or village, even if each masjid is not filled to maximum capacity. However, within Syafi’I mazhab there is an opinion (qaul) that multiple jama’ah is not allowed within a city limit regardless of masjids being overflowed or not. When these two mazhab are practiced within the same city, inevitably the Syafi’I is at odd, because Hanafis perform Jumu’ah at many masjids due to distance or comfort. So Syafi’I jama’ah usually opt to perform Zuhur after their Jumu’ah in respect of the offended qaul. In this case, both their Jumu’ah and Zuhur are valid.


Said Ustaz Zakaria:


  • People of Mastautin – local residents who do not intend to relocate elsewhere.
  • People of Muqim – temporary residents who intend to relocate after 3 days.
  • People of Musafir – those traveling beyond the boundary of his qariah (neighborhood).
  • At Masjid Jamek and Masjid Negara (Kuala Lumpur), some more-knowledgeable people follow-up Friday solah with Zuhur.
  • A person who has gone for lessons yet still fail to recite correctly is not qualified to become an imam if there is a more able person. His solah is valid for himself only.
  • If you fail to recite a rukun correctly, then your solah is invalid. If you fail to recite a sunnah correctly, then you don’t get the reward. Your solah is still valid.
Wallahu a'lam


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solat jumaat sembahyang juma'at

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Friday Solah (MM 21/9/08)

Munyatul Musolli 21st Sept 2008

Solah in Jama’ah (continued)
Solah in jama’ah is preferred over solah singly. All fardu solah is ranked as follows in the need for jama’ah:

  1. Solah Jumu’ah (Friday congregational solah) – compulsory to perform it in jama’ah.
  2. Subuh
  3. Isya’
  4. ‘Asr
  5. Zuhur
  6. Maghrib
Solah Jumu’ah (Friday)
It is bad enough if a Muslim miss a solah in jama’ah. It is even worse to miss Friday solah - the whole community should declare enmity towards the offender and burn down his house. This demand goes to show how immoral and appalling the offense is. It is a consensus among ulama that Friday solah is ‘fardu ain’ – obligatory on each Muslim, and skipping it is haram and sinful.

Nabi (saw) said:



من ترك ثلاث جمع من غير عذر طبع الله قلبه

Whoever misses 3 Friday solah without excuse, Allah will seal shut his heart.



Once Saidina ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (ra) was asked:
A man who regularly stand up at night to pray and fast during the day, but attend netiher Jumu’ah nor jama’ah, what will happen to him?

He answered: His place is in Hell!

Moreover Nabi (Saw) said:



من ترك الجمعة ثلاثا من غير عذر فقد نبذ الاءسلام
وراء ظهره



Whoever misses out on Friday solah 3 times without excuse, really he has tossed
Islam behind his back.



Virtues of Friday
Make it known that to Allah, Friday is the noblest among all days of the week. Adam (as) was created on Friday and the end of the world will also be on Friday.

Friday is also the best day of the week that the sun set to rise. On Friday, 600,000 people in Hell are forgiven and let out. It is no surprise either that a Muslim who dies on Friday is recorded a martyr and he is safeguarded from trials in the grave.

We are encouraged to say a lot of salawat to Nabi (saw), and recite surah al-Kahf on Friday and the night preceding it.

It is sunnah to make intention (niat) for Friday when starting morning shower. Then go to the masjid early before solah, and listen carefully to the sermon (khutbah). Some folks intentionally delay Friday solah in waiting for the congregants to fill up the masjid. This is bid’ah (later-day innovation) and you should take care to avoid it.

The community leader has the obligation to force all muslims to attend Friday solah. Failure to attend should be made punishable by law. The enforcement is mandatory upon the leader, and shall not be taken half-heartedly. Friday solah is one of symbols of Islam, and enforcing it shows that religious duties should not be taken lightly.

If the authority take enformencent lightly, the sin of the offender is borne on him as well. This is for neglecting “amar ma’ruf wa nahyu ‘anil munkar” (Command people to do good and prevent them from doing evil).

Coming Late For Friday Solah
To qualify as having performed Friday Solah, a latecomer has to make sure he joins the jama'ah at least 1 full rak'ah. If he joins when the imam is doing ruku' of the 2nd rak'ah, then his Friday Solah is fulfilled. Of course after the imam gives salam, this latecomer must raise and perform 1 more rak'ah alone (taking care to recite loud because this is a Friday solah).
On the other hand, if the latecomer join the jama'ah when the imam has completed ruku' of the 2nd rak'ah, then he misses that Friday Solah. Once the imam gives salam, he should raise and perform 4 rak'ahs of zuhur (and recite silently).

Said Ustaz Zakaria:

  1. We Malays recite Yasin and tahlil on Thursday night taking advantage of Friday's special status, and in line with 600,000 people being relieved from Hellfire.
  2. Other surahs recommended recited on Friday: ad-Dukhan, al-Qiyamah etc.
  3. Those who die on Friday counted as 'syahid aakhirah', so we still wash them and give proper burial.
  4. Some masjids wait until khutbah, then start collecting donation from the congregants. This is not good practice as it spoils the reward Allah reserves for being attentive to khutbah.
  5. Friday shower is sunnah only to those having intention to attend solah Jumu'ah.
  6. A latecomer who is aware that he is too late to be counted as Friday solah can opt to state his niat (at takbiratul-ihram) as performing Zuhur.

Wallahu a'lam


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solat jumaat sembahyang juma'at

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Virtues of Iman (Part 3 of 3)

Virtues of Iman continued

This article adapted from Ustaz Zakaria's discourse night of 18 Ramadan 1429H between tarawihs. Based on a chapter of the book "Jaharul Mauhub" by Syaikh Wan Ali Kutan(rh)



Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
or download the whole article in Acrobat format here



Sharpen up Our Faith

It has been related that Nabi Muhammad (saw) said that in the beginning, faith is naked (al imanu ‘uryan), and fear of God is the clothes (wa libasu taqwa), and shyness is the decoration (wa zinahu ahya’), and the fruit is knowledge (wa tsamaratuhu ‘ilm).

We should learn tauhid, fiqh and tasawwuf in a proper way - with a kitab and through a knowledgeable syaikh. A kitab acts as a guide, and as reference once we alone at home. We also rely on the blessings (barakah) of the author, who are not just knowledgable, but also achieved status of friends of Allah (Waliyyullah). Ulama such as Syaikh Wan Daud al-Fatoni (rh - died 1847) has been famous even among his own contemporaries. Syaikh Daud wrote his kitaab (Munyatul Musolli etc) illuminated by special lights – those emanating from his fingers and his heart. There is definitely no room for us to belittle his works. The language he used might be difficult to understand, and modern interest in his works is minimal, but that is our generation’s fault, not his.

In another hadith, Rasulullah (saw) said that faith is in the chest of man. And faith is not complete unless we complete religious deeds, be it fardu (obligatory) or sunnah (recommended).

So never look down upon sunnah doings, because together with fardu they steer us towards faith. Once we renounce these two, then our iman would self-destruct.
Wearing turban is recommended to every muslim man, as Rasulullah (saw) wore one most of the time. If we find turban is unfashionable, then just keep quiet, don’t show objection to it. Another example of sunnah is carrying a walking stick when you are past forty.

All things that bring benefit can be given away as charity (sadaqah), and we get a divine reward for it. Giving away one kilogram of rice is beneficial to the receiving party, but giving away only one grain of rice is not.

Along this spirit, we can do tahlil sessions, and sadaqah the reward to the deceased muslims. This is the best we can do, since there is no way the dead can benefit if we give them material things. For many centuries, it has been common practice to supplicate for well being of the deceased among fellow muslims. At least all of us do once a week - such as done during Friday sermon.

It is already a loss that we skip sunnah deeds, it is even worse if we prohibit others from doing them.

Signs of Faith

Imam as-Suyuti (rh) in his kitab ‘Niqayah’ said there are 70 branches of faith. Other imam and ulama have different opinion, some say 64, 76, or 77 branches. The most important branch is the syahadatain (testify about Allah and His messenger). The least significant is getting rid of whatever that pose nuisance to people, such as moving away fallen branches from middle of the road. Menial work like this ensures reward from Allah and strengthens our iman.

There is a hadith: You do not have faith until you start to love your fellow Muslims like you love yourselves.

Never argue with others such that you break connections them. Some of us hate each others simply because we vote for opposing parties in the elections. Do not show enmity towards anybody just because their political ideology is not Islamic. Make friends with them and guide them little by little. Even with non-muslims, you should not declare enmity to ever one of them. Some are muahad, muawwaman, zimmi, and some are harbi. We have different obligations on them base on this classification.

In conclusion, we all should go to Islamic lessons because they give us proper guidance. Add to that the blessings of Allah descending upon such a gathering. Surely good things will come out of it.

(click 'previous' to read previous page, or download the whole article in Acrobat format here)

Wallahua'lam


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Virtues of Iman (Part 2 of 3)

Virtues of Iman continued

This article adapted from Ustaz Zakaria's discourse night of 18 Ramadan 1429H between tarawihs. Based on a chapter of the book "Jaharul Mauhub" by Syaikh Wan Ali Kutan(rh)


Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

or download the whole article in Acrobat format here


Types of Faith
In the kitab (book) Jauharul Mauhub by Syaikh Wan Ali Kutan, it is mentioned 3 types of faith (iman) that we see among the believers:

Taqlid
A person labeled with ‘iman taqlid’ means he is a follower. He believes in God simply because everybody else does. He cannot justify his belief with proofs. We can break down iman taqlid into 2 categories:
  1. Taqlid with jazmi – a follower, but a convinced one. If we ask Him about God, he concurs, but if we prod him to supply proof about God, he is not able to. He is convinced that God exists because that is what he has been taught. Some ulama maintain that this person is a believer, but he remains a sinner until he starts to learn about God.
  2. Taqlid without jazmi – a follower, and not 100% convinced with God. This person is not fit to be considered a Muslim.
Istidlal
This person, without question is a believer. He believes in God and knows how to justify God. If we have conversation with him:
Q: Do you believe that God exists? Prove it?
A: Yes I do. There is this world, so there must be God.
Q: How you relate that?
A: Because the world is new. Everything new must be created, hence a Creator.
Q: What made you say the world is new?
A: Because it keeps changing. When something changes, it turns new.

This type of faith is where we common folks want to achieve. We want to know the twenty sifaat (attributes) of Allah (even though Allah has more than 20 sifaat). It is a shame that some ignorant ustaz discourage us from learning this subject for fear of innovation (bid’ah). These ignorant pretenders do not have a place among us – Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama’ah - and we should chase them away if they come to teach us about Islam.

I’yan
This type of faith is the ultimate. The heart is immersed in iman due to the experience (zauq) with God. If you want to achieve this level, train your heart with special wirid (besides other deeds).

(click 'next' to read next page, or download the whole article in Acrobat format here)

Wallahua'lam

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Virtues of Iman (Part 1 of 3)

This article adapted from Ustaz Zakaria's discourse night of 18 Ramadan 1429H between tarawihs.
Based on a chapter of the book "Jaharul Mauhub" by Syaikh Wan Ali Kutan (rh)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

or download the whole article in Acrobat format here


The Virtues of Faith

Iman (faith) is the root of Islam. To learn Islam, it is of the utmost importance to get to know about iman first.

As Allah mentioned in the Quran (al-Baqarah:25) :

وَبَشِّرَ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْوَعَمِلُواْالصَّٰلِحَٰتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَاالاْءَنْهَٰر


Give good news O Muhammad to those who are faithful and who perform good, that
for them Gardens through which rivers flow



Allah has promised the gardens (jannah) to those obedient to Him. Gardens by themselves are already beautiful; what more, they are decorated with flowing rivers.

What significant here is that Allah mentioned the reward ‘to the faithful’ first, and ‘those who perform good deeds’ second. Throughout Islamic methodologies, the higher ranked point is always mentioned first.

Among the good deeds prescribed in Islam are solah, fasting, reciting zikir, sending salawat to Rasulullah (saw), reading al-Quran and giving in charity. Deeds - no matter how virtuous - performed by unbeliever are rejected! Therefore a muslim should always safeguard his faith.

Islamic ‘Pillars of Faith’ consists of 6 basic articles that offshoot into many more. The most important article is belief in God. One has to know God and be convinced about Him. Mere believing, but having doubts in one’s heart - about some aspects of God - does not count.. Ulama say you should know God with 3 conditions:

الجزم الموافق ل الحق عن دليل

Which means :
Al-jazam : You have a true conviction
Muafiq lil-haqqi : Truth of which of consensus (among scholars of Islam)
‘an dalili – Substantiated by proof (logic as well as from al-Quran and ahadith).

As in any education, to know something and be convinced, one has to attend proper learning. Simply listening to hearsay will not lead to faith. Ulama have prescribed learning at least 3 disciplines of Islamic knowledge:
Tauhid – also known as faith, belief or creed
Fiqh – a.k.a. jurisprudence or law
Tasawwuf – a.k.a. purification of the heart

If we take care to learn atleast all these three, Insya Allah we will be taken care of in the afterlife. If we have not, we will encounter difficulties. Do not be misled by your worldly achievement. Do not regret after you are already a few feet underground, and weighed down by the 2 tombstones. There is no way to climb up and go seek knowledge then.

(click 'next' to read next page, or download the whole article in Acrobat format here)

Wallahua'lam



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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Solah in Jama’ah (MM 13/9/08)

Munyatul Musolli 13th Sept 2008

Virtues of Solah in Jama’ah (continued)
Solah in a jama’ah is like a rope or lifeline that we should hold on to. Allah the Most High has said so in the Quran:

وَاعتَصِمُوا بِحَبلِ اْللّٰهِ جَمِيعًا

A person who ignores jama’ah on purpose has committed a great mischief to his religion. This shows his dislike in provisioning for the akhirah (afterlife). If he continues belittling jama’ah, Allah considers him a ‘munafiq’.

If you cannot avoid skipping jama’ah in the masjid due to illness or urgent business, then it is compulsory that you perform solah at home with your children, wife or your servant.

Allah gives even more bonus for a solah jama’ah:

  1. Relative to the size of congregation.
  2. Bonus if the jama’ah is led by a pious imam.
  3. For every footsteps taken to go to the masjid, Allah gives 10 reward and erases 10 vice (as we gather from several ahadith).
  4. Sitting idle int he masjid waiting for the next solah is rewarded as if one performs a solah.
  5. The angels plea forgiveness on behalf of a person remain sitting after completing a solah. They continue pleading to Allah until the person voids his hadas or starts talking something inappropriate.
  6. Extra points for performing solah in the first row.
  7. Extra points for filling up the front rows before starting the next rows.
  8. Extra points for making sure the heels are aligned straight.

Said Ustaz Zakaria:

  • We should invite people over for the weekly halaqah zikir so that our community becomes strong.
  • A person who is strong in faith will be unwavering in establishing his religion. A person with weak faith get swayed over with money or wealth.
  • Better get used to pray behind an imam, before the imam prays behind you (solah janazah).
  • We should imitate the tabligh folks in inviting people to come to jama'ah.
  • There is a special wirid after Friday jama'ah called 'Aurad Madaniah' or 'Aurad Qasasiah' named after Syaikh Ahmad Qasasi. Ahmad Qasasi was the syaikh of Syaikh 'Abdul Rauf Fansuri. People of Madinah used to recite this every week in Masjid Nabawi. The foreigners who invaded Madinah later put a stop to this practice, unfortunately.

Wallahu a'lam

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Monday, September 15, 2008

Wirid (continued) and Jama'ah (MM 6/9/08)

Munyatul Musolli 6th Sept 2008

After finishing the doa (Allahumma inni as-aluka muujiba…), Nabi (saw) used to recite the mu’awizatain (surahs al-Falaq and an-Naas).


[Specifically for Subuh and Maghrib, he recited this 3 times:

رَضِيتُ بِاللّٰهِ رَبَّاوَبِالإِسلامِ دِينَاوَبِمُحَمَّدٍ نَبِيَّا
]

Then this 3 times:

اللَّهُمَّ أَجِرنَا مِنَ النَّارِ

and this 3 times:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسأَلُكَ الجَنَّةَ

Next he said this 3 times:

أَعُوذُبِكَلِمَاتِ اللّٰهِ التّامَّاتِ مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ

and this 3 times:

بِسمِ اللّٰهِ الَّذِي لاَ يَضُرُّ مَعَ اسْمِهِ شَيْءٌ فِي الأَرضِ وَلاَ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ العَلِيمُ

Next Rasulullah (saw) this 3 times:

اللَّهُمَّ اَنتَ رَبِي لاَ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اَنتَ خَلَقتَنِي وَ أَنا عَبدُكَ وَأَنا عَلَى عَهدِكَ وَوَعدِكَ مَااستَطَعتُ
أَعُوذُبِكَ مِن شَّرِّمَا صَنَعتُ أَبُوءُ بِنِعمَتِكَ عَلَى وأَبُوءُلَكَ بِذَنبِي
فَاغْفِرلِي فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغفِرُالذُنُوبَ إِلاَّ أَنتَ



Extra Wirid After Solah
And it is appropriate for us to recite the following aurad due to their immense benefit.


[ This wirid would ensure the reciter a good ending at the time of death (husnul khatimah). Recite 3x after Subuh and Maghrib:

سُبحَانَ الدَّاءِمِ القَاءِمِ سُبحَانَ القَاءمِ الدَّاءِمِ
سُبحَانَ الحَيَّ القَيُّومِ سُبحَانَ اللّٰهِ العَظِيمِ وَ بِحَمدِهِ
سُبحَان المَلِكِ القُدُّوس سُبحَانَ رَبِّ المَلاَءِكَةِ وَالرُّوحِ
]

Recite 3x:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُبِكَ مِنَ المَكرِ وَالإِسْتِدْرَاجِ

[ And read 4 times “istighfar al-‘Arif al-Amjad as-Syed Syarif ‘Abdullah bin al-‘Alawi al-Haddad ‘alaihi minallahi tawalla wal-amdad” after Maghrib, again for husnul khatimah:

أَستَغفِرُاللَٰهَ العَظِيمَ الَّذِي لاَءِلٰهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الرَّحمَانُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحَيُّ القَيُّومُ الَّذِي لاَ يَمُوتُ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ رَبِّ اغْفِرلِي

]

‘Arif al-Bakri said whoever recited this salawat once in his lifetime will be safeguarded from Hellfire, and guaranteed a husnul khatimah.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ الفَاتِح لِمَا أُغلِقَ وَالخَاتِمِ لِمَاسَبَقَ
وَالنَّاصِرِالحَقَّ بِالحَقِّ وَالهَادِي إِلَى صِرَاطِكَ المُستَقِيمِ
صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحبِهِ حَقَّ قَدرِهِ وَمِقدَارِهِ العَظِيمِ

[ As written by Sidi Muhammad Ghausullah in “Jauhar” , a person reciting the following 70 times on the day of ‘Asyura,:

حَسبِيَ اللّٰهُ وَنِعمَ الوَكِيلُ نِعمَ المَولَى وَنِعمَ النَّصِيرُ

and followed by the following du’a 7 times, it is assured that he will not die that year. If he was predestined to die, then he would not be inspired to read it:

سُبحَانَ اللّٰهِ مِلءَ المِيزَانِ وَمُنتَهَى العِلمِ وَمَبلَغَ الرِّضَى وَزِنَةَ العَرشِ
لاَ مَلجَأ وَلاَمَنجَا مِنَ اللّٰهِ إِلاَّ إِلَيْهِ سُبحَانَ اللّٰهِ عَدَدَ الشَّفعِ وَالوِترِ
وَعَدَدَ كَلِمَاتِهِ التَّامَّاتِ كُلِّهَا أَسأَلُكَ السَّلاَمَةَ بِرَحمَتِكَ يَا أَرحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ
وَلاَحَولَ وَلاَقُوَّةَ إِلاَّبِاللّٰهِ العَلِيِّ العَظِيمِ وَهُوَ حَسبِي وَنِعمَ الوَكِيلُ
نِعمَ المَولَى وَنِعمَ النَّصِيرُ
وَصَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا خَيرِ خَلقِهِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَصَحبِهِ أَجمَعِينَ

]

[
More wirid follows. In his risalah ‘Mujarabaat’, al-‘Arif billah Sidi as-Sanusi (may Allah benefit us with his barakah) said “whoever recite this du’a every day and night, he would not be wounded by an arrow or by a sword, would not be troubled by a foe, would feel no pain, and would not die. If it was his destiny to die, then Allah would make him forget to recite it”. The du’a is:

بِسمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ وَصَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَصَحبِهِ
وَسَلِّم تَسلِيمًا دَاءِمًا حَرَستُ نَفسِي وَأَهلِي وَمَالِي وَمَاحَضَرَنِي أَوْ غَابَ عَنِّي
بِالحَيِّ القَيُّومِ الَّذِي لاَيَمُوتُ وَأَلجَأْتُ ظَهرِي فِي حِفظِي ذٰلِكَ لِلحَيِّ القَيُّومِ
وَ أَصبَحتُ (وَأَمسَيْتُ) فِي جِوَرِاللّٰهِ الَّذِي لاَيُرَامُ وَلاَيُضَامُ وَلايُستَبَاحُ وَفِي
ذِمَّتِهِ وَضَمَانِهِ الَّذِي لاَيَخفِرُ ضَمَانَ عَبدِهِ وَاسْتَمسَكتُ بِالعُروَةِ الوُثقَى
رَبِّي وَرَبِّ كُلِّ شَيْءِوَرَبِّ السَّمٰوَاتِ وَالأَرضِ لاَإِلٰهَ إِلاَّهُوَ
فَاتَّخِذهُ وَكِيلاً تَوَكَّلتُ عَلَى اللّٰهِ وَاعتَصَمتُ بِاللّٰهِ
وَفَوَّضتُ أَمرِي إِلَى اللّٰهِ نِعمَ القَادِرُاللّٰهُ
فَاللّٰهُ خَيْرٌ حَافِظًاوَهُوَ أَرحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ
إِنَّ وَلِيَّيَ اللُّهُ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ الكِتَابَ وَهُوَ يَتَولَّى الصَّالِحِينَ
وَصَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَصَحبِهِ وَسَلِّم تَسلِيمًا
عَدَدَ خَلقِهِ وَرَضَاءَنَفسِهِ وَزِنَةَ عَرشِهِ وَدَوَامَ مُلكِهِ
وَمِدَادَ كَلِمَاتِهِ
٭ لَقَد جَاءَكُم رَسولٌ مِن أَنفُسِكُم عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَاعَنِتكُم
حَرِصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ فَإِن تَوَلَّوا فَقُل حَسبِيَ
اللّٰهُ لاَإِلٰهَ إِلاَّهُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ العَرشِ العَظِيمِ

And repeat 7 times

٭ لَقَد جَاءَكُم
]


Virtues of Solah in a Congregation

It his highly encouraged to perform solah in a congregation (jama’ah). As mentioned in a hadith, solah in a jama’ah is rewarded 27 times better than solah performed alone. It is like investing in a business that yields exceptionally high return. What better is that the capital outlay is so cheap.

A person who takes jama’ah lightly is considered not serious with his religion. Some ulama consider solah in jama’ah is ‘fardu kifayah’, and skipping it intentionally warrants a severe punishment from the authority. Some ulama also say that a person who lives close to a masjid has no option but to perform solah with the jama’ah in the masjid.

Solah in a congregation is like water in a container. The larger the jama’ah, the larger quantity of water. If some impurity (najis) falls into it, the water would absorb away the foreign color or smell, and there’s no (noticeable) changes. Compare this to water in little container, small amount of najis already render the water unusable.

Satan also is stronger against a person praying alone. Since reward for your solah is directly proportional to degree of khusyu’, you don’t stand much chance to reap a 100% reward. In contrast, solah in jama’ah is always a perfect 10 regardless of how focused you are.

Commented Ustaz Zakaria:
  • “A’uzubikalimaatillaahi taammaat…” also recommended to be recited prior to takbiratul-ihram.
  • Salawat al-Fatih by ‘Arif al-Bakri should be recited daily.
  • Laqad jaa-akum to be recited 7 times in the morning, and 7 times afternoon. It is a multi-purpose ayah.
  • Allah will always help those who have established relationship with Him.
  • Ustaz Zakaria recites doa as-Sanusi daily. He has a “general” ijaza for own practice only.
  • In do’a as-Sanusi, say ‘asbahtu / amsaitu” as per time of the day (morning/afternoon respectively).
  • Imam Nawawi’s (rh) position on solah in jama’ah – Fardu Kifayah.

Wallahu a'lam

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Wirid After Solah (MM 31/8/08)

Munyatul Musolli 31st August 2008

Wirid After Solah

Among the sunnah activities after solah is wirid and do'a. Nabi (saw) after completing his solah would wipe his hand over his head and would recite:

بِسمِ اللّٰهِ الَّذِي لاَإِلٰهَ إِلاَّهُوَالرَّحمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ اللَّهُمَّ أَذهَب عَنَّي الهَمَّ وَالحَزَنَ

[ And specifically for Subuh or Maghrib, he next recite 10 times:

لاَإِلٰهَ إِلاَّاللّٰهُ وَحدهُ لاَشَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ المُلكُ وَلَهُ الحَمدُ يُحيِ وَيُمِيتُ وَهُوَعَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍقَدِيرٌ
]

Followed by 3 repetitions of:

أَستَغفِرُاللّٰهَ العَظِيمَ


Then:

أَللَّهُمَّ أَنتَ السَّلاَمُ ومِنكَ السَّلاَمُ فَحَيِّنَارَبَّنَا بِالسَّلاَمِ وَأَدخِلنَا لجَنَّةَدَارَالسَّلاَمِ تَبَارَكتَ يَا ذَالجَلالِ وَالإِكرَامِ

Then ayat al-Kursi and “Syahidallahu…” until the end.

Followed by:
33x Subhanallah ( سُبحَانَ اللّٰه )
33x Alhamdulillah ( أَلحَمدُلِلّٰهِ )
34x Allahuakbar ( أَللّٰهُ أَكبَرُ )

Followed by:

لاَإِلٰهَ إِلاَّاللّٰهُ وَحدهُ لاَشَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ المُلكُ وَلَهُ الحَمدُ يُحيِ وَيُمِيتُ وَهُوَعَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍقَدِيرٌ

Then:

أَللَّهُمَّ لاَمَنِعَ لِمَا أَعطَيْتَ وَلاَ مُعطِي لِمَا مَنَعتَ وَلاَ يَنفَعُ ذَالجَدِّ مِنكَ الجَدُّ


Then the do’a:

أَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسأَلُكَ مُوجِبَاتِ رَحمَتِكَ وَعَزَاءِمَ مَغفِرَتِكَ
وَالغَنِيمَةَ مِن كُلَّ بِرٍّ وَالسَّلاَمَةَمِن كُلِّ إِثْمٍ وَالفَوزُ بِالجَنَّةِ وَالنَّجَاةَمِنَ النَّارِ
أَللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرلَنَاوَارْحَمنا وَارْضَ عَنَّا وَتَقَبَّل مِنَّا وَأَدخِلنَاالجَنَّةَ وَنَجِّنَا مِنَ النَّارِوَأَصلِح لَنَا شَأْنَنَا كُلَّهُ
أَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسأَلُكَ الثَّيَاتَ فِي الأَمرِ وَالعَزِيمَةَ والرُّشدَ
وَأَسأَلُكَ شُكرَنِعمَتِكَ وَحُسنَ عِبَادَتِكَ وَلِسَانًا صَادِقًا وَقَلبًا سَلِيمًا
وَأَعُوذُبِكَ مِن شَرِّمَا تَعلَمُ وَأَستَغفِرُكَ مِمَّا نَعلَمُ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلاَّمُ الغُيُوبِ
وَصَلّى اللّٰهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحبِهِ وسَلَّمَ
سُبحانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ العِزَّةِعَمَّا يَصِفُونَ وَسَلاَمٌ عَلَى المُرسَلِينَ وَالحَمدُللّٰهِ رَبِّالعالَمينَ.


Wallahu a'lam

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Monday, September 8, 2008

Sifats Ma’ani (RT 24/8/08)

Risalah Tauhid 24th August 2008

Sifats Ma’ani
Ma’ani comes from the word ma’na. In English, it stands for ‘meaning’ or ‘purpose’. Hearing is a purpose or meaning that comes out from the ear.

There are 7 sifats under this category: qudrah; iradah; ‘ilm; hayah; sama’; basor; kalam.
Each of the sifats is independently attributed to the being of Allah. They represent God’s power, will, knowledge, hearing, sight, and speech. They are ‘maujud fi zihin’ and ‘maujud fi kharij’ – perceptible to our intelligence, and perceptible to our senses.

Wallahu a'lam

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Friday, September 5, 2008

Easier to Read with RSS Reader

RSS Reader

I found it easier to read blogs of islaminus kind with an RSS Reader. Just launch it, and the blog will be delivered to you.


With RSS readers, slow internet connection won't spoil the fun. What more, you can rearrange the entries by date. Try listing the earlier entry at top - this makes it easy to follow the lesson. Human eyes scan for materials top to bottom, but blogs display latest entry at top.

I use Snarfer , but you have alternatives: Tristana, Feed Demon etc. All are free.

Install the RSS reader. Create new feed, and key in http://feeds.feedburner.com/Islaminus. It will download all previous islaminus entries, and you view them just like reading email. New entries will be delivered automatically.

To get going quickly without downloading, look for this logo on the right towards the bottom.


Just click on it. You'll see what it would look like on an RSS reader.


Allah knows best.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Pondok Hj Salleh Sik 29/8/08

Pondok Hj Salleh Sik, 29th August 2008

(Note: I went to the pondok not taking a pen with me. Translating this from poor memory, there isn't a lot to write.)
Ustaz Hj Salleh read 3 kitabs: Tafsir Nurul Ihsan, Kifayatul Muhtaj, and 'Aqidatun Najin. His son - Ustaz Muslim - read Bahrul Mazi.

Tafsir Nurul Ihsan (Haji Muhammad Sa'id bin Umar)

As we understand from Surah al-A'raf ayah 172:
Before we were born, Allah called upon our soul and we assembled in front of Him. He asked us: "Am I not your God?"

And we pledged: "Indeed you are". But later we grow up and break this oath.

Kifayat al-Muhtaj fi al-Isra'wa al-Mi'raj (Syaikh Daud al-Fathani)

On the night (Isra' and Mi'raj) that Nabi Muhammad (saw) was summoned by God, a buraq was dispatched as a mean of transport. Buraq is a horse-like animal, its size somewhere between a 'himar' and a 'baghal'.

The buraq was the same mount as had been used by Nabi Ibrahim (as) to travel between lands of Iraq, Syria, and Hijaz thousands years before.

The buraq covered large distance in single leap, while taking care to ensure comfort to its most noble passenger. Jibril (as) flew side by side with them.

They stopped by a hamlet full of date palms. After performing solah, Jibril told Nabi Muhammad (saw) that this place was called 'Yathrib', and he (Muhammad) was set to return to this place in the future.

'Aqidatun Najin (Tuan Minal)

Sifats Ma'ani are the following attributes of Allah:
Hayah, Qudrah, Iradah, 'Ilm, Sama’, Basor, Kalam.

Each of these 7 attributes "is not Him, but neither it is, other than Him". - لا هي هوا، ولا هي غيره

In explaining this, Ustaz Haji Salleh made this analogy:

A chili (pepper) has a color - green - in character (sifat). Yet green is not the being - not the chili itself. If you take away the 'green', the chili is still a chili. We conclude so because a chili is green when young, and becomes red once mature. A chili without the geen color is still a chili.

In a second example, let's consider a hot water. The sifat in question is 'hot', not the physical being of water itself. If it was, then the water would've diminished in quantity once it cools down.

Bahrul Mazi(Syeikh Muhammad Idris Merbawi)

There is a specific hadith that says there is no solah between 'Asr and Maghrib.

This prohibition is exempted (among all) for following solah:

  • Sunnah solah that is tied to a specific event or place (sun eclipse, tahiyyatul masjid etc).
  • Past obligatory/rawatib solah that need to be made up (qodo).
This prohibition also is relative to action, not relative to time. Say time for 'Asr is 4.30pm. Umar performs 'Asr in jama'ah exactly at 4.30. After he finishes, he is not allowed to do nawafil or sunnah solah until maghrib comes. On the other hand Zaid comes to the masjid later at 6.00, but he is still allowed to perform rawatib (sunnah) solah, then perform 'asr.


Wallahu a'lam

Friday, August 29, 2008

Sujud Sahwi and Makruh Elements (MM 24/8/08)

Munyatul Musolli 24th August 2008

Sujud Sahwi (continued).

Sujud sahwi is done only once (2 sujuds with 1 sitting in between). This is regardless the count of sunnah ab’ad being missed.

  1. State your intention (niat) to do sujud sahwi before actually performing it.
  2. Perform it after saying the salawat of the final tasyahhud, and before salam.
  3. Observe the rules as in doing regular sujud in solah.
  4. Recite “سُبْحَانَ مَنْ لاَ يَنَامُ وَلاَ يَسْهُو”. This is recommended (sunnah).
If you intentionally skip sujud sahwi, you’re not allowed to make up for it after concluding solah. But if you forget it and proceed to give salam, you have a second chance to do it. Make intention to reenter solah and to do sujud sahwi, and bend down for sujud. Conditions for this:
  1. The time passed since the 2nd salam is not too long.
  2. Behave as if you are back in solah. Give salam again after completing the sujud sahwi.
  3. If you do something that nullify solah during this time, the whole solah is considered null, and need to be redone completely.
Sunnah Arrangements Prior to Performing Solah
Among the preferred arrangements before performing solah are:
  1. Azan and iqamah.
  2. Find a place that has enclosure like a wall or a pillar. Or a place fenced off by anything 2/3 of hasta (elbow length) in height. If not, spread a sajdah (prayer mat) or draw a line around you to show the boundary.
  3. Make sure that the enclosure or the line length is no longer than 3 hasta from your heel towards the qiblah.
  4. If you mark the boundary with a single pillar, take care not to be directly behind it, but a bit to the right, or bit to left.
Makruh Elements During Solah
The makruh (disliked) doings in solah are numerous, among them:
  1. Do not turn the head right and left.
  2. Do not turn the face skywards. This could lead to many diversions by syaitan.
  3. Do not cover the mouth with a piece of cloth or any other article. But it’s encouraged to cover the mouth with hand when yawning. This is in conjunction with a hadith that encourages so to prevent syaitan from entering the body.
  4. Do not tie the hair in knot, except for women.
  5. Do not spit while performing solah. If you really need to, then spit towards the left or under your feet, then cover the spit with earth. If you pray inside a masjid, you’re not allowed to spit at all so as to preserve cleanliness. In a hadith, spitting inside a masjid is unlawful.
  6. Do not clutch your hands on sides of the hips. This is specifically prevented in a hadith. It is a symbol of boastfulness and aggression. People do this in Hell - when being relieved from torture.
  7. When doing ruku’ do not overly lower the head such that it’s not even with the back.
  8. Do not pray while holding back urge to go to the toilet or pass wind. If you need to go, then put off solah until you relieve yourself.
  9. Do not pray while there’s tempting food or drinks in front. There’s a hadith: “ There’s no (complete) solah in front of food.
  10. Do not pray inside the bathroom, near a cliff-edge, in the middle of a public road, sewage-disposal, or places of idol-worship.
  11. Do not pray inside animal herding places. Do not pray near a non-muslim cemetery. If praying on a grave that has been exhumed, make sure there is a spread between you and ground because the earth is considered unclean and would nullify the solah.
  12. Do not solah inside a Christian church, Jewish synagogue, or idolater’s temple.

Ustaz Zakaria added:

  • If you don’t state intention to do sujud sahwi before actually performing it, then your solah is batal.
  • In case you forget to do sujud sahwi, re-enter solah and perform sujud sahwi, but make sure:
    1. Duration from salam to the time you re-enter solah is not too long.
    2. Nothing that could have nullified solah occurred between the salam and point you re-enter solah.
    3. After re-enter solah and performed sujud sahwi, you give salam again twice.
    4. If something happens that nullifies a solah before giving first set and second set of salams, the whole solah is considered batal and need to be redone completely.

  • It is also encouraged to call out the Azan:
    1. On the right ear of newly born babies (just softly).
    2. When starting a long journey.
    3. When stopping over at isolated places that might be occupied by syaitan or jinns.
    4. On the ears of a person possessed by syaitan or jinns.
    5. To halt advance of fire.
    6. When confronting enemy troops.
    7. When about to bury a janazah (deceased). However ulama differed on this verdict (khilaf).
  • Do not read writings on tombstones. This would weaken your understanding in lessons. If you really need to identify a grave, a simple glance on the name should suffice.
  • Turn your palms upward during do’a (supplication) and you can raise them high, but keep your face downwards in humility.
  • Among generosity of Allah: you can get reward when yawning (if done in proper manner). You can even be rewarded for going to the toilet.
  • When yawning, cover your mouth with the right hand because mouth is a dignified place.
  • It is haram (disallowed) to desecrate a masjid with filth. Smoking in its vicinity is haram because it fouls the air.
  • Spread a cover before doing solah on the grounds of non-muslim cemetery and there’re signs that bodies have been dug up. The dug-up ground is considered najis (unclean) and you have to stay out of contact from it.
  • Wiping the face at the end of solah (after salam) is a good thing. The face is a noble place. Why dispute the legality of it?

Wallahu a'lam

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