I got caught speeding.

Only 44mph on a 30mph road. It was after 9pm, raining, non-residential area, new camera so it caught me without warning. Bloody extortionists... Good thing I wasn't doing my usual 55-60mph...

Niqab-haters

Vexed guy (white, middle-aged, casual dress, looks like a scally) walks past me from opposite direction then back to me: "Excuse me, can I ask you a question?"


Me: "Yeah sure."


Coming right up to me: "Can I see your face?"


Me: "What? No."


Idiot, more vexed: "Why not?"


Me: "What's your problem?"


Idiot, shouting now, wild gestures, people looking our way: "You can see my face, why can't I see your f***ing face?!"


Me, getting worried that he's close enough and angry enough to snatch my niqab off walk away.



Idiot carries on ranting but I can only make out "...dress properly!"



I come home and tell my brother about it and he loses it with me demanding why I didn't call him straight away. Although I was annoyed by this incident and admittedly quite shaken because I thought he could snatch my niqab off, I didn't think it's anything to start riots over but my brother thought *&^%$#* like that need to be taught a lesson otherwise Muslim women won't be safe to walk around without being harrassed. My thinking is: women in niqab obviously provoke certain people, maybe a lot of people. For this idiot, for some reason, the mere sight of me was enough to make him rave. But I think as Muslims who are obviously Muslim just by appearance have to expect these kind of reactions from people. To expect otherwise is unrealistic. It's not nice but I'm sure it's normal. I'm interested to hear what kind of comments/reactions you guys get from the public to prove/disprove my theory that my brother overreacted and what happened yesterday was irritating but kind of normal.

I'm thinking of closing this blog. I might post my adab notes (about the only useful purpose to the blog) on someone else's (more beneficial blog) or just keep them to myself.

Adab al Mufrad Notes (8)

Hadith/athar: Ibn Umar said: "if someone fears his Lord and maintains his ties of kinship, his term of life will be prolonged, he will have abundant wealth and his people will love him."

As above with a different isnad.

Example of Bukhari-tronics – chapter title ("Allah Loves the One Who Maintains His Ties Of Kinship") doesn’t correspond with hadiths, they don’t say anything about Allah loving the person. Some imams refer to hadith where Allah says He loves so and so, then telling Jibreel to that person who tells the inhabitants of the heavens and earth to love that person. Hence we know the only way people will love a person in this way is when Allah loves him.

First narration has tadlees, but second one does not thus strengthening first. Hadtih can be reported in different ways, some ways "stronger" than others. Haddathanee (he narrated to me), akhbarnee (he informed me), qaal (he said), sami’nee (I heard) imply strength just from their wording. ‘An (on the authority of) is lesser in strength as it denotes hearing either in person or through another reporter therefore further study is required. Tadlees of 3 types:
- Tadlees al isnad. The reporter says "on the authority of" someone who he didn’t actually relate the hadith to him or from someone he didn’t actually meet which creates the impression he actually heard it from him in person.
- Tadlees ash-shuyukh. The reporter doesn’t refer to the person he heard it from by name, uses a less well-known name.
- Tadlees at-taswiyyah. Reporter misses out the weaker link before him and refers directly to the stronger link preceding the weaker link to make the chain look strong. Worst kind of tadlees. Shu'bah said, "Tadlis is the brother of lying" and "To commit adultery is more favourable to me than to report by way of Tadlis."

Athar is mauquf – doesn’t reach Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam). However we can act on it if it is marfoo’ hukman – as though Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said it. Statement shows it is impossible sahabi could say it out of own reasoning i.e. matter of ghayb.

"Fears his Lord" – taqwa often translated as fear. Word from waqa – protection, wiqayah is a shield or preservative for food. Qur'an and sunnah gives validation to linguistic definition.
Ibn Rajab al Hanbali included definition as putting something between you and the whom you are fearful of to protect you. How? By obeying Him and leaving that which displeases Him.
Surah Ra’d (13:34) – "for them will be punishment in the life of (this) world, and the punishement of the Hereafter is more severe. And they will not have from Allah any protector." Root word of taqwa has meaning of one who gives protection.

Qur'an also tells us to have taqwa of punishment, taqwa of places of punishment (grave, Hell), the One who gives punishment, the Day when punishment will be meted out. Highest form of taqwa is taqwa of Allah. Taqwa is a right of Allah. Surah Muddaththir (74:56) "…He is worthy of fear and adequate for (granting) forgiveness," and "O you who believe, fear Allah, as He should be feared, and let not yourself die save as Muslims." Surah Al Imran 3:102

Some benefits of taqwa:
- Forgives all sins
- Increases rewards
- Jannah reserved for those having taqwa
- Allah’s pleasure
- Allah supports them, is with them
- Allah doesn’t waste their deeds
- Allah makes a way out for them in their difficulties
- Allah makes his affairs easy
- Allah gives them baseerah, hidden insight
- Allah gives them furqan – criterion to judge right and wrong
- Allah gives them najwa – saves them from destruction like those of previous nations

Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) prayed, "O Allah I asked you for guidance, nobility, self-sufficiency/wealth and tuqa (from waqa)." Qur'an is guidance for the muttaqeen (surah Baqarah 2:2). Self-sufficency prevents one from depending on others. Wealth never affects people of taqwa negatively. Those it affects negatively have weak taqwa.

Two things to protect one from Hellfire – taqwa and good conduct.

Taqwa involves finding out about those things to avoid. "Ignorance is bliss" is not the attitude of the muttaqi.

Hasan al Basri "Taqwa will remain with the muttaqi as long as he keeps away from the halal fearing it may be haram." Basic level is staying away from haram, next is avoiding the doubtful matters (shubuhaat) and highest level is keeping away from some of the halal too. Muttaqis’ characteristic is he has taqwa of things people think one shouldn’t have taqwa on. Muttaqi is like someone on a path with thorns on the side to be avoided. Sufi scholars of the later generations (khalaf) divided it thus:
(1) Islam (rejecting kufr)
(2)Tauba (falls into sin and repents when he sins)
(3) Wara' (caution) (avoiding shubuhaat)
(4) Zuhd (avoiding halal)
(5) Mushahadah ("witnessing" Allah)

Very few people have these qualities hence very few muttaqeen exist unfortunately. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz: "…For those who preach about it are many, and those who actually practice it few..."

For more details esp. qur'anic/hadith references: See Here

Adab al Mufrad Notes (7)

DATE: 15/06/07 to 22/06/07

Hadith/athar: Anas ibn Malik said: “The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said, ‘Whoever wishes to have his provision expanded and his term of life prolonged should maintain ties of kinship.’”

Hadith/athar: Abu Hurayra said: “The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said, ‘Whoever is pleased to have his provision expanded and his term of life lengthened should maintain ties of kinship.’”



Anas ibn Malik is THE narrator of hadith on adab. We see so much of the Prophet’s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) character and qualities from his hadiths. Imam Dhahabi said of him: “He is the narrator of this religion.” He was 10 years old when he became Muslim. 20 years old when the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) passed away. In between that time he spent his life with Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) in his service. Umm Sulaym, his mother, brought him up by herself after her husband died. she later married Abu Talha ibn Thabit. She was very poor and didn’t have nice clothes for him to meet the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) in when he arrived in Madinah. She went in front of the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) and offered him her son saying she cannot give him what others can give him by way of wealth etc but he can have “Unais” (affectionate variation of the name Anas) as his servant and make du’a for him. As a result of the Prophet‘s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) du’a for Allah to increase his wealth, progeny and lifespan, Anas had 100 offspring (109 and 129 in other narrations), remained one of the last companions to pass away and harvest his crops twice a year instead of once.

Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) used the Umm Sulaym’s house to rest in. He didn’t used to rest in any other house apart from his wives’. He’d pray nafl prayers there and make du’a for barakah in the house. Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) treated her very respectfully. She was his confidante and advisor. Umm Sulaym a woman of character and honour, sacrificing her son to be Prophet‘s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) servant.

Really get to see someone’s true self in their private life – publicly everyone is great, those at home know what a person is really like. We get a bulk of this knowledge about Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) from Anas’ hadiths, who lived with him.

Anas taught some of kibar of imams. When in ihram he wouldn’t speak to anyone, so absorbed in ibadah. When he used to get up to pray he’d pray so much his feet would bleed. Abu Hurayra said, “I never saw anyone’s worship closer to the Prophet‘s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) than Anas’.”

Anas died aged 103. died of plague. His mother kept some of the sweat of Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) and mixed it with perfume. Anas requested to be perfumed with that when he died.

Anas placed before Abu Hurayrah, despite the fact Abu Hurayrah pf greaster authority in area of maintaining kinship ties. Why? Perhaps because Anas ibn Malik was one of final sahabah to pass away, as though he is living testimony to the hadith – i.e. his life was prolonged.

Rizq commonly understood to mean money. But can mean anything good including that which isn’t visible including health, spirituality. Risq of intellect – truth which is "fed" to you i.e. Islamic ‘ilm.

Noonsa – prolong or delay something. In terms of life:
- physical increase of life – e.g. written in preserved tablet you will die at 60, you’re good to your parents, Allah gives you life until 70;
- Barakah in ones’ time e.g. you can do in one hour what others need a day to do. Imam Bukhari was good to his parents, he could do alone what would take a team of people;
- Ones’ old age will be worth living. One won’t have the illnesses of old age e.g. dementia. Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) used to seek refuge in Allah from becoming senile. His increase will make him realise the benefits of maintaining ties of kinship i.e. his children will be good to him.

Word atharihi used – remnants or traces, proof of something having occurred (footprints in the desert proof camel has walked there). Some say this is something that will persist after death – his children will maintain ties of kinship and make du’a for him. Ones’ children maintaining ties of kinship after death will result in people making du’a for him (e.g. rahimahuLlah) after recognising good deeds of his children.

If we’re going with interpretation of just ones’ lifespan being prolonged (Imam Tirmidhis’) why would we want a long life which is like a prison for us? Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said the best of people is he who lives a long life and does good deeds and the worst one is the one who lives a long life and does bad deeds. Life means opportunity for good deeds. Those in Hell will realise value of life hence they will ask to be returned so they can do deeds to prevent being in Hell. Exception – dying as martyr, ones’ sins are forgiven therfore permissible to pray for and desire shahadah. Also during fitnah of final days especially of Dajjal, one will pass by a grave and wish he was in the dead person’s place.

They weren't all thick

Abraham Lincoln: "Nearly all men can stand adversity. But if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Talking to myself

I sometimes think aloud. That's different to talking to myself but I suppose it appears to others that I'm talking to myself. So when my sisters ask, "Why are you talking to yourself?" I just reply with, "I know of no-one better to talk to than myself."

Well it shuts them up.

Pseudo-Islamic feminism

OK it IS a fact that women do get oppressed. It is a fact that people get oppressed. It is a fact humans sin. When humans sin they either infringe on the rights of Allah and/or the rights of creation. This can be in the form of abusing someone, stealing someone's property, vandalising, oppressing etc. When men oppress women, they are wrong, they are not giving them their due rights, they are sinning, plain and simple.

Those who don't care that they are sinning i.e. they aren't religious have their own excuses for meting out their oppression, abuse, injustice and those who are religious will have their excuses too. The good and honest of them will put their hands up when they realise they've done wrong and repent. Those who are too pig-headed, stubborn and arrogant will be like the one who can't give up smoking or listening to music and look for every excuse in the book (whether that's their warped interpretation of the Qur'an or a twisting of a fiqhi opinion) to carry on with his sinning.

Why am I going into this? Cos I'm sick and tired of this trend of bashing men because they're men. I get tense when I read sisters - i.e. female MUSLIMS- dangerously discussing whether in Islam women get a raw deal, whether Allah has a'oothubillah been unjust in His perfect Shari'ah. I'm not speaking as someone who's just heard of women who are mistreated, a by-stander. Close friends of mine and family have been treated like crap by men, I've seen it, wiped their tears etc. But what good would I acheive having a chip on my shoulder about men? If I am a cynic as a result of men mistreating women am I actually doing good to myself or even damaging the perpetrators of injustice (if I wanted to be vengeful)? Or am I damaging myself and potentially damaging my future relationships? Not only that, if I go online and spread my victimised feminist da'wah the least I'm doing is putting fear into by-standers and making them cynical "men are all dogs" feminists, but worse, I'd really be treading on thin ice with my Lord if I did what some of these sisters do, by saying things that equate to "women have it bad in Islam".

With the risk of sounding like I'm bashing men myself - but I have to be fair - I do have to say men are not absolved from blame for this. Many of these women do not bash just because it makes them feel good; there is background and a context why they feel wronged. But many a time, it's difficult to see WHY these sisters are complaining, what exactly they are complaining about and with the attitude of criticising Islam a'oothubillah, frankly, the reasons cannot be heard due to the moaning and ultimately begin to matter little.

Perspective is everything

The difference between an atheist and an agnostic.

Atheist says "There is no god" which is half way to the kalimah, all that's missing is "worthy of worship except Allah".

Agnostic says "there may or may not be a god, Allahu 'alam." :-) (I like that joke)

Anyway which do you guys think is "better"?

Adab al Mufrad Notes (6)

DATE: 08/06/07 to 15/06/07

Hadith/athar: Abdullah ibn Amr said, "The Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) pointed his finger towards us and said, ‘The (root word of) rahim (the kin) is derived from the word Rahman (the Merciful). Whoever maintains the connection of ties of kinship, Allah will maintain ties with him. Whoever cuts them off, Allah will cut him off. The kin will have a free and eloquent tongue on the Day of Rising.’"

Hadith/athar: Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "The Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said, ‘The word rahim is derived from Allah (Rahman). Whoever maintains the ties of kinship, Allah will maintain ties with him. Whoever cuts them off, Allah cuts him off.’"

Ties of kinship depicted as a physical being.

Abdullah ibn Amr – Abu Hurayrah said of him, "He has more (hadith) than I do."

Aisha – born into the house of the greatest man after the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam), then with the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) himself, then spent the next fifty years of her life in the company of the greatest men of the ummah. From a very young age she was surrounded by knowledge. Some of the most personal matters of the deen narrated through her. Many hadith reveal her sense of humour and her natural jealousy of Khadija, the first wife of the Prophet (sal Allahi 'alaiyhi wa sallam), showing jealousy is natural and not blameworthy within the bounds. Every single characteristic of a Muslim women can be found in her yet she understood the difference between men and women. Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) didn't hide his love for her as is narrated in the hadiths. She used to compare herself with other wives and boast about her marriage to him. Only virgin wife, others were married for different reasons. Chosen by Allah – he (sal Allahu ‘alaiyhi wa sallam) saw her in a dream. Great role model for both men and women. Her status made clear when he sought permission from all of his (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) wives to spend his last days with her. He died in her lap, she was the last person to see him before he passed way. Defending her honour become a matter of aqeedah for ahl us sunnah due to the extreme shi'as who defile it, despite the Qur'anic ayahs.

Bukhari includes 2 similar hadiths together for certain reasons. Can either just take basic benefits e.g. obligatory to maintain kinship ties, Allah punishes the one who cuts them off etc or look deeper for the secrets. One such secret benefit could be looking at why Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) pointed. Physical actions sometimes directly attached to hadith e.g. in following hadith Abu Bakra said that the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu ‘alaiyhi wa sallam) said: "Shall I tell you which is the worst of the major sins?" He repeated that 3 times. They replied, "Yes, Messenger of Allah." He said, "Associating something else with Allah and disobeying parents." He had been reclining, but then he sat up and said, "Beware of lying." Abu Bakra added, "He continued to repeat it until I wished he would stop." Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) sitting up brings our attention to what he is saying, which on the face of it appears less significant than the other issues. However some physical actions not related to hadith. This hadith one such example. One benefit we can take from it is it shows how scrupulous sahabah were in noticing details – refutation of the critics of hadith.

"Derived from" – Arabic word is "shajna" – resembling roots of trees, interlocked, connected. Everything from Allah anyway – creation, our actions, including ties of kinship. But this link sets it apart from all, derived from His name and mentioned specifically.

What is the wisdom behind saying "whoever cuts them off…" when "whoever maintains them" implicitly tells us about the case of those who don’t do so? Hadith directly addresses both those who maintain-and those who cut off, not letting the latter group off the hook.

Word sila (maintains) also means gift which will render the meaning to be "whoever maintains the ties of kinship, Allah will reward him".

On the day of judgement we cannot imagine some of the things that will happen. Surah Yaseen says our limbs will testify what our actions were. Concept of those that do not speak having the ability to speak not unique to this hadith. "Non-tangible" beings will do things they logically shouldn’t be able to do e.g. Qur'an interceding for Muslims, stones bearing witness for/against us, death appearing as a ram and being killed etc. Not important how and other details but to have yaqeen that it will happen and move onto things we can know, unlike way of deviance who base whole belief system on doubtful matters.

"The kin will have a talq and dhalq tongue". Talq from talaq, to be loosened, letting go e.g. divorce, without restrictions, unhindered, without barriers, no-one to stop him. Dhalq – sharpened, tip of spear, penetrating, eloquent speech. Both together gives us meaning of speech without restriction, when spoken it is destructive. A powerful and scary combination.

I'm totally in love...

...with this recitation. I've heard Mishary before - who hasn't - and I've even heard this recitation of Surah Qaaf before but I've recently discovered it and can't stop listening to it.

Adab al Mufrad Notes (5)

DATE: 01/06/07 to 08/06/07

Hadith/athar: Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf said: "The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: ‘Allah, the Mighty and Exalted said, "I am the Merciful (Rahman). I have created ties of kinship (rahim) and derived a name for it from my name, whoever maintains ties of kinship, I maintain ties with him and I shall cut off from Me whoever cuts them off."’"

Imam Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri in chain. Imam Dhahabi said that he is the hafiz of his time. Didn’t just mean hafiz of Qur'an, meant the whole Qur'an and the rulings in them and at least 100,000 ahadith. Studied under 7 fuqaha of Madina: ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr, Sa‘īd b. al-Musayyib, Abu Bakr b. ‘Abd’l-Rahmān, Al-Qāsim b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr, ‘Ubaydullāh b. ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Utbah b. Mas’ūd, Sulaymān b. Yasār and Khārijah b. Zayd b. Thābit and also taught great imams including Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Awza’i, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz – who said about him "no-one soaked up hadith like Ibn Shihab."

A person is known by his peers. Imam az-Zuhri’s peers had glowing praises of him who were big names in themselves.

Said to be the first man to write hadith with the purpose of teaching it.

Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf one of the 10 promised Paradise, understandable why after a brief look at his biography. One of the 6 in the shura to appoint next khalifa. Became Muslim at young age, even before dar al arqam, safe house of Muslims before open da’wah. Fought at Badr – the crucial battle for establishment of Islam. Allah says about ahl ul Badr, "do as you wish for I have forgiven you." One of those who gave their pledge under the tree as mentioned in Surah Fath about whom Allah says He is pleased with them. He was paired with Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas who offered half of everything he had including his two wives, thus taking the Prophet‘s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) request to the Ansar to host, help and share to the maximum. Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf refused and prayed for barakah in Sa’d’s wealth and family and asked for direction to the market where he could do trade.

Lesson: be self-sufficient and rely not on others but Allah, even if what people can give you is your haqq. The more you rely on people the less you rely on Allah and the less people’s opinion of you becomes. Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf became known as Al-Ghani, the rich, as he made today's equivalent of millions. Because of his wealth and in comparison the way some of the other sahabah were killed or died in poverty, he used to say he fears his reward has been given in the dunya rather than the Hereafter.

Hadith Qudsi. Allah’s speech of 3 types: (i) perfect – unchanged, protected i.e. Qur'an; (ii) Books of prophets – divine revelation before people corrupted them; (iii) Hadith qudsi – inspired via wahy, conveyed by Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) in his own words. Qudsi not always authentic. Should pay attention to what topics Allah selects for qudsi – in this case ties of kinship, has significance.

Allah could have used name Raheem, which may have been closer to rahim. Names of Allah like Raheem, Quddus etc can be used to name people (without al) but Rahman cannot, as though there’s sanctity with this name. Knowing and understanding Names of Allah gives guidance in our ‘ibadah and conduct.

Something attached to Allah indicates its significance e.g. slave of Allah, Ruh Allah, camel of Allah. Allah links Himself with ties of kinship, to its origin and consequence of those who have correct conduct towards it- good and bad.

Answers to "True, False or it depends"

1. False. Can be given to the rich who fall under other catergories. Qur'anic ayah ["Zakah and for bringing hearts together and for freeing captives and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the traveller – an obligation by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise." Surah Tawba: 60] includes among the recipients workers who collect the zakah (could be wealthy accountants), those who are inclined to Islam (regardless of their financial status), the way-farer who may be rich in his homeland but cannot access that wealth.

2. False. Not all wealth requires the hawl to pass – only wealth that has the possibility of increasing. Therefore crops, mineral ores, precious metals do not increase in quantity after harvesting and extracting hence the zakah is to be paid immediately instead of waiting the hawl to pass.

3. False. Zakah due on crops is between 5-10% depending on how it is watered, zakah of cattle also varies, zakah due on mineral ores varies from 2.5 to 20% depending on how difficult it was to extract, buried treasures and trinkets requires 20% zakah to be paid on it.

4. True/false. Difference of opinion. Obligatory in Makkah as a general charity; obligatory in Madinah in its’ specifics e.g. recipients, how much, what types of wealth.

5.False. Although it is difficult to enforce in non-Islamic countries, zakah is not only an individual responsibility, it is a communal and governmental responsibility therefore in an Islamic state the khalifa is responsible for the collection and distribution of zakah. He has the authority to force people to pay and punish non-payers as Abu Bakr fought those refusing to pay after the Prophet’s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) death and Umar, when he was khalifa, punished those who didn’t pay by taking half of their wealth.

6.False. Firstly, the faqeer and miskeen comprise of a quarter of the zakah recipients mentioned in the Qur'an therefore even if hypothetically there weren’t any poor people in the UK zakah would still be needed for people of the other categories. Those busy working for the benefit of the community such that they are unable to work are eligible for zakah, those who cannot afford to marry (and marriage is obligatory for them) are eligible, asylum seekers and refugees, prisoners & their family, those in debt, those inclined to Islam e.g. helping new Muslims to learn about Islam, jihad, some scholars even include ideological war via the media. Secondly, while people may be suffering poverty in a bad way in other countries there are still poor people in a "developed" country like the UK. The problem is with our understanding of "poor"; according to the majority of scholars "poor" is according to custom of the people so a poor person of one society may be affluent in another. Therefore there certainly are people who do not enjoy a good standard of living in the UK and may be eligible for zakah. All scholars/mathhabs agree own locality has more right to wealth – zakah, zakat-ul-fitr, kaffarah etc to be paid in own locality. See http://www.jimas.org/zakat.doc for more.

7. True. The property of a slave as well as the slave himself belongs to master.

8. False. Two opinions: 1) Pen has been lifted from them. 2) Still have to pay because it is right of poor. Rights of people applicable even if pen has been lifted – similar to criminal damage.

9. False. Same as 7 if mentally deficient borders on insane.

10. False. Although one can argue that the money you have doesn’t actually belong to you the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) never told zakah collectors to ask if people owed debts. Also exempting those in debt prevents the poor from getting their right especially as many people are in some form of debt. The best thing to do is if a year passes and you still have the money you owe either pay it back or pay zakah on it.

11. False. Inheritance or money bequeathed in a will is like a gift. It adds to income so zakah has to be paid every year if it is above the nisab.

12. True. It is a right of the poor who are owed it until they get it. Like criminal damage or paying back debt.

13. False. Lunar year. Be careful when working out zakah.

14. Mainly true. However the nisab of paper money is based on the value of silver and the price of gold and silver changes all the time hence the nisab of money changes. One should check the price of gold/silver on the day zakah is due and pay accordingly.

15. True/false. Difference of opinion. Anyone denying obligation of zakah by consensus has committed kufr but the ikhtilaf is on those not paying out of laziness, rebellion etc. Abu Bakr’s opinion seems to be they had left Islam although some scholars interpret his actions to be fighting those rebelling against the khalifah.

16. True. Not obligatory on all luxuries.

17. True

18. True. The main intention is to profit from it hence the car is a commodity. Hawl starts from the date it is bought and zakah is 2.5% of the selling value of the car.

19. False. The main intention to use it, not profit from it. The ruling depends on the major intention.

20. True. Putting a house for sale makes the main function of house a commodity to gain profit from and living in it is a secondary function. Even if it is unsold (exceptions apply in economic depression or unusually slow market) the house has the potential to generate income. If it is already generating income by renting it out, one has to pay zakah on the rental income as well as the sale value if a hawl has passed.

21. True. Stocks are assets and have the potential to generate income. The selling price of stock (with the condition they were on sale for a full hawl) should be added with profits. Costs should thereafter be deducted and 2.5% zakah should be paid if the net amount is above the nisab.

22. False. Only wealth of the same species to be added together. Different species have different nisab & some don’t require hawl.

23. True. Zakah for the poor is to cater for their needs. Marriage could be obligatory on a person who is poor and cannot afford this necessity.

24. True. ALL the haram wealth is to be given away, not just 2.5%. If however someone who has earned haram repents, then he is not actually obliged to give that wealth away, he can keep it to use in a halal and beneficial way. Thereafter he should observe the hawl and pay zakah accordingly. If someone receives a gift from someone who has earned it in a haram way (except when that wealth actually belongs to someone else e.g. it is stolen) then t is halal for the recipient ("if the hand changes the ruling changes") who would have to pay zakah on it.

25. True. It is like a debt and those who didn’t receive it rightfully still have a right to it.

26. False. Have to pay zakah on wealth for specific group of people e.g. self, family, own ethnic group. If for general group then zakah not necessary as the saving is like zakah and there is no zakah on zakah.

27. True. Taxes, national insurance etc are a type of costs. Deduct the cost and pay zakah on the net income.

28. True/false. Depends on when pay back date is. If it is within a year and they are known to be reliable then I have to pay it back after a year passes, even if I don’t accept the money yet (likened to current bank account – bank can give the money in my savings anytime so even if I don’t have it in hand I pay not the bank who actually has the money). If it is due after that time only pay it back when received. If it is a bad debt I don’t pay until it is received.

Double negatives are a no-no

Apart from being annoying (I use this word quite a lot these days don't I?) trying to figure out double negatives, why are they wrong? I mean grammatically?

Adab al Mufrad Notes (4)

DATE: 25/05/07 to 01/06/07

Hadtih/athar: "Abu Hurayra said: "A man came to the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have relatives with whom I maintain connections while they cut me off. I am good to them while they are bad to me, they behave towards me like fools while I am forbearing towards them.’ The Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said, ‘If things are as you say have said, it is as if you were putting hot ashes on them* and you will not lack a supporter against them from Allah as long as you continue to do that.’"

*i.e. it will cause them harm if they continue with their behaviour but will not harm you as it will result in their humiliation and you will gain respect in this world and the Hereafter.

Reported by Muslim also. Saheeh isnad and matn.

Ibn Abi Hatim in the chain. Faqih from the tabi’ tabi’in. Known to be as knowledgeable as Imam Malik who himself said "if there is a people and among them is Ibn Abi Hatim, they will be protected." Imam Malik not known for over-praising and exaggerating; known for being austere and serious. He was probably referring to Imam Ibn Abi Hatim’s taqwa, being a wali of Allah, rather than knowledge and qada.

Man knows what he’s doing is obligatory. He’s not approaching the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) to be excused from it, he wants to know what he (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) has to say about the matter. The behaviour of his relatives akin to their own punishment. His good treatment and their bad treatment in return is like humiliation for them. Essence of maintaining kinship is difficulty, not what is easy and nice.

Repayment of good with mere neutrality is shameful. But replacement of good with bad is evil.

"If it is as you said" – allows for another side to the story, possibility of reality not being the mentioned scenario. In fatwa-seeking always a hidden side mufti doesn’t know hence he should be careful and prudent when giving verdicts. REAL men of knowledge past and present shied away from giving fatwa whereas many of us rush to give our opinion in deen matters. Should be cautious rather than hasty.

Lesson for general mass: speak and convey news and information in balanced, just and accurate manner.

"Putting hot ashes" – causing someone to get punished. Should he and others like him then not continue god treatment? No as they themselves are the cause for their own punishment. Statement following it encourages the man to continue if his good behaviour.

"He's not romantic enough..."

I've heard this myself and I know a lot of wives would say this about their husbands. But what does being romantic mean? Being showered with jewellery, perfumes and other gifts? Chocolates and flowers? Scented candles? Walks along the beach? Being serenaded? I think many sisters equate the concept of romance with all or most of the above hence the complaint "he's not romantic enough". Or, some of us may be OK with him not doing the above and not being "romantic" because we too are not "romantic".

I think romance is necessary is a marriage. But I would definitely not equate the above examples with romance, otherwise let's face it, we're doomed to a marriage full of misery and disappointment or at least ungratefulness to our husband because we simply do not recognise he is romantic in his own way. For a lot of men it's difficult to express mushy emotions and gestures typically "romantic" (like the examples above) will be even more difficult to do to express their feelings because it won't come naturally to them. Now I love chocolate. And candles. Flowers are OK but I'm not too fussed about them. And hey, who doesn't like gifts in general? But I don't like them because I'm "romantic", I just like them! Some sisters don't like chocolate (it's true, weird sure but true) and would prefer fresh fruit. Hence it would be a more romantic gesture if their husband bought them fresh blueberries instead.

My point is romance isn't restricted to these material things. To me romantic is thinking of your wife/husbands needs and desires, and striving to make them happy. It's anything that shows you love them and care for them. "Romantic" is a husband agreeing to move to another city because his wife wants to complete her degree in a good university there. "Romantic" is a wife saying to her husband who is suffering from a bad fever "I'd rather this pain was in me rather than see you suffer". "Romantic" is a husband going home early after work instead of socialising with friends because he wants to spend time with his wife. "Romantic" is a wife sending random txts messages saying "I Love You". "Romantic" is a husband getting a hot water bottle for his wife when she suffers from her monthly cramps. It's helping your husband/wife finish his/her work so you can spend quality time together once the work is done. It is ANYTHING that shows that you love your spouse and care for him/her. If we have this attitude rather than the one restricted to flowers and chocolate etc, we'd be be much more appreciative of our spouse and the romantic things they do which go unnoticed by us because we're too hung up on the fact that "it's been ages since he bought me Lindor" or "I can't remember the last time he said sweet mushy things to me" or "He's never bought me flowers!"

Things that really annoy me

1. Girly girls "lol"ling all over the place. NO-ONE WANTS TO KNOW YOU JUST "LOL"LED! Especially men.
2. Girls knocking men just for the heck of it and men knocking girls just for the heck of it.
3. Girls who eat like rabbits when they don't even need to diet.

*Relieved sigh*

That feels so much better.

True, false or "it depends"?

I didn't get through most of the stuff I wanted to. Some new sisters came to the circle including some recent reverts masha'Allah and the introductions took up a bit of time. I'm gonna finish it next week insha'Allah but I'll put the true/false questions up now and put the answers in next time insha'Allah. Anyone's welcome to have a go or ask me further about them if they're unable to attend the circle.

1. Zakah is for the poor only.
2. Zakah is an annual charity.
3. Zakah is 2.5% of all wealth.
4. Zakah was made obligatory is Makkah, not later on in Madinah.
5. No-one can be forced to give zakah.
6. People in the UK don’t really need zakah; the real poor are in "third world" countries.
7. Slaves don’t have to pay zakah.
8. Children don’t have to pay zakah.
9. The mentally deficient do not have to pay zakah.
10. Those in debt do not have to pay zakah.
11. There is no zakah to be paid on inheritance money.
12. If I give zakah to a charity and they lose it or give it to the wrong person I have to re-pay that zakah.
13. If wealth has been in your possession for a solar year and above the nisab, zakah is obligatory.
14. The nisab is fixed and doesn’t change from year to year.
15. Anyone who doesn’t pay zakah has apostated.
16. Zakah is only obligatory on some luxuries, not the necessities or essentials of life.
17. All types of agricultural produce have zakah levied on them.
18. If I buy a car with the intention of selling it but use it in the meantime before a good price is offered, I have to pay zakah if a year passes.
19. If I buy a car with the intention to use it but also intend if a good price is offered I will consider selling it, I have to pay zakah if a year passes.
20. If I put my house up for sale and thus it is on the market, I have to pay zakah on the selling value after the hawl passes even if it hasn’t been sold yet and even if I’m still living in it or renting it out.
21. If I have a business I have to pay zakah on my profits as well as the value of my stock, if a year passes and it is above the nisab.
22. One should combine the value of all their wealth – jewellery, cash in hand, cash in the bank, income from rent, inheritance money, antiques, cattle etc and then work our the overall zakah.
23. Zakah money can be used to aid poor people to get married.
24. Zakah is not obligatory on wealth that has been earned in a haram way.
25. If you did not pay zakah on your wealth when you were not practising you should estimate how much you should have paid and pay it.
26. Zakah does not have to be paid on money that is being saved for e.g. marriage, hajj.
27. On salaries, we should deduct taxes, national insurance etc and then work out how much zakah on due.
28. If I’ve lent someone money I pay zakah on that money only if and when I have it back.

Zakah - an intro

At the Sisters circle in Makki masjid, Longsight, Manchester I did part of the circle on zakah. I based it all on what I learnt at AlKauthar's Price of Salvation a month ago. Here are some of the notes. We did some interactive activities too but I left them out in these notes. Because I didn't cover all of the stuff, I'm finishing it off tomorrow insha'Allah. I'll type up the remainding notes tomorrow too insha'Allah.




INTRODUCTION
Zakah is a pillar of Islam. The general attitude towards zakah is that people avoid learning about it more than they avoid the other pillars of Islam; it seems too technical, too mathematical, too complicated, "irrelevant to me specifically" and so on. Thus people exert their efforts studying fiqh of salah, how to perform the rites of hajj, what the correct ‘aqeedah is, related Ramadan issues every year yet zakah is left out. Some may even argue that a pillar of Islam should be simple and straightforward but rather, precisely because it is a pillar upon which Islam is built that it is detailed and vast. There is a huge amount of misinformation about zakah and ignorance about such an important aspect of out deen should be removed. There are many wealth related issues for Muslims are affected with either directly and indirectly – e.g. riba, haram earnings or working in institutes involved in haram, new types of wealth that didn’t exist during the Prophet‘s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) lifetime, pensions, taxes, poverty and Muslims need to know how zakah applies to these. Also learning about zakah gives us an understanding of financial and social responsibility in Islam and the role of the Islamic authorities as well as the general masses with regards to this.


DEFINITION
Zakah comes from the word zakaa which literally means to increase and grow. Linguistically means blessing, increase, purity and rectification. The legal meaning is it is an obligatory charity that is due annually.


THE RULING AND ORIGIN
The scholars are in consensus that zakah is obligatory but they differ on who zakah is obligatory on.


BASIC FACTS RELATED TO ZAKAH
Nisab means the minimum amount of wealth one has before zakah becomes obligatory.

Hawl means the lunar year that has to pass before zakah becomes obligatory.

There are different types of "wealth" – cash, precious metals, minerals, livestock, agricultural produce.

The goals of the shari'ah with regards to zakah is to give from our wealth to the poor without becoming poor or experiencing difficulty in the process. We can see that zakah is obligatory only on wealth that has the ability to grow and increase and on wealth that is considered above and beyond our needs.

Wealth is anything that people can gather, collect and benefit from and like to own.

Certain types of wealth did not have value in the time of the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) e.g. diamonds, paper money.

Paper money used to be attached to gold and silver. However in reality this attachement doesn’t exist anymore hence the nisab for money is that which is more suitable for the poor i.e. nisab which is less, which is silver. The nisab of pure gold is 85g and the nisab of pure silver is 595g. Hence at the time of printing the nisab of money is approximately 207 pounds 30p.

Adab al Mufrad Notes (3)

More adab al mufrad notes. Sorry to give them all at once but I procrastinated.

DATE: 18/05/07 and 25/05/07

Hadith/athar: Ibn Abbas said (about the verses): "Give the relative his due, and the needy and the traveller and squander not (thy wealth) in wantonness. Lo! The squanderers were ever the brothers of devils, and the devil was ever ingrate to his Lord. But if thou turn away from them, seeking mercy from thy Lord, for which thou hopest, then speak unto them a reasonable word. And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck nor open it with a complete opening, lest thou sit down rebuked, denuded." (17:26-29) "He begins by commanding the most pressing of the obligatory dues and He directs man to the best action if he has something – by His saying – ‘Give the relative his due and the needy and the traveller.’ Likewise He teaches man how he should excuse himself if he has nothing – by His saying – ‘If you turn away from them seeking the mercy from your Lord that you are hoping for, then speak gentle words to them.’ In the form of a good promise. ‘Do not keep your hand chained to your neck’ (like a miser that you do not give anything at all) ‘nor outspread it altogether so you sit reproached…’ (that means if you give everything, those who come to you later will find you empty and reproach you) ‘denuded’. (Ibn Abbas) said, that means: The person to whom you gave everything has denuded you.

Weak chain, has unknown person in it. But less strict in accepting/rejecting because it is athar not hadith. Scholars didn’t say whole thing is weak i.e. statement itself is sound.

Ayah tells us what one should do with money – (i) give it to relative, needy and traveller. (ii) If there’s no money to give, make promise that if you have money you’ll give it to them (iii) don’t be miserly or extravagant.

Ayah uses word "qurba" – close relatives.

The word "haqqahu" (due/right) implies reference to zakah whereas the word "aati" (give) is only used referring to sadaqah. Stipulated zakah recipients don’t include relatives. If ayat taken to refer to zakah it emphasises right of relative over other fuqara/masakeen (extremely poor/poor) and travellers if relative comes under these categories too. If taken to mean sadaqah also demonstrated right of relatives over others. Either way, relative comes before other needy people.

Wrong attitude to believe giving money to relative is a favour to them; doing so is merely giving them their right.

"Seeking mercy" – hoping for what Allah provides you with. What you have and can spend is attached to Allah who gives and takes as He wills to all of creation.

"Mercy from your Lord" – not our right. May not even deserve it.

"Hope for" – not guaranteed, shouldn’t expect it.

"Say gentle words" – not whinge, be rude, insult etc. Not sufficient to say "sorry don’t have any". Rather make a promise that if you have money insha’Allah you will give it. Qur'an teaches the highest moral in this aspect.

"Tied to neck" – analogy of a prisoner who is chained. Cannot move hands e.g. reach into pockets. Incapacitated. Ayah almost telling us not to act as though we have our hands tied when we don’t.

Also telling us not to place ourselves in trouble and difficulty yet Qur'an always starts with miserliness. Reflects most prominent problem – extravagance in giving in charity not as common.

"Rebuked" – blameworthy, no-one’s fault but your own, irresponsible with own wealth.

"Denuded" – Arabic word includes meanings of trapped, tired out, destitute. The one whom you wanted to help has left you in that state.

Subtle lessons to be learnt from Imam Bukhari’s choice of narrators. Ibn Abbas – could have chosen other narrators but he chose the cream of the crop as far as mufassireen are concerned. Ijma’ of scholars that tafsir of Qur'an by sahabah comes first. Example for us to choose only the best for our deen, no matter how difficult or how convenient other options are. Often choose best for dunya matters e.g. best doctor, school etc but deen more deserving.

Adab al Mufrad Notes (2)

DATE: 04/05/07 and 11/05/07

Hadith/athar: Abu Hurayra said: “When the following verse was revealed: ‘Warn your nearest relatives,’ (26:214), the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) rose and called out, ‘Banu Ka’b ibn Lu’ayy! Save yourselves from the Fire! Banu Abd Manaf! Save yourselves from the Fire! Banu Abdul Muttalib! Save yourselves from the Fire! Fatima daughter of Muhammad! Save yourself from the Fire! I cannot alter Allah’s decision about you (if you deserve it). Except for the fact that you have ties of kinship which I shall maintain’”

“Bani” – people Refers to his forefathers and tribes. Wisdom - da’wah more acceptable from man of status & noble lineage. His own lineage reminds people of his background. Calling one’s own people also shows sincerity in the call: wanting to save own family. Success – Prophet‘s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) closest sahabah linked in his lineage.

Call suggests: “if you continue in your kufr I cannot do anything to save you.”

“I cannot alter Allah’s decision about you”- humility. Despite his status with Allah he affirms he is powerless.

“I shall maintain” not accurate. Literally “add moisture, wet” – moisture basis of life, implies nurturing, sustaining, keeping alive. Connection to rahim (womb) and its connection to a foetus.

Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her) only 29 years old when she died. Went through much difficulties since young age. Mother died at young age, sisters died in her lifetime, lived in poverty and hardshio during married life, aged 5-10 years old when Quraishi persecuted Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam).

“Zahra” – title meaning radiant. Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) sometimes called azhar (masculine) and she was most like him.


Hadith/athar: Abu Ayyub al Ansari said: “A Bedouin came to the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) while he was travelling. He asked, ‘tell me what will bring me near to the Garden and keep me away from the Fire.’ He replied, ‘Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him and perform the prayer and pay the zakah and maintain ties of kinship.’”

Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) arrived in Madinah with no family, wealth, living accommodation. We often notice the sacrifice and hardship of muhajireen who left everything behind but Ansar also went out of their way & completely changed their lives to accommodate the muhajireen. Abu/Umm Ayyub put themselves under stress just to accommodate the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam).

Abu Ayyub died during conquest of Constantinople under Yazeed’s rule aged 80. A great mujahid, he insisted he march there with the army so he could hear the footsteps of the armies and horses. Buried near there.

Most simple of person (Bedouin) asking most simple of questions and given most concise and simple answer.

Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) talks about great fundamental pillars of the religion then about maintaining ties of kinship – seems out of place. Hadith shows maintaining ties of kinship among these is not out of place, it deserves to be mentioned with them.

“Worship Allah” – ‘ibadah includes meaning of humbling oneself, putting oneself down, submit. When one enslaves oneself to other than Allah inevitably they become further from ‘ibadah to Allah and when they do that inevitably they become lower in the eyes of others. ‘Izzah of someone not in need of the dunya, not chasing after its pleasures is higher than one who has become a slave to the dunya. Only in Islam does one become greater in nobility and higher in status when they lower themselves for Allah.

These days da’wah often focuses on social issues but Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) always began with tawheed and we won't lose out if we do the same.

Qur'an and sunnah often mentions salah and zakah together. Former ‘ibadah of the body and latter of wealth.

Hadith first mentions rights of Allah and then rights of the people. Because they are mentioned together it implies we should devote similar amount of time spent studying tawheed, salah, zakah to studying ties of kinship.

“Bring me near” – not “guarantee me”, implies understanding of the man that effort on his part will be required as well as hoping in Allah.

Adab al Mufrad Notes (1)

My friend http://hema.blogspot.com/ took these notes for me at the adab class as I was doing the Price of Salvation.


DATE: 27/04/07

Continuing with hadith/athar: Kulayb ibn Manfa’a said: “My grandfather said, ‘Messenger of Allah, towards whom should I be dutiful?’ He said, ‘Towards your mother, your father, your sister and your brother. Then towards your relative, the nearest to them. This is an obligatory duty and those ties of kinship must be maintained.’”

Our rights are first and foremost to our parents, due to their high status and importance.

After that, we have a duty to be in contact with, and in the service of, all of our extended family, whether they are practising or not, whether they are Muslim or not.

Maintaining ties of kinship is important as we are promoting key characteristics of the believers, such as love and mercy and confidence in one another. It also eradicates hatred and anger. All this ensures that a standard family unit functions in the best way possible.

We should think of the people we are in contact with in our families and ask ourselves why they are part of our lives. It should only ever be for the sake of Allah, and not for our own benefit.

The Ulema have stated that there are three potential scenarios which may lead to attaining paradise through our ties of kinship. Firstly, by maintaining ties even when the person you are maintaining ties with breaks away. This is the highest level. Secondly, by “getting even”. E.g., if someone calls you, you call them next time. If they buy you a present you buy one for them etc. Finally, where the other person does more than you do to maintain the tie of kinship. You will not enter paradise through this method.

This is an important lesson we can learn. Allah states that He is not swifter in punishment to anyone than those who break ties of kinship. For this purpose, we should endeavour to learn our lineage and family history so we aware of even the most distant of our relatives.


The title name “the obligation of maintaining ties of kinship” is revealing, as it shows that Imam Bukhari wished to make it clear from the start that maintaining ties IS an obligation. The details can be filled in later.

The hadith states we are obligated to be dutiful to our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and then our relatives and those nearest to us.

Although this hadith is weak, it can be used for this purpose as it is not very weak and as long as we say it may not be directly from the prophet, peace be upon him.

The rights of our brothers and sisters, in particular are often neglected.

There are two types of brothers and sisters. The first is our brothers and sisters in deen, and we have a general sense of loving and wanting to fulfil our rights to other muslims.
But our highest priority should always be our direct family. In particular, when advising or teaching others, we should always start with out nearest relatives.

The prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, maintained ties of kinship even with the non-Muslim family members who tried to harm him. So, imagine the rights and obligations our Muslim family members have.

How NOT to be a good Muslim wife

Naomi: He bought them for you?!

Charlotte: Yeah but he bought the wrong ones.

Naomi: A lot of men would never buy female essentials. Masha'Allah I hope you're grateful you've got such a good husband. The other day he went out specially to buy you painkillers instead of saying "You know you get cramps, you go out every other day, couldn't you be prepared and buy some from the shop to keep at home?" And he fills you a hot water bottle when you need it... Not every man would do that for their wife. I hope you don't take that for granted.

Charlotte: Hmm....

[Later on at home.]

Charlotte: Naomi said I should be grateful cos you do that stuff for me. So jazakAllah khair.

Jack: Hmm....

Charlotte: ...Are you happy with me then?!

Jack: Er, why? Didn't you just say it was Naomi's idea..?

* Names have been changed to pretect identity. But the story is true.

The only thing worse than getting married for the wrong reason is ending a marriage for the wrong reason.

I so miss my phone!!! It's not here yet. Of all things to leave behind!

Don't be indecisive - people don't take your decisions seriously.

Is being indecisive and fickle the same thing...?

Family relationships are awe-inspiring.

Family relationships are awe-inspiring. It's amazing how a mother feels instant love, affection and protection for her child as soon as it's born, even before it is born. To everyone else it's a shrivelled up slimy shreiking creature with no personality, nothing to give or offer. It's amazing how a man and woman who have had completely separate upbringings, separate lives, separate set of ideals and dreams and aspirations - fundamentally strangers - can come together and experience feelings and emotions never felt before until he cannot imagine life without her in it and vice versa, until they think how was it possible this man/woman was not in their life all these years.

The mother/child and husband/wife relationship is more profound to me than others. It's natural; God made a mother so - if you wanna be scientific about it, I suppose maternal proptection is necessary for the continuation of the species. And God put mercy and affection between a husband and wife. Despite it being the "norm" it doesn't fail to make one wonder. I remember when I was studying philosophy of religion in college we discussed what a miracle means. Many philosophers defined anything that happens out of the ordinary (ie defying natural law) thus indicating God's intervention as a miracle. Of course I didn't agree with that as God doesn't "defy" natural law; natural law is His law and He does as He wills, not bound by anything. His actions can be witnessed in everything in the universe, including natural law, hence the most "normal" things can be viewed as miracles, like a baby being born. Or the love between a husband and wife.

I was flicking through some womens' magazines a few weeks ago and noticed the stories that most struck me were "imbalances" in these natural yet miraculous aspects of human relationships. For example parents dumping and disowning non-adult children, cheating on spouses etc. Things like that don't make sense to me, I conclude that these people are seriously disturbed and abnormal. They don't have what Allah puts in humans - and even animals - naturally. Closer to my own observations and experience, it saddens and even depresses me when I see children treating their parents like crap, thus completely disregarding the huuuge burden on us as children to do birr towards them. I hold my hands up and admit I'm far from an exemplary daughter and I don't excuse that when I say there's a difference between failing due to weakness and failing due to absolute disregard. Likewise when I see parents mess up their kids' marriage and thus their life for their own selfish reasons - aren't parents the one people who should love and sacrifice unconditionally? Similarly when I see husbands having very little or no mercy and love for the woman who has sacrificed and undergone hardship for him... It doesn't make sense to me. Love, care, consideration, compassion towards at least our children, spouses, parents is it not?

2.5%.

Given to the poor by the rich.

That's all you need to know about zakah right? Anything more than that and it's too complex -and it's a pillar of Islam, it's not meant to be complicated right? WRONG! One thing this course made me feel was guilt. Yes it's one of the five pillars of Islam and percisely because a fifth of the deen is based on it is why there is so much to it. After all how vast is the study of tawheed? And fiqh of salah - need I say more?

In fact the first two statements are two of the biggest misconceptions about zakah that were refuted in the course i.e. not only 2.5% and not only given to the poor, and even if a portion is given to the poor it's not always the definition of "poor" that we commonly perceive. Alhamdulillah I'm so glad I did this course but I came out with deep concern that a vast majority of Muslims just don't know about zakah. And that's extremely worrying for so many reasons.

It was a good weekend alhamdulillah, albeit tiring. What is an AlKauthar course without tiredness and lack of sleep though. It felt good being at an AlKauthar course AND actually doing it after just babysitting for Umm Maymo at the last two. It was very interesting being at an AlKauthar course with my good friend whom I pretty much picked on her all the way through. But come on, she practically danced up and down when she saw the planes taking off and landing on the runway opposite the river just outside the uni lecture theatre, she mumbled and laughed in her sleep (she says she was awake but yeah right), and she put up her hand when she didn't understand something and said, "I'm lost!" (her Manc accent sounded very sharp against all the Londoners) and giggled! Oh my goodness. The brothers were chuckling and the Sheikh was grinning.

Anyway please check out the POW (Pearls of Wisdom) on the AlKauthar forums and don't worry - POWs tend to be non-technical so you don't have to worry about your head hurting. It was a challenging course but it would be boring if it was too easy. And it was anything but boring. I hope everyone who reads this and hasn't done the course definitely makes it a priority to do it if it is repeated in the future. It definitely makes sense why the sheikh said it is fard 'ain knowledge, thus the regulations of travelling with a mahram not being so stringent.

Insha'Allah I'm going to put some notes up in the future. Watch out for them.

Adab al Mufrad Series 1 recap

I do so love the adab al mufrad classes. That Friday feeling that Abu Eesa was talking about made everyone smile and nod knowingly; it's true, there's a real feeling of peace, tranquility and iman at that specific time in that specific place.

Anyway my excuse for posting the notes so late: laziness, stuff happening at home, procrastination, going to Birmingham for Mark of a Jurist and laziness. I've decided not to post all of the notes I made last year here yet and just to post what I'm making as we're going along insha'Allah. I hope you guys benefit and I hope any mistakes I make don't weigh heavily on my scale of bad deeds and that Allah helps us all to implement the 'ilm He entrusts us with.


RECAP OF SERIES ONE

DATE: 13/04/07

Weak hadiths can be used in adab if they meet the following conditions:

1. Can’t be very weak e.g. munkar narrator – known liar.
2. Has to come under something already mentioned (generally) elsewhere e.g. being good to parents.
3. Mention it is weak when relating it because otherwise attributing to the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) something he may not have said i.e. lying upon him.

Birr – not translatable in one word. Includes good; dutiful; easy – no anger, resentment, bitterness, uptightness, laidback; righteousness, merciful, obedient.
Adab to others connected to adab to parents. Good adab to others voluntary, to parents obligatory.

Birr to parents only in permissible things.

Birr to mother more emphasised – she’s more emotional, prone to get angry quicker, take bad feelings to extremes e.g. cursing, therefore imperative to please her and ensure her calmness. Displeasing father has more immediate implications – he can beat you, become socially disgraced if he disowns you, withdraws you from inheritance. With mother, easier to get false sense of security if she is displeased.

Mother has greater right of good treatment – to spend time with her, be easy on her etc. Father has greater right to obedience and your finances.

Birr not contingent on their being good to you, birr is their right whether you like it or not. Likened to taxes. :-)

Soft speech, nothing said to harm them.

Don’t think about repaying them, never possible. An obligation, have to do it hence just get on with it.

Dependence on parents from cradle to grave – physically in womb and early years, later on for advice, finance etc up to death. Even after their death we hope for inheritance. At no stage are they dependent on us so no point thinking we can repay them.

Different hadiths give emphasis in different ways how serious ‘uqooq (opposite of birr) to parents is.

Barakah of ones’ life increases with birr, not just number of years, including adding to ones’ good deeds, blotting out bad deeds, increasing ones’ honour and respect.

If ones’ parents are still alive don’t miss out on the chance to enter Paradise.

If you want anyone to make du’a for you, make it your parents.


DATE: 20/04/07

CONTINUE OF RECAP

Even fard can be put aside over service to parents e.g. jihad and hijrah (as long as they are fard kifayah).

Birr includes not just being good to them but also being wary of their emotions which influences their du’aas. Just from result of their du’aas one can end up in the fire. Knowledge of this science should be invested in and passed on just because of this – can decide whether we go to Paradise or Hell.

Treatment of parents unaffected by status or even existence of their deen (i.e. non-Muslim) or their being good to you: birr not mukafaha (from kifayah) i.e. "you be good to me, I’ll be good to you, you suffice me, I’ll suffice you."

Certain aspects of adab don’t always make logical sense e.g. not sitting before your father (one can argue my father doesn’t mind my sitting before him, I don’t see what birr has got to do with sitting before or after someone etc etc) hence needs to be studies not assumed – naql before aql.

Some athar have sahaba saying something is fard/haram – these are treated as hadith as they wouldn’t say so without it originating from the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam).

Not calling parents by first name – here cause needs to be looked at. Prohibition because it is offensive but if offence is caused if parent prefers first name then although unusual, it is to be respected.


Hadith/athar: Kulayb ibn Manfa’a said: "My grandfather said, ‘Messenger of Allah, towards whom should I be dutiful?’ He said, ‘Towards your mother, your father, your sister and your brother. Then towards your relative, the nearest to them. This is an obligatory duty and those ties of kinship must be maintained.’"

"Kinship" not accurate translation of rahim. Relation from blood, marriage or adoption.

Adab covers our interaction with everything/everyone around us – animals, environment, people. From these, adab to kin comes first, from that adab to parents comes first.

Good adab to parents is a cure for ills of society.

The way Imam Bukhari arranges and names his chapters of hadith is a field of fiqh in itself!

Rahim also means womb – place of mercy at its’ extreme where foetus completely helpless and dependent. Womb completely sustains and maintains its life.

Rahma defined as "to not punish the one who deserves punishment and to do good to the one who doesn’t deserve it".

Understanding rahma helps to understand greatness of relations of the womb and other kin.

Difference of opinion on what rahim includes:

- Family and anyone we’re related to – general.
- Those who have a defined share of inheritance – science of inheritance.
- Maternal relations only.

Sila from wasila – join, maintain.

Hadith weak. Narrator is Bakr ibn Harith. Baghdadi and Tirmidhi considered him sahabi but others didn’t which means there could be a break in chain.

Relatives not necessarily in order so not the case that one is better than the other – the word "then" not used.

Imam Bukhari includes it as it’s the only hadith on the topic that has the word obligatory in it although we know it is an obligation from other texts. Just adding extra info hence can be used.

XoXoXo

I'm not keen on hugs and kisses. I didn't used to mind them before and even now it has its' time and place but not like every time you meet someone or worse, when you meet someone for the first time. What do you guys think? And to make this post useful and practical, please shake hands if you must have physical contact with me. Or a simple salam and smile will suffice.

Adab al Mufrad starting again! (Darn, I can't figure out how to add images)

http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6579/684/1600/462608/al-Adab.jpg

I can't wait.

I figured out a good use for this blog: I will type my notes here insha'Allah.

I hope the Prophetic Guidance team would put the lectures up on youtube; 10pm is a bad time to be able to watch anything in our house and I can't watch it on the Islam Channel website either. I really want to catch up on the classes I missed.

Me and My Mother

There's a lot of difference between my mother (may Allah preserve her) and I. Her resilience, patience, strength, independence, wisdom and self-assuredness strike me at times and make me feel like I inherited only some of her physical attributes and not the admirable qualities. These qualities would have definitely been indispensible in the last 2 years for me not to mention throughout life - which is inevitably full of injustice, hardship and tests.

But there are a lot of differences between my life and my mothers'. She can barely remember her parents as they passed away when she was very young. She was married off pretty much as soon as she reached puberty and thenceforth began a life of marital/in-law strife - typical life of marriage if you ask me, but hey I'm a (justified) cynic. She had to adapt to the settings God put her in and hence she either applied all the qualities she already had or acquired them - you can't really know which one but either way they became part of her character. Whereas me - I've had a life of ease. Of course, if this was 10 years ago I'd tell you I had the worst life imaginable but I was of a different species then - a teenager. My "hardships" amounted to my parents not letting me wear "trendy western clothes", not letting me go out with my friends, coming down on me like a ton of bricks if my brother spotted me in school within a 10 metre radius of a guy etc. I wasn't pressured to continue my education after college, I wasn't pressured to do housework, I wasn't pressured to even earn a living and after my family were fairly confident that I wasn't in any danger of becoming a tart :-D they let me wear what I wanted.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of person I would've been had my upbringing been different. Had I been accustomed to hardship, difficulties now would not be so trying. Of course, that's not really useful because I can't alter what has passed and I can't (and don't) regret the blessing of ease, walhamdulillah. What I can do is behave as though I have patience, fortitude, self-confidence, resilience. I can keep my mood swings under the wraps of smiles. I can don a fake coat of thick skin to sheild me from what others say and think of me. The outward actions will be pretty much the same as someone who already has these qualities naturally but inwardly it will be more of a struggle. Until insha'Allah they become second nature to me.

Assalamu alaikum.

How do.

This is my blog.

I hope it is going to be of benefit to people but it's not my intention for having a blog. It's just somewhere I can just... talk.