"And indeed every man shall have but that which he intended"

"AND INDEED EVERY MAN SHALL HAVE BUT THAT WHICH HE INTENDED"

Is this sentence merely emphasising the previous? Imam al-Qurtubi considered it so. However in reality both are saying different yet complementary things. Sheikh al Uthaimeen wrote: "the first sentence is the CAUSE and the second is the consequence." The first one means that every deed performed by a human while he is rational and acting voluntarily must have an intention. It is not possible for a rational, voluntarily acting person to perform a deed without an intention. The second means that if someone intended the pleasure of Allah and desired the good of the Hereafter that will be achieved. Ibn Rajab wrote that the second sentence is a statement about the Shari’ah ruling; if the intention was sound or pious his deed is sound and he shall have its reward. If it was evil then his deed was evil and upon him is the burden. In other words, the goodness of a deed is according to the goodness of the inention.


DOES EVERYONE GET WHAT THEY INTEND?


Not everyone gets what they intend. For instance, someone migrates to marry someone but the other person refuses. Or a disbeliever does not intend to be punished for their deeds but Allah states this will happen. However looking at this hadith in its totality we can see that it talks about general categories of intentions:


1) The pure and pious intention of performing a deed for the sake of Allah. According to this hadith the person shall receive the pleasure of Allah and reward from Him. Allah says in Surah ar-Rahman 60: "Is there any reward for good other than good?"

2) The religiously neutral intention where one seeks something permissible of this world. The result of this intention will also be religiously neutral, that is, without reward or punishment in the Hereafter, although it may or may not be the exact result of what the person intended.

3) The blameworthy, evil intention. This is regardless of any claimed good motive of the person if the action is sinful. The consequence of that will be evil for the person in the long run, supported by the ayah from Surah Hood 15-16: "Whosoever desires the life of the world and its glitter; to them we shall pay In full (the wages of) their deeds therein, and they will have no diminution therein. They are those for whom there is nothing In the Hereafter but fire; and vain are the deeds they did therein. and of no effect is that which they used to do."


WHAT ABOUT NON-PERFORMANCE OF ACTIONS?


The stronger opinion is that if someone consciously avoids a certain action for the sake of Allah then he will be rewarded. For example, a person who avoids drinking alcohol despite being tempted by work colleagues, or a person who lowers their gaze from the opposite sex because of fear of Allah and in order to abide by His laws is rewarded. On the other hand if someone is allergic to alcoholic drinks and avoids it for this purpose, or if a person is busy reading a book hence is too occupied to look at a person of the opposite sex will not be rewarded because the intention for NOT doing those actions was for other than the sake of Allah.


SAME ACT, DIFFERENT INTENTIONS


We learn from later on in the hadith how the same action i.e. migration can be a source or reward for some and punishment for others depending on the intention. For example if a person washes themselves and intends with it the expiation of their sins committed by each area of the body that is being cleansed and the intention that one will be pure to worship their Lord may be rewarded manifolds for that intention. Whereas someone who merely showers because it is part of their daily routine will have a different intention altogether. Similarly, if a person attends the congregational prayer, travels out to the oldest masjid in the town on foot, seeking His pleasure and fearing His punishment, loving to be in the house of Allah, wishing to set an example to others, wishing to support the masjid, wishing to meet with brothers, intending to stay behind for a dars after the prayer has many pious good intentions. Similarly if someone attends the prayer because he wishes to be seen as a pious person then that is an evil intention, a type of shirk. Allah says in a hadith qudsi, "I am so self-sufficient (Ghani) that I am in no need of having an associate. Thue, he who does an action for someone else’s sake as well Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me " (Muslim). Ali ibn al Madeeni once said, "A small act may be made great due to the intention behind it and a great act may be made small due to the intention behind it."

"Indeed all actions are but by intentions..."

I help deliver a local circle to a few sisters based on what I've learnt mainly in the AlKauthar courses. At the moment I'm doing hadith based on the Drops of Dew course. The following are the notes I made on the first hadith of Imam Nawawi. I covered just the first sentence "innama al a'malu bi an-niyyaat..." and briefly the chain of narration. I relied heavily on the book by Jamal ud-Deen Zarabozo on his commentary of Imam Nawawi's 40 hadith.

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“INDEED ALL ACTIONS ARE BUT BY INTENTIONS…”

THE CHAIN OF NARRATION

Due to the large number of works this hadith appears in one may be of the impression that this hadith is narrated by numerous companions. The saheeh version of this hadtih is in fact narrated by only one sahabi, namely Umar ibn al Khattab, who narrated to one tabi’i (Alqamah ibn Waqqas), who narrated to another tabi’i (Muhammad ibn Ibraheem) who narrated to another tabi’i (Yahya ibn Sa’eed) who then narrated to many. Therefore the first 4 links in the chain are singular. Therefore this hadith is AHAD. Is this a problem? Can we accept ahad hadith?

Hadith can be classified in numerous ways. When we want to know about the authenticity of a hadith we are concerned with “saheeh”, “da’eef” etc. When we want to know about the chain of narration, we are concerned with MUTAWAATIR or ahad. Mutawatir hadith have the same status as Qur’anic ayat; it is impossible for the number of people in each and every level of the chain to have gathered upon a lie about a statement of the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam). Thus, mutawatir hadith are automatically saheeh, more so than non-mutawatir saheeh hadith. However it is important to note that other factors other than numbers of narrators come into play. Therefore a more accurate definition of mutawatir is A REPORT FROM A NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN EVERY LEVEL THAT WOULD PREVENT THEN FROM AGREEING UPON FABRICATING THE NARRATION.

What is the definition of ahad hadith? According to the majority of scholars, it is not dependent on the number in a chain, rather it is HADITH WHICH IS NOT MUTAWAATIR.

Examples of mutawaatir hadith include: wiping over the socks in wudu, raising the hands before and after ruku’, the Prophet’s (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) statement: “he who lies upon me, then let him take his seat in the Hellfire.” There are only 25 ahadith that ALL scholars agree are mutawaatir therefore much of Islam would be lost if we rejected ahad narrations. In reality, ahad narrations are not to be disregarded automatically before their authenticity is determined.

There are three opinions on ahad narrations:
1) They lead to doubt, not certainty
2) They lead to certainty if the narrators are just and trustworthy
3) They lead to certainty if the narration has supporting evidences that point to its authenticity.

The third opinion is the stronger one therefore we can conclude:
AHAD WITH SUPPORTING EVIDENCES --> CERTAINTY
AHAD WITH NO SUPPORTING EVIDENCES --> DOUBT

Only with further probing and study into the chain of narration can one then determine the authenticity of an ahad hadith.

It is worth noting that the sheikh ul hadith Imam Bukhari, rahimahuLlah, starting and ended his Saheeh with ahad hadith. Was he making a point? Well, he is famous for making subtle statements through his work.

There are some who say that ahad narrations are acceptable for fiqh issues but not in aqeedah, because aqeedah requires a heavier burden of evidence. Thus they may reject the belief in Adam as the first prophet, they may reject the punishment in the grave, and so on. This is incorrect. Sheikh Muhammad al Ameen al-Shanqeeti says: “it is obligatory upon the Muslim to accept everything that is established from the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) with an authentic chain of narrators. Let him know that if he cannot achieve guidance and success by following that which has been established from the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) then of a surety he cannot achieve it by using his deficient logic in the darkness of doubt and ignorance.” The issue of concern to the Muslim is “Is this hadith authentic or not?” as a measure of whether to apply it in his deen, whether that is aqeedah or fiqh, not “Is this hadith mutawatir or ahad?”

FURTHER PROOFS FOR THE CONCEPT OF INTENTIONS IN THIS HADITH

“Whoever wishes for the quick-passing (transitory enjoyment of this world), we readily grant Him what we will for whom we like. Then, afterwards, we have appointed for Him Hell, He will burn therein disgraced and rejected, (far away from Allâh's Mercy). And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it (i.e. do righteous deeds of Allâh's obedience) while He is a believer (in the Oneness of Allâh Islâmic Monotheism), Then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated, thanked and rewarded (by Allâh).” (Isra 18-19)

Here the word iradah has been used which encompasses intention, resolve, desire, choice, will. In other words, it is used synonymously with niyyah.

The Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said: “Verily you do not spend in charity any amount desiring by it the Face of Allah except that you will be rewarded for it; even for the morsel that you put in your wife’s mouth.” (Bukhari & Muslim)
This implies that actions done with the intention of charity for Allah’s sake will be rewarded.

The salaf used to say: “Whoever desires to complete his actions, then let him perfect his intentions.”

Imam Yusuf ibn Hussain ar-Razi said: “The most honourable thing in this world is al-ikhlas.”

CIRCUMSTANCES BEHIND THE HADITH

Imam at-Tabarani recorded on the authority of ibn Mas’ood that this hadith was stated concerning a man who wanted to marry a woman named Umm Qais but she refused to marry him unless e migrated from Makkah to Madinah. Therefore because he migrated to marry her he was called “migrant of Umm Qais.” Ibn Hajr says this authentic, however, he points out that nothing in this explicitly states that this was the reason the Prophet (sal Allahu 'alaiyhi wa sallam) said, “All actions are but by intention…”

INNAMA

This word implies both emphasis AND exclusiveness e.g. “certainly only”.

ALL ACTIONS

This term is general and includes all actions: actions of the body, speech, obligatory/voluntary, small/large, acts of worship, acts not related to worship. Actions are of four types:
1) Speech of the heart e.g. knowing there is a God.
2) Actions of the heart e.g. consequence of speech of the heart – fearing God.
3) Speech of the tongue.
4) Action of the limbs.

BI AL-NIYYAT

The letter ba has many meaning in Arabic. There are 2 possible interpretations for this letter in this particular hadith:

1. Accompaniment – “All actions are accompanied by intentions.”
2. Causation – “All actions are caused by intentions.”

Sheikh Al-Shanqeeti says that either is possible which would render the meaning to “the reward is confirmed due to the intention as it is the intention that has led to the act in the first place.”

The meanings of niyyah – what do you think they are?

Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah defined niyyah as “the knowledge of a doer of what he is doing and what is the purpose behind (this action)… The intelligent, voluntary actor does not do anything without first conceiving it and wanting it.”

Imam as Suyooti said, “Intention describes the driving force in the heart towards what the person sees to be in conformity with what he wants…”

Niyyah is not just a thought which comes to the mind; it is determination, want, and aspiration to do something. It includes all the meanings of endeavour, purpose, resolution, goal, aim etc. It means that if one has the intention to do something he will do it as long as nothing prevents him.

The place of the intention is the heart as all the above actually takes place in the heart or at least originates in the heart.

Niyyah implies knowledge and action. First there must be knowledge of the action one wants to fulfil. Secondly the action must follow if no external factors prevent it.

SOMETHING MISSING IN THE SENTENCE?

Is something missing in the sentence- “Indeed all actions are but by intention…”? Some argue that there is something missing that must be assumed because there are actions that can occur without intention – voluntary and unintentional acts. What then should be assumed? Ibn Hajr and al Mubarakpuri have given a list of suggestions: the completeness of actions, the correctness of actions, the consideration of actions, and so on. However this restricts ACTIONS to religious actions whereas the stronger opinion is the hadith refers to all actions, religious and otherwise. Therefore a more correct interpretation would be ALL ACTIONS OCCUR OR COME ABOUT DUE TO INTENTION which indicates that conscious voluntary actions do not occur except from an intention from the doer. It is possible to adopt both interpretations; we can say that the first is concerned with the ruling of an action whereas the second is merely stating a fact.

TYPES OF INTENTIONS

1) A good pious intention
2) A religiously neutral intention
3) An evil intention.

Any action which is specified as worship (IBADAH) must be done with the intention of please Allah and according to His Sharee’ah. For example going without food from dawn til sunset would not be considered fasting if the intention was not to fast. Similarly bathing so one can start praying must be accompanied with intention. Any act that is done for His sake (good pious intention) but is not specified as ibadah can move into the realm of ibadah (QURUBAH), for example walking with the intention of going to the mosque to pray. Any act that is religiously neutral and the intention is religiously neutral is not rewarded or punished (MU’AMALAH).

Thus, niyyah can further be divided into 2:
1) Intention for a particular act of worship –e.g. I am praying but is my intention for it obligatory or voluntary?

2) Intention towards the One you worship – e.g. Am I praying entirely for His Sake i.e. ikhlas

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.

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.

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.