Monday, July 14, 2008

It is mustahabb to recite a complete soorah after al-Faatihah in prayer

Q) After reciting soorah Faatihah in each rakaat is it permissible to recite only part of one long soorah instead of a whole one so that a few long soorahs are completed during the whole prayer instead of many short soorahs?

A) Praise be to Allaah.

Yes, it is permissible to recite part of a long soorah in prayer, instead of reciting a complete short soorah, But it is better to recite a complete soorah in each rak’ah. This is what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) usually did. Al-Bukhaari (762) and Muslim (451) narrated that Abu Qutaadah said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite al-Faatihah and another soorah in the first two rak’ahs of Zuhr and ‘Asr.” This hadeeth indicates that “reciting a short soorah in full is better than reciting an equal part of a longer soorah.” (Sharh Muslim by al-Nawawi (4/174). The words of Abu Qutaadah - “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite…” indicate that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) persisted in doing that, or that this is what he usually did. Fath al-Baari, 2/244.

It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) recited certain soorahs in certain prayers. Muslim (727) narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite ‘Say (O Muslims): “We believe in Allaah and that which has been sent down to us…’ [al-Baqarah 2:136 – interpretation of the meaning] and ‘Come to a word that is just between us and you…’ [Aal ‘Imraan 3:64 – interpretation of the meaning] in the two rak’ahs of Fajr prayer.” This hadeeth indicates that it is permissible to recite part of a soorah in a rak’ah. Nayl al-Awtaar, 2/255

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught us to recite a complete soorah, and sometimes he would recite a complete soorah over the two rak’ahs; or he would recite the first part of a soorah. As for reciting the last part of a soorah, or the middle part of a soorah, it was not narrated that he did that; and as for reciting two soorahs in one rak’ah, he would do that in naafil prayers, but it was not narrated that he did that in fard prayers. The hadeeth of Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him), “I know the pairs of soorahs that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would recite in one rak’ah. He would recite Soorat al-Rahmaan and Soorat al-Najm in one rak’ah, or Soorat al-Qamar and Soorat al-Haaqqah in one rak’ah, or Soorat al-Toor and Soorat al-Dhaariyaat in one rak’ah, or Soorat al-Waaqi’ah and Soorat al-Qalam in one rak’ah.” This hadeeth indicates that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did that, but it does not specify whether he did it in fard (obligatory) prayers or naafil (supererogatory) prayers. The hadeeth may mean either. As for reciting one soorah in two rak’ahs, he used to do that rarely. Abu Dawood narrated from a man from Juhaynah that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) reciting Soorat al-Zalzalah in two rak’ahs of Fajr prayer, and he said: “I do not know whether the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forgot or did he do that deliberately?” (Zaad al-Ma’aad, 1/214-215).

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “There is nothing wrong with a man reciting one verse from a soorah in an obligatory prayer or in a naafil prayer. This may be understood from the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

‘So, recite you of the Qur’aan as much as may be easy for you’

[al-Muzzammil 73:20]

But the Sunnah – which is preferable – is to recite a soorah, and the best is to recite one soorah in each rak’ah. If that is too difficult then it is acceptable to divide the soorah between the two rak’ahs.” (al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 3/104).

May Allaah help us all to acquire useful knowledge and to do righteous deeds.

And Allaah knows best. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.


Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

She cannot leave her husband who does not pray

Q) My problem is my husband. He does not pray and he drinks, and I have the feeling that he is having an affair. Sometimes he travels on his own or I find pictures of him with a girl, and he tells me that he married her on one of his trips, and I believe that he is telling the truth. After a while he said that he has divorced her because the distance was too great and he couldn’t afford it. A while after that I found a negative which is clearly a picture of him with the girl but he made some excuse. The point is that I cannot leave him because we have two children and for other reasons which I believe are because of me. When I married him, about eight years ago, he was not like that, but sex was extremely important to him and I was circumcised so it took me a long time to respond to him… Now I want to make the most of this blessed month [Ramadaan] to try to guide him. I hope that you can advise me of the steps I may take especially if there are any practical ways, because speaking to him doesn’t do any good. I have tried that and it was no use. May Allaah reward you with good.?

A) Praise be to Allaah.

If your husband does not pray, then it is not permissible for you to stay married to him or to let him be intimate with you. That could be a means of guiding him, but you have to stay away from him because of his not praying. As for the ways by means of which you can try to guide him, there are many such ways, such as bringing home some tapes which speak of matters that are of concern to him, such as reminders of how quickly this life passes, the transient nature of this world, its insignificance, the dangers of following one’s whims and desires and how that leads to a bad end, reminders of death, the resurrection, Paradise and Hell, the blessings of obeying Allaah, the bad consequences of disobeying Him, the peace of mind that comes from obeying Allaah, and the sense of alienation felt by sinners. You could also put him in touch with some daa’iyahs and good people and the imaam of a mosque, and let them visit him, and try to get him to make friends with some righteous people who can help him and encourage him to do good, and explain to him the dangers of keeping company with bad people, etc.



Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd.

Ruling on working in an Islamic nasheed group

Q) I have been offered a job in an Islamic nasheed group (performing at weddings and so on). What should I do? I am desperately in need of work.

A) Praise be to Allaah.

It is permissible to work in an Islamic nasheed group, if the work is free of anything that is contrary to sharee’ah and adheres to the following guidelines:

-1-

The anaasheed should be performed in front of men only; it is not permissible to perform in the presence of women, because of the prohibition on mixing, and because of the evil and corruption to which that may lead.

-2-

The songs should contain permissible words only, free from any shameless or licentious content.

-3-

The anaasheed should not be accompanied by any musical instruments or tablah drums or daffs, because of the prohibition on using musical instruments and the prohibition on using the daff for men, according to the more correct opinion. See question no. 5000, 5011, 20406 and 9290.

-4-

The anaasheed should not be accompanied by any sound effects that resemble musical instruments, whether they are done on the computer or otherwise.

Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

There may be another sin involved in that [i.e., nasheeds], which is that they may be performed in the manner of immoral songs and performed according to the rules of eastern or western music which makes the listeners enjoy it and makes them dance and behave in a foolish manner. So the aim becomes the tune and the enjoyment thereof, and not nasheed per se. This is a new error, and it is an imitation of the kuffaar and immoral people. That may lead to a further error, which is imitating them in turning away from the Qur’aan and forsaking it, and being included in the general meaning of the complaint of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) will say: ‘O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Qur’aan (neither listened to it nor acted on its laws and teachings)’” [al-Furqaan 25:30]. End quote from Tahreem Alaat al-Tarb (p. 181).

It is well known that Islam forbids listening to musical instruments because of the effect that musical instruments have on the heart, which may be affected by hypocrisy and forsaking the word of Allaah, so that it finds no pleasure except in these songs. It is well known that some of these sound effects have a worse effect than musical instruments, and their effect on the listener, even if it is no greater than the effect of musical instruments, is no less either. It is impossible that Islam would forbid anything because of its corrupting effects then permit something that is similar to it or worse than it.

If the sound effects have a sound that is similar to that of musical instruments, then the ruling on them is the same as the ruling on musical instruments, i.e., they are haraam.

-5-

Pictures of the munshids (“singers”) should not be put on the covers of their tapes, in an imitation of the evildoing of pop singers.

See the answer to question no. 91142.

If the work of this group is free of these haraam issues, then there is nothing wrong with you working with them.

You should remember that there are many ways of earning provision, but the matter needs effort and hard work. Seek the help of Allaah and do not feel helpless, and do not let the desire to hasten provision make you seek it by disobeying Allaah. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Holy Spirit (Jibreel) has inspired to me that no soul will die until it has completed its appointed term and received its provision in full, so fear Allaah and do not be desperate in seeking provision, and no one of you should be temped to seek provision by means of committing sin if it is slow in coming to him, for that which is with Allaah can only be attained by obeying Him.” Narrated by Abu Na’eem in al-Hilyah from the hadeeth of Abu Umaamah; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 2085.

We ask Allaah to make things easy for you and to bless you with good provision.

And Allaah knows best.


Islam Q&A

It is not permissible to keep embryos or fertilized eggs

Q) I married 11 years ago. We have problems regarding having children, Allah has blessed us with a daughter through IVF. We recently contacted the doctor and he told us about a new technology known as freezing the fertilized eggs and using them months or years later, the doctors puts it back into the womb. Is this halal or haram (freezing the fertilized eggs)?

A) Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

There are different kinds of fertilization, some of which are halaal and some are haraam. The halaal types include:

(i) Where the sperm is taken from the husband and the egg from his wife, and fertilization is done externally, then the embryo is implanted in the wife’s uterus.

(ii) Where the husband’s sperm is taken and injected into the wife’s vagina or uterus to fertilize the egg internally.

The Islamic Fiqh Council has stated that this is permissible. See the text of their statement in the answer to question no. 23104.

Secondly:

It is not permissible to keep eggs or embryos, and the fertilization of eggs must be limited to the required number so as to avoid having an excess of fertilized eggs. If there is an excess of fertilized eggs, they should be left without any care to die naturally.

That is because keeping embryos or eggs may lead to them being mixed with others as time goes by, either by mistake or deliberately, as has happened in many cases. Some of them may be taken and placed in the uterus of another woman, which leads to confusion of lineages, which is a serious evil which outweighs the interests which the couple may think are served by keeping embryos to save money and use for fertilization later on.

The Islamic Fiqh Council belonging to the Organization of the Islamic Conference has issued a statement on this matter. The text follows:

1- In the light of what has happened of the possibility of keeping unfertilized eggs to be used later on, when fertilizing eggs it must be limited to the required number for implantation each time, to avoid an excess of fertilized eggs.

2- If there are any extra fertilized eggs – for any reason – they should be left without medical care until they die naturally.

3- It is haraam to use fertilized eggs in another woman, and sufficient precautions must be taken to prevent using fertilized eggs for an illegitimate pregnancy. End quote from Majallat Majma’ al-Fiqh al-Islami, issue no. 7, vol. 3, p. 563.

And Allaah knows best.


Islam Q&A