The Ruling on Making Wudhū’ For Those With Incontinence, Excessive Flatulence, Irregular Vaginal Bleeding (Istihādhah) etc

Below is a detailed response to a question put to me from a student, which I invested some time in due to what I felt to be the importance of the issue and what I felt to be a lack of detail available on the internet in English. I hope it will be of some benefit iA.

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QUESTION:

Salaam Respected Shiekh,

I have the following 2 medical problems which are causing me considerable inconvenience in my Ibaadah.  I hope you will be kind enough to comment from a Shariah viewpoint on what the official ruling is.

Problem 1 – Inability to keep Wudhu due to possible Irritable Bowel syndrome (IBS).

I have a medical condition (suspected Irritable Bowel Syndrome) due to which my bowel is not properly regulated – this is made worse due to my stressful lifestyle and diet (both of which I am trying to change).  Although this can be painful, the bigger problem is a real inability to keep Wudhu due to possible flatulence/excess wind.  The problem is sometimes very bad but sometimes not as bad (meaning I can perform Salah normally sometimes).  The problem though is that the condition can arise at any time meaning until I have started salah it is not easy to know whether or not I will be able to keep Wudhu.  I have heard a fatwa issued by Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah which is repeated in Fiqh-us Sunnah that people with such irregular circumstances should make Wudhu once for each Salah.  This Wudhu however must be after the beginning of the prayer time of that Salah and one need not worry about wudhu thereafter till the next Salah’s time.  I would be grateful if you can comment on this and where the Islamic validity for such a position comes from.  Moreover I would be grateful if you can mention the position of the 4 schools of thought on this too?  

Connected to the above point is a question of combining Salah.  If the above fatwa of making wudhu once at beginning time is valid then if one is combining the salah then is one Wudhu sufficient for both salah?

Also, if one breaks wudhu during the wudhu (because sometimes things can be very bad) then does one have to keep starting from the beginning again or is it sufficient to make wudhu just once even though one may have broken it whilst making it?

Also, during Ghusl, it is generally accepted that one does not need to make a separate Wudhu after it as Ghusl incorporates the washing of the parts required within wudhu.  However unlike most people, it is perfectly possible for me to break wudhu during the ghusl process.  Does this mean that I have to fully perform Ghusl first and then a separate Wudhu too after it or is possible to assume Wudhu has been made with a complete Ghusl even if Wudhu was broken during it?

Final point on this is concerning Nafl Ibaadah.  Is it permissible (for someone with the above condition) to engage in any Nafl Ibaadah (eg reciting Quran/Nafl salah) once they have made wudhu at the beginning time of the respective Salah even though wudhu may have broken since the Salah was prayed.

Problem 2 – Very minor urine leakage due to weak muscle.

The second problem I have is that once I have passed urine I wait a while for all the drops to come out.  This is because I have a weak muscle in the pelvic area meaning everything does not come out straight away.  Once I feel I am clear from urine I wash down there.  However there can on a few occasions be tiny amounts of urine which may still come out thereafter.  I have heard that Ibn Umar used to sprinkle water on his underpants and tell himself that it was just water if he felt something wet.  Please can you kindly comment on this.  I can confirm that the number of occasions this happens is not many and the urine amount is tiny.  I have tried wiping the affected area with tissue after Istinja so it is dry and hence I can detect any drops – however this leaves me in a constant state of guessing whether or not I am feeling something wet down there or whether it is just the damp feeling after Istinja.  It makes concentration in salah very difficult.  Please also confirm what the Shar’ee position with regards to Najs on clothing is – I ask because in this situation it may be that my clothing has Najs on those few occasions when drops occur.  The hanafi school seems to tolerate Najs amounting to a 50p coin which I would be well within.

I would greatly appreciate your kind comment of these urgent matters.

ANSWER:

Wa ‘alaykum’l-salām wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh

Indeed all Praise is due to Allāh, and may His peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muḥammed, his family and his companions.

To answer your question properly, we need to return back to the original sources to try and find evidences for your specific situation.

We don’t find much discussion on this matter at a primary evidence level and thus have to use the principle of qiyās (analogy) to try and find a response to the challenges of Irritable Bowel Syndrome such as continual flatulence, irregular involuntary flatulence and indeed other forms of involuntary incontinence

The scholars agreed that the way to answer this question is to use the aḥādīth on the issue of istiḥāḍah (prolonged irregular vaginal bleeding). In essence, this is almost a form of “incontinence” in that it is the irregular or continual flow of blood from “one of the two passages” which the female has no control over, over and above her normal menstruation. Understanding this issue will give us a basis on how to answer the rising challenge of intestinal problems which seem to have increased in modern times largely due to the proportional increase in stress due to modern day realities, as well as the large array of unsuitable and unhealthy artificial foods that we consume.

So the question put to the scholars is: does the blood of istiḥāḍah and anything else which comes out continuously and involuntarily, invalidate one’s wuḍū’? The opinions are as follows:

The Ḥanafi[i] and Ḥanbali[ii] school: it is wājib (obligatory) to make wuḍū’ for every prayer time.

The Shāfi‘ī[iii] school: one must make wuḍū’ for every individual obligatory prayer (and not the time of the prayer itself), regardless whether that prayer is one which is being prayed on time, or one which is being made up after it had been missed earlier. One is allowed to pray voluntary prayers (nawāfil) using the same wuḍū’ made for the obligatory prayer.

The Māliki[iv] school: it is not obligatory to make wuḍū’ for each prayer, but it is recommended to do so only.

(It should be noted that in this opinion therefore, it would be sufficient to do all the prayers with a single wuḍū’ and to ignore the incontinence/istiḥāḍah, without needing to have to repeat the wuḍū’ unless the person invalidates their wuḍū’ by some other means other than the incontinence such as via sexual relations etc.)

The Ẓāhiri[v] school: it is obligatory to make wuḍū’ for every prayer, whether it be the farḍ or nafl prayer.

These are the well-known opinions from the earlier madh-habs. And it was based upon this response to irregular vaginal bleeding, that the ruling was issued for all other forms of incontinence.

From the later scholars, perhaps this fatwa from Ibn Taymiyyah sums up the issue and its application rather well. The text of the question and his answer is as follows[vi]:

وسئلَ ـ أيضًا ـ رحمَه الله ـ عن رجل كلما شرع في الصلاة يحدث له رياح كثيرة؛ حتى ‏[‏إنه‏]‏ في الصلاة يتوضأ أربع مرات أو أكثر، إلى حين يقضى الصلاة يزول عنه العارض، ثم لا يعود إليه إلا في أوقات الصلاة، وهو لا يعلم ما سبب ذلك‏؟‏‏:‏ هل هو من شدة حرصه على الطهارة‏؟‏ وقد يشق عليه كثرة الوضوء، وما يعلم هل حكمه حكم صاحب الأعذار أم لا لسبب أنه لا يعاوده إلا في وقت الصلاة‏؟‏ وما تطيب نفسه أن يصلي بوضوء واحد‏؟‏

 

Ibn Taymiyyah was asked:

“There is a man who when starting his Ṣalāh, will pass copious amounts of wind to the extent he will make wuḍū’ perhaps four times or even more; this might even continue until he completes the prayer and then the problem will stop, and indeed he will not pass wind thereafter until the time for the next prayer has arrived! He is not sure what the reason for that could possibly be, but is it perhaps because of his extraordinary concern for remaining ritually pure? The continual performing of wuḍū’ is becoming difficult for him and he doesn’t know if the ruling of someone with a valid excuse applies to him or not, because of the doubt surrounding the fact that he only seems to get the problem during prayer times. He doesn’t feel comfortable praying with just a single wuḍū’.”

/فأجاب ـ رضي الله عنه‏:‏
نعم، حكمه حكم أهل الأعذار‏:‏ مثل الاستحاضة وسلس البول، والمذى، والجرح الذي لا يرقأ، ونحو ذلك‏.‏ فمن لم يمكنه حفظ الطهارة مقدار الصلاة، فإنه يتوضأ ويصلي ولا يضره ما خرج منه في الصلاة، ولا ينتقض وضوؤه بذلك باتفاق الأئمة، وأكثر ما عليه أن يتوضأ لكل صلاة‏.‏
وقد تنازع العلماء في المستحاضة ومن به سلس البول وأمثالهما، مثل من به ريح يخرج على غير الوجه المعتاد، وكل من به حدث نادر‏.‏ فمذهب مالك‏:‏ أن ذلك ينقض الوضوء بالحدث المعتاد ـ ولكن الجمهور ـ كأبي حنيفة؛ والشافعي؛ وأحمد بن حنبل ـ يقولون‏:‏ إنه يتوضأ لكل صلاة أو لوقت كل صلاة‏.‏ رواه أهل السنن وصحح ذلك غير واحد من الحفاظ؛ فلهذا كان أظهر قولي العلماء أن مثل هؤلاء يتوضؤون لكل صلاة أو لوقت كل صلاة‏.‏
وأما ما يخرج في الصلاة دائمًا فهذا لا ينقض الوضوء باتفاق العلماء‏.‏ وقد ثبت في الصحيح‏:‏ أن بعض أزواج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كانت تصلي والدم يقطر منها، فيوضع لها طست يقطر فيه الدم‏.‏ وثبت في الصحيح أن عمر بن الخطاب ـ رضي الله عنه ـ صلى وجرحه يثعب دما‏.‏ ومازال المسلمون على عهد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يصلون في جراحاتهم‏.‏
/وقد تنازع العلماء في خروج النجاسة من غير السبيلين ـ كالجرح والفصاد والحجامة والرعَاف والقيء‏:‏ فمذهب مالك والشافعي‏:‏ لا ينقض‏.‏ ومذهب أبي حنيفة وأحمد‏:‏ ينقض‏.‏ لكن أحمد يقول‏:‏ إذا كان كثيرًا‏.‏
وتنازعوا في مس النساء ومس الذكر‏:‏ هل ينقض‏؟‏ فمذهب أبي حنيفة‏:‏ لا ينقض‏.‏ ومذهب الشافعي‏:‏ ينقض‏.‏ ومذهب مالك‏:‏ الفرق بين المس لشهوة وغيرها‏.‏ وقد اختلفت الرواية عنه هل يعتبر ذلك في مس الذكر‏؟‏ واختلف في ذلك عن أحمد، وعنه ـ كقول أبي حنيفة ـ‏:‏ أنه لا ينقض شيء من ذلك وروايتان كقول مالك والشافعي‏.‏
واختلف السلف في الوضوء مِن ما مست النار‏:‏ هل يجب أم لا‏؟‏ واختلفوا في القهقهة في الصلاة‏:‏ فمذهب أبي حنيفة تنقض‏.‏ ومن قال‏:‏ إن هذه الأمور لا تنقض‏:‏ فهل يستحب الوضوء منها‏؟‏ على قولين‏.‏ وهما قولان في مذهب أحمد وغيره‏.‏
والأظهر ـ في جميع هذه الأنواع ـ‏:‏ أنها لا تنقض الوضوء، ولكن يستحب الوضوء منها‏.‏ فمن صلى ولم يتوضأ منها صحت صلاته‏.‏ ومن توضأ منها فهو أفضل‏.‏ وأدلة ذلك مبسوطة في غير هذا الموضع، ولكن كلهم يأمر بإزالة النجاسة، ولكن إن كانت من الدم أكثر من ربع/ المحل فهذه تجب إزالتها عند عامة الأمة، ومع هذا إن كان الجرح لا يرقأ مثل ما أصاب عمر بن الخطاب ـ رضي الله عنه ـ فإنه يصلي باتفاقهم؛ سواء قيل‏:‏ إنه ينقض الوضوء، أو قيل‏:‏ لا ينقض، سواء كان كثيرًا أو قليلًا؛ لأن الله ـ تعالى ـ يقول‏:‏ ‏{‏لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا‏}‏ ‏[‏البقرة‏:‏ 286‏]‏، وقال تعالى‏:‏ ‏{‏فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ‏}‏ ‏[‏التغابن‏:‏ 16‏]‏، وقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم‏:‏ ‏(‏إذا أمرتكم بأمر فأتوا منه ما استطعتم‏)‏‏.‏
وكل ما عجز عنه العبد من واجبات الصلاة سقط عنه، فليس له أن يؤخر الصلاة عن وقتها، بل يصلي في الوقت بحسب الإمكان، لكن يجوز له ـ عند أكثر العلماء ـ أن يجمع بين الصلاتين لعذر، حتى أنه يجوز الجمع للمريض والمستحاضة وأصحاب الأعذار في أظهر قولي العلماء، كما استحب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم للمستحاضة أن تجمع بين الظهر والعصر بغسل واحد فهذا للمعذور، سواء أمكنه أن يجمع بين الصلاتين بطهارة واحدة من غير أن يخرج منه شيء في الصلاة، جاز له الجمع في أظهر قولي العلماء‏.‏
وكذلك يجمع المريض بطهارة واحدة إذا كانت الطهارة لكل صلاة تزيد في مرضه، ولابد من الصلاة في الوقت‏:‏ إما بطهارة إن أمكنه وإلا بالتيمم، فإنه يجوز لمن عدم الماء أو خاف الضرر باستعماله إما لمرض وإما لشدة البرد أن يتيمم وإن كان جنبًا، ولا قضاء عليه في أظهر قولي /العلماء‏.‏ وإذا تيمم في السفر لعدم الماء لم يعد باتفاق الأئمة‏.‏
وكذلك المريض إذا صلى قاعدًا أو صلى على جنب لم يُعِد باتفاق العلماء‏.‏
وكذلك العريان‏:‏ كالذي تنكسر به السفينة، أو يأخذ القطاع ثيابه‏:‏ فإنه يصلي عريانا ولا إعادة عليه باتفاق العلماء‏.‏
وكذلك من اشتبهت عليه القبلة وصلى ثم تبين له فيما بعد ، لا يعيد باتفاق العلماء ، وإن أخطأ مع اجتهاده لم يعد ـ أيضًا ـ عند جمهورهـم‏:‏ كمالك وأبي حنيفة وأحمد بن حنبل، والمشهور في مذهب الشافعي أنه يعيد‏.‏
وقد تنازع العلماء في التيمم لخشية البرد‏:‏ هل يعيد‏؟‏ وفيمن صلى في ثوب نجس لم يجد غيره‏:‏ هل يعيد‏؟‏ وفي مواضع أخر‏.‏
والصحيح في جميع هذا النوع‏:‏ أنه لا إعادة على أحد من هؤلاء، بل يصلي كل واحد على حسَب استطاعته ويسقط عنه ما عجز عنه، ولا إعادة عليه، ولم يأمر الله ـ تعالى ـ ولا رسوله أحدًا أن يصلي الفرض مرتين مطلقًا، بل من لم يفعل ما أمر به فعليه أن يصلي إذا ذُكِّر بوضوء باتفاق المسلمين‏:‏ كمن نسى الصلاة؛ فإن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏/ ‏(‏من نام عن صلاة أو نسيها فليصلها إذا ذكرها‏)‏‏.‏ وهذه المسائل مبسوطة في غير هذا الموضع‏.‏

والمقصود هنا بيان أن الله ـ تعالى ـ ما جعل على المسلمين من حرج في دينهم، بل هو ـ سبحانه ـ يريد بهم اليسر ولا يريد بهم العسر‏.‏ ومسألة هذا السائل أولى بالرخصة، ولهذا كانت متفقًا عليها بين العلماء وهذه المسائل مبسوطة في مواضع أخر‏.‏ والله أعلم‏

 

So he responded, may Allah be pleased with him:

Yes, his ruling is that of those who have a valid excuse, such as those suffering from irregular vaginal bleeding, or urinary incontinence, or continual discharge of prostatic fluid, or a wound which will not stop bleeding etc. The one who is unable to maintain his state of purity for the length of a prayer should make wuḍū’ and then pray and he is not affected by anything which may exit from him during the prayer, and indeed his wuḍū’ is not invalidated by that according to the consensus of the scholars – in actual fact the most being upon him is to make wuḍū’ for every prayer.

The scholars debated concerning the one who suffers from istiḥāḍah and the one with urinary incontinence and others like them such as those who excessively pass wind – more than what would be considered normal – and those with other rare conditions. The madh-hab of Mālik is that the state of wuḍū’ is only broken by an invalidator (such as going to the toilet, going to sleep etc) which is occurring at a normal rate and fashion (i.e. that one is in control of).

But the majority of scholars, such as Abu Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfi‘ī and Aḥmed b. Ḥanbal said that he is to make wuḍū’ for every prayer, or for the time of every prayer. This has been narrated by the Imams of the four Sunan (Abu Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasā’ī) and a number of the Huffādh have authenticated these reports. Therefore the most apparently correct of the two opinions of the scholars is that one should make wuḍū’ for every prayer or for every prayer time.

As for that which might continuously exit during the prayer itself then this does not invalidate the wuḍū’ by the consensus of the scholars; it has been established in the Ṣaḥīḥ that some of the wives of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would pray and blood would be dripping from them, and so a pan would be given to them so that the blood would drip in it. It is also established in the Ṣaḥīḥ that ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍyAllāhu ‘anhu) prayed whilst his wound was still pouring blood, indeed the Muslims from the time of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) always prayed whilst their wounds bled.

The scholars have also debated the excretion of that which is impure from other than the front and back passages, such as when wounded, or during a phlebotomy, or during ḥijāmah, or during a nosebleed or whilst one is vomiting. The madh-hab of Mālik and Shāfi‘ī is that these do not invalidate wuḍū’ whereas the madh-hab of Abu Ḥanīfah and Aḥmed is that they do invalidate the wuḍū’ except that Aḥmed added: only if it is of a large quantity.

They also debated the touching of women or touching the penis: does this break wuḍū’? The madh-hab of Abu Ḥanīfah is that it doesn’t, whereas the madh-hab of al-Shāfi‘ī is that it does. The madh-hab of Mālik is that there is a difference between touching with and without desire; there is a difference of opinion reported from him whether the same applied to the touching of the penis. They also differed in their reporting from Aḥmed as well, but one of the positions related from his is the same as Abu Ḥanīfah i.e. that none of the above invalidate the wuḍū’, whereas the other two narrations from him are the same as the positions of Mālik and al-Shāfi‘ī.

The Salaf differed on whether one needs to make wuḍū’ after eating something which has been cooked by fire – is it obligatory or not? They also differed on whether laughing out loud during the prayer – the madh-hab of Abu Ḥanīfah is that it does invalidate it, whereas others said such matters do not invalidate it. So is it recommended to make wuḍū’ from such matters? Some said yes and some said no, and both positions are related in the madh-hab of Aḥmed and others.

What seems apparent from all of these types of actions is that they do not break the wuḍū’ but it should be considered recommended (mustaḥab) to perform it. If anyone doesn’t make wuḍū’, his prayer will still be valid.

Whoever does perform wuḍū’ after the above incidents/actions, then this will be better – the evidences for this (recommendation) are spread all over this work but it should be noted that all of the scholars insisted that any najāsah (physical impurity) also be removed (from oneself). If for example some blood comes to be of an amount greater than a quarter of the area in question then this obligates its removal according to the majority of the Ummah, yet despite this we know that if a wound doesn’t stop bleeding such as what afflicted ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍyAllāhu ‘anhu) then he is to continue praying as per the consensus of the scholars. This is regardless of whether one feels that it (the invalidator i.e. the urine or wind passed in a state of incontinence) breaks the wuḍū’, or it is said that it doesn’t break the wuḍū’, regardless of whether it is a large amount (of najāsah) or a small amount. This is because Allah, Most High, says, “Allah doesn’t burden a soul more than it can bear.” (al-Baqarah, 286), and He, Most High, says, “Have as much taqwa of Allah as you possibly can…” (al-Taghābun, 16), and the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “If I order you to do something, then do as much of it as you can.”

So whatever the slave is not able to do from the obligatory acts of the prayer, these are pardoned from him. He is not to delay the prayer from its rightful time rather he should pray it within its time however he can – but it should also be noted that it is permissible according to the majority of the scholars to combine between two prayers for a valid reason, to the extent that it is permissible to combine for the sick person, the one suffering from istiḥāḍah and others with similar excuses as per the most obvious and correct position from the scholars. This is like when the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) recommended for the woman suffering from istiḥāḍah to combine between Ẓuhr and ‘Asr with her washing herself just once, because this is for the excused one. This is also regardless of whether one combines between two prayers using just one act of purification and yet then still nothing bleeds from her during the prayer – it is still permissible for her to combine according to the correct position of the scholars.

Likewise, the sick person can combine as well using only one wuḍū’ if the making of that wuḍū’ for every single prayer will make his condition worse.  It is a must that prayer is performed within its correct time, either by normal ablution or by tayammum – this is permissible if there is no water available or if one fears harm in the use of water whether for the reason that it will make his condition worse, or because of extreme cold. He can make tayammum even if he is in a state of sexual impurity and there will be no qaḍā’ (making up) upon him as per the more correct of the two positions of the scholars. And if he makes tayammum whilst he is travelling and there is no water available, then we have a consensus of the scholars that there is no repetition needed from him later.

Likewise, the sick person who prays sitting down or lying on his side – he does not repeat anything later by the consensus of the scholars.

And likewise the one who finds himself naked such as one who is shipwrecked or one who is robbed of his clothes; such a person should pray naked and there is no repeating (of the prayer) for him as per the consensus of the scholars.

Likewise the one who is not able to determine the direction of the Qiblah (for some reason out of his control), and then prays and then discovers that it was incorrect, he doesn’t need to repeat his prayer according to the consensus of the scholars. As for the one who estimates the direction and makes a mistake (and there was more that he could have done to determine the Qiblah) then even he doesn’t need to repeat the prayer according to the majority of the scholars namely Mālik, Abu Ḥanīfah, and Aḥmed b. Ḥanbal. The popular position of the Shāfi‘ī madh-hab is that he should repeat his prayer.

The scholars debated the permissibility of making tayammum simply for the reason that it was too cold (to use water) – does he need to repeat his prayer? Also the one who prays in najas (ritually impure and filthy) clothes because he hasn’t got access to anything else – does he repeat the prayer later too? And there are many other similar situations to this.

The correct position in all of the above is that there is no repeating or making up upon any of these people, rather they should all pray according to their ability and anything which was obligated upon them which they weren’t able to perform, they are pardoned for and there is no repeating required. Neither Allah, Most High, nor His Messenger ever ordered a person to pray an obligatory prayer twice… and we have explained these issues across our works.

The key point to remember in conclusion is that Allah, Most High, has not placed difficulty upon the Muslims in their religion, rather He – may He be blessed and exalted – wishes only ease for them and not hardship for them. And the issue which the questioner puts forward is most deserving of a concession and thus one sees a consensus of the scholars concerning it.

And Allah knows best.”

The purpose of the translation of that entire fatwa of Ibn Taymiyyah was to give the reader a complete overview and appreciation of the subject matter at hand and how the scholars in approach the issue of sickness in general, or inability or those with valid excuses.

It should be noted that despite all of what has been said from the positions of the Imams and the discussion of their evidences, we hold that the correct position is that of the madh-hab of Imām Mālik i.e. that one’s wuḍū’ is not broken by such involuntary acts such as excessive flatulence for the one suffering from IBS, or the one who continually or erratically leaks urine etc because of incontinence or other conditions.

To understand this, we need to look at the evidences on the matter in a bit more detail.[vii] The position of the fuqahā’ on this issue is well known, based upon the ḥadīth narrated in Ṣaḥīḥ’l-Bukhāri (306):

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ ، قَالَ : أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ، أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ : قَالَتْ فَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ أَبِي حُبَيْشٍ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ، إِنِّي لَا أَطْهُرُ أَفَأَدَعُ الصَّلَاةَ ؟ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : “ إِنَّمَا ذَلِكِ عِرْقٌ وَلَيْسَ بِالْحَيْضَةِ ، فَإِذَا أَقْبَلَتِ الْحَيْضَةُ فَاتْرُكِي الصَّلَاةَ فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ قَدْرُهَا فَاغْسِلِي عَنْكِ الدَّمَ وَصَلِّي “

It was narrated to us by ‘Abdullāh b. Yūsuf who said, “(Imām) Mālik informed us on the authority of Hishām b. ‘Urwah on the authority of his father (‘Urwah b. Zubayr) on the authority of ‘Ā’ishah (raḍyAllāhu ‘anhā) that she said,

“Fāṭimah bint Abi Ḥubaysh said to the Messenger of Allah (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam), “Yā Rasūlallāh, I am a woman who never becomes pure. Should I leave off the prayer?” The Messenger of Allah (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) replied, “This is only bleeding from a vein, not menstrual blood. When you have your menses, stop praying, but when it is complete then wash the blood away and begin praying again.”

This ḥadīth has been narrated with almost one hundred different chains across all the books of ḥadīth, the majority on the authority of ‘Urwah b. Zubayr on the authority of his aunt ‘Ā’ishah, may Allāh be pleased with all of them.

Indeed in another version of this ḥadīth (no. 228) in Ṣaḥīḥ’l-Bukhāri, we have:

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدٌ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ ، حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ عُرْوَةَ ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ، قَالَتْ : جَاءَتْ فَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ أَبِي حُبَيْشٍ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، فَقَالَتْ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ، إِنِّي امْرَأَةٌ أُسْتَحَاضُ فَلَا أَطْهُرُ ، أَفَأَدَعُ الصَّلَاةَ ؟ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : “ لَا ، إِنَّمَا ذَلِكِ عِرْقٌ وَلَيْسَ بِحَيْضٍ ، فَإِذَا أَقْبَلَتْ حَيْضَتُكِ فَدَعِي الصَّلَاةَ ، وَإِذَا أَدْبَرَتْ فَاغْسِلِي عَنْكِ الدَّمَ ثُمَّ صَلِّي “ ، قَالَ : وَقَالَ أَبِي : ثُمَّ تَوَضَّئِي لِكُلِّ صَلَاةٍ حَتَّى يَجِيءَ ذَلِكَ الْوَقْتُ

It was narrated to us by Muḥammed (b. Sallām b. al-Faraj) who said, “Abu Mu‘āwiyah narrated to us on the authority of Hishām b. ‘Urwah on the authority of his father (‘Urwah b. Zubayr) on the authority of ‘Ā’ishah (raḍyAllāhu ‘anhā) that she said,

“Fāṭimah bint Abi Ḥubaysh came to the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and said, “Yā Rasūlallāh, I am a woman who suffers from istiḥāḍah and I never become pure. Should I leave off the prayer?” The Messenger of Allah (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) replied, “No, that’s bleeding from a vein, not menstrual blood. When you have your menses, stop praying, but when it is complete then wash the blood away and begin praying again.” Hishām then said, “My father (‘Urwah) said, “Then make wuḍū’ for every prayer until your menses starts again.”

The main reason that the scholars differed over whether the blood of istiḥāḍah invalidates one’s wuḍū’ or not is because of the above statement of Hishām, the son of ‘Urwah b. Zubayr who was the nephew of ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with all of them.

Is this extra statement by Hishām i.e. “My father said, “Then make wuḍū’ for every prayer until your menses starts again”” something which was said by the Prophet himself (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and thus marfū‘, or was it just a statement of ‘Urwah himself and thus mawqūf? And is this narration continuous to the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and thus muttaṣilah or is it missing key narrators and thus mu‘allaqah? And if we assume that this ḥadīth is indeed marfū‘, then is such a Prophetic statement to be considered preserved (maḥfūẓ) or odd and contradictory to other more authentic narrations (shādh)?

To investigate this further, we see that this ḥadīth in its main is reported by Hishām b. ‘Urwah, from his father, from ‘Ā’ishah. As from Hishām himself, many narrators reported this ḥadīth with only small differences in the text itself, with some narrations mentioning the above extra statement, and some of them not.

For example, one path for the isnād using the authority of Abu Mu‘āwiyah from Hishām, does have the extra statement about making wuḍū’ for every Ṣalāh. But then they differed from Abu Mu‘āwiyah, with some narrators reporting the ḥadīth without any mention of the extra statement, and some of them narrating the ḥadīth with the extra statement being stated clearly as being marfū‘ i.e. as if it was a statement of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) himself and then finally some of them reporting the ḥadīth with the extra statement being confirmed as an increase from ‘Urwah only i.e. mawqūf.

Others who narrated the extra statement include Abu Ḥamzah al-Sukari, and they differed in narrating from him as well – some reported the extra as marfū‘ and some reported it as mursal i.e. just a statement of ‘Urwah.

Other major ḥadīth scholars have also narrated the extra statement such as Ḥammād b. Zayd and Ḥammād b. Salamah on the authority of Hishām except that they mention the making of wuḍū’ but didn’t mention that it had to be for every Ṣalāh, rather they narrated, “…so wash the blood from yourself, make wuḍū’ and pray.” So just as making ghusl from the condition only once is considered sufficient and it is not required each time for every Ṣalāh, the same goes for wuḍū’ as well, as per the wording collected by the two above Muḥaddithīn. Interestingly, ‘Affān who is one of the most accurate and best narrators from Ḥammād b. Salamah, has also narrated this ḥadīth from Ḥammād and not mentioned the extra statement of making wuḍū’ for every prayer either.

Others who narrated the extra statement include Abu ‘Awānah (al-Waḍḍāḥ b. ‘Abdillāh al-Yashkari) and Abu Ḥanīfah.

These are in total the main scholars who narrated this extra increment, but they were opposed by a large number of narrators who didn’t report the extra statement, some of who are considered more qualified in ḥadīth than the above, such as: Mālik, Wakī‘, Yaḥyā b. Sa‘īd al-Qaṭṭān, Zuhayr, Sufyān b. ‘Uyaynah, Abu Usāmah, Layth b. Sa‘d, ‘Amr b. al-Ḥārith, ‘Abdah, Muḥammad b. Kināsah, Ma‘mar, Ja‘far b. ‘Awn, al-Darāwardi, ‘Abdullāh b. Namīr and Sa‘īd b. ‘Abd’l-Raḥmān.

It is no surprise to find then that Imām Muslim, al-Nasā’ī, al-Bayhaqi, and Abu Dāwūd all ruled that this extra increment of making wuḍū’ for every Ṣalāh is ḍa‘īf (weak), as Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbali also opined in his commentary to Ṣaḥīḥ’l-Bukhāri[viii]:

“The correct position is that the wording of (making) wuḍū’ (for every prayer) is an extra addition in the ḥadīth from only ‘Urwah himself; indeed Mālik narrated from Hishām on the authority of his father that he himself said, “The one who suffers from istiḥāḍah does nothing other than make ghusl once and then she performs the wuḍū’ for every prayer thereafter.”

Imām al-Zayla‘ī the great Ḥanafi Muḥaddith said[ix],

“This extra wording i.e. “perform the wuḍū’ for every Ṣalāh” is mu‘allaqah according to Bukhāri (i.e. not a statement of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)…and Ibn al-Qaṭṭān also ruled that this narration was mu‘allaqah in his book.”

One can see some of the other versions of this ḥadīth to understand the above described situation. In the versions narrated by Imām Aḥmed, Ibn Mājah, Abu Dāwūd, Ibn Abi Shaybah and numerous other Muḥaddithīn, you will find similar wording to the above agreed upon narrations from Bukhāri but with usually a significant difference i.e. the statement of ‘Urwah (“Then make wuḍū’ for every prayer until your menses starts again.”) is included in the narration to make it look as if it is the statement of the Prophet himself (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)

For example, in the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah (1303), we have:

حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا الْأَعْمَشُ ، عَنْ حَبِيبِ بْنِ أَبِي ثَابِتٍ ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ، قَالَتْ : جَاءَتْ فَاطِمَةُ ابْنَةُ أَبِي حُبَيْشٍ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَتْ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ , إِنِّي امْرَأَةٌ أُسْتَحَاضُ فَلَا أَطْهُرُ أَفَادَعُ الصَّلَاةَ ؟ قَالَ : ” لَا ، إِنَّمَا ذَلِكَ عِرْقٌ وَلَيْسَتْ بِالْحَيْضَةِ اجْتَنِبِي الصَّلَاةَ أَيَّامَ حَيْضَتِكِ ثُمَّ اغْتَسِلِي وَتَوَضَّئِي لِكُلِّ صَلَاةٍ ثُمَّ صَلِّي وَإِنْ قَطَرَ الدَّمُ عَلَى الْحَصِيرِ “

It was narrated to us by Wakī‘ who said, “Al-A‘mash narrated to us on the authority of Ḥabīb b. Abi Thābit, on the authority of ‘Urwah, on the authority of ‘Ā’ishah, who said:

“Fāṭimah bint Abi Hubaysh came to the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and said, “Yā Rasūlallāh, I am a woman who suffers from istiḥāḍah and I never become pure. Should I leave off the prayer?” The Messenger of Allah (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) replied, “No, that’s bleeding from a vein, not menstrual blood. Avoid the prayer during the days of your menses, then take a bath and make wuḍū’ for every prayer and then pray, even if the blood is so much that it drips on to the mat below.”

As you can see, this narration and indeed many other narrations show the extra addition of the making of wuḍū’ for every prayer look like a Prophetic command.

It should be also said that the weakness in some of these versions that have the extra increment is quite clearly to be seen from the chains themselves. For example the version narrated by Imām Aḥmed (474) is ḍa‘īf because of the ‘an’anah of Ḥabīb b. Abi Thābit. In the narration of al-Dārimi (793), a number of scholars ruled the chain ḍa‘īf jiddan (very weak). In the narration of Imām al-Ṭabarāni in his Mu‘jam’l-Awsaṭ (1620), he said, “This ḥadīth has not been narrated on the authority of Abi Ayyūb al-Afrīqī who is otherwise known as ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Alī, other than Abu Yūsuf.” Hence, this chain is also weak.

As a result of the above brief study we find that the scholars differed in their conclusions with respect to the narrations relating to making wuḍū’ for every prayer for the one suffering from istiḥāḍah – indeed some as we have already mentioned considered all the ḥadīth on this matter to be weak.

Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbali said[x],

“The aḥādīth of performing wuḍū’ for every Ṣalāh have been narrated from many different paths, all of them doubtful and full of hidden faults.”

This is why the Mālikiyyah opined that there is no obligation to repeat the wuḍū’ for every prayer for the one suffering from istiḥāḍah.

Ibn ‘Abd’l-Barr said[xi],

“To make wuḍū’ (for every prayer) is only considered to be recommended by Mālik, not obligatory. They based their position on the fact that there is no mention of wuḍū’ by the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) when he said, “Once the period of menses has passed, take a bath and then pray” and he did not mention wuḍū’. And from amongst those who said that wuḍū’ is not obligatory for the one suffering from istiḥāḍah were Rabī‘ah, ‘Ikrimah, Mālik, Ayyūb and a group of the scholars.”

Our conclusion is the same: not only is the extra wording ḍa‘īf for this issue of istiḥāḍah, but if this is the case then it also suggests that none of this type of impurity such as the blood of istiḥāḍah, urinary incontinence and the like are all not considered to be a ḥadath i.e. something which breaks the wuḍū’. This is namely for the following reasons:

a)     Someone who is suffering from a continual condition which breaks the wuḍū’, then even if they were to perform ablution, it will never lift his impurity or his condition causing impurity. If we agree on this then the purification is only being done out of recommendation, and not obligation.

b)     If indeed the blood of istiḥāḍah doesn’t break one’s state of purity after making wuḍū’ before you pray in that prayer time, then neither will that same blood break your state of impurity after the prayer, or after the time period for that prayer has expired. Thus, we have considered any kind of command to make wuḍū’ for every Ṣalāh as something recommended only.

c)      If the blood which flows from a vein does not invalidate wuḍū’, then any blood flow from a vein in the hand or in the foot will also not invalidate the wuḍū’ according to the most correct position. Therefore we should apply the same for the blood of istiḥāḍah for it is also blood from a vein as the ḥadīth in the Ṣaḥiḥayn confirm. It’s not right to say that just because it is bleeding from a vein in the genital area, it has a different ruling to other wounds suffering from bleeding. No, indeed reflect on the fact that sperm exists from the genitalia and yet is still considered to be clean.

d)     Allah jalla wa ‘ala is the Wise. He doesn’t take people to account except for what they have wilfully done. So if one is suffering from bleeding which was not wanted or intended by him, his acts of worship are still valid.

Let us quote what Ibn al-Mundhir states in al-Awsaṭ:[xii]

“Common sense in this issue dictates that what Rabī‘ah has said is correct – that it is not obligatory to repeat the wuḍū’ each time – except for the fact that it is an opinion which I have seen no support from anyone before him. The reason I mentioned “common sense” is because if there is no difference between the appearance of the blood of istiḥāḍah before, during or after wuḍū’, and if indeed the blood of istiḥāḍah obligates wuḍū’ after it, then surely a little or a lot of the blood would necessitate wuḍū’ – and if that’s the case then when the one suffering from istiḥāḍah starts her wuḍū’ and then some blood comes out after she has already washed some body-parts, her wuḍū’ is invalidated, because the blood which necessitates purification (according to the opinion that the one with istiḥāḍah is obligated to make wuḍū’ for each Ṣalāh) is present and invalidating.

But if that which comes out during wuḍū’ or that which comes out before she starts the Ṣalāh, or indeed during the Ṣalāh, does not break the wuḍū’, then this necessitates that whatever comes out after she has finished the Ṣalāh likewise does not break the wuḍū’, unless she breaks her wuḍū’ with something else other than the blood of istiḥāḍah. This is clearly what makes the most sense.”

This is the evidence of the Mālikiyyah for not obligating wuḍū’ for every prayer for the one suffering from istiḥāḍah and thus by extension for all those suffering from incontinence and other similar conditions, including excess uncontrollable flatulence as a result of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

In conclusion, we feel that this is the strongest and the most correct opinion on the matter. The narrations from the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) on this issue have not been established, Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbali declared all the ḥadīth on the subject to be weak, it is the opinion of not only Imām Mālik but other major Imāms of the Salaf including Rabī‘ah, ‘Ikrimah, Abu Ayyūb as well as some of the contemporary scholars today, and crucially this agrees with the objectives of Sharī‘ah and the mercy of Allah jalla wa ‘ala in not wanting difficulty for the Muslims and bringing ease whenever possible. The one who is ill or suffering from such conditions is already in difficulty as it is – how then can we obligate upon them wuḍū’ for every single prayer and make their lives even more difficult and miserable? To recommend wuḍū’ is good and a virtuous action, but obligate?

Therefore it is sufficient for you in your condition to make wuḍū’ and then pray all your prayers and perform all other deeds that require purification, without having to repeat your wuḍū’ at any time unless you break your wuḍū’ by something other than your medical condition.

You also ask about the combining of the prayer due to your condition. We find from the books of fiqh that it is allowed to combine the prayers for the one who is ill, or is in a state of istiḥāḍah or becoming weak from breast-feeding or suffering from incontinence etc. This is the position of the Mālikiyyah, the Ḥanābilah and some of the Fuqahā’ of the Shāfi‘ī madh-hab as well such as Qāḍī Ḥusayn, Ibn al-Muqri, al-Mutawallī and Abu Sulaymān al-Khaṭṭābi. Imām al-Nawawi said, “This is a very strong position.” We also quoted Ibn Taymiyyah’s support of this position above.

As for the Ḥanafi and Shāfi‘ī madh-habs then they did not consider it permissible for the sick person to combine their prayers because nothing has been narrated to this regard from the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam). They stated that the timings of the prayer and the command to observe them are clear and well established, and cannot just be ignored due to something which is not definite and based upon doubt (such as the above argument). They also stated that the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) also suffered from illness yet we have not seen any evidence of his combining for that reason ever narrated.

Our position is that of the majority i.e. that it is allowed to combine due to a legitimate excuse or difficulty as stated by Ibn ‘Abbās (raḍyAllāhu ‘anhu) in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim that the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) combined the prayers when there was no fear (of war etc) nor any rain, rather it was to lift difficulty from his Ummah i.e. give them an option of respite during difficult times.

In your next question, you ask about the problem of potential urine drops still being present after you completed the act of istinjā’.

This is a well-known matter in the books of fiqh, and it is sufficient to state that the juristic maxim, “Certainty is not removed by doubt” comes into play here. Once you have dried yourself and then washed yourself, then you are now clean. This is what is certain. After this, everything else is just doubt. Any wetness is of course more likely to be the water you have just used, and the amount of urine that might exit after some time cannot possibly be considered with respect to the water used.

Indeed, even in the absence of water to cleanse yourself with (which is allowed of course, and is called “dry istinjā’” or “istijmār” using tissue paper only or clods of earth etc), Allah jalla wa ‘ala has not put such a hardship upon mankind that they would need to remain seated after urination for 20 minutes each time waiting for every single tiny drop of urine etc to exit. Life could not function with such a reality and that is why the scholars have unanimously agreed that one cleans the area the recommended number of three times and then that is sufficient and he/she continues with the rest of their wuḍū’ and ignores anything else they may feel or indeed the Shayṭān whispering his deviant thoughts and doubts.

Of course, if drops of urine do indeed come out shortly after one has performed istinjā’ and one is not suffering from some medical condition, then they are obligated to repeat their istinjā’ and clean and wash the area that has been soiled.

Ibn Taymiyyah was asked[xiii] about someone who feels drips during his prayer after making istinjā’, to which he replied:

“Simply feeling that there is a drip does not invalidate the wuḍū’ – it is not possible to leave an obligatory prayer simply based upon uncertainty. As for if there is definitely urine which comes out externally then his wuḍū’ has become invalid and he needs to do istinjā’. As for the one who has some form of urinary incontinence then his prayer is not invalidated by this as long as he fulfils the usual conditions that are to be followed.”

If indeed you do have a weak pelvic muscle which is causing real leakage of significant amounts of urine, one should make his istinjā’ and then cover the private parts with a separate cloth or pad to minimise any impurity going to the clothes, and then even if it does get onto the clothes because of its continuous and uncontrollable nature then this is considered to be pardoned if the quantity is not significant. The word “significant” was never defined by the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and thus the madh-habs put forward their own criteria, some mentioning the approximate area of a 50p piece, whereas some even said as large as a quarter of the total area in question. In reality, none of these definitions are binding due to their lack of evidence – we opine that “significant” would be the amounts that the society at present would consider “significant” i.e. what amount of apparent impurity/filth on your clothes would it take for someone to be shocked if they looked at it? That is the criteria to use for someone who is suffering from incontinence and it is easy for them to change clothes for the prayer, but as we have already said, even if the amount is large as the evidences above from the wives of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) illustrate, then he continues because of the legal excuse that he has.

We hope that all of the above discussion of the evidences and explanation of the matters and principles at hand have answered your questions but in summary, we can state:

-          You do not need to repeat your wuḍū’ for every prayer

-          With a single wuḍū’ you can perform all obligatory and “nafl” acts of worship

-          Passing wind etc due to your medical problem in the midst of making wuḍū’ or ghusl will not affect what you are doing and you should continue as normal

-          You can combine between the prayers when your condition causes you difficulty to pray in the prescribed times

-          You should ignore any wetness felt after making istinjā’

And Allah knows best.

Signed:

Abu Eesa Niamatullah (Member, al-Qalam Sharī‘ah Panel)

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[i] Al-Ikhtiyār li-ta‘līl’l-Mukhtār 3/508, Ḥāshiyah Ibn ‘Ābidīn 1/504, al-Baḥr’l-Rā’iq 1/226, Marāqiy’l-Falāḥ p.60, Sharḥ Fatḥ’l-Qadīr 1/181, Tabyīn’l-Haqā’iq 1/64 and Badā’i‘ al-Ṣanā’i‘ 1/28.

[ii] Al-Mughni 1/421, Sharḥ Muntahā’l-Irādāt 1/120, Kashshāf’l-Qinā‘ 1/215, al-Inṣāf 1/377, al-Furū‘ 1/279 and Sharḥ al-Zarkashi 1/437.

[iii] Al-Majmū‘ 1/363, 1/543, Mughniy’l-Muḥtāj 1/111 and Rawḍat’l-Ṭālibīn 1/125 and 1/147.

[iv] The author of Mawāhib’l-Jalīl (1/291) said:

The path chosen by the ‘Irāqi Mālikiyyah from amongst us is that anything which exits the body involuntarily (i.e. in a continuous, incontinent fashion) does not invalidate one’s wuḍū’ at all. One is only recommended to make wuḍū’ as a result (not obligated).

As for what is well known from the Moroccan Māliki school, then incontinence is of four types:

1. If one is constantly in a state of incontinence, wuḍū’ is neither obligatory nor recommended for there is no benefit to it, thus his wuḍū’ is not broken by his (urinary) incontinence
2. If one is in a state of incontinence for longer than he is not in a state of incontinence, then it is recommended for him to make wuḍū’ unless that becomes difficult for him due to cold or some other harm. In such a case, it doesn’t become recommended to do so.
3. If the length of time that he is incontinent and he isn’t, is the same. Here, with respect to the obligation and recommendation of the wuḍū’, there are two opinions (i.e. that it is obligatory, and the second that it isn’t obligatory but just recommended)
4. If the time that he is free from the incontinence is greater than when he is incontinent, then the popular opinion is that it is obligatory for him to perform wuḍū’ in contrast to our companions from the ‘Irāqiyyīn, for it is but recommended according to them.

For further discussion of the dominant Māliki position, see Ḥāshiyat’l-Dusūqi 1/116, Fatḥ’l-Barr fī Tartīb’l-Tamhīd 3/508, al-Istidhkār 3/225, and al-Qawānīn’l-Fiqhiyyah li Ibn Juzayy, p.29.

[v] Al-Muhallah, point 168

[vi] Majmū‘ al-Fatāwah 21/222-225

[vii] Taken from the study of Shaykh Dubyān Muḥammed al-Dubyān in his book al-Ḥayḍ wal-Nifās Riwāyah wa’l-Dirāyah

[viii] 2/72

[ix] Nasb’l-Rāyah 1/201

[x] Sharḥ’l-Bukhāri by Ibn Rajab 2/73

[xi] ibid

[xii] Al-Awsaṭ 1/164

[xiii] Majmū’ al- Fatāwa 21/219

 

Thoughts On My Son’s Memorisation of the Qur’an

Bismillahi ma sha Allah, on this blessed 27th of Ramadhan, my son Eesa, 10, has finally completed his hifdh of the Qur’an. Allahu Akbar. =)

 

Alhamdulillah, and again Alhamdulillah – both Umm Eesa and myself cannot praise our Lord enough for His immeasurable bounties and mercy.  How He has favoured us in so many ways is quite simply breathtaking. Alhamdulillah, and again Alhamdulillah.

After the permission and tawfeeq of Allah ‘azza wa jall, this is the culmination of many years of really hard work and sacrifice on behalf of my wife, myself and of course Eesa himself. This is no doubt only the beginning of a long road that all of us should be wanting to set out upon, but to finally reach Stage One in what we hope to be many stages on the way to creating real authentic scholarship and leaders for the Muslims in the West in sha Allah, one cannot but feel so relieved and happy especially at such a blessed, beautiful time of the year. Alhamdulillah.

We wanted to share this wonderful news with our friends and family for two main reasons

1. Because I trust that the very first statement that will fall from the lips of you Islamically educated and upright individuals will be “ma sha Allah, laa quwwata illa billah.” (thus protecting my family from any dodgy nazar bakwas!) and that the second statement will be a du‘a from you blessed people which we are truly and sincerely SO dependent upon, always and forever.

2. Because there is a real need for the Muslims to take their children’s Islamic upbringing very seriously; news such as this should be used to encourage and inspire us all to set out and complete this same objective as easily and successfully as possible. In fact, despite the obvious “nazar” doubts I see this as obligatory upon myself to share such news as my own senior Mashayikh advised me. It IS possible, it IS your priority for your children, and IT is the best thing you’ll ever commit serious time to.

I don’t have the time to write in depth about some of the key things we did, our tips and tricks and the like – note that I’m a huge believer in the principle of “different strokes for different folks” – what worked for us might not work for others, or even be applicable. I do actually intend perhaps on teaching a family seminar and maybe also bringing this to a weekly class as well in Manchester for 2012 where I’ll go into proper detail along with scriptural evidences etc in sha Allah.

But for now at the very least, you should know:

- if your child doesn’t love to memorise and you don’t create an atmosphere of the same, then this will be very difficult. Sure, taking a hard-line approach, hardcore punishment and (light) beats etc is a tried and tested method which might work now but it’ll come back to sting you on the backside later when they show no interest for the meaning of the Qur’an or even wanting to study it. And anyway, there are enough things you can withdraw from a kid’s life these days which hurt much more than a slap – there is somebenefit in the Premier League after all… =)

- this whole Qur’an memorisation game takes up so much time from both parents so be ready for that, but don’t run away from it. You and your child will suffer if you just delegate your child’s education to some next Maulvi as I mentioned in my lecture called “The Absent Father” (see the Prophetic Guidance site for that).

- the most important person in this whole equation – even more than the child – is the mother. I have said many times before to you that the most important education you give is to our women, because they are the ones who hand-rear and build the next leaders of the world. That’s not some Hollywood movie rhetoric by the way – I am fully committed to making my children the greatest thing this world has seen since slic…Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake Ice-Cream in sha Allah. =)

And I recognise that your wife will play at least a 70% winning role in that effort. You simply cannot invest enough into looking after your wife, supporting her, educating her, and loving her all the way throughout. She not only has to be the engine for this process, but then she has to be the daily role-model and yet at the same time put up with a lot of disrespect and disappointment and anger from the kids which they will never dare display to their father. It’s a thankless job for many years but that’s why a righteous woman is the very best provision a man can ever receive, because it is her faith, righteousness and love in Allah jalla wa ‘ala that keeps her going along this very long and tiring path.

- We live in a new age. I seriously fear that even less people will be memorising our texts in the future despite our numbers swelling like crazy over the next 50 years. Firstly, there are just FAR too many distractions as well as secondly, there are too many new tools that will allow one to get away with not having to memorise anything. I tell my students that a set of glasses will be available soon that one can wear and they will have the entire Qur’an displayed in front of your eyes – being an Imam will become a piece of cake! I saw an NEC prototype with other material 2 years ago so just wait for that one to be released and then you’ll realise what I’m talking about.

So these two realities of our new styled life (not just in the West but everywhere) means that we have to be dynamic when it comes to our approach to this challenge. In my personal opinion that means embracing technology and the razzmatazz of this new life, and not trying to fight it – ipods, the internet, MP3 players, and other trials in normal society such as Sony Playstations, Ben-10, Ronaldo & Messi and the Transformers. These have to be part of the solution, and not just seen as the problem. We’ve personally been able to use all of the above to get the first part of the job done and we will be very dependent on them to maintain our progress and move through to the next stages of consolidation of the hifdh, the adding of qira’at, memorisation of tafsir and hadith etc.

This is controversial I accept, but for me it’s a Yankee no-brainer.

- further to the above, be prepared to seriously dig deep into those pockets. You will definitely have to come good for all the promises and carrots you dangled in front of your kids otherwise they’ll never trust you ever again. I wince when I look at what I’ve had to pay and what I will be paying soon to keep this up from machines, to games, to outings to arcade chairs to all kinds of bakwas. But it is worth it. Believe me, it is worth it. Just sitting with my kid and discussing tafsir and the grammar of the Qur’an during our recitals has shown me that and you definitely need to 100% believe me in that too so that you aim for the same kind of satisfaction ma sha Allah.

Note that I’ve been able to lessen this financial burden by being pretty frugal and keeping the kids away from such delights above for many years – they never had anything electrical or game machines etc all their lives, and thus to be given them as a prize and carrot makes their value even more great to them. But if you have this approach where you shower your kids every year with gifts and top-end stuff, or when they get good Secular grades or you celebrate birthday bakwas etc and the like, then expect a real hard slog to really motivate your children when it comes to Deen. Just sayin’ ya’ni.

Oh and prepare yourself to have regular kick-offs with your Dentist. Your kids teeth are going to get battered with all the chocolate bribes. Have you ever tried getting a kid to memorise a page for an apple?!

- the final point for now is specifically aimed at those writers/activists/public people/scholars/da’ees etc who do such good in the community but don’t invest the same time in their children. I’m not here to judge but I will say that I hope you don’t come to a day when you look back and regret the hundreds of hours spent on the da‘wah and then didn’t get at least the same results from those whom you are obligated to care for. People often find it insulting when I have a dismissive attitude to giving lectures and accepting invitations – I don’t really mind people getting offended by that to be honest. My skin is far too thick for that, perhaps my brain as well. But I learnt my lesson early on many years ago and I’ve done my fair share on that scene – there’s now plenty of speakers and lecturers around at the moment who love doing that so good luck to them. I don’t want to have that problem again myself, so I’ll just take it easy and focus on what I feel the priorities are – if that means I accept some, reject some, ignore some, then so be it. It’s about balance. We HAVE to teach and educate the people and give quality da‘wah but lets not go to any extremes. And I advise those of you with children to be that ruthless as well, if not more so.

There’s so much more that can be said about all of this but I just want to focus on this time of ‘ibadah and thanking Allah jalla wa ‘ala for his infinite bounties and blessings.

I also wanted to thank all of the hundreds perhaps thousands of people I come across in real life as well as online who make du‘a for me and my family. May Allah bless you all and give you the very best in this life and the next. Many of you know that I have a slogan which I say often: “please pray for me because we are completely dependent upon it”. See, I’ve learnt a long time ago the amazing power of du‘a. Really. I mean it.

And I guess well now you know that we truly and sincerely are grateful for those supplications, and these blessings above are partly in response to your wonderful empathy and generosity, so long may it continue! We are dependent upon it. =)

Eesa’s feat isn’t amazing by any stretch of the imagination because we’ve seen enough Youtube videos showing amazing miracle kids and the like, but this message is a reminder to you on what can be achieved, and it is also a reminder to myself on how important it is to be keep going and make something from this and to not just rest on our laurels so as to humiliate myself and my family. This will be good motivation for me!

Having said the above, well done Eesa. You did great son – may Allah jalla wa ‘alaincrease you in good, and make you a million times the man your father could ever possibly have been (which won’t be difficult lol!) and that you become a credit to this mighty nation of the followers of Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Ameen!

=)

AE

 

In Praise of Traditional Women

By Henry Makow (Revised from Jan. 2004)

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I am grateful that I married a traditional woman.

I don’t sacrifice any freedom for love. I am in charge. My wife is comfortable with that. I am twice as free as when I was single.

My wife is passive by nature. Passivity is the natural female principle. The marriage of active (male) and passive (female) is the basis of heterosexuality.

But it is heresy to say so.

Women are actually ashamed to want to be homemakers. How did this happen? How did motherhood go from being honored to being stigmatized? This change in attitude is the trajectory of Illuminist subversion of America. Obviously, the Illuminists prefer women to be corporate widgets rather than wives and mothers.
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A woman needs a man to love her. The notion that she should be “independent” and career oriented is absurd. As if pounding a mail route is superior to making a home and caring for loved ones. As if obeying a boss is superior to assisting the man she chose to love and marry.

There is no greater blessing than a woman whose grace, beauty and love warms a home like sunshine. There is no greater gift than the precious love she gives husband and children.
THE PASSIVE (FEMALE) PRINCIPLE

The passive principle is the earth principle. The earth receives sunshine, water and seed and produces life. A woman receives a man’s love and seed and performs the miracle of giving birth to a human being.

A healthy woman in love wants to recreate her husband in her children.

Carrying and nurturing the young is the essence of female psychology. The denial of this reveals the Illuminists’ desire to override nature and control all human life.

Being a wife and mother is what makes a woman tick. She needs to be intensely needed and loved by her husband and children.

These roles are passive by nature. They involve a great deal of adaptation and self sacrifice. But they also require that she is not taken for granted. A wife and mother must be cherished and honored for her priceless contribution.

A woman is not going to be loved permanently for her appearance which is transitory, or for her accomplishments. Love is not like that. We love the people who sacrifice for us.

Men also sacrifice by supporting their families and providing leadership and love. Happiness can only be found in love, not self-seeking. Love is self-sacrifice. Human beings were designed to look after each other.

In contrast, Illuminism sees “freedom” as self indulgence. This is not the “truth that will make you free.”

The model I am describing used to be second nature. It has become esoteric knowledge. It is not for everyone. I offer it to those looking for an alternative to feminist dysfunction. You will find your own balance.

Marriage is under constant assault. This formula has worked for centuries and still works today.

THE ACTIVE (MALE) PRINCIPLE

The Male Principle is the God Principle – energy, form and direction.

Women want to look up to their husbands. They tend to seek men who are older and more successful. Why? They want their husband to be like their father was (or should have been), strong, capable, reliable, protective and nurturing.

More than anything, they are seeking emotional and physical security. They feel most secure when they feel possessed by a strong, loving man.

A man should prepare himself for this role. He should have a clear vision of what he wants to do with his life. If he is lost, he might ask God how he can serve Him. What was I born to do?

A man’s work should be his first priority and source of challenge and self-confidence. In contrast, a woman was not designed to get meaning from career. For her, career is secondary to being loved and needed.

Despite what feminists say, a man should never show weakness. The essence of masculinity is power. If he is weak, he loses a woman’s respect. If he lacks confidence, he should gain it by setting goals and achieving them.

A man should never think of any woman as a sine qua non. That puts him in a position of weakness. (She has to pass your test, not vice-versa.)

A man should never succumb to emotional blackmail. If a woman is withholding love or sulking, he should give her time to get over it.

A man should know what role he wants his wife to play. A man usually chooses on the basis of sexual attraction. What else does he want? I appreciate my wife’s reasonableness, intelligence, competence, and sense of humor. Think of the long haul. You need someone who is easy to live with.

Most women were meant to be wives and mothers. A man should think about becoming a father and the responsibility this entails. He is not only providing for his offspring, but also teaching them how to be human beings. He is creating a new world, a family.

A man will not care about something that doesn’t belong to him. He should find a woman who is prepared to surrender power in exchange for love. A creature with two heads is a monster. A family with two heads will go in two directions. The man is the head; the woman is the heart.

Marriage is about dependence, not independence. It is about union, two people becoming one. For women, surrender of power is the essence of love. If a woman can’t trust a man with her life, she doesn’t love him and shouldn’t marry him.

Marriage is about possession and being possessed, which most men and women crave. A successful union is the only thing that satisfies the spiritual hunger underlying the sex drive, and prevents wander lust.

The heterosexual contract is this. The husband has the power and he does his best within reason to make his wife happy. A man cannot love a woman if he doesn’t have the power to grant her wishes.

But a man must keep his end of the contract, or the marriage is off. He must be loyal, and show every day how much he appreciates her.
CUTTING THROUGH THE FOG: THE STALINIZATION OF LOVE

The vast majority of people find their identity and values in family. Destroy the family and the state is in control.

Incredible as it sounds, the Illuminists are building a world police state. The international bankers finagled the right to create money out of nothing and collect interest on it. They need a police state to protect this racket and make sure no country defaults. They own the mass media, politicians, and dominate big business.

Feminism is the cover for a sophisticated illuminist propaganda program. We have been brainwashed.

Nobody has a problem with treating women as equal to men. Feminism treats women as though they were men. It portrays heterosexuality as pathology and discriminates against men. Women are favored for jobs so they will have careers instead of children and men can’t support their families.

Society is being sabotaged. Alas, this is what the “war on terror” is really about, enslaving the world, not protecting it.

Bella Dodd, a former leader of the American Communist Party revealed: “The bourgeois family as a social unit was to be made obsolete.” The aim was to “create a new type of human being that would conform to the world they confidently expected to control.”

The bankers use Communism is to overthrow the Christian foundations of Western civilization and put themselves in charge. This is the true meaning of revolution.

The Rockefeller Foundation funds feminism. I searched RF and “Women’s Studies” in Google and got 137,000 entries. They have funded population control and eugenics research for decades, here, in the USSR and in Nazi Germany.

With women usurping the male role, we are becoming a homosexual society. There is a difference between accepting homosexuals as human beings, which I do, and allowing society as a whole to become homosexual.

Sound extreme? Consider this.

Homosexuality is the inability to form a permanent bond with a member of the opposite sex. It is commonly characterized by an obsession with sex and promiscuity. Sex becomes a surrogate for love. Doesn’t this describe society today?

Homosexuals generally have sex but no families or children. The bankers want us to have fewer children, and indeed the birth rate has plummeted since the 1960′s.

The Illuminists aren’t afraid of gays, single mothers or children. They are afraid of proud strong men who have families to protect. This is behind the degradation of men.

An ad for Swanson’s TV Dinners goes like this. Working mom asked for a big bowl she can eat on the run. Swanson responded. Kids wanted something for after school. Swanson responded. “Dad wanted to wear mom’s frilly under things!” Picture father with a goofy smile. “We didn’t know how to respond.” This is an example of the ongoing corporate attack on masculinity. The Whiskas cat food ads are another. They would never portray women as cats.

“First You Get the Women, Then You’ve Got the Children, So Follow the Men” -Adolph Hitler
CONCLUSION

We can fight the New World Order by having strong male-led families.

After many marital mishaps, I now have a frictionless marriage. My wife and I complement each other. She doesn’t compete, criticize, complain or try to control, the four C’s. She tells me if something is wrong. I try to make her happy. She’s part of me.

Because of her passive nature, I don’t feel like I must constantly anticipate and meet her expectations. Rather she allows me to propose. Usually, she assents. When she doesn’t, we compromise. Her acquiescence empowers and completes me.

I love her. She commits the unpardonable crime. She is good to a man.

 

Don’t Cheapen Norway’s Loss By Political Point Scoring

Abu Eesa Niamatullah, 1st Ethical Charitable Trust

One thing that Muslims are quite used to in these politically trying times is being automatically implicated whenever terrorist atrocities occur. Yesterday’s shocking events, which led to the murder of over 90 people in Oslo, was one such further occasion for potential culpability.

Sure, such an implication might be hidden behind thinly-veiled words such as “Islamism” or “Islamist” or “Fundamentalist Muslim” (concepts and theories about which so-called non-Muslim “experts” are as clueless about as the Muslims themselves) but there’s little doubt that such labels are fronting a groundswell of anti-Muslim sentiment. A brief perusal of a normal day’s news will show this quite clearly with anything from “Muslim toilets” to “Muslim halal meat” all proving to be the latest threat to global security. Obviously.

But surely we now expect such nonsense to come from right-wing “Islamophobes” – for that’s the level of IQ we’re dealing with when it comes to some of these “conservative” and right-wing commentators. Why are Muslims making such a song and dance about what FOX News jumped the gun with, or why The Sun ran their next-day front page saying what it did, based as usual upon their ill-judged assumptions? That’s what these ignorant folks have always done! What exactly were you expecting?!

But for others around the world who don’t have a reputation for such nonsense, many of whom yesterday immediately feared that extremist Muslims were behind the Oslo attacks – and perhaps even voiced such a fear whether responsibly or irresponsibly – well, can they really be blamed? Hell, even I was petrified that they’d soon discover some Muslims behind it all! Hell again, I still refuse to rule out some extreme Muslim group behind it somewhere until I hear this monster Anders Breivik testify with my own ears!

None of us should have any doubt that there are a small number of hardcore, committed extremist Muslim terrorists who fully desire to cause such death and carnage around the world due to their misguidance and utter ignorance of true Islamic principles.

And this isn’t simply theory. If my personal experiences arguing with such fanatics isn’t sufficient, just the last decade has provided a catalogue of proof and opportunities taken by such terrorists to put their beliefs into practice, whether through horrific attacks in New York, London or Madrid as well as not to forget Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt and other Muslim countries. It is therefore not beyond the pale that when we see and hear of such terrifying breaking news we suspect Muslims might have been involved. The fact that tens of millions of Muslims in the West breathed a collective sigh of relief once official reports suggested no links to Muslims, is proof enough. Go on, admit it. You were one of them.

No, I don’t feel it to be completely fair to attack all those commentators who were suggesting possible links to Muslims. I would rebut anyone attacking me for thinking out loud that Muslims were behind this again, so I think others should be extended the same courtesy. A mistake is a mistake. They’ll be embarrassed enough as it is without Muslims having to stick their size 11’s in as well.

To my mind, Muslims mustn’t descend into the same muck that Islamophobes wallow in daily i.e. to use every single possible opportunity to attack those they see as the “Other”. And that’s why I also think that Muslims and other (mostly leftish) organisations should tone down their rhetoric that is flooding the social networks with continuous cheap comebacks upon some of these folks, or looking to gain political capital over the right. Now is a time for respect – a respect for the enormity of what has just happened in this tragedy.

This is not the time to gloat about “how Christians won’t be asked to apologise” or “the right-wing are as bad as the extreme Muslim terrorists” or whatever. Now is the time to grieve together over a quite sickening and horrible chapter in our modern day European history, and then we can work together later to try and ensure this never happens again – from anyone of any group.

I wish to take this opportunity to send my deepest condolences to the Norwegian people and especially those who have been directly affected by this terrible tragedy. I also wish to send personal condolences to my friend HRH Crown Prince Haakon, a noble man who I’ve worked with on interfaith and global dignity projects, someone who has always impressed me as such an excellent representative of his wonderful country. Your loss Haakon, is our loss.

Let us now mourn as members of the same family of humanity for indeed “blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Leave those who have no humanity to concentrate on what they like best: nothing but petty opportunities for cheap political gain.

 

Once Upon A Time In Rafah…

 

Du‘ās Of The First Wife Against The Second Wife – A Lesson In Arabic Grammar And Why Not To Get On The Wrong Side Of Your Original Missus

Please find below the extremely funny and very clever collection of du‘ās we all know that first wives would be making against their husbands’ second wives if they were masters of Arabic grammar. Actually, they’d be making such du‘ās anyway, whether proficient in Arabic or not, innit?

PS: these are all courtesy of Kifayatullah, none other than my own wonderful, unique, blessed younger brother – a true walī of Allāh ‘azza wa jall as asserted by a number of scholars bismillāhi māshā Allāh, and as told to me by my own teacher, Shaykh Kehlan, “Kifayatullah deserves Jannah just for putting up with you as his brother.” Ahem.

اللهم اجعله مكسورا عندها منصوبا عندي
اللهم اجعلها من أخوات كانت …. وأجعلني من أخوات صارت
اللهم اجعلها مفردا واجعلني جمعا
اللهم اصرفه عنها واجعلني ممنوعة من الصرف
اللهم أجعل معاملتها بالشدة والجزم ….. واجعل معاملتي بالضم والسكون
اللهم اجعله عندها ظرف …… واجعله عندي حالا
اللهم اجعله عندي مبتدأ واجعله عندها خبر
اللهم اجعله عندي فاعلاً واجعله عندها مفعولاً به
اللهم اجعله عندي مرفوعا واجعله عندها مجروراً
اللهم اجعله عندي معرباً واجعله عندها لا محل له من الاعراب
اللهم اجعله عندي جمع مذكر سالماً واجعله عندها فعلاً ماضياً ناقصاً
اللهم اجعله عندي فعلاً صحيحاً واجعله عندها فعلاً معتلاً
اللهم اجعله عندي ضميراً متصلاً واجعله عندها ضميراً غائباً

 

When my Lord asks me: Are you not ashamed to disobey Me?

Abu Hāmid al-Khulqāni, one of the students of Imām Ahmed (rahimahullāh), asked him “O Abu Abdullāh, what is your view about these odes which mention Paradise and Hell?” He asked, “Like what for example?”

The student said, “they say:

إذا مـا قـال لـي ربــــــي ** أمـا استحييت تعصـيني ؟

وتخفي الذنب من خلقي ** وبالعـصيــان تـــأتـيــنــــي؟

When my Lord asks me:

Are you not ashamed to disobey Me?

You hide your sins from My creation,

Yet with sins come you to Me!”

Imām Ahmed said, “Read it to me again,” so he did. Then Ahmed stood up and went into his house and closed the door behind him. The student said, “I could hear him from inside the house weeping, as he recited:

When my Lord asks me:

Are you not ashamed to disobey Me?

You hide your sins from My creation,

Yet with sins come you to Me.”

(Dhayl Tabaqāt’l-Hanābilah, 1/53)

 

Qur’anic Recitation of Recip Tayyip Erdogan

It’s no secret to many of you how big a fan I am of Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan (the Turk version of the Arabic Rajab Tayyib Erdogan) may Allah preserve him; I found this nice video where he is wonderfully reciting al-Fatihah and a few verses of al-Baqarah during the ta’ziyah (giving of condolences) after the death of the previous Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan (the Turk version of the Arabic Najmuddin Erbakan), may Allah have mercy upon his soul.

 

The Messenger was Born

At a time when many Muslims will be debating the definitions of bid‘ah and the condemnation of people based upon whether they don’t celebrate the ‘Eed Milād’l-Nabi or do, where some will find excuse to mix and party and others will find reason to have a quiet reflective moment, perhaps it would be pertinent to remind ourselves exactly what this debate is all really about.

The blessed Prophet and Messenger Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was understood to have been born in the early half of the current month Rabī’l-Awwal in the year 570 or 571 CE. There is not a single piece of evidence that categorically establishes the exact date of birth and indeed this was never an issue for the early scholars due to their lack of celebrating the particular birthday of the Prophet (‘alayhi-salātullāh). As one of my teachers used to say, “Why do people find this strange? I was born in the 20^th Century and my family still have no idea when I was born, not even the year!”

What is known for sure though is that the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was born on a Monday which is indeed perhaps one of the reasons he fasted on a Monday as he (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) stated and as collected in Sahīh Muslim. We likewise fast on Mondays in celebration of his Sunnah.

Yet within the discussion surrounding the birth of the Prophet, many people don’t get further than either the fact that we simply fast on a Monday as a result of it or on the other side, hold celebratory functions in which devotional songs are recited. Perhaps both parties would do well to not miss the wood for the trees and reflect upon an individual who simply cannot be reduced to a Mawlid gathering or a chain email warning of deathly innovation.

Thus let us start and look at who then was born that great day!

The Description of the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)

Physically speaking, the Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was the most handsome of people. He was of medium height, not too tall and not too short, of medium build, of white going slightly red-brown skin colour, with a completely full head of shiny black slightly curly hair that would reach to his shoulders at its longest, hair which was sometimes dyed slightly red and/or yellow, a taut neck, an extended black thick beard with a few white hairs, firm un-raised cheeks, a fine slender nose, wide white eyes with a slight reddish tinge with strikingly black pupils, a flat chest and stomach, well-statured, thick heavy hands with slightly long fingers, very soft palms, smooth large feet, no excess fat or flesh on the heels, and a gait of one leaning slightly forward when he walked. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

He had a large back, broad shoulders, in between which slightly to the left one could see the Seal of Prophethood – a slightly raised piece of skin with a small grouping of hair. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

When he met people, he would turn his whole body to meet them. He was the first to greet people, having a wide smile, with a face that was immersed in blessed light that shone and radiated like a bright moon. He had a firm handshake which he would not let go of until the other person let go yet at the same time was so gentle that if a small girl was to take his hand and lead him around the town, he would follow in tow. It was difficult for people to compose themselves in his presence due to the sheer awe of his countenance and the shock of how handsome he was. His gravitas and presence was such that despite his medium height, he seemed taller than those surrounding him. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

He would love to wear cotton shirts, some similar to a thawb, short and long but never below the ankles, sometimes short-sleeved so that one could see his white clean arm-pits and sometimes long to his wrists. He disliked woollen garments except for the occasional use of a woollen over-garment, mostly white yet sometimes colourful garments particularly striped, sometimes red-striped, but never wore anything saffron in colour. He would wear a turban, sometimes a two-piece outfit with a sarong type lower garment, and would accept and wear the clothes of foreigners given to him as a gift. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

The Demeanour of the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)

He was always cheerful, of mild temperament and easy going, yet at the same time reflective and would spend much of his time looking down at the ground in contemplation. When he spoke, those sitting around him were so still that it seemed that birds were perched on their heads. When he fell silent, they talked but never argued in his presence. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

He was neither rude nor coarse and did not shout or utter obscenities. He did not find fault with others nor lavishly praise them. He did not interrupt another’s speech. He would interact with those who sat with him in the best of ways: he would never frown at them, treat them harshly or turn away from them, he would not point out slips of the tongue nor reprimand one for any coarseness in speech or the likes, and he would make excuses for them as much as possible. Whoever mixed with him would think that he was the most beloved person to him due to the attention he received, his kindness and the sincere advice he was given. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

He would honour the leader of every people and put them in charge of their affairs. He would show respect to the people of nobility and excellence and he would divide his time amongst them in accordance to their religiosity, yet there wasn’t a soul who felt they were not able to approach him due to his humility and welcoming nature. He gave everyone who sat with him his due share such that none thought that another was more honoured than he. If any person sat with him or near him to ask of him, he was tolerant and remained so until that person himself turned away. When someone asked him for something he needed, he either departed with it or with some consoling words. He had the kindest and best behaviour of all people, being like a father to them. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

He was easy going, soft, close to people, he answered the calls of those who called him, judged those who required judgment, fulfilled the need of those who asked of him – never preventing them from asking him and never letting them go disappointed or empty handed. When his Companions desired a matter from him, he would agree with them and follow them; if he determined to do something, he would consult them. He would accept their good from them and overlook their mistakes. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

He was the most truthful of people, the most honourable. The people of the earth fought him, employing all means at their disposal yet none of them ever accused him of lying. His friends and foes alike would not describe him except as the most gentle, generous and empowering individual to walk the face of the Earth. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

His generosity did not come about through effort, neither was it hard upon him, rather it naturally arose due to the purity of his soul and gentleness of spirit. He had the most giving of hearts by virtue of the righteousness of his spirit and the great good contained therein. Kindness would pour out of his heart for it was enveloped in every beautiful moral and in every excellence.

It is sufficient to end with the fact that the very greatest and noblest of people would all say about the Prophet Muhammad, “I have never seen anyone, before him or after him, who was comparable to him.” May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

The Right of the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)

Allah jalla wa ‘alā sent him as a Prophet and a Messenger to the entirety of the worlds of Jinn and Man. He was sent as nothing but a Mercy to these worlds, one blessed with wisdom and guidance, with a criterion to establish right from wrong, truth from falsehood, and to bring the people from darkness into light.

He was sent as a favour to mankind, and was sent to be followed. He was sent to be emulated and loved, to become more beloved to us than our parents and our children, even more than our own souls. It is in his cause that we are asked to sacrifice throughout our life for, and it is through his praise that we will attain the true success in this world and the Hereafter, by ultimately achieving the love of the Divine Himself.

It is his Sunnah that we study, revise, memorise and implement. We then internalise it, promote it, then teach it, defend it, protect it and die for it. At this moment then, let us revive his Sunnah by not indulging in actions contrary to it, but by reflecting on the magnificence of the one who came with it and his attempts to keep the people straight upon its path. Let us reflect upon the actions of those supreme Companions whom Allah Himself is Happy with, and the way they acted upon the Sunnah and the way they remembered their guide and master and celebrated his coming.

The Messenger was born and the world became illuminated as a result of that birth. Let us celebrate, not on the 8^th, not on the 12^th, not this month, and not even this year, but rather every single living moment of our lives as we now start to realise that we have been blessed beyond our wildest imagination to have even known of this great man: our master and leader, Sayyidina Muhammad. May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless and bestow peace upon him.

* All of the above is based upon authentic narrations. Please see the “Commentary to the Shamā’il al-Muhammadiyyah”, Refi Shafi, Sunnah Publications, exp. release end of 2010 insha’Allāh for further information

 

Reflections at the Onset of The New Hijri Year

With the advent of the New Year, I always find it beneficial to reflect on one’s actions and achievements in the previous year and make some plans for the coming year, alongside that all-important firm resolve to set realistic resolutions to carry out insha’Allah, and hopefully turn it in to a year of ‘ibadah and happiness.

Let us first remind ourselves of the history of what exactly the “Hijri Year” is:

The Hijri year is based upon the first year that the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) made the migration from Makkah to Madīnat’l-Munawwarah. It is narrated in al-‘Uqūd’l-Duriyyah of ibn ‘Ābidīn (2/335) that the reason for the starting of the Hijri calendar was that Sayyidina ‘Umar b. al-Khattāb (radhy Allāhu ‘anhu) was presented with a contract that was printed with “valid only until Sha‘bān”. ‘Umar asked, “Is that the Sha‘bān just gone or the coming Sha‘bān?” Because of that, he ordered for the date to be included and the Companions of that time agreed to start the date from when the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) made Hijrah, and they chose the first month to be Muharram. This calendar was started in 17h as confirmed by Imām al-Nawawi.

It is also narrated from Ibn ‘Asākir on the authority of Sha‘bi (al-Shamārīkh fī ‘Ilm’l-Tārīkh, Imām al-Suyūti, p. 23) that the Companions realised that a calendar was required but they differed on when to start it from. Some suggested the advent of the Prophethood whereas others suggested the death of the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) but ‘Umar said, “No, rather we’ll start from his migration for it was that which distinguished between the truth and falsehood.” And thus it was so established.

So that’s the history of the Hijri Year.

Now what does one do when it comes upon us?

At such an occasion when we open a new chapter in time, it is a good opportunity for everyone to reflect – on time itself.

Normally when it comes to the Gregorian New Year such as will be the case for 2011 in a few weeks time, in modern day non-Islamic civilisations, it is from their Sunnah to do a few things: they review everything that happened in the previous year, good and bad; they look to the future and try to re-affirm their plans in the long-term; and finally, they pledge to make key changes in their lives for the better.

The Muslim Ummah should recognise that it has a greater obligation with respect to these reflections. In fact, such reflections should be occurring on a daily basis, and not just on the 1st of January 2011. In any case, at least for those who aren’t in this excellent habit of self-audit and accounting one’s internal state and performance of good deeds regularly, then the beginning of Muharram provides a nice opportunity to actually think about what we’re doing with ourselves. This accounting of course was the natural action of the Prophetic Generation, and we know that ‘Umar (radhy Allāhu ‘anhu) said:

حاسبو أنفسكم قبل أن تحاسبوا
Account yourselves now before you are accounted.

i.e. identify your weak points and failures now and rectify them quickly before the key audit comes. And it won’t be KPMG or Accenture doing that auditing, and it won’t be an audit where you can fiddle the sums, tick the boxes yourself and blag your way out, but rather this will be the Day of Standing, the Day that the real hisāb will be done.

We all know this as Muslims but we conveniently forget it, or worse ignore it. Surely then, now that the mind is fresh at the beginning of this new dawn, we should recognise that this is our life we’re talking about, our Deen and our future? The one thing that we’ll all regret later is not using our time wisely – not using the limited hours we’ve been given in this temporal world to increase our good deeds to provide evidence for us and using these few hours to seek forgiveness for our bad deeds in order to not stack up the evidences against us. We don’t want to be those who:

وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ وَرَاءَ ظَهْرِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَدْعُو ثُبُورًا وَيَصْلَى سَعِيرًا إِنَّهُ كَانَ فِي أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا إِنَّهُ ظَنَّ أَنْ لَنْ يَحُورَ بَلَى إِنَّ رَبَّهُ كَانَ بِهِ بَصِيرًا

As for the one whose book will be given to him from behind his back, he will pray for death, and will enter the blazing fire. He had been joyful among his people. He thought he would never revert (to Allah). No! Indeed his Lord was watchful over him. (al-Inshiqāq, 10-15)

And:

وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِشِمَالِهِ فَيَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أُوتَ كِتَابِيَهْ وَلَمْ أَدْرِ مَا حِسَابِيَهْ

As for him who will be given his book in his left hand, he will say, “Oh, would that I had not been given my book, and I had never known what my account is!” (al-Hāqqah, 25-26)

And:

وَوُضِعَ الْكِتَابُ فَتَرَى الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَا وَيْلَتَنَا مَالِ هَذَا الْكِتَابِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةً وَلَا كَبِيرَةً إِلَّا أَحْصَاهَا وَوَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِرًا وَلَا يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا

And the book (of deeds) will be placed (before them), then you will see the guilty people scared of its contents and saying, “Woe to us! What kind of book is this?! It has missed nothing, minor or major, but has taken it into account.” Thus they will find whatever they did present before them, and your Lord will not wrong anyone. (al-Kahf, 49)

None of us want to be in a situation like that, and we all know that we have to do more good and refrain from the bad, so what’s holding us back? The answer is a lack of concern and lack of respect for time itself.

As for being concerned my friends, then be concerned. Be very concerned. Hellfire. No Paradise. No Brainer.

As for time, then here we are at the top of the New Year and we should look to our lifestyles, our priorities and change our lives around what Allah wants from us and not what we want.

We’re in the winter now, and it is at this time that although we get the cold and miserable weather especially here in the North, we shouldn’t miss the blessings either! Have you noticed the short days and the long nights? Sayyidina ‘Eesa (‘alayhis-salām) used to say:

“The day and night are two treasure troves so look to what you put in them.”

Imām Hasan al-Basri said:

“Every single day of this worldly life calls out: O people! I am a new day, and I am witness to all that which is performed in me, and once the sun has set, I will not return back to you until Yawm’l-Qiyāmah!”

These are the days to fast folks! For those who are obsessed with food then you couldn’t get it easier with such an early sunset, certainly from a hunger point of view. As for controlling your tongue, your eyes and your heart, then there won’t be a shorter period to struggle for than in these winter months.

As for the nights, then no, it’s not just to sleep longer in hibernation as a personal reward for the killer days and nights of the British summer – we’re not bears, we’re humans! – rather it’s an opportunity to start some small habits of the night that we’re not used to like studying extra at night-time, getting up to pray a little tahajjud and feel the real value of what prayer should be, or waking in the morning and taking advantage of the later Fajr times to read some Qur’ān before that because:

وَقُرْآَنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآَنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا

And establish the recital at dawn. Surely, the recital at dawn is well attended. (al-Isrā’, 78)

Also, with the start of the new month Muharram, know that the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

أفضل الصيام بعد رمضان شهر الله المحرم، وأفضل الصلاة بعد الفريضة صلاة الليل

The best of fasts after Ramadhān is the month of Allah Muharram, and the best of prayers after the obligatory ones are the night prayers. (Muslim)

Clearly then with Muharram upon us, we should respond to this narration with increased fasting and night prayers, especially when it has been made easier for us from His blessings and also because the 9th and 10th of Muharram are to be fasted for the reward of an entire year’s sins being wiped out. Now that’s pretty good business by anyone’s standards.

Of course, we are not trying to emulate the non-Muslims in how they choose certain times to be good or bad or blessed according to them, but rather we should certainly recognise and believe that Allah jalla wa ‘alā closes the lunar Hijri year with the great month of Hajj and ‘ibādah and then He opens the New Year with fasting, praying and ‘ibādah, so the year begins with good and ends with good. And know that Imām al-Tabarāni narrates a Hadīth Qudsi which is considered slightly weak by some scholars that the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

“Allah says, “O Son of Adam! Remember me at the beginning of the Day for an hour and at the end of the day for an hour and I will forgive you for the (minor sins) between that.” (al-Hilyah, 8/213)

‘Abdullāh Ibn al-Mubarak in explanation said:

“Whoever completes the day in dhikr of Allah, the entire day is written for him as if he was in dhikr.”

Perhaps then that we should also seize this moment at the beginning of this new “day” and start it in dhikr and good deeds in the hope that we may end this New Year 1432 which has started today in dhikr and good deeds and hopefully be from those that might get the whole year written as if in good deeds!

May Allah jalla wa ‘alā bless this New Year for us and make it one where we get closer to Him and increase in our worship, and make that worship a benefit for our hearts in this life and our abode in the Hereafter, amīn.

(based upon Latā’if al-Ma‘ārif of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali)