Muslim Advice

Muslim Advice

How many prophets did God send to mankind? This is a debated issue, but what we know is what God has told us in the Quran.
God says he sent a prophet to every nation. He says:
“For We assuredly sent amongst every People a Messenger, (with the command): ‘Serve God, and eschew Evil;’ of the people were some whom God guided, and some on whom Error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth)” (Quran 16:36)
This is because one of the principles by which God operates is that He will never take a people to task unless He has made clear to them what His expectations are.
The Quran mentions the names of 25 prophets and indicates there were others. It says:
“Of some messengers We have already told you the story; of others We have not; - and to Moses God spoke direct.” (Quran 4:164)


The Names of the 25 Prophets Mentioned are as follows:
Adam
Idris (Enoch)
Nuh (Noah)
Hud (Heber)
Salih (Methusaleh)

The wife’s duties to her husband are as follows:

First Duty: Obedience. A wife should be as obedient as she can to her husband. This preserves the family and protects it from collapsing. This is part of Islam’s organizing of the family structure. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked: ‘Which women are the best?’ he answered: “The one who pleases him when he looks at her, obeys him when he asks something of her, and is not disobedient in herself or her money in what he hates.” [Musnad Ahmad]

One should note that a wife’s obedience to her husband falls into one of four categories:
1- To ask her to do something this is commanded by Islam, such as the five prayers. Here the wife must obey her husband, and she would be considered sinful from two perspectives if she fails to obey.

Salah is divided into four groups such as fardh (obligatory), wajib (required), sunnah and nafilah. There are two kinds of sunnah such as emphasized (al-Muakkadah) and non-emphasized (al-Ghayr'muakkadah).
Al-nafilah has a lot of types. They are awwabin, duha, thahajjud, tasbih and so on.
Awwabin: There are a hundred divine merits in the performance of Salat al-Awwabin. Allah, the Supreme Being, grants seventy-five merits to His slaves in the Hereafter and twenty-five merits in this worldly life. Accordingly, those who continue to perform Salat al-Awwabin do not meet with any hardship on the Day of Judgement.
Salat al-Awwabin is performed in six rakahs after the Sunset Prayer (salat al-Maghrib).

Masturbation is one of the things that invalidate the fast, and the one who does that has to make up the day that he broke his fast. He must also repent from this great sin.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz said:

Masturbation during the day in Ramadaan invalidates the fast if it is done deliberately and semen is emitted as a result. The person must make up the day if that was an obligatory fast, and he must repent to Allaah, because masturbation is not permissible whether one is fasting or not. It is the action which people call the “secret habit”.

Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 15/267

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

If a fasting person masturbates and ejaculates, this breaks his fast, and he has to make up the fast of the day on which he masturbated, but he does not have to offer any expiation, because the expiation is only required of one who has intercourse. And he has to repent from what he did.

Fataawa Arkaan al-Islam, p. 478

The Holy month of Ramadan is upon us. It is one of the most sacred months in the Islamic lunar calendar and Muslims all across the globe make special arrangements and preparations to celebrate this month and observe it with utmost religious zest. The prominent features of this month are fasting, the Taraweeh prayer at night and excessive Quran recitation and offering additional prayers.

In addition to the fasting and Taraweeh prayer, there are numerous deeds of Ramadan which a Muslim can pick up from the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The way He celebrated Ramadan, the way He kept fast, the way He stood in prayer and the way He spent the days and nights of Ramadan are all what a Muslim needs to incorporate in his or her Ramadan days. The lines below first discuss the importance of Ramadan from the hadith of Prophet (PBUH) and then discuss the way He spent His Ramadan.

Importance of Ramadan:
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in His hadith:

1. To eat or drink something unintentionally.
2. A mosquito, fly or any other object going down the throat unintentionally.
3. Water entering the ears.
4. Dust or dirt going down the throat.
5. Swallowing one's OWN saliva.
6. Taking an injection.
7. Applying of Surma (kohl) into the eyes.
8. Taking a bath to keep cool.
9. Rubbing oil onto the body or hair.
10. To vomit unintentionally.
11. Applying Itr or perfume. It is NOT permitted to inhale the smoke of Lobaan or Agarbatti whilst fasting. It is also NOT permitted to smoke cigarettes or inhale its smoke.
12. Brushing the teeth without tooth paste or powder e.g. using a Miswaak, etc.
13. A dream which makes Ghusl WAAJIB (necessary) does NOT break the Rozah.

In Islam, the first of the five pillars is the shahada. Shahada is the Muslim profession of faith, expressing the two simple, fundamental beliefs that make one a Muslim: La ilaha illa Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah. There is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah. Sincere recitation of this confession of faith before of two Muslims is the sole requirement for those who wish to join the Muslim community. It represents acceptance not only of Allah and his prophet, but of the entirety of Islam. As one of the Pillars, the shahada must be recited correctly aloud with full understanding and internal assent at least once in every Muslim's lifetime.

In April 680, Yazid I succeeded his father Muawiyah as the new caliph. Yazid immediately instructed the governor of Medina to compel Hussayn and few other prominent figures to pledge their allegiance (Bay'ah). Husayn, however, refrained from it believing that Yazid was openly going against the teachings of Islam in public and changing the sunnah of Muhammad. He, therefore, accompanied by his household, his sons, brothers, and the sons of Hasan left Medina to seek asylum in Mecca.

Every year, a large number of Muslims get into the festive spirit and celebrate New Year's day. Whether it's Facebook status updates, Twitter messages or even holding New Year's Eve parties – many Muslims (especially, but not exclusively in the West) go the whole 9 yards when it comes to ringing in the New Year. But is this a harmless innovation or the first step on a slippery slope? I believe that it is the latter.

Here are 4 reasons why Muslims should NOT celebrate the New Year:

4. It is Technically Inaccurate and Pagan

The volume of pilgrims’ spending on clothes purchases and fabrics
The Chairman of the ready-made Clothes and Textiles Committee in Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Muhammad Al-Shehri has estimated the volume of pilgrims’ spending during the current hajj season to purchase clothes and fabrics at over 1 billion Saudi riyals.
This was injected in the clothes market in Saudi Arabia, the volume of whose investments are estimated at SR10 billion.
Al-Shehri said the pilgrims will spend about SR1 billion during the Tashreeq days in Makkah, Jeddah and Madina.
He announced a drop in the percentage of counterfeit textiles and clothes that violate the specifications and standards in the Saudi market by 70 percent during the current hajj season due to the rectification campaigns that the market witnessed before the Haj period.

Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Whosoever performs 12 rakahs of salah on the 27th night of Rajab, recites Fatihah and a surah from Quran, gives salam in every two rakats and asks Allah (swt) for forgiveness reciting “Subhanallahi wa-lhamdulillahi wa la ilaha illallahu wa-llahu akbar ”100 times after salah and then sends salutations onto the Prophet 100 times, if he prays and also intends to fast in the morning, his prayers about whatever he wishes of this world or of the hereafter will be accepted unless he prays for a sin.” (Bayhaqi: Shuab al Iman: 3531; Suyuti: Kanz al-Ummal: 35170)
Prophet Muhammad said:

Mawaqit al-'Ihram
The ihram is compulsory for all the various kinds of Hajj as well as' ‘Umrah, and is regarded as their basic element (rukn) by the Imamiyyah, and as obligatory by other schools. All the five schools agree that the miqat of the people of alMadinah from where they assume ihram is Masjid al-Shajarah, also known as Dhu al-Hulayfah;1 for the pilgrims of alSham (which includes the Syrians, the Lebanese, the Palestinians and the Jordanians, noting further that the routes have changed from what they used to be in the past), Morocco and Egypt the miqat is alJuhfah;2 for the pilgrims of Iraq, it is al-’Aqiq;3 for those from Yemen and others who take the same route, it is Yalamlam. 4

Such injections are allowed during the fast, and the fast does not break.
This is because the medicine does not directly go into the stomach or the brain, so it’s like a snake bite which does not break the fast.
However, if the injection went direct into the stomach, like a stroke victim who can’t swallow food so a tube is fitted to his throat, and liquid food is given to him through that tube, then that would break the fast.

“The key to the prayer (salah) is cleanliness, its beginning is takbir (saying Allahu Akbar) and its ending is salam (salutation).” (Abu Dawud, Taharah, 31: Tirmidhi, Taharah, 39)
“Keep cleaning so that your sustenance will increase...”.

“Islam is clean. Therefore, you should keep yourselves clean, too. Only the clean people can enter Paradise.” (Hadith)

“Cleanliness is the half of belief.” (Hadith)

“Cleanliness is from belief (its perfection and light).” (Hadith)

“Islam was built on the foundation of cleanliness.”

“Allah is clean; He loves clean people.”

* And give the women [upon marriage] their [bridal] gifts graciously. But if they give up willingly to you anything of it, then take it in satisfaction and ease. An-nisa4

* For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - an obligatory share. An-nisa7