Muslim Advice

Muslim Advice

Ramadan Mubarak is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar. Ramadan has immense importance in Quran and Hadith and Ramadan is that month which has been mentioned repeatedly in the Quran.

ALLAH SAYS IN THE QURAN THAT RAMADAN IS THE MONTH WHEN QURAN WAS SENT. (SURAH BAQRA:185)
IN THIS MONTH, ONE NIGHT (LAILATUL QADR) IS SUCH THAT IT IS BETTER AND MORE AUSPICIOUS THAN 1000 NIGHTS. (AL QADR:3)

Hazrat Salman RA says that the Holy Prophet (May peace be upon Him)said on the last date of Shaa’ban, that on you a month is coming , that is a big and holy month; in that month is one night that is better than a thousand months. Allah has made fasting compulsory for this month and made the prayer of night a reward.

Bayram is the Turkic word for a nationally-celebrated festival or holiday, applicable to both national (i.e. secular) and religious celebrations. In accordance with this dual applicability, the method with which one determines the yearly timing of Bayrams is different for national and religious holidays.
State holidays in Turkey have set dates under the nationally-used Gregorian Calendar, while the Islamic religious holidays are coordinated and publicly announced in advance by the Government's Presidency of Religious Affairs department according to the Lunar Calendar, and are subsequently accommodated into the national Gregorian Calendar, which results in the dates for religious holidays changing every year with a shift margin of approximately 11 days.

"Fasting in Ramadan develops in a person the real spirit of social belonging, of unity and brotherhood, and of equality before God. This spirit is the natural product of the fact that when people fast they feel that they are joining the whole Muslim society (which makes up more than one fifth of world's population) in observing the same duty, in the same manner, at the same time, for the same motives, and for the same end. No sociologist or historian can say that there has been at any period of history anything comparable to this powerful institution of Islam: Fasting in the month of Ramadan. People have been crying throughout the ages for acceptable 'belonging', for unity, for brotherhood, for equality, but how echoless their voices have been, and how very little success they have met..." says Hammudah Abdalati, in Islam in Focus.

An intention is a condition for the validity of the prayer. Thus at an absolute minimum, you should intend that it is [1] a makeup and, [2] which prayer it is (i.e. Dhuhr, `Asr, Maghrib etc.)

Practically, it would be simpler to intend that the specific (e.g. Dhuhr) makeup prayer is the most recent one you missed. This is easier to sustain than mentioning a specific number (e.g. 57th) which is likely to become very cumbersome if you have a large number of prayers to make up.

Article 32
Miqat is a place which pilgrims should wear Ihram and from there go for Hajj or Umrah. They should not pass these places without Ihram.
Article 33
Miqats of Ihram are ten places of which five of them are the main ones.
Article 34
1) Masjid al-Shajarah
Masjid al-Shajarah is located beside Medina, and today it is known as “Abar Ali”. All persons who want to perform Hajj from Medina should become Muhrim from this place, and it is not permitted to delay in this act and for example becomes Muhrim from Juhfah, which is located in the middle of the way of Mecca to Medina, unless ill or weak people or other persons who have other problems.
Article 35
It is not obligatory to wear Ihram from inside the mosque and it is possible to perform this act beside the mosque, and there is no difference between old mosque and this new one which has been expanded so much, therefore women who are in their menstrual period can wear Ihram outside of the mosque.
Article 36
2) Juhfah

Not related to Ashura and Karbala, some Sunni Muslims fast on this day of Ashura based on narrations attributed to Muhammad. Some other Sunnis accept Ashura as a significant day due to the martyrdom of Imam Husayn and the significance of the events at Karbala. The fasting is to commemorate the day when Moses and his followers were saved from Pharaoh by Allah by creating a path in the Red Sea. According to Muslim tradition, the Jews used to fast on the tenth day. So Muhammad recommended to be different from the Jews and recommended fasting two days instead of one. This quote has been said many times but there is no valid hadees from any authentic source. 9th and 10th or the 10th and 11th day of Muharram.

The Abu Bakarah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three consecutive months of Dhul-Qa'dah, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumadah and Sha'ban."
MUHARRAM 1438H (2016CE): According to the Umm ul-Qura calendar and the decision of Saudi Arabia, 1st Muharram will be on 2 October 2016. Ashura (10th Muharram 1438H) will therefore be on Tuesday 11 October 2016 CE.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and Chief of the Messengers, and upon all his family and companions.

Allah's sacred month of Muharram is a blessed and important month. It is the first month of the Hijri calendar and is one of the four sacred months concerning which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

The greatest jewel on the crown of the Islamic year is the blessed month of Ramadan, the month described by the Messenger himself as the month of his community.

For a people enjoined and assured with the divine decree: “You have a good example in God's Messenger for whoever hopes for God and the Last Day, and remembers God oft” (Qur’an, 33:21), the life of the Prophet Muhammad during the month of Ramadan, the most sacred month on the Islamic calendar – as with his daily life during all other times of the year – demands great importance.
Just as Muslims are required to pray how he prayed, fast how he fasted, and turn to their Creator with utmost sincerity and devotion, they are instructed to make it their life’s endeavor to live as he lived, emulating him in each and every facet of their humanly existence.

Muharram is the month with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Quran says, "The number of the months according to Allah is twelve months (mentioned) in the Book of Allah on the day in which He created heavens and the earth. Among these (twelve months) there are four sanctified".
These four months, according to the authentic traditions are the months of Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram and Rajab. All the commentators of the Holy Quran are unanimous on this point, because the Holy Prophet in his sermon on the occasion of his last Hajj, has declared:
"One year consists of twelve months, of which four are sanctified months, three of them are in sequence; Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram, and the fourth is Rajab."

India’s quota for the Haj this year has been fixed at 136,020 pilgrims, according to an agreement signed with Saudi Arabia.
A total of 100,020 pilgrims will come through the Haj Committee of India and the remainder through private tour operators.
The agreement on the Haj quota was signed during a high-level Indian delegation’s visit to Jeddah on Thursday, Arab News reported on Friday.
Saudi Arabia has reduced the Haj quota for all countries by 20% and for Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council pilgrims by 50% because of the ongoing expansion of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
The Indian delegation was led by minister of state for external affairs Gen VK Singh and included ambassador Ahmad Javed, consul general BS Mubarak, joint secretary Rakesh Mohan of the minority affairs ministry and Haj Committee chief executive officer Ataur Rahman.

Hajj is an annual religious pilgrimage to Mecca undertaken each year by 2-3 million people. The approximate dates for the 2017 Hajj are August 30 to September 4. Umrah is a pilgrimage that can be completed at any time of the year.
MERS Coronavirus Advisory
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) continues to pose risks in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government recommends that the following travelers postpone undertaking pilgrimages:
• Pregnant women
• Children
• Those with chronic health issues, such as heart, kidney, diabetes, cancer, or respiratory diseases
• Those with congenital or acquired immunodeficiency disorders
See the Saudi Ministry of Health website and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website for additional information on MERS-CoV.
Planning ahead for Hajj and Umrah is essential. Please review the following information and links for more details concerning:
• Pilgrimage Travel Requirements

Hajj, also spelled ḥadjdj or hadj, in Islam, the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every adult Muslim must make at least once in his or her lifetime. The hajj is the fifth of the fundamental Muslim practices and institutions known as the Five Pillars of Islam. The pilgrimage rite begins on the 7th day of Dhū al-Ḥijjah (the last month of the Islamic
The hajj is incumbent on all Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the pilgrimage, but only if their absence will not place hardships on their family. A person may perform the hajj by proxy, appointing a relative or friend going on the pilgrimage to “stand in” for him or her.
The pattern of pilgrimage rites was established by the Prophet Muhammad, but variations have arisen in it, and the stringent formal itinerary is not strictly adhered to by the mass of pilgrims, who frequently visit the various Meccan sites out of their proper order.

If a woman does wudoo’ then puts makeup on her face, that does not matter, and it does not affect her wudoo’ or her prayer, so long as it is not naajis, because purity of clothes and body are essential for the prayer to be valid.

It should be noted that it is not permissible for a woman to wear makeup in front of non-mahram men, because she is commanded to cover her face in front of them and because wearing makeup is an adornment that leads to fitnah. If she does that and then prays, she will have the reward for her prayer but she will have the burden of sin for tabarruj (wanton display).

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (17/129): There is no reason why a woman should not adorn herself by wearing makeup on her face, or kohl, or doing her hair in a manner that does not make her resemble kaafir women, but it is also essential that she cover her face in front of men who are not her mahrams. End quote.

Muslim Advice

Saudi Arabia has shifted to the Gregorian or "Western" calendar as a basis for paying civil servants as part of an austerity package. The kingdom adopted the lunar Islamic calendar when it was founded in 1932.

The birthplace of Islam containing Mecca - Islam's holiest site - shifted to the Western Gregorian calendar on Sunday, bringing the oil-rich kingdom in line with many of its energy customers.
The Islamic lunar calendar is actually 11 days shorter than the 365-day solar year, which will actually save the kingdom money by cutting salary days for many public servants.
Introduction
The Kaʿba in the Great Mosque (al-Masjid al-Harām) in Mecca defines the latitude and longitude for which the Umm al-Qura calendar is calculated.
For several decades Saudi Arabia has employed a calculated lunar calendar which is commonly referred to as the “Umm al-Qura calendar”. It is also followed by several neighbouring states on the Arabian Peninsula such as Bahrain and Qatar.