Thursday, August 8, 2024
The Month of Safar !
The month of Safar is one of the twelve Hijri
months, and it is the month which comes after Muharram. Some of the
scholars said that it is so named because of the emptying (isfaar) of
Makkah i.e., its people would all leave when they travelled during this
month. It was also said that this month is named Safar because they used
to raid other tribes at this time, and they would leave those whom they
encountered bereft of their possessions (sifran min al-mataa’) – i.e.,
they would take all their belongings away and they would leave them with
nothing.
Our discussion of this month will cover the following points:
1. What has been narrated concerning it from the Arabs of the Jahiliyyah.
2. What has been narrated in Islam that contradicts the views of people of the Jahiliyyah concerning this month.
3. Innovations and corrupt beliefs concerning this month that exist among people who claim to be Muslims.
4. What happened in this month of military campaigns and important events in the life of the Prophet (saws).
5. False Ahadith that have been narrated concerning Safar.
"I was never told..." - sadly the reality of our Ummah today indeed !
After coming to Islam, I was given a
pile of guides compiled for the new Muslim. These books and booklets
explained the five pillars of Islam and the six pillars of imaan, and
also taught how to perform wudu and salaah. At first, I thought this was
quite a lot, as I had previously seen the lack of religious adherence
by so-called “Muslims” – those whom I had thought to be Muslims – who
didn’t pray, possibly fasted during Ramadaan, and whose extent of
following the Shari’ah was restricted to the avoidance of eating pork.
After my imaan started to root deeper and I gained a better
understanding of what Islam really means, I started to wonder how these
customary “Muslims,” who would neither pray nor fast, could even call
themselves Muslims.
When I asked about this problem, I received
varying answers from both lay “Muslims” and supposedly knowledgeable
“Muslims.” The responses were so different, I couldn’t decide which one
of them to follow. Most of them claimed that even if a person doesn’t
pray, he can still be considered a Muslim. Perhaps due to the number of
those who said that, I decided to follow that claim without
investigating the topic any further.
I didn’t face this
particular matter again until sometime later. Then, someone who was
braver than most of the others dared to open his mouth and say that
leaving the salaah is, indeed, kuffr. This time, I couldn’t let the
matter rest, so I decided to start looking for an answer to this
question myself. I started to read books about ‘aqeedah. One of them
mentioned something that I had never heard of before as a Muslim: The
Nullifiers of Islam. I was shocked! This was partly because I had never
given thought to such a serious matter, and partly because nowhere else
was I taught that, “Yes! In a blink of an eye, you can nullify your
Islam and go from being a Muslim to being a murtadd kaafir!”
Kuffr
and riddah are two words that are taboo in the “Muslim” community of
Finland. Few dare to utter them aloud and even fewer dare to accuse
anyone of falling into them. But what is most dangerous is that most of
them don’t even know that there are actions that take people out of
Islam, so many people think they are still Muslims, while in reality,
they have fallen into kuffr and riddah.
Mincing the message of the Quran
All
praise is due to Allah, the Magnificent, the magnanimous. peace and blessings on our noble Prophet Muhammed, his family and his righteous
companions.
A little while back someone received an email from a sister discussing her views on the Ayah number 24 from Surah At-Tawbah, which says;
"If your fathers and your sons and your brethren and your mates and your kinsfolk and property which you have acquired, and the slackness of trade which you fear and dwellings which you like, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His way, then wait till Allah brings about His command: and Allah does not guide the transgressing people."
In her words, “This verse clearly indicates that one's love for God has to be superior to one's love for everything else that one may come to love in one's life.”
And then she went on to describe how love for Allah Azawjal should be absolute. The sister's intentions maybe sound, however, her details on that Ayah were incomplete. She addressed only a portion of the ayat, while leaving out the other.
A little while back someone received an email from a sister discussing her views on the Ayah number 24 from Surah At-Tawbah, which says;
"If your fathers and your sons and your brethren and your mates and your kinsfolk and property which you have acquired, and the slackness of trade which you fear and dwellings which you like, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His way, then wait till Allah brings about His command: and Allah does not guide the transgressing people."
In her words, “This verse clearly indicates that one's love for God has to be superior to one's love for everything else that one may come to love in one's life.”
And then she went on to describe how love for Allah Azawjal should be absolute. The sister's intentions maybe sound, however, her details on that Ayah were incomplete. She addressed only a portion of the ayat, while leaving out the other.
Please allow us to explain, insha'Allah.
The interpretation for this ayah is
incomplete/ partial since it does not deliver the absolute message of
the Ayah. In addition to that, by relying on the English interpretation
alone and ignoring the Arabic shari' details, the interpretation is
misleading.
Imam Ibn Kathir's tafseer of this Ayah is under the title “The Prohibition of taking the Idolators as Supporters, even with Relatives.” The noble Imam then states how in this ayah,
“Allah commands shunning the disbelievers, even if they are one's parents or children, prohibits taking them as supporters it they choose disbelief instead of faith.”
Al-Istihlaal
Meaning of
alistihlaal, the ruling upon it, and examples of it.
1. Meaning: Alistihlaal technically means, in Sharee'ah terminology: making something that Allah has prohibited, halal on a personal or general (i.e. imposing) level.
2. Ruling: It's major kufr, evidences:
[a] From the book of Allah: 'The postponing (of a Sacred Month) is indeed an addition to disbelief: thereby the disbelievers are led astray, for they make it lawful one year and forbid it another year in order to adjust the number of months forbidden by Allah, and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their deeds seems pleasing to them. And Allah guides not the people, who disbelieve.' - (Surat at-Tawbah: 37). So here, Allah shows to us how making halaal, what is haraam is only an increase in kufr, and an increase in kufr is kufr; more in this ayah will come up in this discussion.
[b] From the Sunnah: the hadeeth of al-Baraa` bin 'Aazib (ra) who said: "My uncle, al-Haarith bin 'Amro passed by me, and he had a banner that the Prophet - s - had signed for, so I asked him [about it], so he said: The Prophet of Allah (saws) sent me to kill a man who married his fathers wife." See Imaam Ahmad's Musnad, Abu Dawood's collection, an-Nisaa'i, Ibn Maajah, and Ibn al-Qayyim considered it hasan in hisTahtheeb Sunan Abi Dawood, and al-Albaani considered it saheeh in his Irwaa` al-Ghaleel.
Ibn Jareer comments on this hadith, and says: "So this act of his - marrying his fathers wife - was the strongest of proofs that he denied (taktheeb) of the Prophet of Allah (saws) and his rejection (juhood) of amuhkam ayah, for that reason whoever does it (man fa'alahu), he was ruled with killing, and the striking of his neck. For that reason, the Prophet (saws) ordered his killing and the striking of his neck, for this is the sunnah of the apostate in Islaam" - See Tahtheeb al-Athaar, volume 2/148.
Summer…
Allah reminds His slaves of the heat of Hell by making them experience very high temperatures during the summer.
The Prophet (saws) informed us that Hell has two breaths: it inhales during our winter and exhales during our summer; he (saws) also stated that the extreme heat people experience during the summer is due to this exhalation. This information from the Prophet (saws) is a reminder to us of the Hellfire.The narration of the Prophet (saws) regarding this is not a figurative one; rather, it is unambiguous and very real. The Prophet (saws) said: “When the heat reaches an excess ive level then (delay the) prayer until it cools, as extreme heat comes from the vehement raging of Hell.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] This was said because if people were to pray during such a very hot time, then they would be distracted from their prayers and lose their submissiveness and humility in it. Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (saws) said: “The (Hell) Fire complained to its Lord saying: 'O my Lord! My different parts consume each other, so allow me to breathe.' Therefore He (i.e., Allah) allowed it to take two breaths, one in the winter and the other in summer, and this is the reason for the severe heat and the bitter cold you find (in weather).” [Al-Bukhari]
As believers we are commanded to believe in this as it is from the unseen, even though we may not perceive it or understand exactly how it could occur. We fully believe in it regardless, because it was narrated to us via the truthful, trustworthy Prophet of Allah (saws). It is therefore the duty of the believer to protect himself from the punishment of Hell.
The punishment of Hell in the grave
Where does the word SALAF come from?
The term ‘Salaf’ appeared during the time of The Prophet (saws), his
companions and those generations after him. The chronological usage of
the term Salaf:
- Prophet Muhammad (saws) (d. 11 AH)
- Ayyub Al-Sakhtiyani (d. 130 AH)
- Abu Haneefah (d.151 AH)
- Abdur-Rahmaan al-Awzaa’ee (d. 157 AH)
- Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241AH)
- Abu Ja’far at-Tahawi (d. 321 AH)
- Abu Muhammad Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (d. 386 AH)
- al-Laalikaa’ee (d. 418 AH)
- Abu ‘Uthmaan as-Sabooni (d. 449 AH)
- Al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi (d. 463 AH)
- Al-Asbahaani (d. 535 AH)
- As-Sam’aani (d. 562 AH)
- Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisi (d. 620 AH)
- lbn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH)
- Adh-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH)
- Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH)
- Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH)
- Ash-Shatibi (d. 790 AH)
- Ibn Abi al-Izz al-Hanafi (d. 792 AH)
- Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH)
- As-Suyooti (d. 911 AH)
- As-Safareeni (d. 1188 AH)
- Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab (d.1206 AH)
- Abdur Rahmaan as-Sa’di (d. 1376 AH)
- Muhammad Nasir-Uddin al-Albani (d. 1420 AH)
1. Prophet Muhammad (saws) (d. 11 AH)
‘Aisha reported: “We, the wives of Allah’s Prophet (saws) were with him (during his last illness) and none was absent therefrom that. Fatima, who walked after the style of Allah’s Messenger (saws) came there, and when he saw her he welcomed her saying: 'You are welcome, my daughter.’ He then made her sit on his right side or on his left side. Then he said something secretly to her and she wept bitterly and when he found her (plunged) in grief he said to her something secretly for the second time and she laughed.I (‘A’isha) said to her: 'Allah’s Messenger has singled you amongst the women (of the family) for talking (to you something secretly) and you wept.’ When Allah’s Messenger (saws) recovered from illness, I said to her, 'What did Allah’s Messenger (saws) say to you?’Thereupon she said: 'I am not going to disclose the secret of Allah’s Messenger (saws).’When Allah’s Messenger (saws) died, I said to her: 'I adjure you by the right that I have upon you that you should narrate to me what Allah’s Messenger (saws) said to you.’She said: 'Yes, now I can do that (so listen to it). When he talked to me secretly for the first time he informed me that Gabriel was in the habit of reciting the Qur’an along with him once or twice every year, but this year it had been twice and so he perceived his death quite near, so fear Allah and be patient (and he told me) that he would be a befitting Salaf (forerunner) for me and so I wept as you saw me. And when he saw me in grief he talked to me secretly for the second time and said: Fatima, are you not pleased that you should be at the head of the believing women or the head of this Ummah? I laughed and it was that laughter which you saw.’”
[Sahih Muslim, The Virtues of the Companions (Book 31)]