al-Fawzan: Look for an Imam and Khateeb who is proficient

Follow @AhleDhikr Q: This question is from UK; There is a Khateeb in our country, his Arabic isn't good and his Quran isn't good either (he delivers the Khutbah in English) and even when he qoutes evidences it's not in Arabic, because he fears making a mistake. The topic of his Khutbahs are mostly on refutations and talking about particular people by name,  

What's your advice about such a Khateeb in our land?

A: Look for a different Imam - Al-Humdulilah - today ther are plenty who can deliver the Khutbah and have memorised the Quran in every place. Look for an Imam and Khateeb who is proficient.

Shaykh Saaleh al-Fawzan (Allah Preserve him)
Sharh Igaatha al-Lahafaan, Tape 5, 117mins

Chapter: The Last of the people of the Fire to be brought out of it

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Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

I know the last of the inhabitants of Fire to be taken out therefrom, and the last of the inhabitants of Paradise to enter it. A man will come out of the Fire crawling. Then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted will say to him: Go and enter Paradise. So he would come to it and it would appear to him as if it were full. He would go back and say: O my Lord! I found it full. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, would say to him: Go and enter Paradise. He would come and perceive as if it were full. He would return and say: O my Lord! I found it full. Allah would say to him: Go and enter Paradise, for there is for you the like of the world and ten times like it, or for you is ten times the like of this world. He (the narrator) said. He (that man) would say: Art Thou making a fun of me? or Art Thou laughing at me. though Thou art the King? He (the narrator) said: I saw the Messenger of Allah laugh till his front teeth were visible. And it was said: That would be the lowest rank among the inhabitants of Paradise.

Explanation

-Affirmation of Laughing for Allaah, in a manner that suits His Majesty.

They make Ta'weel to mean His bounty.
 - 

Abu Bakr as-Soofee makes Tafweed in order to remove deficiency from Allah.

Qaadhee said that the person will only attribute laughing to Allah out of joy, not knowing what he is saying.

TN: all his is Ta'weel, rather he is now a person of Jannah and he himself makes Ithbaat, otherwise why would he talk to Allaah without 'Ilm? Also, bounty doesn't always come with Allaah laughing.

Sharh Sahih Muslim, 3/44-49

Chapter: Intercession and bringing those who believed in tawhid out of the Fire

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Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported:

Verily the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Allah will admit into Paradise those deserving of Paradise, and He will admit whom He wishes out of His Mercy, and admit those condemned to Hell into the Fire (of Hell). He would then say: See, he whom you find having as much faith in his heart as a grain of mustard, bring him out. They will then be brought out burned and turned to charcoal, and would be cast into the river of life, and they would sprout aj does a seed in the silt carried away by flood. Have you not seen that it comes out yellow (fresh) and intertwined?

Explanation

-Nawawi affirms intercession, by Ijmaa of the Salaf.

-The Khwarij and Mu'tazilah deny and they seek to use as proof the the Ayah in Mudatthir, "Intercession of the intercessors will not benefit them."

Nawawi refutes them as says this is specific to the Kuffaar and the Ahadeeth in this chapter is for the believers. 

Intercession of the Prophet is of five types

1 For the prophet alone to start the reckoning 

2 For those who enter Jannah without any punishment or reckoning 

3 Those who sinned and the prophet asks to forgive them 

4 To take those out of the fire who entered 

5 To increase the level of those who entered Jannah 

The Mu'tailah only affirm number five.

-Qaadhee states that some say it's Makrooh to ask for the intercession of the Prophet because it implies one will be deficient and is bound for the fire.

Qaadhee refutes this and says we are all deficient and we all need pardon.

Also, based on this false presence we would not allowed to ask for forgiveness because it would imply we are willing and wanting to sin? 

Nawawi states it's affirmed that the Salaf used to ask

-Qaadhee suggests that the Jahanmiyoon will become coal, this means they will die. Others said they will be punished to the extent that they lose their senses. 

Nawawi said they will be punished to the degree of their sins, as for dying then after the resurrection there will be no more death

Sharh Sahih Muslim, 3/40-44

Riyadh as-Saaleheen: Generosity, Prohibition on Stinginess & Giving from What you Love (Pt. 26)

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GENEROSITY AND THOUGHTFULNESS WHEN SPENDING IN GOODNESS, WHILST HAVING DEPENDENCY ON ALLAH (تعلى)

قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّي يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاء مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُ وَمَا أَنفَقْتُم مِّن شَيْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ

34:39

Allah tells the believer to spend from what He has provided and that his spending will never decrease his wealth – Allah will substitute it for him. -as-Sa’di

لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلأنفُسِكُمْ وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلاَّ ابْتِغَاء وَجْهِ اللَّهِ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تُظْلَمُونَ

Then Allah tells us who…

لِلْفُقَرَاء الَّذِينَ أُحْصِرُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لاَ يَسْتَطِيعُونَ ضَرْبًا فِي الأَرْضِ يَحْسَبُهُمُ الْجَاهِلُ أَغْنِيَاء مِنَ التَّعَفُّفِ تَعْرِفُهُم بِسِيمَاهُمْ لاَ يَسْأَلُونَ النَّاسَ إِلْحَافًا وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ

2:272-273

Those who live their lives in the obedience of Allah – you will recognise their truthfulness with through their deeds, piety and chastity; NOT their begging. -as-Sa’di

544-"Envy is permitted only in two cases: A man whom Allah gives wealth, and he disposes of it rightfully, and a man to whom Allah gives knowledge which he applies and teaches it."

People spend for one of two reasons: 1-Desires 2-To please Allah Meaning, that which benefits and that which doesn’t. -Ibn al-Uthaymin

545- "Who of you loves the wealth of his heir more than his own wealth?" The Companions said: "O Messenger of Allah! There is none of us but loves his own wealth more." He (ﷺ) said, "His wealth is that which he has sent forward, but that which he retains belongs to his heir."

Losing possession of one’s property can either be: 1-physical – trade, inheritance etc. 2-metaphorical – reward, Barakah, benefit, the Akhirah etc. -Ibn Uthaymin

Virtues of Spending:

Giving protects from the fire…

546-"Protect yourself from Hell-fire even by giving a piece of date as charity."

It is what he came to show us…

547-Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never said 'no' to anyone who asked him for anything.

He will get the Dua’ of the Angels

548-"Everyday two angels descend and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate (more) to the person who gives (in charity)'; while the other one says, 'O Allah! Destroy the one who withholds (charity, etc)".

Allah will compensate it for you…

549-"Allah, the Exalted, says, 'Spend, O son of Adam, you will also be spent upon."

It is from the Fadail al-A’mal…

550-'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'as (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:

A man asked Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), "Which act in Islam is the best?" He (ﷺ) replied, "To feed (the poor and the needy) and to greet those whom you know and those you do not know."

It is a trade that he is actually making…

551- "There are forty kinds of virtue, the highest of which is to gift a (milking) goat. He who practices any of these virtues, expecting its reward (from Allah) and believing on the verity of the promise made for it, will enter Jannah."

Meaning, there are many different types of virtue but the best kind is to give to others which will make them self-sufficient, reoccurring making it an ongoing Sadaqah for the donator.

552-"O son of Adam, if you spend the surplus, it will be better for you; and if you retain it, it will be bad for you. You will not be reprimanded for keeping what is enough for your need. Begin with those who are your dependents, and the upper hand (i.e., the one that spends in the way of Allah) is better than the lower hand (i.e., the one that receives charity.)"

Examples of these Ahadith were used in practice to help spread the true nature of Islam…

After the Fath of Makkah, let’s see what the Messenger of Allah did at a place called Ja’ranah:

553-Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

Whenever the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked a thing by one who is about to accept Islam but he would give it. A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he gave him a herd of sheep scattered between two mountains. When he returned to his people, he said to them: "O my people! Embrace Islam because Muhammad gives like one who has no fear of poverty." Some people would embrace Islam only for worldly gains, but soon Islam becomes dearer to them than the world with all what it contains.

He preferred himself and gave up his own share of the Dunya because of the importance of this chapter:

554-'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) distributed some wealth and I said to him, "O Messenger of Allah! Do you not think that there are other people who are more deserving than these whom you gave." He (ﷺ) said, "They had, in fact, left no alternative for me except either they should beg of me importunately or they would regard me as a miser; but I am not a miser."

555-Jubair bin Mut'im (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

While I was walking with the Prophet (ﷺ) on his return from the battle of Hunain, a few bedouins caught hold of him and began to demand their shares. They forced him to a tree and someone snatched away his cloak (which got entangled in that thorny tree). The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Give my cloak back to me. Were I to have camels equal to the number of these trees, I would have distributed them all among you, and you would not have found me a miser, or a liar, or a coward."

One of the greatest causes of Islam spreading in his lifetime, and after, was generosity NOT the sword.

556-"Wealth is not diminished by giving (in charity). Allah raises the honour of one who forgives; and one who displays humbleness towards another seeking the pleasure of Allah, Allah exalts him in ranks."

557- Abu Kabshah 'Amr bin Sa'd (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "I swear by Allah for three (qualities) which I am going to tell you about. Remember them well:

(1) The wealth of a man will not diminish by Sadaqah (charity).

(2) Allah raises the honour of a man who endures an oppression patiently.

(3) He who opens a gate of begging, Allah opens a gate of poverty (or he said a word similar to it)."

He (ﷺ) also said, "Remember well what I am going to tell you: The world is for four kinds of people.

(1) One upon whom Allah has bestowed wealth and knowledge and so he fears his Rubb in respect to them, joins the ties of blood relationship and acknowledges the Rights of Allah on him (and fulfills them); this type will have the best position (in Jannah).

(2) One upon whom Allah has conferred knowledge but no wealth, and he is sincere in his intention and says: 'Had I possessed wealth, I would have acted like so-and-so.' If that is his intention, his reward is the same as that of the other.

(3) One whom Allah has given wealth but no knowledge and he squanders his wealth ignorantly, does not fear Allah in respect to it, does not discharge the obligations of kinship and does not acknowledge the Rights of Allah. Such a person will be in the worst position (in the Hereafter).

(4) One upon whom Allah has bestowed neither wealth nor knowledge and he says: 'Had I possessed wealth, I would have acted like so-and-so (i.e., he would squander his wealth).' If this is his intention, both will have equal sin."

This summarises how Islam spread because Sadaqah (financial or not) has two benefits: 1-Goodness spreads 2-Reward and Barakah is multiplied

Some narrations about hoarding and holding back…

558- 'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had slaughtered a sheep and distributed major portions of its meat. Then he (ﷺ) asked, "Is there anything left?" She replied, "Nothing, except the shoulder." Thereupon he said, "All of it is left except its shoulder."

559- "Do not hoard; otherwise, Allah will withhold from you."

560- Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: "The case of a miserly man and a generous man who gives in charity is similar to that of two persons who are clad in armour from their breasts up to their collar bones. When the generous man gives in charity, his armour expands so much as to cover his fingertips and toes. When the miser intends to spend something the armour contracts and every ring of it sticks to the place where it is (sinks into his flesh). He tries to loosen it but it does not expand."

561- "He who gives in charity the value of a date which he legally earned, and Allah accepts only that which is pure, Allah accepts it with His Right Hand and fosters it for him, as one of you fosters his mare, until it becomes like a mountain."

A miracle given to a man to show the importance of the spending…

562-  "While a man was walking through a barren land, he heard a voice coming out of a cloud saying: 'Irrigate the garden of so-and- so.' Thereupon the cloud drifted in a certain direction and discharged its water over a rocky plain. The streamlets flowed into a channel. This man followed the channel until it reached a garden and he saw the owner of the garden standing in its center, working with his spade spreading the water (changing the course of the water). He asked him: "O slave of Allah, what is your name?" He told his name, which was the same that he heard from the cloud. The owner of the garden then asked him: "O slave of Allah, why did you ask my name?" He replied: "I heard a voice from a cloud which poured down this water saying: 'Irrigate the garden of so-and-so.' I would like to know what do you do with it." He said: "Now that you asked me, I will tell you. I estimate the produce of the garden and distribute one-third of it in charity, I spend one-third on myself and my family and invest one-third back into the garden."

PROHIBITION ON STINGINESS AND MISERLINESS

وَأَمَّا مَن بَخِلَ وَاسْتَغْنَى

وَكَذَّبَ بِالْحُسْنَى

فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْعُسْرَى

وَمَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُ مَالُهُ إِذَا تَرَدَّى

92:8-11

فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَاسْمَعُوا وَأَطِيعُوا وَأَنفِقُوا خَيْرًا لّأَنفُسِكُمْ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

64:16

563- "Beware of oppression, for oppression will be darkness on the Day of Resurrection; and beware of stinginess because it destroyed those who were before you. It incited them to shed their blood and deem unlawful as lawful."

There’s a correlation between a persons own wretchedness (الشح) and stinginess (البخل): The first is worst than the second because wretchedness leads to a person wanting good for himself alone, even if it be taken away from others, and he has no regard to perform acts of good with it. -Ibn Uthaymin

GIVING TO OTHERS FROM WHAT YOU ARE ATTACHED TO

وَالَّذِينَ تَبَوَّؤُوا الدَّارَ وَالإِيمَانَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ يُحِبُّونَ مَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلا يَجِدُونَ فِي صُدُورِهِمْ حَاجَةً مِّمَّا أُوتُوا وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

59:9

وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ مِسْكِينًا وَيَتِيمًا وَأَسِيرًا

76:8

Spending on others and preferring them over oneself is of types and rulings: 1-Wajib - Zakat 2-Haram – when you or your dependants actually need it. This kind of spending is not Zuhd, its blameworthy. 3-Makrooh – that which will cause hardship to you or something you need to benefit yourself and could cause regret. 4-Mustahab – something you need but you can bear to live without it, then preferring others because a default state.  This is the state of the people of Jannah. -Ibn al-Uthaymin

564- Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said; "I am hard pressed by hunger." He (ﷺ) sent a word to one of his wives who replied: "By Him Who has sent you with the Truth, I have nothing except water." Then he sent the same message to another (wife) and received the same reply. He sent this message to all of them (i.e., his wives) and received the same reply. Then he (ﷺ) said, "Who will entertain this (man) as guest?" One of the Ansar said: "O Messenger of Allah, I will." So he took him home and said to his wife: "Serve the guest of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)."

The Messenger was from the final category. The Ansari man was from the third one.

What happens when a person tries the above…

565- "The food for two suffices for three; and the food for three suffices for four persons."

566- Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

Once we were on a journey with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when a rider came and began looking right and left. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Whoever has an extra mount should offer it to him who is without it, and whoever has surplus food should give it to him who has nothing;" and he continued mentioning other properties until we thought that none of us had any right to surplus of his own property.

567- Sahl bin Sa'd (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

A woman brought a woven piece of cloth to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said to him: "I have woven this sheet with my own hands for you to wear." He accepted it as he was in need of it. He later came out wearing it as a lower garment. Someone said: "How nice it is! Kindly give it to me." Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Very well." He remained in our company for some time, then he went back, folded it and sent it to the man. The people said (to that man): "You did not do well. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wore it and he was in need of it, and you asked him for it when you are well aware that he (ﷺ) never refuses a request." He said: "I swear by Allah that I did not ask it for wearing. I asked him for it so that it might be my shroud after my death." Sahl (the narrator of this Hadith) said: And in fact it was used as his shroud.

568- Abu Musa (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When the Ash'ariyun run short of food in the Jihad or when they are at home in Al-Madinah, they collect all the provisions they have in a sheet and then divide it equally among themselves. They are of me and I am of them."

A tribe from Yemen (that goes back to Qahtan) and he described them as having the softest and gentle of hearts. This was shown in their actions and their consideration for others. He also called them bravest of people and then said, “They are from me and I am from them.” They were also known for their beautiful voices and they used to recite the Quran so much, he said, “I can hear them at night and I know where they are – even if I can’t see them.”

And Allah know best.

Shaykh Sa’ood ash Shuraym on Shab-e-baraat [15th Sha’baan]

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Question posed to Shaykh Sa’ood ibn Ibraaheem ash-Shuraym [May Allaah preserve him]After Salaat al-Fajr in Masjid al-Haram, approx. Rajab 1427.Taken from Sharh Nathm al-Habeer fi Usool at-Tafseer, tape 14 [Audio is attached]

Question: This person is asking about the 15^th of Sha’baan [or otherwise known as Shab - e - Baraat] and the virtues of this night and the night be a night of forgiveness for all of the creation of Allaah.

Shaykh Sa’ood: On this issue the scholars have differed, having two views. One group saying there is a virtue in the night based on some of the narrations about this night and others saying there isn't a virtue because these narrations are not authentic and not correct. Those who say there isn't a virtue on this is night is the correct position from the aspect of Hadeeth and those scholars who verified and checked Hadeeth. They stated there are no authentic narrations about the virtue of this night and all the narrations narrated about this night are weak.

Those who say there is a virtue in the night used various ahaadeeth to try and justify virtue about the night but they use weak hadeeth and we know that weak ahadeeth are not accepted or to be acted upon when comes to Islamic rulings or in any other aspect of Islam. If a narration is weak then it is weak. Those who try to use weak narrations as evidence, especially in the cases of virtues of spirituality and rectifying oneself, and try to attribute its permissibility to Imaam Ahmad ibn Hambal, then this is not correct and is mistaken. This is because in the time of Imaam Ahmad hadeeth was either one of two classifications, authentic or weak. But those scholars that came after created categories in the classification used. They introduced terminologies such as Hasan, Hasan li Ghayrihi, Saheeh li Ghayrihi, Qat, Mu’dal etc to Saheeh and Daeef. So when Imaam Ahmad is talking about accepted Daeef of weak Hadeeth he is actually talking about the permissibility of accepting Ahadeeth that are Hasan li Ghayrihi, not the full grade of Saheeh or authentic but they are acceptable and not Daeef or weak as we understand it today, this has been clarified further by Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, May Allaah have mercy on him. 

So the correct view about the virtues of this night, the night of 15^th Sha’baan, is that there is no virtue or anything special about this night and there is nothing specifically prescribed for us to do on this night. 

Some people try to use the hadeeth, “Allah descends on this night and he forgives al of his creation except the Mushrik [the one who is doing Shirk], the Mushaahin [one who has a quarrel with another] or the Mudmin [addict]”. Some of the scholars did say that this hadeeth is Saheeh, but even if it is Saheeh for arguments sake, then the hadeeth doesn’t prescribe for us to do anything special on this night by the way of act of worships. This is because the hadeeth doesn’t encourage us to do any special act of worship or to fast the day or the following day, rather all the hadeeth states is that Allaah will forgive on this night.

Fifteenth of Sha’baan is incorrect even based on Hanafee Usool

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Shaykh 'Abdul-Kareen bin 'Abdallah al-Khudayr  [May Allaah Preserve him]

Member of Permanent Committee of Research and Fatwaa and Member of Council of Senior Scholars, Saudi Arabia

A process known as Istishaab (الاستصحاب) is another way within Shariah which helps us forms rules and rulings.

The point behind Istishaab is to seek to find what is relevant from the original ruling at the time it came down.

In Irshaad al-Fuhool, it gives Istishaab the definition of something that is affirmed in the time of revelation so it must be affirmed in the times that came after it.

Meaning, something was revealed and legislated in the time of revelation and the same ruling can be applied today without any changes occurring to the ruling. 

If a scholar sits down to look at the ruling of something and he finds no evidence to support a particular action, such as the virtues of Rajab or praying during the night of fifteenth Sha’baan…so if one wants to fast or pray during these times and there is no evidence for it, then in origin, the ruling is that they are not legislated.

For example, a person wants to create a sixth prayer during the day and he tries to seek evidence to support this, but he only finds that five prayers during the day are legislated, then in origin, there is no sixth prayer.

Ok, let’s take Salaat al-‘Eid or Salaat al-Witr – some stated that these are Waajib – and they have evidence. So you try and look for evidence, this is the process of Istishaab. Thus in its application it means that nothing is legislated except what Allaah, the Exalted and Glorified, has legislated in worship. So we cannot worship except with evidence.

So if a person says, ‘I want to fast Rajab and this is necessary for me to do so’ or ‘I must stand the fifteenth of Sha’baan in prayer’ we say to him, ‘bring your evidence.’ If you are trying to prove a ruling and you have no evidence then there is no Istishaab for you, so in origin we stop until there is evidence.

The scholars also differed on the following; is Istishaab a proof that we can rely on when there are no textual proofs?

Some said yes, Istishaab can be used as proof and others said no.

The Majority say it can be used as proof, from them are the Hanbalees, the 

Shafi’ees and the Maalikees as was stated by Ibn Haajib.

Others, like the Hanafees and some of the philosophers, stated that we need textual proof at all times. So if you have textual proof for doing something at the time of revelation then we also need proof to suggest that we can do it on our times today.

So what does this all mean? The Hanafees argue that if something was legislated at the time of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] then we can’t assume that it can be applied today unless we have evidence to suggest that the ruling can be applied today, this means we can’t do Istishaab.

So for example, praying the fear prayer. The Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] prayed the fear prayer in seven different ways, so we say that we can use this and pray in this way if we are in a similar situation, and these rulings are upheld until the Last Day. This is because they are affirmed in the text, we have evidence for it and the fact the Companions [May Allaah be Pleased with them all] continued with this practice shows that it is still legislated.

However, Muhammad bin Hasan ash-Shaybaanee and Aboo Yoosuf would say that the rulings connected to fear prayer is specific to the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] and can only be applied today if we have proof.

[Sharh al-Waraqaat Fee Usool al-Fiqh, tape 15]