Fiqh

Far be it that any of the Muslims say, let alone we, ourselves, say, that commemorating his noble birth (upon him blessing and peace), rather even commemorating the dust on his shoes and the urine of his (Allah bless him and grant him peace) camel, are deemed blameworthy in the Shari‘ah, from the evil and prohibited innovations; for, commemorating the states which have the least connection with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) is from the most desirable of...
Read More »

When should the muqtadis stand up for salah in congregation? Should they stand before the iqamah begins, when the iqamah begins or when the words hayya 'ala al-falah are reached? The answer to this question lies in the practice of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the Noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) would render the adhan for Zuhr after zawal (i.e., when the sun reaches its zenith or...
Read More »

In recent times there has been a growth in the number of lay people who, influenced by a certain ideology, claim that the tarawih consists of only eight rak’ahs rather than the established twenty rak’ahs. There is, therefore, a need to discuss the tarawih prayer, which is a special type of salah (ritual prayer) only offered in Ramadan. The practice of performing tarawih in eight rak’ahs is in total contrast to the practice of the Ummah throughout the ages. Given the fact that tarawih is...
Read More »

Writings on the topic of the veiling and unveiling of women have proliferated in our time. The best that I have seen on this subject is a treatise by my late father Shaykh Mufti Muhammad Shafi' (Allah have mercy on him) which he called Tafsil al-Khitab fi Tafsir Ayat al-Hijab, which is a section from his Ahkam al-Qur'an (3:393-483), in which he examined the verses and hadiths cited on the subject and exhausted the positions of the fuqaha (jurists) and the statements of the...
Read More »

There are three types of mawlid gatherings and the ruling for each is different. The first type of gathering is that which does not contain any of the prevalent and customary restrictions (quyud). Neither mubah (permissible) restrictions nor makruh (prohibitively disliked) ones, i.e., it is free from all restrictions. For instance, a few people gathered by coincidence, no one had invited them with any extraordinary effort; rather they were gathered for some other permissible event. In this gathering, either by...
Read More »

There has been a growing tendency in recent times within some quarters of the Muslim Ummah to attempt to understand the hadiths of the beloved Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) without the proper prerequisite knowledge of fiqh and its principles. Movements have emerged, a fundamental part of whose methodology it is to take hadiths in their apparent and literal meanings, without attempting to understand the actual purpose of any hadith. The issue of how those in congregational prayer...
Read More »

First of all, it is not established from any authentic hadith that Satan comes in the grave. But, if we do accept that he does come in the grave, then his coming poses no possibility of harm (or threat), because the ability of misleading others is particular to this world as this world is a source of burden and tribulation. As is mentioned in a hadith: "The living cannot be guaranteed safety from...
Read More »

In regards to wearing trousers below the ankles (isbal) it is mentioned in a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said that Allah Most High will not look with mercy towards the person who lowers his izar (lower garment) with pride. The limit of this lowering is mentioned in a second hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (Allah...
Read More »

It is with great sadness that we note confusion in the minds of many students and even some scholars concerning the obligation of the niqab (veil) in the Hanafi madhhab, which expressly classifies covering the face as binding on women and forbids the exposure of the face in the presence of ghayr mahrams (strangers). While there have been dozens of works penned on this issue, we wish to focus on the Hanafi stance due to the abuse it is being subjected to. We ask...
Read More »

In regards to folding one's clothes while praying and the issue of isbal (wearing one's garment below the ankles), Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in Lami' al-Darari (vol. 1, pg. 327-28): "Qadi 'Iyad considers the tying back of the hair and folding of the clothes undesirable for the person performing salah, this is regardless of whether he does it outside or inside salah, and he mentions that the scholars are unanimous that this does not invalidate...
Read More »