Importance of Salah/Namaaz

              Bismillah   Ar-rahman  nir  rahim

Assalamu alaikum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatahu J

Before I begin, I would like to thank my Allah and YOU, for letting me share a small part of your sawab.

Indeed You are the chosen One. Why? as Allah has chosen you for hidayat. Me? I am lucky to share a small part of your sawab as I m being the channel. But the real sawab is and will always be yours. As Allah wants you to come and pray to Him and He wants to forgive you and grant you Jannah.
You might read a few things in my posts, as I continue deeper and take you along with me into Namaaz/ Salat.
So, I request you not to block me or stop reading the mails, if they tell you to do something which you think is not  right or which you find hard to do. Feel free to ask me or anyone around you . Remember, I am also with you in it. You are not alone. We are doing it together for the sake of our Allah !!
So my earnest request to keep an open mind and read and think and share. But, Don’t Turn your back to an opportunity sent from Allah.
This is His doing. Not mine J
May Allah grant us all beneficial ilm and the strength to apply it and please Him and grant us entry into Jannah….together J
I will try to the best of my ability to present both hanafi and sha’fi rulings about various matters.

 On this note..lets begin…

Bismillah ar-rahman- nir –rahim..

Importance of Namaaz:

Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them;  (  سورة البقرة  , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #3)

However hard I tried, I could not pick out a single verse as the best verse to show how important “salat/prayer/namaaz” is.

So, I decided to just start with the first ayat in the first verse in the Quran .

And Subhanallah!! its only the 3^rd verse. I didn’t have to look further.

 The word(s) "prayer" appears 14 time(s) in 12 verse(s) in chapter #2 in Yusuf Ali translation.

The word(s) "prayer" appears 124 time(s) in 112 verse(s) in Quran in Yusuf Ali translation

And I prefer to say nothing futher about the importance for Salah/Namaaz.

I will like to let you listen to Prophet s.a.w speak directly to you regarding it.

Listen to him (s.a.w) carefully.

He  is saying “offer the prayers at their early stated fixed times and "Allah has obligated five prayers. Whoever excellently performs their ablutions, prays them in their proper times, completes their bows, prostrations and khushu` [Khushu` in the prayer is where the person’s heart is attuned to the prayer.] has a promise from Allah that He will forgive him. And whoever does not do that has no promise from Allah. He may either forgive him or punish him." [ Bukhari, Book # 52, Hadith # 41 and  Recorded by Malik, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’I and others]

 So, tell me, what are you thinking?

Subhanallah!! This is Allah and His messenger, our beloved Prophet s.a.w  are directly speaking to YOU J you are so lucky mashallah!!

Rasulullah (SAW)  said "The covenant between us and them is prayer, so if anyone abandons it he has become a disbeliever."  (Agreed upon by Ahmad, Tirmidhee and Nasaa'ee to be authentic)
In an other Hadith of Rasulullah (SAW) said "What lies between a man and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer." ( Agreed upon by Muslim, Abu Dawood and Nasaa'ee as sahih authentic)
Do you realize the seriousness of the above hadith?it shook me hard, as I have missed my prayers …!!
Please don’t block me after reading this. you might find it difficult to digest and accept.
But remember Allah wants YOU to come to HIM. What happened is in the past. Now, is what matters/
Allah (swt) further warns us in the Quran "O you who believe! Let not your properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allâh. And whosoever does that, then they are the losers." (Sura Al-Munaafiqoon, ayah #9)
The commentators of the Qur'aan say: "The 'remembrance of Allaah' mentioned in these Aayaat means the five daily prayers. If anyone is so busy in buying and selling, or with his daily work of earning a livelihood, or with his children, that he cannot perform prayers on time, he will be among the losers.

 So, lets get up, and make wu’du and pray!! J

And remember me in your duas that all prayers become easy…specially the fajr!!

JazzakAllah kathira..

taharah--Misc. issues and questions and answers

Bismillahir  rahman  nir  rahim

Taharah

Assalamu alaikum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatahu J

Miscellaneous Issues Questions and Answers—Must Read

Wu’du without covering head –OK

Due to  sickness if someone keeps passing gas and is not able to keep wu’du... even for 1 rakat..can make  one wu’du for all sunnats and fard at one time.

But if it happens occasionally, then that person needs to make wu’du again and should fix his/her eating habits.

It’s a sunnat to take water up the nose..the higher the better..BUT one needs to be careful not to endanger themselves..by taking it up as high as they can.

If the wu’du breaks while reading Quran, then a person can continue the tilawat of the Quran

The tayitul wu’du is prayed “right” after doing wu’du. It carries a lot of sawab. Narrated Abu Huraira: At the time of the Fajr prayer the Prophet asked bilal, "Tell me of the best deed you did after embracing Islam, for I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise." bilal replied, "I did not do anything worth mentioning except that whenever I performed ablution during the day or night, I prayed after that ablution as much as was written for me."   Bukhari Book #21, Hadith #250

Eating onion or garlic doesn’t break a person’s wu’du EXCEPT eating camel meat.

A woman can use razor or scissor for cleaning hair in private parts.

When to runs of one hand through the fingers of our hands—after washing elbows and before washing feet.

How to run hands over socks—wet hands and run hands from the fingers  to the heel from the top.

1 time washing hands, face, feet is alright but the actual sawab is in doing it 3 times. More than 3 times is Disliked!!

If a person has a wet-discharge while travelling and bathrooms are difficult to access –--if bathroom NOT ACCESSIBLE AT ALL then a person can do wu’du and pray and the first opportunity a person gets to be able to go to a bathroom, one needs to do “istinja” wash the private parts and do wu’du.

If one has put mehendi on their head , and its time to pray then one can run their hands over the hair in the same manner as one runs them over socks or shoes—wet hands wipe them over the head. BUT if one has put a shower cap on the head , then one cannot wipe their hands over “it” .so take off the shower cap and wipe the top of the mehendi covered head and complete the wu’du.

Laughing loudly doesn’t break wu’du. But if one laughs loudly while praying , then namaaz is broken.

If one forgets to say Bismillah before doing wu’du, then one doesn’t need to do it again. Wu’du would inshallah be accepted.

Tayyamum cannot be done on tiles- as they are “cooked” sand.

Wu’du can be done with mehendi on hands or feet.

If a dog is “dry” and touches a person, then wu’du is not broken. But if the dog was wet and water /saliva comes on the body or clothes of person , then wu’du needs to be done again.

Female circumcision:  Islamically it is not allowed. Some African countries indulge in female circumcision. It is a local culture NOT Islam.

Tayammum on walls-if the walls are painted or wooden, then tayammum cannot be done on them. If there is any dust on them and THERE IS NOTHING ELSE to do wu’du on then its alright.

http://islamqa.com/en/ref/36774/tayammum%20on%20walls

Wu’du in airplane toilets: Be careful as in water should not be wasted and the floor of the bathroom dirtied. Water in air planes is limited. We need to think of the needs of others as well.

Istinja (washing private parts) after wu’du is not correct. It needs to be done before wu’du.

Does one NEED to do gargles in wu’du?--- No. it is not necessary.

If a woman has intercourse and then takes a bath and then prays and then has a discharge- Then  if she is satisfied that she cleaned up to the best of her abilities and still the discharge happened- then she need/can do only a new wu’du.

Anything which we apply and it doesn’t prevent the water from reaching the skin—we can apply it and do wu’du. BUT lipsticks, nail polishes and eye liners etc prevent water from reaching the skin. They should be removed for the purposes of doing wu’du

Blood coming out of any place (except from private parts) wu’du remains or not—there are 2 views about it:

1.if a cut occurs on the body and it flows and a drop is formed on the cut and it forms a drop and falls on the ground—wu’du is broken.

2.the wu’du is not broken . the scholars give the reference of the time when Umar r.a was killed , he was praying and he didn’t stop praying , though he was hurt. And Ali r.a continued to pray even though the arrow was taken out of his body. Blood must have flown on both occasions, but they continued to pray.

So if while praying , any wound opens up and blood comes out , due to continuous standing and sitting, then wu’du is not broken and one can continue to pray.

If a child does urine or potty and while washing some of it comes on the body or clothes of a person—bathing and doing wu’du again is not necessary. Just washing it very properly and cleaning the affected area is sufficient.

If a non mahram looks upon our face while we are in the state of wu’du—it doesn’t break it.

If a person sneezed while praying and a few drops of urine come out—one needs to pray that salah again.

The BASIC fundamentals of wu’du are:

1. Discharge from private parts- urine and menses ,discharge

2. Passing Gas .

If oil or cream on hair—one doesn’t need to wash it off to take a bath or wu’du.

One should try to complete the wu’du in one stretch. If one needs to dry one foot before putting it in the shoe, then we can put something down on the floor to dry that foot and then wash the other one and then put it inside the shoe. What is not good : to start doing wu’du and then get busy in something and then come back and complete it.

Washing up children after they did their toilet breaks wu’du and touching private parts breaks wu’du

If any bird urinates or drops its stool on us, then we can clean it to the best our ability and can pray.

But if an animal that eats meat does the same, then we need to wash that area and make a fresh wu’du.

If while praying , something falls on the head, one should not break the salat.

It is not “haram “ to talk while doing wu’du , But its not a good practice.

Vomiting doesn’t break wu’du—in small quantities. But if the vomiting is in huge quantities with al the food coming out then wu’du breaks and one needs to make it again.

Banadage and wounds—if a big wound and a proper bandage, then we can run wet hands over it.

But if the wound is a small inconsequential cut, and one puts a bandage on it, then one needs to take the bandage and make wu’du. One has to judge the seriousness of the wound and the bandage.

If the clothes touch the floor of the bathroom and the floor is dry then the clothes are clean.

If a child urinates on a carpet and one tries to clean it to the best of one’s ability, then one can pray on it by spreading a janamaaz on it.

Taharah-Issues of tayammum

Bismillahir  rahman  nir  rahim

Taharah

Assalamu alaikum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatahu J

             Issues about Tayammum(dry ablution)

In the absence of water, tayammum can be done.

Dry, clean sand can be used for this purpose.

One tayammum is sufficient for wu’du and bath and wu’du or bath.

For tayammum, striking both the hands on the place where the sand is , twice/2 times and then wiping both hands together and wiping the face with the hands completes the Tayammum.

 Way of performing Tayammum:

“…struck the ground with his hands once and wiped his right hand with the help of his left hand and the exterior of his palms and his face……”

Shaqiq reported: I was sitting in the company of Abdullah and Abu Musa when Abu Musa said: 0 'Abd al-Rahman (kunya of 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud), what would you like a man to do about the prayer if he experiences a seminal emission or has sexual intercourse but does not find water for a month? 'Abdullah said: He should not perform tayammum even if he does not find water for a month. 'Abdullah said: Then what about the verse in Sura Ma'ida:" If you do not find water, betake yourself to clean dust"? 'Abdullah said: If they were granted concession on the basis of this verse, there is a possibility that they would perform tayammum with dust on finding water very cold for themselves. Abu Musa said to Abdullah: You have not heard the words of 'Ammar: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent me on an errand and I had a seminal emission, but could find no water, and rolled myself in dust just as a beast rolls itself. I came to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) then and made a mention of that to him and he (the Holy Prophet) said: It would have been enough for you to do thus. Then he struck the ground with his hands once and wiped his right hand with the help of his left hand and the exterior of his palms and his face. 'Abdullah said: Didn't you see that Umar was not fully satisfied with the words of 'Ammar only?  (Book #003, Hadith #0716)

If not well/sick, a person can do tayammum.[ aby Dawud, ibn majah] In case of extreme cold , also one can resort to tayammum . BUT these cases REFER to situations where the circumstances are extreme and health and life of a person are at a SERIOUS Risk. Not to be resorted to in case of laziness and or lack of motivation to get up and warm the water etc.

Narrated Amr ibn al-'As: I had a sexual dream on a cold night in the battle of Dhat as-Salasil. I was afraid, if I washed I would die. I, therefore, performed tayammum and led my companions in the dawn prayer. They mentioned that to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). He said: Amr, you led your companions is prayer while you were sexually defiled? I informed him of the cause which impeded me from washing. And I said: I heard Allah say: "Do not kill yourself, verily Allah is merciful to you." The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) laughed and did not say anything.  ( Aby Dawud.Book #1, Hadith #0334)

The above hadith has been made “bold” to show how important it is to resort to tayammum ONLY in case of extreme conditions. The hadith has been narrarted by a Sahabi..whose level of Iman was great. He won’t resort to tayammum just because he was lazy, or not really motivated to take a bath.

Once we find water, the tayammum is “gone”. One needs to use the water to perform wu’du or take a bath depending upon the need.

The Prophet s.a.w said, clean sand , cleanses a muslim  even if waterv cannot be found for 10 years. But once water is found then, tayammum becomes void.[ Tirmizi]

The Link of The Book of Tayammum [ Sahih Bukhari]

http://www.quranenglish.com /hadith/Sahih_Bukhari/007.htm

taharah- issues of Wu'du

Reciting dua after doing wu’du after doing wu’du is Masnoon [Muslim, Tirmizi]

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

"Ash-hadu "an la "ilaha "illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu wa "ash-hadu "anna
Muhammadan 'abduhu wa Rasuluhu.

I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. Muslim 1/209

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنِي مِنَ التَّوَّابِينَ وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنَ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ

Allahummaj 'alni minat-tawwabina waj'alni minal-mutatahhirin.

 O Allah, make me among those who turn to You in repentance, and make me among those who are purified. Nasa'i

 سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ

Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, "ash-hadu "an la "ilaha "illa "Anta, 'astaghfiruka wa 'atubu 'ilayk.

 Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise; I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance. Nasa'i

All 8 doors of the heaven are opened.