Fataawa Bank (legal verdicts) Related to Worship

Belief, Creed, and Religious Dogma

Q: I am sending you this as I am trying to find a solution for an issue I’ve been dealing with for years. This issue is OCD related in matters of religion.  I can remember from my teen years having intrusive thoughts. They always bothered me even up until this day. But I think over time it’s gotten worse because they’ve stressed me out to the point where I would basically reach a state of paranoia that I am always doing something that is kufr or shirk.  I’ve researched pretty much every fatwa on the internet on this issue and they’ve all said the same thing. “This is waswas, you need to ignore it, etc.” But for some reason my mind always wants to think that I am the exception and that I’ve actually done something wrong.  I just want my heart to be at ease and have the confidence that I am a Muslim and I am not doing the evil sins that I think may have been committed.

A: And with God Taala alone is success.

Many times people find thoughts of sin or disbelief in their mind.  These random thoughts are not sinful nor are they associated with disbelief.  Shaytan plays tricks on the person and makes him think that perhaps he willingly and intentionally held those thoughts.  The tactic of baseless misgivings or whispering from Shaytan is so important for us to be aware of.  For this reason, God Almighty gave us the last chapter of the Holy Quran, Suratul Annas, which provides us with a protection and remedy from the whispering of Shaytan.  Therefore, we must seek refuge in God from Shaytan as much as possible.  

Some of the Companions once came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “We find within ourselves ideas and thoughts that are so bad that we cannot even speak about them.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained to them that the fact that they were uncomfortable with these random thoughts was a sign of their true faith.  (Sahih Muslim)

Therefore, disbelief only results only when random thoughts are accepted in the heart as true and transformed willingly into concrete beliefs.  Your concern about random negative thoughts is proof that these feelings and thoughts are not concrete beliefs and hence do not affect your Islam.  You should ignore these random thoughts, seek refuge in God from them, and engage in the remembrance of God along with other good deeds.

And God knows best.



Prayer (Salah)

Q: When and how should a person praying behind the Imam correct his recitation?

A: With God alone is success.  The essence of prayer is based on humility, concentration, and mindfulness of God.  This is based on the verse in the Holy Quran where God Almighty says, “Successful indeed are the believers.  Those who in their prayers are full of humility and mindfulness of God.” (Surah AlMuminun) Avenues of attaining humility and mindfulness include limiting distractions and unnecessary actions in our solemn daily prayers.  For this reason, God has forbidden everyday speech, eating and drinking, and other normally permissible actions during the act of praying.  Moreover, in the congregational prayer, He has even limited the interaction of the imam with the followers in the prayer by allowing only clapping for women and the phrase subhanallah for men, to alert the Imam.  Another form of alerting the Imam, known as AlFath in Arabic, or Luqmah in Urdu, is meant to assist the imam if he were to err in recitation.  This assistance during the Imam's recitation is based on the principle that the follower not initiate corrections (rather he wait for the imam to either pause or repeat a verse over and over thereby signaling he has forgotten) thereby not interrupting the imams recitation.  

Evidence for this principle includes the tradition of Ali ibn Abi Talib, where the Prophet PBUH said, “Oh Ali, do not interrupt the imam in his recitation.”  (Abi Dawood)  Allamah Tahanawi mentions that this prohibition is understood to mean, “Do not be hasty in correcting the imam before an established need or necessity.” (I'laa Sunan)  Therefore, the follower should not be hasty in correcting the imam as this is disliked, and likewise the imam should lead a sound prayer where corrections from behind are unnecessary and avoided (as this is disliked as well).  This is accomplished by the Imam going into the bowing position if he has already recited the required minimum number of verses to make the prayer valid, or by the Imam reciting from a different surah, or even picking up in the same surah at a different point, if he forgets or makes a mistake. (Raddul Muhtar)

Examples of when an Imam should be assisted include:

Examples of when an Imam should not be assisted (assuming he has already recited Surah

AlFatiha and 3 additional verses) include: 

And God knows best.



الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، وعلى آله وصحبه، أما بعد:

الصلاة مبناها على الخشوع، حتى جعل الله تعالى الخشوع فيها أول صفات عباده المؤمنين فقال سبحانه: ﴿قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ - المؤمنون: 1 - 2].

ولذلك فقد حرم الشرع الكلام فيها، وجعل تنبيه الإمام على الخطأ في صلاته في أضيق الحدود فقصره على التصفيق للنساء والتسبيح للرجال، وجعل إصلاح خطأ قراءته من باب الفتح عليه

و"الفتح" في اصطلاح الفقهاء هو تلقين الآية عند التوقف فيها، أي أن وقوف الإمام لطلب الرد أمر أساس في مفهوم الفتح عليه، فلا يبتدئه بالرد ولا يقاطعه أثناء القراءة؛ لأن مصلحة انتظام شأن الصلاة والخشوع فيها مقدمة على ما عداها، وهذا في قراءة غير الفاتحة، و اكثر مما تصح بها الصلاة.

جاء في حديث النهي عن ذلك ما روي عن علي بن أبي طالب -رضي الله عنه- عن النبي -صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم- قال: «يا علي لا تفتح على الإمام في الصلاة» رواه أبو داود

يقول العلامة التهانوي الحنفي في "إعلاء السنن"عن النهي الوارد عن الفتح على الإمام: "محمول على النهي عن الاستعجال في الفتح قبل تحقق الحاجة أو على الفتح من غير ضرورة 

فيكره للمقتدي أن يعجل بفتح، ويكره للإمام أن يلجئه إليه بأن يسكت أو يكرر الآية، بل يركع إن كان قد قرأ ما تصح به الصلاة، أو ينتقل إلى آية أخرى ليس في وصلها ما يفسد الصلاة، أو ينتقل إلى سورة أخرى كما ذكر في رد المحتار على الدر المختار : 

يُكْرَهُ أَنْ يُفْتَحَ مِنْ سَاعَتِهِ كَمَا يُكْرَهُ لِلْإِمَامِ أَنْ يُلْجِئَهُ إلَيْهِ ، بَلْ يَنْتَقِلُ إلَى آيَةٍ أُخْرَى لَا يَلْزَمُ مِنْ وَصْلِهَا مَا يُفْسِدُ الصَّلَاةَ أَوْ إلَى سُورَةٍ أُخْرَى أَوْ يَرْكَعُ إذَا قَرَأَ قَدْرَ الْفَرْضِ كَمَا جَزَمَ بِهِ الزَّيْلَعِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُ 

والله أعلم


Question:  We live in Yokosuka, Japan. We have decided to establish a Jumah on base in the chapel. We have made it a point to have at least 3 adult males present in order to conduct it.  The nearest Masjid is in Yokohama, about 24 miles away. It takes an hour by train, and 38 min by car, but I do not have a car. If I take the train, I will have to inform my work that I will be leaving early in order to take the train one hour to get to the Masjid.  The base does not let any person enter as they please, but there is identification required to enter, and visitors may register to enter the base.  With these facts noted, is it allowed to conduct Jumuah in this manner, or is there any valid rukhsa that I can take with regards to it?  There is another brother who insists it is okay, but I am not certain if it is. He also wants me to be the khateeb on certain weeks. I do not want to be divisive, but then again I want to ensure that I am doing things correctly.


:Answer

A person must attend the Friday service if he fulfills the following conditions: 1) is a sane male past the age of puberty 2) is a resident of a city or a suburb of a city (defined as a place that has all the necessary amenities and facilities of life with an adequate population) 3) is not considered a traveler 4) is healthy (free from defects in limbs, eyes, debilitating old age etc) 5) is safe from harm and oppression

Therefore, a sane male past the age of puberty would be required to attend Friday services in the following commonly occurring situation

A student who has to take an exam

An employee who has travelled to a foreign city for work, and has remained, (with the intention to stay) for greater than 15 days, despite having to go through hardship to reach a masjid for Friday services (as long as the masjid is within 48 miles).

The option to establish Friday services in Yokosuka is plausible but one must assure there are at least 4 males present.  More specifically, the first part, the sermon or speech, will only be valid if at least one person (male who has reached the age of puberty) is present from the beginning of the sermon until the end.  The second part of the Friday service, the prayer, will only be valid if at least three males (not including the imam, who have reached the age of puberty) are present from the beginning of the prayer.

If 4 individuals are unable to be present in Yokosuka for Jumuah, then a person is obliged to go to Yokohama for Jumuah

And Allah Taala knows best

وبالله التوفيق: صلاة الجمعة فرض عين على من اجتمع فيه شراءط: الذكورة والاقامة بمصر او فيما هو داخل في حد الاقامة بها و الصحة ( عدم المرض) و الامن من ظالم- نور الايضاح ١٩٠ لا تعتبر الدراسة الجامعية عذراً كافياً لإسقاط الجمعة؛ ، وكذلك لا يعتبر العمل عذراً كافياً لتركها، ما لم يكن في ضرورة شديدة: كمن كان بين يديه من يحتاج إلى إنقاده من طبيب وغيره ولا غنى عن بقاءه معه؛ لخوف هلاكه مثلاً، ففي الدر المختار2: 154: ((وألحق بالمريض الممرض)): أي مَن يعول المريض، وهذا إن بقي المريض ضائعاً بخروجه في الأصحّ، كما في رد المحتار2: 154. الخطبة لا تنعقد الا  بحضور  احد و الجماعة (الصلاة) هم ثلاثة رجال غير الامام. - نور اليضاح ١٦٧ 

و الله اعلم بالصواب


Charity (Zakah)

Fasting (Saum)

Pilgrimage (Hajj & Umrah)

Q: Do those who dont go for Hajj have to avoid cutting their nails and hair?

A: It is praiseworthy to avoid cutting the nails and hair during the first 10 days of Dhul Hijja, if one intends to do a sacrifice.