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Queries
Praying after ‘Asr
Question: I have heard that one should not pray after the ‘Asr prayer until Maghrib. Is this true?
Answer: According to the established Sunnah of the Prophet (sws), the only forbidden times for prayer are sunrise and sunset. This precautionary measure is meant to curb polytheism, since many nations of antiquity worshiped the sun at these times. At all other times, prayers can be offered. Consequently, one can pray between ‘Asr and Maghrib.
It seems that the following Hadith has led to the belief that no prayer can be offered between ‘Asr and Maghrib:
The Prophet is reported to have said there is no prayer after dawn until the sun rises and there is no prayer after ‘Asr until the sun sets. (Bukhari: Kitabu’l-Salah)
If all the texts of this Hadithare collected, it comes to light that a part of it has been left out in most of its texts. This can be observed from the underlined portion of the following two Ahadith:
The Prophet forbade praying after ‘Asr except if the sun is high [in the sky]. (Abu Da’ud, Kitabu’l-Salah)
The Prophet forbade praying after ‘Asr except if the sun is shinning brightly high [in the sky]. (Nasa‘i, Kitabu’l-Mawaqit)
In other words, what the Prophet (sws) actually forbade was praying very near the time of sunset since this might accidentally lead a person to pray in the forbidden period of sunset. Consequently, it is clear from these Ahadith if one intends to pray after ‘Asr, one should make sure that he does so much before sunset. One has not been stopped from praying after ‘Asr, as has been inferred by some.
Washing Body Parts Three Times in Wudu
Question: When we make Wudu, we wash some of our body parts three times. Why are we advised to wash a part of our body three times each? Can we wash it more than three times?
Answer: We can wash the specified body parts any number of times during Wudu. The actual directive is to wash the parts thoroughly and completely*. Since washing a body part three times generally cleans it thoroughly, this number has been specified.
What made Allah Create Man?
Question: In a recent meeting of friends, we had a discussion on religion. One of the young boys asked the following question and no one in the meeting had any good answer for him. I am hoping you can help us; The boy’s question was: What was the need that made Allah create man?
Answer: Allah has chosen not to reveal the answer to this question. Only He could have answered it. We are not in a position to answer this query. The only thing we know from the Qur’an is that the creation of man is a manifestation of Allah’s mercy** . However, why His mercy made Him create man is something which we neither know nor have any means of knowing it.
It needs to be appreciated that knowing the answer to every question asked in the ambit of religion is not necessary at all. Answers to only those questions are required which form the basis of religion and on which our salvation in the Hereafter depends. All such questions have been clearly answered by the Almighty. On the other hand, we have no answers to questions such as: ‘Where did God come from?’, ‘What is the nature of His being?’, What was He doing before He created this universe?’, since our salvation does not hinge upon the answers to such questions.
Consequently, when a similar question was asked from the Prophet (sws), the Qur’an answered that man has been given very scanty knowledge and he is unaware of many mysteries of this universe:
They ask about Wahi. Tell them that Wahi is from among the matters of Allah. You have been given but little knowledge. (17:85)
The Struggle of Life
Question: What should be our aim in life? Should we strive to better our lives and ask Allah for more or be happy with what we have?
Answer: Our aim in life should be to please and serve the Almighty. We should try our utmost to live a God fearing life. We can certainly strive for a better standard of living and even ask Allah to grant it to us. A few things, however, should be kept in consideration:
1. Earning for the sake of merely earning should be avoided. A part of the money earned should be spent on the welfare of society.
2. Overspending, showing off or buying things which have become status symbols should be avoided.
3. Whenever one has to make a choice between the benefit of this world and that of the Hereafter, one should adopt the latter.
Renting out Assets to Perpetrators of Evil
Question: I live in a non-Muslim country. I want to rent a building I own to a bank. Is the rental thereof within the parameters of Islamic Shari‘ah? Can I also rent out the property to a general dealer selling liquor in its premises?
Answer: One should avoid renting out one’s property to tenants who indulge in such un-Islamic practices as you have referred to. It amounts to co-operation with evil which, according to the Qur’an (5:2), should be avoided. Only if there is no other option and circumstances are such that only such tenants can be found, should one get involved in such an arrangement.
Horoscopes
Question: I want to know if consulting horoscopes is allowed in Islam. You know, sometimes the things written in them are very true. If we read them, are we doing the right thing?
Answer: Islam wants that we base all our decisions on common sense and concrete facts. Except where it mentions personality traits, it seems that a greater part of a horoscopes is based on conjecture. There is no harm in reading them. However, one must not depend only upon them.
Zakahon Money Reserved for Buying Personal Items
Question: I have collected some money to buy a flat? At the moment I am in the process of surveying. In the meantime, my Zakah paying date has arrived. My question is: Is this money liable to Zakah?
Answer: You must be knowing that according to the established Sunnah of the Prophet (sws) items of personal use as house, car, etc are exempt from Zakah. However, if you are yet to make such a deal and your Zakah paying date arrives, then you must pay the Zakah of this reserved money. The simple reason is that the currency reserved to buy such an asset is yet to be converted into that asset.
The Enmity between Able and Cain
Question: Adam and Eve had two sons. Able and Cain, and one of them killed the other so that he could marry the girl the other wanted to. I want to know from where the girl came? Was she the basis of this murder?
Answer: The reason for which Cain killed Abel is mentioned in the Qur’an in the following words:
Recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam when they offered an offering and it was accepted from one of them and was not accepted from the other. That one said: ‘I will surely kill you’. [The other] replied: ‘The Almighty only accepts the offering of His pious people. (5:27)
In other words, Cain got infuriated when his offering was not accepted by God while that of his brother was accepted by Him. His jealousy ultimately induced him to murder his innocent brother, as is mentioned in 5:30. It is evident from the words of Abel that the reason that Cain’s offering was not accepted by the Almighty was that it was offered by an impious person. This is all what the Qur’an says.
The Old Testament also mentions this incident. Though it does not explicitly state the reason for the murder yet the context strongly reinforces what the Qur’an says:
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Then the Lord said to Cain: ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you have you; but you must master it.’ Now Cain said to his brother Abel: ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ And while they were in the field Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him(Genesis, 4:3-8)
Certain historical reports mention another account of the episode. The Jewish Encyclopaedia has summarised the contents of Rabbinical literature on this issue in the following words:
Woman was at the bottom of the strife between the first brothers. Each of the sons of Adam had a twin sister whom he was to marry. As Abel’s twin sister was the more beautiful, Cain wished to have her for his wife and sought to get rid of Abel. (The Jewish Encyclopaedia, 1st ed., vol. 1, [New York: KTAV Publishing House, 1901], p. 48)
It is evident that the above quoted account is in direct contradiction with the Qur’an and with the Old Testament as well. According to this account, the reason Cain murdered Abel was dispute between the two as regards marriage. On the other hand, both Divine books state Cain got incensed when he saw that his offering had not been accepted by God while that of his brother had been. Consequently, this report cannot be accepted.
Missed Out Prayers
Question: I heard from a friend just recently that Qada (missed out) prayers are not mentioned in the Holy Book or the Sunnah. If one has missed out his prayers earlier in life, one does not have to say his Qada prayers. This means that Qada-i-‘Umri (prayers missed out in one’s previous life) as people often pray has no basis? Can you please clarify my confusion.
Answer: The Shari‘ah is silent on the issue of missed prayers in one’s previous life. Scholars have formed different opinions on this issue. One group says that one must count each and every prayer missed out and then start offering it until they are completed. This is the view of some Hanafite jurists. Imam Ibn Taymiyyah is of the view that one should make a rough estimate of the missed out prayers and start praying them in place of praying sunnah or nafal rak‘at.Imam Ibn Hazm holds the view that one does not need to offer the missed out prayers at all. Mere repentance is enough.
You can choose the opinion which appeals most to your intellect.
The Question of Dress
Question: Has Islam fixed a particular dress for its followers?
Answer: Islam has not fixed any particular dress for its followers. It has directed men and women to wear that type of dress in which appropriately covers the body according to the norms of decency.
Keeping in view this principle guideline, you can wear any dress you like.
A Qur’anic Verse
Question: What does the following verse imply:
Had We sent down this Qur’an in a language other than Arabic, they would have objected: Why are not these verses explained in detail? [A Book in] a non-Arabic [tongue] and [the addressees] Arabs. Tell them: ‘It is a guidance and healing for those who believe. And for those who believe not, there is a deafness in their ears and a blindness in their eyes.’ (41:44)
Answer: In order to comprehend this verse, its contextual background needs to be understood: The Jews would implant certain objections in the minds of the idolaters against the Muslims. One among them pertained to the language of the Qur’an: they objected that since until then the language of Divine scriptures had never been Arabic, so what was the reason for revealing the Qur’an in Arabic. The answer given to them is that since the addressees are Arabs so it is revealed in Arabic. Had it been revealed in a language other than Arabic, they would have raised the objection that why a Book in a non-Arabic tongue was revealed to the Arabs.
The Qur’an goes on to assert that it is a guidance and a healing for those who have made themselves worthy of it by accepting faith. People who are not professing faith in it are a victim of their own evil nature. It is not that the Book has some deficiency that they are not believing in it. It is their own addiction to evil that has made them blind and deaf to its message.