Shahadah in Islam

1. The woman who applies for a divorce is required to fill an application form, which cover most of the details about the marriage itself. She has to provide a Marriage Certificate and other relevant documents. 2. On receiving the application form, the Council sends an initial form conveying her request to her husband and asking his views and com ments about her application. 3. If the husband does not reply, the Council writes a second letter again if he does not reply the Council sends a third letter giving him the final notice. To ensure the accuracy and validity of the husband's address, the Council asks the woman at this stage to verify with evidence that the address provided by her is where the husband is living. If required, the Council can arrange an individual trace report for a fee. The Council will send copies of all three letters via recorded delivery to the husband one final time. 4. In case the husband replies to any of the above letters the Co...

It is recommended to recite Surat al-Kahf completely the night before Friday, and it is also recommended to do so Friday itself, before Maghrib time. Ibn Abidin said, �And it is best to do so early on Friday, in order to rush to the good and to avoid forgetting. � [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar , �Bab al-Jumu`ah�] The evidence for it being recommended includes the hadith related by Hakim and Bayhaqi, from Abu Sa`id (Allah be pleased with him), �Whoever recites Surat al-Kahf on Friday, light shall shine forth for him between the two Fridays.� [Ibn Hajar, Talkhis al-Habir] It is mentioned in Heavenly Ornaments , by Imam al-Tahanawi: The Virtues of Jumu'ah 1 . Rasulullah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: "Friday is the best of days. It was on this day that Hadrat Aadam alayhis salaam was created, it was on this day that he was granted entry into jannah , it was on this day that he was removed from jannah (which became the cause for man's ex...

Do you hate someone? Do you hate someone? Do you really hate someone? You haven't spoken to him for a while? You've been blaming him? You're not the only one; the Muslim Ummah today is diseased with this to the extent that almost every Muslim knows another Muslim who he hates. The Ummah is like a building with the Muslims as it's bricks, brotherhood is the cement. Without forgiveness you cannot have brotherhood. OK then, he wronged you. He deceived you. He backbited you. He lied to you. But even in these extreme situations the Qur'an and the Hadith teach us that we have to forgive others (especially those who hurt us the most) if we wish to earn the forgiveness of Allah on the day of judgement. We have all committed many sins, made many mistakes and no doubt we have wronged others, we have deceived others, we have backbited others and no doubt we have lied to others. So what makes us focus onto brothers' and sisters' err...

There are five times at which performing prayer is forbidden: 1. The first time starts from the second ( the factual ) time of dawn to sunrise. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: " When the dawn breaks, no prayer is to be performed except the two rak'ahs ( units of prayer ) of the Fajr Prayer ( i.e. the supererogatory rak'ahs of the Fajr prayer.) Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, And other compilers of Hadith Therefore, when the dawn breaks, one should not perform any supererogatory pray except the two rak'ahs of the Fajr prayer. 2. The second time starts from the time of sunrise until the sun reaches the height of a spear in ones sight, above the horizon. 3. The third time starts from the time when the sun is at its height at midday until it passes over the meridian. This time is known as the time when shade stops' i.e. it does not increase nor does it decrease until it starts moving towards the west. 'Uqb...

  Moral Vaccination! When a family gets a new baby, almost immediately after the congratulations, they take the baby to the doctor to get the vaccine shots. There is a vaccine against measles, against diphtheria, and polio....etc. Why do they do that? Because the vaccine will give the child immunity against those diseases. Someone might ask, since these babies are at home and are not exposed to the infections, why then do they need the vaccination so early. The answer is that it is important to give the  immunity before exposure to infection, so that later on when they are exposed to the infection, they would have acquired the immunity and they would resist that disease. We are not only bodies but we have souls, and morality . There are moral illnesses and they are contagious. So this medical principle of early immunization also applies to the moral state of our souls. We need a  moral vaccination to immunize the souls to be able to resist ...

Merit of the (Optional) Duha (Forenoon) Prayer 1139. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: My Khalil (the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)) directed me to fast three days of each month, and to observe two Rak`ah Duha (optional prayer) at forenoon, and to perform the Witr prayer before going to bed . [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Commentary: " Three days '' can be any three days of a month, but it is better if one opts 13th, 14th and 15th of every lunar month because the Prophet (PBUH) used to observe fasting on these days. This Hadith also highlights the importance of Duha and Witr prayer, and proves the merit of giving counsel persuasion and inducement for virtuous deeds.   1140. Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him)reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, " In the morning, charity is due on every joint bone of the body of everyone of you. Every utterance of Allah's Glorification (i.e., saying Subhan Allah) is an act of...

We live in societies in which most men and women have lost their sense of modesty, women are obsessed with their appearances and wear clothes to be seen by others and to attract the attention of other men even if they are married! They have lost their sense of shame. Marriage is often looked upon as old-fashioned and short term affairs and frivolous relationships are the norm, everyone waiting to attract a better partner and feeling totally justified to dump one partner for another at the drop of a hat. Feminism too has reached its peak and men and women are told to suppress their natural emotions. Men are not even embarrassed when their wives are dressed up and attract the attention of other men, they don't mind if another man sees, chats, laughs and even dances with their womenfolk and if they do mind, they are told not to be so possessive! In Islam we have a concept of Gheerah. Gheerah is an Arabic word which means protectiveness or jealousy....

Abu Sufyan said, “I entered Madinah and saw a man with a crowd of people around him. I enquired, ‘Who is this man?’ They said, ‘Abu Hurayrah.’ I came close to him and sat down in front of him as he spoke to the people. When he became silent and the people left, I said, ‘I ask you by Allah, tell me of a hadeeth you heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and learnt.’ Abu Hurayrah replied, ‘I will. I will narrate to you a hadeeth I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, which I have understood and learnt.’ Abu Hurayrah took a took a deep gasp, such that he fainted and remained so for a while, then he regained consciousness and said, ‘I will surely narrate to you what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ told me. The two of us were in this house and there was none other than us present.’ He then took another deep gasp, such that he fainted and remained so for a while, then he regained consciousness and wiped his face. He then said, ‘I will surely narrate to you a hadeeth I heard from the...

QUESTION: "Are the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah [i.e. 12th Islamic month] more special than other days? What are the righteous deeds that it is recommended to do a lot of during these ten days?" ANSWER: Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “There are no days on which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.” They said: “Not even jihad for the sake of Allah?” He said: “Not even jihad for the sake of Allah, unless a man goes out himself for jihad taking his wealth with him and does not come back with anything.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2/457 So the Muslim should start these days with sincere repentance to Allah, then he should do a lot of righteous deeds in general, then he should pay attention to doing the following deeds: 1 – Fasting 2 – Reciting tahmeed, tahleel and takbeer a great deal 3 – Doing Hajj and ‘Umrah 4 – Udhiyah (sacrifice) [Please read the details at http://www.islamqa.info/en/ ref/490...

One of the main reasons for the spread of this phenomenon is that some parents oppressively prevent their daughters from marrying suitable young men, despite the fact that the Prophet, said: "If a man whose religion and manners you approve of comes to you (proposing to your daughter), then give her in marriage to him, otherwise, there will be turmoil on the earth and great corruption." [At-Tirmidhi & Ibn Maajah]   Some fathers breached the trust from Allaah which they have carried regarding their daughters by preventing them from marriage. It may be that a young man comes to them asking for their daughter and they delay or prohibit him for no reason, citing baseless excuses, it may be that their criteria for acceptance is trivial, such as how much his salary is, or what his career aspirations are, while at the same time totally disregarding his practice of the religion, manners and honesty. Indeed some fathers see their daughters as a piece of me...

Umme Salamah (Radiahallahu Anha) narrates that she said to the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) "O Rasûlullah, are the women of this world superior or the hûrs (of Paradise)?" He replied, "The women of this world will have superiority over the hûrs (houris) just as the outer lining of a garment has superiority over the inner lining "    Umme Salamah R.A then asked, "O Rasûlullah, what is the reason for this?" He answered, "Because they performed salâh, fasted, and worshipped [Allah]. Allah will put light on their faces and silk on their bodies. [The human women] will be fair in complexion and will wear green clothing and yellow jewelry. Their incense-burners will be made of pearls and their combs will be of gold. They will say, 'We are the women who will stay forever and we will never die. We are the women who will always remain in comfort and we will never undergo difficulty. We are the women who will stay and we wi...

Wisdom provides us with the capacity to solve real life problems. So, acquiring wisdom becomes a must if we want to live meaningful lives. As we live through life and its experiences, it is vital that we reflect on such experiences to make our subsequent steps in life easier. As Immanuel Kant, a famous philosopher said that "Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."  So, if wisdom enables a person to make more sound decisions, take a shortcut path to success, recalibrate values for the better, and simply live a better life, then why not spend time reflecting on our own experiences as well as learning from others? As Will Durant, a renowned philosopher and Pulitzer Prize winner stated, "A wise man can learn from another man's experience; a fool cannot learn even from his own." The words of the Quran and teachings of our prophet Muhammad guide us to a wealth of wisdom and knowledge. In fact, Allah calls Quran the "Book o...

On the 10 th of Dhul-Hijjah, Muslims around the globe will be celebrating Eid al-Adha – commonly referred to as “The festival of sacrifice.” The day marks the occasion Ibrahim (as) was prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to Allah.  As we decorate our homes and prepare fun and games for a memorable day for our children, it is also important to foster an awareness of the true spirit behind this celebration: Convey the significance of the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah – Increase in your Ibadah just as you would in ramadan and encourage children to fast and perform extra good deeds. This allows parents to create a build-up to the special day and a sense of reward and celebration. Teach children about hajj – Discuss the different rituals involved for the pilgrims and undertake activities that will familiarise them with the kabah, special dress code (ihram) etc. Emphasise that, despite not everyone being able to perform Hajj, Allah has given us al...

In our eagerness to copy the West, we Muslims have adopted many of their practices which have no basis inthe Sharee’ah. And among them is the practice of a woman changing her family name to that of her husband after she gets married. The fact is that Islam does not require woman to change her name at marriage and there is nothing in the Sunnah to indicate that a womanshould take her husband’s name after she gets married. Actually, the Ulama tell us that this isan innovated practice that is not approved of in Islaam. Now, I know some people will say…“Oh, come on… What is the big deal?!!” So read on and you will know what I mean…. The wives of the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) are the Mothers of the Believers, and the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam), is the noblest of people and the best example. And yet when we look at their example, we will realize that when the Prophet(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) married any of his wives, NOT ONE of them took hi...

Ever wish you could read your husband’s mind? Western culture encourages husbands and wives to talk to each other and discuss things. However, in many Muslim cultures, men are raised to be stoic and tight-lipped. Muslim husbands are very often (not always) reluctant to talk about certain things with their wives. Part of the problem is also that sometimes it is hard to actually formulate our thoughts into the right words. The only thing more difficult than translating thoughts to words is translating feelings to words. So, a lot of Muslim men and women go through their marriages with very little communication and never really knowing what the other person is thinking. This quick list is for the Muslim sisters in my audience. This list will give you good idea of some of the things your husband thinks about, but just doesn’t know how, or want, to tell you. 1. Above All, He Desires Your Respect I spoke about this in my article “Love or Respect: Which Do You ...

At the outset, before stating the rulings of Fuqahaa on oral sex, it is important to mention the emphasis Shari’ah has laid down on shame and modesty. Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) has said in Hadith: إن مما أدرك الناس من كلام النبوة ، إذا لم تستحى فافعل ما شئت "Indeed, surely people will come to know the words of prophethood. If you do not have shame, then do as you wish." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, 4/183, Dar Al-Fikr) الحياء من الإيمان والإيمان فى الجنة والبذاء من الجفاء والجفاء فى النار "Modesty is from Iman, and Iman leads you to Paradise. Shamelessness is from futile things, and futile things lead you to the fire of Hell.” (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, 2/21, HM Saeed) In light of the abovementioned, Fuqahaa have ruled oral sex to be makruh tahreemi (an abominable act close to haraam) due to the shame and immodesty in the act and the strong possibility of najis (impure) fluids entering the mouth. Even if precaution is taken in this regard...