Abu-Salman Posted September 8, 2009 If he touches his private part during ghusl, does he have to repeat wudoo’? My question is regarding tahara, especially about ghusl of janaba. After washing hands and private place, then making wudu’, is it permissible to wash the private place another time when we cover the whole body with water, or will it invalidate the wudu’ if I intend to pray after finishing ghusl?. Praise be to Allaah. The Sunnah is to wash the private part before starting ghusl, as is indicated by the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (276) and Muslim (317) from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: Maymoonah said: I brought the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) water to do ghusl and screened him with a cloth. He poured water over his hands and washed them, then he poured water over his left hand with his right and washed his private part, then he struck his left hand on the floor and wiped it. Then he washed it and rinsed his mouth and nose, and washed his face and forearms, then he poured water over his head and all over his body, then he moved aside and washed his feet. If someone touches his private part after that or washes it again, then to be on the safe side, he should do wudoo’ after he finishes ghusl, because the majority of scholars are of the view that touching the private part invalidates wudoo’. This has been discussed in the answer to question no. 82759. And Allaah knows best. Do clothes become naajis (impure) if they brush against something naajis? The washrooms on board airplanes are very small, and sometimes their walls and floors are visibly naajis. When I go in to do wudoo’, I am not sure whether my clothes have become naajis by brushing against the walls or floor, but I pray anyway, then when I reach my destination I change my clothes and repeat my prayer after the time for that prayer has passed. What is the ruling on this? Praise be to Allaah. Firstly: you have to be certain that the walls of the washroom are naajis. Secondly: If you are certain of that, clothes do not become naajis simply by brushing against something, unless the clothes are wet or the walls are wet, which would make the najaasah (impurity) stick to the clothes. Thirdly: If you are certain that that has happened, then pray in the naajis clothes. But in this case you have to remove the najaasah itself from the garment, by washing the spot where the impurity is. If you cannot find a clean garment, pray and do not repeat the prayer, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “So keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him as much as you can” [al-Taghaabun 64:14] I’laam al-Musaafireen bi Ba’d Aadaab wa Ahkaam al-Safar wa maa yakhuss al-Mallaaheen al-Jawwiyyeen by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, p. 9 Islam Q&A Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted September 8, 2009 Delaying Prayer with the excuse of not having an appropriate place to pray at work I was raised a Muslim and know what is halaal and what is haraam. At one point in my life I forgot my religion. During that period I committed adultery and the result of that was a child. Now Allaah has blessed me by guiding me back to the true path. Allaah is also making the child’s mother’s heart lean towards Islaam, and in sha Allaah she will become a Muslim. We are not married and I don’t know if it is halaal for me to marry her since we had a child during my dark days. What do I do? The other question is: I work in a company that is quite a distance from my home and the mosque. What do I do about Salaat that is due during the day while I am working? I can’t be sure whether the place is taahir (clean) so I could pray in one of the rooms. Can I delay the salaat until Maghrib and do all three at once, or is there a better solution? May Allaah forgive me and all Muslims. Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah Who has guided you, for you would not be guided if Allah had not guided you. Praise be to Allah Who has brought you back to the Straight Path of Truth. We ask Allah to make you one of those of whom He says (interpretation of the meaning): "While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance, and bestows on them their piety." [Muhammad 47:17] With regard to your first question, we have already answered it on this website. Briefly, it is permissible for you to marry this woman if you both repent to Allaah. The child should be named after its mother, according to the consensus of the scholars. In response to your second question, it is not permissible at all to offer prayers outside their proper time. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): ". . . Verily the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed times." [al-Nisaa’ 4:103] "Then, there has succeeded them a people who have given up the prayer [i.e., have made their prayers to be lost, either by not offering them, or by not offering them perfectly, or by not offering them in their proper, fixed times, etc.] and have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Hell." [Maryam 19:59] "So woe to those performers of prayers who delay their prayer from their stated fixed times." [al-Maa‘oon 107:3-4] It is not necessary to know whether the floor of the office or workplace is clean or not, because the basic rule is that any place is clean unless you come to know otherwise. The Prophet (Peace & Blessings of Allaah be upon Him) said: "The earth has been made for me a mosque and a means of purification. . ." So choose a suitable spot and pray there at the appropriate times. Beware of delaying your prayers, especially Salaat al-‘Asr (the mid-afternoon prayer), because the Prophet (Peace & Blessings of Allaah be upon Him) said: "Whoever misses al-‘asr, it is as if he lost his family and his wealth." (Agreed upon; this version was reported by Muslim, no. 992). Refer to question # 333 for information on a similar matter. I ask Allaah to help us all to repent sincerely and to adhere to His religion and understand it properly. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad. Islam Q&A Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted September 8, 2009 Praying in a room in which there are images Is it permissible to pray in a room in which there are images? Praise be to Allaah. The most correct view is that it is not permissible to pray in a room in which images of animate beings are hanging, on the basis of several reports, including the following: The hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or images.” (Agreed upon). The hadeeth of ‘Aa’isha h (may Allaah be pleased with her) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) returned from a journey and I had covered an alcove with a blanket on which there were images. When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw it, he tore it down and said, ‘The people who will be most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection will be those who imitate the creation of Allaah.’” ; (Agreed upon). The hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Jibreel came to me and said: ‘I came to you yesterday and nothing prevented me from entering except that there was a statue by your door, and there was a curtain in your house with images on it, and there was a dog in the house. So tell someone to cut the head off the statue by your door, so it will look like a tree; tell someone to cut up the curtain and make it into floor-cushions that will be stepped on; and tell someone to put the dog outside.’̶ 1; So the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did that. (Narrated by Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi and Ahmad). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) gave a brief answer to this question, when he was asked: is it permissible to pray in synagogues and churches where there are images, or not? Can we say that they are the houses of Allaah, or not? He replied: they are not the houses of Allaah, for the houses of Allaah are the mosques. These (churches etc.) are houses in which people express their disbelief (kufr) in Allaah. Even though Allaah may be mentioned in them, the house is the same as its occupants, and their occupants are kuffaar, so they are the houses of worship of the kuffaar. As regards praying in them, there are three scholarly views in the Madhhab of Ahmad and others: absolute prohibition, which is the view of Maalik; absolute permission, which is the view of some of the companions of Ahmad; and the third view, which is the correct view and was narrated from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab and others, and from Ahmad and others. This view states that if there are images in the church, we should not pray there, because the angels do not enter a house in which there are images, and because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not enter the Ka’bah until the images inside it had been wiped out. Similarly, ‘Umar said: we do not enter their churches if there are images inside. Churches are like mosques that are built over graves. In al-Saheehayn it says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was told about a church in Ethiopia, and the adornments and images inside it. He said: “When a righteous man among them dies, they build a mosque (place of worship) over his grave and put those images there. They will be the most evil of people with Allaah on the Day of Resurrection.” But the Sahaabah did pray in churches in which there were no images. And Allaah knows best. Reference: Masaa’il wa rasaa’il, Muhammad al-Mahmoud al-Najdi, p. 28 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted September 8, 2009 What is the distance within which it is obligatory to pray in the mosque? I know it is complusory for men to pray at the Masjid thier 5 daily prayers. But when a person lives a distance away from the Masjid at what distance is he not required to go to the masjid for every prayer? Example, if it took someone one hour per trip to the masjid and back to work or home. (That is 20 minutes to go to masjid, 20 minutes at masjid and 20 minutes back to work or home.) Also this is the only masjid in the city. Praise be to Allaah. Firstly: It is obligatory for men to attend the prayer in congregation in the mosque. Not praying in congregation is one of the signs of hypocrisy. See question no. 120. The further away one’s house is from the mosque, the greater the reward. It was narrated that Abu Moosa said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The people who will have the greatest reward for prayer are those who come the furthest distance. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 623; Muslim, 622. Secondly: Prayer in congregation is obligatory for those who live close to the mosque, not for those who live far away. The Sunnah describes those who are regarded as living close to the mosque as being those who can hear the call to prayer. What is meant is those who can hear the call to prayer from the mosque with no amplification of the muezzins’s voice, when the muezzin raises his voice, and there is no wind or noise etc to interfere with hearing it. Muslim (653) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: A blind man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, I do not have anyone to guide me to the mosque,” and he asked the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to grant him a concession allowing him to pray in his house, and he granted him that. Then when he turned to leave, he called him back and said, “Can you hear the call to prayer?” He said, “Yes.” He said, “Then respond to it.” Ibn Maajah (793) narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever hears the call to prayer and does not respond, there is no prayer for him (i.e., his prayer is not valid), except for the one who has an excuse.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 637. Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’, 4/353: What is meant by hearing the call to prayer is when the muezzin stands at the edge of the town and other sounds are silent and the wind is still, and one is listening out. If a person can hear him, he is obliged (to attend prayers in congregation), and if he cannot hear him then he is not obliged. The Standing Committee was asked: If I can hear the muezzin from a distance of eight hundred meters, should I pray where I am or go to the mosque where the call to prayer was made? They replied: You have to go to this mosque and pray there with the congregation, or in any other mosque that may be easier for you, so long as you are able to do that… then the Committee quoted as evidence the two ahaadeeth mentioned above. The Committee was also asked about a man who lives on the eighth floor and the mosque is about 500 meters away from him. Is it permissible for him to offer the prayers in congregation with his family members in his apartment? They replied: Congregational prayer in the mosque is obligatory, so you have to attend the mosques and pray the obligatory prayer there with the Muslims. You do not have the right to a concession allowing you to pray at home with your family because of this distance. Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 8/59 Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked: Is there any definition of the distance between one’s house and the mosque? He replied: There is no specific distance defined in sharee’ah, rather that depends on ‘urf (custom) or the distance within which the adhaan can be heard without a microphone. As’ilah al-Baab al-Maftooh, question no. 700. Shaykh Ibn Baaz said: The one who can hear the call to prayer given in a regular voice without amplification is obliged to respond and to come and pray in congregation in the mosque in which the call is given… But for those who live far away from the mosque and cannot hear the call to prayer except with amplification do not have to come to the mosque. They and those who are with them may pray in a separate congregation. If they take the trouble to attend the prayer with the congregation in the mosque whose call to prayer they cannot hear except with amplification because they are too far away, that will bring them a greater reward. Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him), 12/58. And Allaah knows best. Islam Q&A Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
