Brothers and sisters have been asking lately, how come you dont update your blog as frequent anymore brother Aboo Thaabit? Well to be honest since Ramadhaan started I have been busy, and I have also been working on a more “complete” website.

So for the time being this blog will be moved to that website, and anyone who reads this is free to go and check it out. Please subscribe to the RSS feed of the new website and help spread the word, may Allaah reward you!

The new website is http://www.khalduun.com

Question:

The Prophet said;

When Ramadhaan arrives the doors of Paradise are flung open and the doors of Hellfire are slammed shut.

Does this mean that one who dies in Ramadhaan enters Paradise without questioning?

Answer:

The situation is not as such. Rather, what this means is the doors of Paradise are flung open as an inspiration to the Muslims to make easy their entry (to Paradise). And the doors of Hellfire are shut to prevent the Believers from sins such that they do not enter (through) these doors. And this does not mean that one who dies in Ramadhaan enters Paradise without questioning, rather those who shall enter Paradise without questioning are those whom the Messenger has described in his statement;

They are the ones who do not steal and do not cauterise and are not pessimistic and in their Lord they put their trust.

[Fataawa Shaykh Muhammad as-Saalih al-Uthaymeen Volume 1, Page 561]

Imaam Muslim:

On the authority of Ahmad b. Salamah:

A gathering of knowledge and revision was held for Abul-Husayn Muslim b. Al-Hajjāj where a hadīth that he did not know was mentioned. He went home and lit his lamp and said to those at home, “no one should enter the house (disturb me).” He was told, “We have been gifted a basket of dates.” He said, “Put it out for me,” so they served it to him. He started searching for the hadīth and taking a date at a time until the morning, by which time the dates were finished and he had finally found the hadīth.

Muhammad b. ‘Abdillāh (one of the reporters of this narration) added, “A reliable companion of ours added that this was the cause of his death.”

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` in his biography of Imām Muslim.

Imaam al-Awzaa’ee:

’Uqbah al-Beirûti: al-Awzâ´i died in his Sauna. His wife went to bring coal to heat the Sauna up.So she left, locking the door but forgot him (inside) until he was found dead. [Tadkhirah al-Huffaadh]

Hammad bin Salamah:

‘Abd-Rahmân bin Mahdi said, If it was said to Hammad bin Salamah you will pass away tomorow then he would not be able to increase in his worship.

Yusuf al-Mu´addib said Hammad bin Salamah died in his prayer [Tadkhirah al-Huffaadh].

Safwaan bin Sulaymaan:

Sufyaan ibn ’Uyaynah said Safwân bin Sulaymân swore that he would never lie down until he met Allaah. For thirty years he lived like that. He died sitting. [Tadkirah al-Huffaadh]

 Suraarah bin Awfaa:

‘Ataab bin al-Muthanaa al-Qushayree said, Bahz bin Hakeem narrated to us saying, Suraarah bin Awfaa lead us in prayer at the masjid of Banuu Qushayr and he read surah Muddathir. When he reached the 8th verse he fell down dead. [Tahdeeb al-Kamaal]

I went to Aboo Zur’ah (ar-Raazee) whilst he was on his death bed and with him was Aboo Haatim and Muhammad bin Muslim and al-Mundhir bin Shaathaan along with a group of scholars. And they mentioned the hadith of Talqeen (making the dying person utter the Shahaadah) and the Prophets statement:

“Make your dead (dying) pronounce laa ilaaha illaAllaah”

But they became shy around Aboo Zur’ah and felt embarssed to remind him.

So they said to eachother, come and lets mention the hadith (perhaps Aboo Zur’ah will realise) so Muhammad bin Muslim started of, he said:

It was narrated by ad-Dhahaak bin Makhlad on the authority of ‘Abdi al-Hameed bin Ja’far on the authority of Saalih…

And he stopped narrating and couldnt continue (as if he forgot the chain)

Aboo Haatim took over and said:

It was narrated by Bundaar that he said it was narrated by Aboo ‘Aasim on the authority of ‘Abdi al-Hameed bin Ja’far on the authority of Saalih…

But even he stopped there.

And the rest of the scholars were all silent

Then Aboo Zur’ah said whilst on his death bed.

It was narrated to us by Bundaar that he said it was narrated to us by Aboo ‘Aasim that he said it was narrated to us by ‘Abdi al-Hameed on the authority of Saalih bin Abee ‘Areeb on the authority of Katheer bin Murrah al-Hadhramee on the authority of Mu’aadh bin Jabal that he said the Messenger of Allaah said:

“Whoever makes his last utterance  laa ilaaha illaAllaah enters Jannah”

And then he (Aboo Zur’ah) passed away.

[Translated from Tahdeeb al-Kamaal by al-Haafidh al-Mizzi]

Narrated by Sa’eed bin ‘Abdi-Rahmaan bin Hassaan bin Thaabit bin al-Mundir bin Haraam.

That Haraam Aboo al-Mundir lived for 120 years and his son al-Mundir lived for 120 years, and his son Thaabit lived for 120 years, and his son Hassaan lived for 120 years.

Whenever this hadith was narrated to ‘Abdi-Rahmaan he used to lie down on his bed and laugh and stretch (expecting long life). He passed away at the age of 48 [Tahdeeb al-Kamaal by al-Haafidh al-Muzi] 

“Ten verses have been revealed to me, whoever establishes these will enter Jannah.” Then he read the ten first ten verses of Surah al-Mu’minoon.

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

  Verily the believers have become successful.

Notice how Allaah uses the word “Qad” which in Arabic re-emphasizes the statement. As for the success mentioned then it is both in this dunya and the hereafter.

الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ 

  Those who have Khushuu’ (devotion) in their prayer.

Allaah did not only mention that they pray but said they have khushuu’ in their prayer. So what is this khushuu’? All of the salaf were in agreement that khushuu’ is something inside a person’s heart and to feel awe when standing in front of Allaah.

‘Ataa said:

“It is that a person does not play with any part of his body during salah.”

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ

Those who turn away from the Laghw (useless talk)

Now the word laghw has been interpreted in various ways, some of the salaf say it means Shirk, others said it refers to music.  

Hasan al-Basri said:

“It refers to sin in general.”

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِلزَّكَاةِ فَاعِلُونَ 

And those who pay their Zakaah

Zakaah is from amongst the pillars of Islaam and those who refuse to pay it have gone against a pillar from amongst the pillars of Islaam.

What is sad to see is that a lot of youth do not learn about Zakaah and consider it something that their parents take care of, but one day you will grow up and your parents might not be there for you, so learn the basics of your religion.

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ  

إِلَّا عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ 

فَمَنِ ابْتَغَى وَرَاء ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ 

And those who safeguard their private parts except from their wives or what their right hands possess (i.e. slaves) then they are free from blame. But whoever wants more, then they are transgressors.

This raises many points, from amongst these is things such as masturbation, and is it halaal or haraam?

Some of the scholars have allowed it if there is a strong need for it and zina is feared, however the majority of scholars have declared it haraam.

As for the dangers of zina then it is well known to every Muslim. The person who falls into zina is taken further and further away from Allaah as one evil deed leads to another.

This is why Allaah told His slaves to not come close to zina, instead of saying do not commit zina.

And Allaah safeguards His beloved slaves from this awful sin as mentioned in surah Yoosof and the hadith of the Prophet about the three men trapped in the cave.

And know that zina does not just happen out of the blue, it starts with a innocent gaze followed by a shy smile and chat which then leads to a meeting and then regret both in this world and the hereafter.

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ 

And those who follow up their trusts and promises

Abdullaah Ibn al-Mubaarak said: 

“I borrowed a pen in Syria and I forgot to return it to its owner. When I came back to Marw [in Iran], I realized that this pen was still with me. So I went back to Syria and returned it to its owner». ”

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَوَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ

And those who safeguard their prayers

This does not mean praying it whenever you feel like it, nor praying it with haste just to get it over and done with.

Al-’Amash said:

“For seventy years I never missed the Takbiratul Ihraam” (the first takbir with the imaam at the masjid)

Sa’eed bin al-Musayib said:

“For forty years no mu’athin made athan for salah except that I was inside the masjid.”

أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْوَارِثُونَ

الَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ الْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ

Those are indeed the inheritors, those who will inherit al-Firdaws wherein they will be forever

 It was reported in Saheeh Muslim:

“If you ask Allaah, ask for al-Firdaws. It is the middle of Jannah and the highest (rank) of Jannah, and from it the rivers of Jannah gush forth.”

And Aboo Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said:

“Allaah made for every human being an abode in Paradise and an abode in Hell, as for the believers they will take their abode (in Paradise) and inherit the abode of the non believers (in Paradise) whilst the non believers will take the believers abode in hell.”

كَذَلِكَ كُنتُم مِّن قَبْلُ فَمَنَّ اللّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ

You, too, were once in the same condition - but God has been gracious unto you. [Surah Nisaa]

Narrated by Aboo Hurayrah that he said, I heared the Messenger of Allaah say:

There used to be two brothers from the Children of Israel, one of them used to sin whilst the other was a strong worshipper.

The worshipping brother never used to see the sinning brother except in the state of sin (always committing a sin). And he used to say to him “Decrease!” (in terms of how much sin he used to commit).

Then one day he found him committing yet another sin whereupon he proclaimed “Decrease!” So his brother said to him, leave me alone with  my Lord (i.e only He can judge me), were you sent as a guardian over me?! So the worshipping brother said “By Allaah! Allaah will never forgive you! And you will never enter paradise!”

So their souls were taken (i.e they passed away) and were gathered infront of the Lord of the worlds. And (Allaah) said to the worshipper “Did you have any knowledge of Me? Or did you possess the powers that I possesss?”

Then (Allaah) said to the sinner “Go and enter Paradise by My Mercy” And (Allaah) said to the other one “Take him away to the Hell fire!” [Sunan Abee Daawood 4901]

In surah Anfaal he said:

 إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّنكُمْ إِنِّي أَرَى مَا لاَ تَرَوْنَ إِنِّيَ أَخَافُ اللّهَ وَاللّهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

 ”Behold, I am not responsible for you: behold, I see something that you do not see: behold, I fear God-for God is severe in retribution !”

And in Surah Hashr he said:

إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّنكَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ

 “Behold, I am not responsible for thee: behold, I fear God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!”

But does this mean that Iblees really fears Allaah? The scholars give different tafsir of these verses.

With regards to Surah Anfaal they say that he is not fearful of Allaah but rather he actually sees the Angels coming towards him and he says what he says just to get away from the people.

In Surah Hashr he says I fear Allaah but what he truly means is he fears his punishment since he knows his destiny.

And some scholars say that it is all a lie to trick mankind, and it is nothing but empty words.

Which one is more superior (in terms of reward) the person giving the Athaan or the Imaam leading the people in Salah?

The Shaykh answered:

Giving the athaan is superior to leading the prayer since the person giving the athaan is raising his voice proclaiming the greatness of Allaah whilst bearing witness to the prophethood of the Prophet.

Aswell as calling the people towards success and prayer five times a day.

And there is no tree nor stone that hears his voice except that it will give testimony for him on the day of judgement.