Friday, August 26, 2011

Boycotting


Boycotting Products Manufactured by Non-Muslims
Question: There is a drink called ‘Cola’ that is supposedly produced by a Jewish company. So what is the ruling of consuming this drink, or of selling it? Is it considered cooperating in something that is sin and transgression?[1]
Answer: You have never heard that the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to buy food from a Jewish man to feed his family?! He died while his shield was pawned to this Jewish man.[2] You have never heard that the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to accept gifts from the Jews?![3] If we are going to go so far as to say this, then let us not overlook something even more obvious: we use automobiles that are manufactured by Jewish companies. There are other beneficial products made only by them.[4]
Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen
[1] This fatwa was taken from a book called ‘Al-Fataawa Ash-Shar’iyyah fi Al-Qadhaya Al-‘Asriyyah’, a collection of various rulings by Muhammad Ibn Fahd al-Husayn.
[2] This is mentioned in the hadeeth recorded by al-Bukhaaree (no. 2068) and Muslim (no. 4090)
[3] This is mentioned in the hadeeth recorded by al-Bukhaaree (no. 5777)
[4] Taken from: Al-Baab al-Maftuh (no. 61-70, pg. 95)

Question: Some people these days call others to boycott American products and companies like Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, etc. So, should we comply with such requests? Are transactions like buying and selling with non-Muslims in countries at war against us permissible, or are they only allowed with whom we have peace? [1]
Answer: It is allowed to buy any product that is permissible in itself no matter where it was produced unless the government commands that we should boycott something for some benefit to Islam or the Muslims. This is because the general rule regarding buying and selling is that it’s allowed, Allaah subhanahu wa ta’aala says:
And Allaah has made selling permissible. [Soorah al-Baqarah, 2:275]
And the prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam used to buy things from the Jews.[2]
[1] This fatwa was taken from a book called ‘Al-Fataawa Ash-Shar’iyyah fi al-Qadhaya Al-‘Asriyyah’, a collection of various rulings by Muhammad Ibn Fahd al-Husayn.
[2] Fatwa by The Permanent Council for Research and Religious Verdicts (no. 21776, 12/25/1421 Hijrah)

Boycotting American Products
Question: These days, we find written in some newspapers people calling others to boycott American products, not to buy or sell them. It was even written today in a newspaper that Muslim scholars themselves call for such boycotts and that doing this is an obligation upon every single Muslim. It is said that to purchase even one item from these products is forbidden and that anyone who does so commits a major sin and is assisting them and the Jews in killing Muslims. We hope you will clarify this matter since there’s a dire need for such clarification. Also, would a person ever be rewarded for doing this (boycotting)?[1]
Answer: First, I would request a copy or the clipping from this newspaper that contains this kind of talk the questioner mentioned. 
Second, this is incorrect. The scholars have never issued religious verdicts saying that buying American products is forbidden. These American goods are still imported and sold in Muslim markets. And even so, it wouldn’t harm America in the least if you yourself did not buy their products. No products are to be boycotted unless the government, the legitimate ruler, issues a sanction or boycott against another country. In this case, the boycott would be legitimate and binding. As for just some individuals wanting to do this and passing their own religious verdicts in support of it, then this is forbidding something that Allaah has made permissible and that is not allowed.
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan.[2]
[1] This fatwa was taken from a book called ‘Al-Fataawa Ash-Shar’iyyah fi al-Qadhaya Al-‘Asriyyah’, a collection of various rulings by Muhammad Ibn Fahd al-Husayn.
[2] Taken from the casette: Fataawa al-Ulamaa’ fi al-Jihaad wa al-‘Amaliyyat al-Intihariyyah’. 




Friday, August 19, 2011

Why is My Supplication Not Answered?




By the Noble Scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-’Uthaymeen [1]
[Q]: ‘Allaah says: ‘‘And your Lord says: Call upon Me and I will, respond to your supplication.’’ [Soorah Ghaafir 40:60] So why is it that a person’sdu’aa (supplication) is sometimes unanswered?’
[A]: ‘‘All praise is due to Allaah, Lord of the worlds. May the Prayers and Peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his Family and his Companions.  I ask Allaah for the ability to be correct in belief, speech and actions, for myself and for my brothers.
Allaah says:
‘‘And your Lord says: Call upon Me and I will respond to your supplication. Verily those who are too arrogant to worship Me will, enter Hell in humiliation.’’ [Soorah Ghaafir 40:60]
The questioner stated that he did indeed make du’aa (supplication) to Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic - but it was not answered by Allaah. So he is in doubt with respect to this noble aayah (verse), in which Allaah promises to answer the one who supplicates to Him, and indeed Allaah - the Most Perfect - never breaks His promise.
So the clarification of this is that there are certain conditions that need to be fulfilled in order for a supplication to be answered.  These conditions are:
Firstly: Sincerity to Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic. That is to say, one must be sincere in his du’aa (supplication), so he turns to Allaah - the One free from all imperfections with an attentive heart, being truthful in his turning to Him, knowing that Allaah - the Most Perfect, the Most High - is capable of answering his du’aa (supplication) and hoping that the du’aa will be answered.
Secondly: During du’aa, the caller should feel that he is in need of Allaah - the Most Perfect, the Most High – in fact in dire need; and that only Allaah alone answers the supplication of the one in distress and the One who removes evil.
Thirdly: That the one making du’aa should refrain from haraam (unlawful) matters, as this acts as a barrier between the person and his du’aa(supplication) being answered - as has been established in the authentic hadeeth, from the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) who said: ‘‘Indeed Allaah - the Most High -is good and accepts only that which is good. Allaah has ordered the Believers to do that which He commanded the Messengers. Allaah - the Most High -has said:
‘‘O you Messengers! Eat of the good things and do righteous actions.’’ [3:51]
And Allaah - the Most High - says:
‘‘O you who Believe! Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you.’’ [2:172]
Then he mentioned (the case of) a man who, having journeyed far is dishevelled and dusty and who spreads out his bands to the sky (saying): ‘O Lord! O Lord,’ whilst his food is unlawful, his drink unlawful and he is nourished unlawfully. So how can he be answered!’ [2] So the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) explained the un-likelihood that this person’s du’aa would be answered, even after fulfilling the apparent factors which aid the du’aa being answered. The apparent factors being:
[i]: Raising ones’ hands towards the sky, meaning towards Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic - since Allaah is above the heavens, above His ’Arsh (Throne). Extending the hands out towards Allaah -the Mighty and Majestic - is amongst the causes of du’aa being responded to, as is shown in the narration from the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) that he said: ‘‘Indeed your Lord is Alive, Most generous. He feels shy that when his servant raises his bands towards Him, calling upon Him, that He should return him empty, having nothing.’’[3]
[ii]: This man called upon Allaah - the Most High - using the name Rabb (Lord).  Seeking tawassul (the means of nearness to Allaah) with this name is also regarded as one of the causes for du’aa to be responded to, since the Rabb is the Creator, the Owner, the Governor of all affairs - and the reigns of the Heavens and the earth are in His Hands.  Due to this, you will find that most of the supplications made in the Noble Qur‘aan are by this name:
‘‘Our Lord! We have heard the call of one calling us to faith: ‘Believe you in the Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, and remit from us our evil deeds, and take to Yourself our souls in the company of the righteous. Our Lord! Grant us what You did promise unto us through Your Messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of judgement, for You never break Your promise. And their Lord has accepted of them, and answered them: Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, whether male or female.’’ [3:193-195]
So tawassul (seeking the means of nearness to Allaah) by this name is one of the causes for the du’aa to be responded to.
[iii]: This man was a traveller, and journeying is often a cause for du’aa to be responded to, because a person feels more in need of Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic - when travelling, than when a person is resident with his family. He was dusty and dishevelled, seeming very insignificant in himself, as if the most important thing to him was to implore Allaah and to call upon Him - in any condition he may be - whether dusty and dishevelled, or in ease and oppulance. Being dusty and dishevelled is also instrumental, like in the hadeeth attributed to the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) in which he said: Indeed Allaah boasts to the people of the Heaven about the people standing at ’Arafah, saying: ‘‘Look at My servants who have come to Me dusty and dishevelled.’’ [4] However, these factors did not bring about anything, because his food, his nourishment and his clothing were all haraam (unlawful). So the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) remarked: ‘‘So how can he be answered!’’
Therefore, if these conditions are not satisfied, then the question concerning the du’aa (supplication) being answered will seem distant. However, if the conditions are satisfied and the one supplicating is still not answered, then this is due to a wisdom which Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic - knows, and the one supplicating does not know what this wisdom is; and maybe that you like a thing and it is bad for you.
So when these conditions are fulfilled and the one supplicating is not answered, then either he has been protected from an evil which is greater than what he has asked for, or Allaah stores it for him until the Day of Resurrection, and he then gets a greater reward. This is so, because the one who makes du’aa - calling upon Allaah alone, fulfilling the conditions and not being answered, but rather being saved from a greater evil - is in the position of having carried out the causes yet has been prevented from being answered, and therefore has a two-fold reward. One reward for making du’aa (supplication), and another reward for bearing the trial of not being answered. So that which is greater and more complete is stored for him with Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic.
Also of importance is that the one supplicating should not express dissatisfaction if his du’aa is apparently not being answered, for this action in itself is a reason for the du’aa not being answered - as the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said: ‘‘A servants du’aa continues to be answered as long as be does not ask for anything sinful or breaking the ties of relations, and as long as be does not become impatient.’’ It was said: How does one become impatient O Messenger of Allaah? He said: ‘‘He says: I have supplicated, I have supplicated, yet it has not been answered.’’[5] He therefore becomes dispondant and abandons supplicating. So it is not befitting that the one supplicating should become impatient about being answered, then become disappointed and dispondant, and thereby abandon making du’aa. Rather, one should call upon Allaah, since every du’aa you make to Allaah is an act of worship, which brings you closer to Him and increases your reward.
So my brother, you should take to making du’aa (supplication) in all affairs, be it general or specific, in difficulty or in ease. And if it was that supplication was only a means of worshipping Allaah - the One free from all imperfections, the Most High - then that would be sufficient. So it is more befitting that a person strives in this - and with Allaah lies the success and the ability.’’
Footnotes:
[1] Majmoo’ul-Fataawaa war-Rasaa‘il (no. 155). From Al-Istiqaamah Magazine, Issue No.3 - Rabî’ul-Awwal 1417H / August 1996.
[2] Related by Muslim (no. 1015) from Aboo Hurayrah (radiyallaahu ’anhu)
[3] Saheeh: Related by Ahmad (5/438) and Aboo Daawood (no. 1488). It was authenticated by al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar in Fathul-Baaree (11/143).
[4] Saheeh: Related by Ibn Hibbaan (no. 1006), from ’Abdullaah Ibn ’Amr (radiyallaahu ’anhu). It was authenticated by Shaykh al-Albaanee in Saheehul-Jaami’ (no. 1868).
[5] Related by al-Bukhaaree (11/140) and Muslim (no. 2735), from Aboo Hurayrah (radiyallaahu ’anhu)

Friday, August 12, 2011

Harshness Upon Those Who Do Not Practice The Deen



Question: Some of those whom we consider to be steadfastly practicing the Deen treat people with some harshness and cold heartedness, and some of them are always frowning. What do you advice them, and what is Waajib upon the Muslim towards his brother [in Islaam] especially if he has shortcomings in practicing the deen.
The purified Sunnah, the Sunnah of the Prophet -صلى الله عليه وسلم- establishes that it is Waajib (compulsory) upon the [Muslim] human to call to Allaah with Hikmah, lenience/gentleness and with easiness. Allaah Ta’aalah has said to his Messenger Muhammad-صلى الله عليه وسلم-:
{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islaam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur’ân) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better.} AnNahl/125]
He Ta’aala also said to him:
{And by the Mercy of Allaah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh¬hearted, they would have broken away from around you; so pardon (their faults), and ask (Allaah’s) Forgiveness for them.} [Al ‘Imraan/159]
Allaah Ta’aalah said when He sent Musa and Haaroon to Fir’aun (Pharoah):
{And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear Allaah.} [Taha/44]
The Messenger of Allaah related that:
“Indeed Allaah gives through gentleness that which He does not give through harshness/force…”
He -صلى الله عليه وسلم- used to say to his messengers when he sent them:
“Make things easy and do not make things difficult, give glad tidings and do not repel the people [from you].”
He also said:
“Indeed you (Muslims) were only sent to make things easy, and you were not sent to make things difficult.”
This is what the Da’eeyah (caller to Allaah) should be like; gentle/lenient, [always] smiling and open hearted, in order that his Da’wah is more readily accepted by those whom he is calling to Allaah.
It is also imperative that his Da’wah is to Allaah ‘Azza wa Jal and not to himself. One should not try to be victorious over or take revenge of the one who has opposed the path. Because if he calls to Allaah alone, by [doing] this he becomes sincere, and Allaah will make the affair easy for him, and guide through him whomsoever He pleases [to guide] from amongst His slaves.
However if he is calling to himself, as if he wants to be victorious, as if he feels that so and so is an enemy to him and he wishes to take revenge, indeed the Da’wah will be deficient and it’s Barakah (blessing) may be removed.
So my advice to my brothers from the Du’aat is that they feel these feelings, meaning that they call the creation as a mercy upon the creation while glorifying the Deen of Allaah ‘Az wa Jal as well as giving victory to it.
By Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen rahimahullah!  Kitaab Ad Da’wah: #1291

Friday, August 5, 2011

→ Guarding the Tongue

Before you is a chapter from the great book ‘Al-Adhkaar’ [Words of Remembrance] of the great scholar of the seventh century, Abu Zakariyyah Yahyaa bin Sharaf An-Nawawee. 

This is a very beneficial chapter entitled ‘Hifdh-ul-Lisaan’ [Guarding the Tongue] The original source, Al-Adhkaar, is one of the prize works of Imaam An-Nawawee in which he compiles and discusses the texts related to what is recommended and forbidden from speech, focusing on adkhaar (words of remembrance) and ad’iyyah (supplications). In the last part of the book, as he explains, Imaam An-Nawawee devotes a chapter to what is forbidden and disliked from speech, such as backbiting, gossiping, and slander, bringing the evidences from the Qur’aan and Sunnah on the obligation of guarding the tongue from evil speech. 

In recent times, this great work was verified by Saleem bin ‘Eid al-Hilaalee and printed in two volumes. For the sake of making this E-book a source for easy reading and benefit, the verifications of ahadeeth have been abridged to just the mention of their grade, source references and a brief discussion on some of them, where necessary.

We advice every sincere Muslim to read and benefit from the words on this very important topic, which many Muslims are neglectful about. And we advise them to reflect sincerely on the evidences so that they can beware of falling into sinful speech.