Friday, February 26, 2010

Weekly Islamic Quizzes and an Arabic Teacher


Weekly Islamic Quizzes

http://fiveonfriday.imaan.net/five.htm

It's a very simple website that asks 5 new questions to test your knowledge of Islam, every friday. 

One of the better websites that teach arabic:

http://www.madinaharabic.com/

They have around 26 lessons covering pretty much everything. I haven't looked into it too deeply, but the stuff they teach is on par with an arabic course book I have so it's pretty good.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Duha Prayer


 Abu Dharr reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: In the morning charity is due from every bone in the body of every one of you. Every utterance of Allah's glorification is an act of charity. Every utterance of praise of Him is an act of charity, every utterance of profession of His Oneness is an act of charity, every utterance of profession of His Greatness is an act of charity, enjoining good is an act ofcharity, forbidding what is distreputable is an act of charity, and two rak'ahs which one prays in the forenoon will suffice.  (Book #004, Hadith #1557)

Ahmad and Abu Daw'ud record from Buraidah that the Prophet (SAW) said: In a human (body) there are 360 joints and man must perform an act of charity for each one." The people said: "Who can do that, O Messenger of Allah?" He responded: "One may cover the mucus that one finds in the masjid or remove something harmful from the road. If one cannot do that, he can pray two rak'ahs of Duha and that will be sufficient for him". (Fiqh us Sunnah)

So, as you can no doubt see, we are pretty much expected to do Duha prayer. 

It's time: From when the sun is about a spears length above the horizon until the sun reaches it's meridian. Preferrably delay it until the sun has risen high, and the day has become hot. So, in english about an hour after sunrise until about an hour before duhr should be good. 

The number of Rakaa's: The previous hadith mention doing two, which is the minimum number, but, you can pray as much as you like really. (See Fiqh us Sunnah).

And that's it! Wasn't that easy?

Friday, February 12, 2010

The Witr Prayer


Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah is single (witr) and loves what is single, so observe the witr, you who follow the Qur'an.  (Book #8, Hadith #1411)

Narrated Kharijah ibn Hudhafah al-Adawi: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came out to us and said: Allah the Exalted has given you an extra prayer which is better for you then the red camels (i.e. high breed camels). This is the witr which Allah has appointed for you between the night prayer and the daybreak.  (Book #8, Hadith #1413)

Witr itself, means "odd", and it is an odd number of rakaas.

The time of Witr: After Isha, but before Fajr, and if you plan on doing other night prayers (i.e Tahajjud,) then witr should be done after those.

The Number of Rakaa':

First of all, whatever you do, don't do a replica of Maghrib. 
Imam al-Hakim in his book named al-Mustadrak and Imam Ibn Hibban in his Book Sahih Ibn Hibban that the Prophet (SAW) said: "Do not perform three Rakah of Witr resembling to the Maghrib prayer. But you can perform five, seven or eleven Rakah of Witr or more".
Second, you can only do ONE witr prayer. If you want to pray some more after doing witr, go right ahead, but DON'T make another witr. 


Okay, so what CAN you do?

You can do any odd number of Rakaa, but the numbers most mentioned are:
1) One
2) Three
3) Five 
4) Seven 
5) Nine
6) Eleven
7) Thirteen

So HOW do you do it?

First of all, in witr, Quran is recited in every rukaa.
The main event in Witr, that makes it a bit different from your other prayers, is the Qunut (a special dua). Qunut is done in the last rukaa, after the Quranic Recitation, but before bowing and is as follows:

QUNUT


1) Raise your hands and make takbir (say: "Allahu akbar")
2) Fold your arms like usual
3) Recite the Qunut:

"O Allah, guide me aright among those You guide aright,
and grant me health and pardon among those You grant health and pardon.
And care for me among those You care for
And bless me in what You have given
and protect me from the evil of what You have predestined.
You alone decrees, and none decrees against You.
He is not abased whom You befriend.
Blessed are You, O Lord and You are Most High.
And Allah's blessings be on (His) Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

4) Raise your hands and make takbir (say: "Allahu Akbar")

The Number of Rakaa's:

For ONE rakaa':

This is actually a bit misleading, since while Fiqh us Sunnah says the Prophet (SAW) did one Rakaa' of witr, the following hadith shows that it was the necessary Rakaa' to make HIS PREVIOUS NIGHT PRAYERS odd:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar : The Prophet said, "Night prayer is offered as two Rakat followed by two Rakat and so on, and if you want to finish it, pray only one Raka which will be witr for all the previous Rakat." Al-Qasim said, "Since we attained the age of puberty we have seen some people offering a three-Rakat prayer as witr and all that is permissible. I hope there will be no harm in it."  (Book #16, Hadith #107)

For THREE rakaas:

You have 2 options:
1) Do a 2 rukaa'd night prayer, then a single rukaa'd witr as before.
2) Do a three rukaa'd witr, in which tashahhud is done only in the last rakaa, followed by taslim (salams)

For ANY OTHER ODD NUMBER of rakaa's:

You have 3 options:
1) Do many 2 rukaa'd night prayers, then do a one rukaa'd witr, so by the time you've finished this witr you'll have done the necessary number of rukaas. So, for example, 5 rukaas would be : 2 rukaa'd night prayer, 2 rukaa'd night prayer, one rukaa'd witr.

2) Do an odd numbered rukaa'd prayer, with two tashahuds: one in the second last rukaa, and one in the last rukaa, then taslim (salams).
3) Do an odd numbered rukaa'd prayer, with only one tashahud done in the last rukaa, then taslim (salams).

What to recite during witr:

Recite whatever you like, but it is preferred, that in the first three rukaa's to recite:

Rukaa one: Al-A'la
Rukaa two: Al-Kafirun
Rukaa three: Al Ikhlas, Al Falaq, and An Nas.


What to recite after Witr:

Glory be to the Master, the Holy
Glory be to the Master, the Holy
Glory be to the Master, the Holy

Lord of the angels and the spirits

O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger.
And I seek refuge in Your granting well being from Your punishment.
And I seek refuge in You from You.
I cannot reckon Your praise: You are as You have praised Yourself.

Sources: Fiqh us-Sunnah by As Sayyid Sabiq

go to searchtruth.com and look up witr. You'll get a bunch of hadith confirming everything I've said :)

Friday, February 5, 2010

Argumentation, Again


I mentioned before that arguing is discouraged in Islam, and lucky for me, I hardly ever argue: 9.5 times out of 10 I'd rather keep the peace than have my way. Today however, I had a chat with a friend who basically said people should argue, and that they admire argumentative people. And for a moment I actually considered changing my ways. 


Then I read these and decided against it.


Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet said, "The most hated person in the sight of Allah is the most quarrelsome person."  (Bukhari Book #43, Hadith #637)      

Do you know what is better than charity and fasting and prayer? It is keeping peace and good relations between people, as quarrels and bad feelings destroy mankind. (Muslims & Bukhari)

Rasul Allah (SAW) said: "Whoever does not argue when he is in the wrong will have a home built for him on the edge of Paradise. Whoever avoids it when he is in the right will have a home built for him in the middle of Paradise. And whoever improves his own character, a home will be built for him in the highest part of paradise." Tirmidhi  

Sa’eed bin Musayyeb says: Once the Prophet was sitting with his Companions, and one person used insulting words against Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), causing him pain. But Abu Bakr remained silent. The person again used bitter words against Abu Bakr, and still Abu Bakr did not respond. The third time when this ignorant person hurt Abu Bakr with his tongue, Abu Bakr tried answering back.
At this point the Prophet got up. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him, “Are you displeased with me, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet replied, “No, but (when you remained silent) an angel came down from the heaven responding to this man’s talk. But the moment you started replying to that man, the angel went away and the devil sat down. And I cannot sit where the devil is sitting.” Abu Dawood 041 4878


I'm not going to trade that which is better for that which is worse simply for the approval of one (or more) people. I'd rather have a house (or two or three or...lots) in paradise than have my way or my voice heard. That doesn't mean I'm going to be a complete pushover. Obviously if someone tells me to stick my head in an oven, I'm going to protest, but if nothing bad is going to happen except me being a bit inconvenienced I'm probably not going to bicker. It's not worth it, and it hasn't made me any enemies or lost me any friends yet. n_n