Joining Shoulders and Feet in Prayer Rows

By Shaykh Abu Asim Badrul Islam

There has been a growing tendency in recent times within some quarters of the Muslim Ummah to attempt to understand the hadiths of the beloved Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) without the proper prerequisite knowledge of fiqh and its principles. Movements have emerged, a fundamental part of whose methodology it is to take hadiths in their apparent and literal meanings, without attempting to understand the actual purpose of any hadith. The issue of how those in congregational prayer should stand is no exception. They have looked at the chapter in Sahih al-Bukhari entitled Bab ilsaqi ‘l-mankibi bi ‘l-mankibi wa ‘l-qadami bi ‘l-qadami fi ‘l-Saff (Chapter regarding the joining of shoulders to shoulders, and feet to feet in prayer rows) and the athar of Sayyiduna Nu’man ibn Bashir and that of Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with them) (hadith: 725) and without even attempting to use their intellect to explore the various interpretations to which the wording is open, they seek to enforce on the Muslims the physical joining of shoulders and feet with one another when standing in the prayer row. The ‘ulama of the madhhabs (that is, the four established schools of Islamic law) have always maintained that this is not how these athar are to be understood.

Folding One’s Clothes for Salah

By Shaykh Tameem Ahmadi

Question
A person saw an Islamic program in which it was mentioned that the folding of trousers or shalwar is not permitted due to a hadith stating that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) prohibited the folding of clothes. It was also mentioned in the program that folding trousers from either the bottom or top is not permitted. This is the first time I have heard this. Can the ‘ulama shed some light on this issue?

Do Not Despise The Sinners

By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Translated by Shaykh Yusuf Laher

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“That person who taunts and ridicules his Muslim brother over a sin from which he has repented, will not die until he himself commits that same sin.”

For example, you come to know that a certain person committed or was involved in a particular sin and you also know that this person has repented from it. To think low of him or to taunt or ridicule him because of that sin, by saying something like: “You are the one who was involved in certain evil actions”, is in itself a sin.

Clearest Rational Argument for the Existence of a Creator

By Shaykh Yusuf Mullan

The following six step argument has been formulated with the modern skeptic and atheist in mind. Drawing from the works of Imam al-Ghazali (may Allah have mercy on him) and others, each premise is accompanied with an explanation of the exact ‘manner of deduction’ (kayfiyyat al-wazn), so the reader may appreciate exactly what is being done.

Using only intuitively deductive modes of argument which have their origin in the Qur’an and which no sane human being can reject, the argument seeks to establish an Entity attributed with necessary existence (ithbat al-wajib) and attributes of perfection such as life, will, power and knowledge, and also free of resemblance to the creation in any way which would allow one to pose the question, Who created him? This will all be done based only on universally accepted absurdities (musta’hilat).

Mawlid, Deoband and Hanafi fiqh

By Hakim al-Ummah Mawlana Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi
Translated by Hamood Aleem

There are three types of mawlid gatherings and the ruling for each is different.

First Type

The first type of gathering is that which does not contain any of the prevalent and customary restrictions (quyud). Neither [does it contain] mubah (permissible) restrictions nor makruh (prohibitively disliked) ones, i.e., it is free from all [sorts of] restrictions.

Participating in Bid‘ah With the Intention of Reforming

By Mufti ‘Ashiq Ilahi al-Bulandshehri al-Madani
Translation and Introduction by Ismaeel Nakhuda

Introduction

Living in the vicinity of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, Mawlana Mufti ‘Ashiq Ilahi al-Bulandshehri (1925-1999)—a respected and acclaimed student of the North Indian hadith master Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhalawi—was a prolific writer, a Hanafi mufti, and a hadith scholar of great magnitude.

The Concept of Bid’ah in the Shari’ah

By Shaykh al-Islam Mawlana Shabbir Ahmad 'Uthmani
Translated by Zameelur Rahman

Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to me: ‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn ‘Abd al-Majid narrated to us: from Ja’far ibn Muhammad: from his father: from Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah, he said:

When Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) would deliver a sermon, his eyes became red, his voice rose, and his anger intensified, so it was as though he was warning against an army, saying, “The [enemy] has made a morning attack on you and an evening attack on you.” He would say: “The Hour and I have been sent like these two” and would join his forefinger and middle finger. And he would say: “As for what follows. The best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. And the most evil of affairs are their innovations; and every bid’ah is misguidance.”