Ruling on congregational du‘aa’ for the deceased and paying the imam for reciting the du‘aa’

In our state, people used to bring the imaam of themasjid and make him
do a congregational dua for their relatives who are dead ( in front of
the grave). I have five questions here ;
1) Do Allah accept prayer for the dead (near the grave) by anyone
other than his righteous son? (As seen in a hadeeth) ..
2) Wont Allah accept the prayer of a righteous daughter? ..
3) Isn't this congregational dua a bid'ah? ..
4) Paying the imaam for praying to Allah seems to be so horrible.
Isn't this wrong?.
5)My relative justified thatimaams are paid so low here. So they who
need extra money so as to maintain their family needs. Is this a right
justification?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Offering du'aa' for the deceased after the burial is prescribed in
Islam and may be done by his son and others, because of thehadeeth of
'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: When
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had finished
burying a deceased person, he would stand over him andsay: "Pray for
forgiveness for your brother, and ask that he be made steadfast, for
he is being questioned now."
Narrated by Abu Dawood (3221); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Ahkaam al-Janaa'iz, p. 198
It is mustahabb for every Muslim to attend the burial and offer du'aa'
for the deceased.
Secondly:
The du'aa' of a righteous daughter for her father is included in the
words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): "When
a man dies, all his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing
charity (sadaqah jaariyah), beneficial knowledge, or arighteous child
who will pray for him." Narrated byMuslim (1631) from Abu Hurayrah
(may Allah be pleased with him). In Arabic, the word walad (translated
here as "child";the plural is awlaad) includes both male and female,
as in the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says: "Allah
commands you as regardsyour children's [awlaadikum] (inheritance); to
the male, a portion equal to that of two females" [an-Nisa' 4:10].
Thirdly:
Congregational du'aa' after the burial, if it happens occasionally and
does not become a regular practice, or if one of them offers du'aa'
and the others say Ameen, is regarded as permissible by some of the
scholars.
But if they always do it this way every time there is a funeral or
they visit the deceased, or they single out a specific time to gather,
or they recite du'aa' in unison, then this is a kind of bid'ah and
innovation.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: I see some
people standing at the grave after burial of the deceased and offering
du'aa' for him. Is this permissible? And is there a prescribed du'aa'
to be said after completion of the burial? Is the du'aa' tobe offered
in congregation, such as if one person says du'aa' and the others say
Ameento his du'aa'? Or should each person offer du'aa' on his own?
Please adviseus, may Allah reward you with good.
Answer: The Sunnah that is proven from the Messenger (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) indicates that it is prescribed to offer
du'aa' for the deceased after burial. When the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) had finished burying a deceased person, he
would stand over him andsay: "Pray for forgiveness for your brother,
and ask that he be made steadfast, for he is being questioned now."
There isnothing wrong with one person saying du'aa' and the others
saying Ameen, or each person offering du'aa' by himself for the
deceased. And Allah is the source of strength.
End quote from Fataawa ash-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 13/204
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was also asked:
What is the ruling on offering congregational du'aa' at graves?
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with it. If one person says du'aa' and the
others say Ameen, there is nothing wrong with that, so long as it is
not done deliberately and it just so happens that they hear one of
them saying du'aa' and the others say Ameen. In such cases it is not
called "congregational" because it is not done deliberately.
End quote from Fataawa ash-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 13/340
Fourthly:
It is not prescribed to pay the imam for offering du'aa' for the
deceased, and it is not Sunnah to stand for a long time at the grave.
What good can result from the du'aa' of a man hired for that purpose?!
See also the answer to question no. 83829
Fifthly:
Poor imams should be helped from zakaah and charity funds, and it is
notpermissible to encourage them in innovations.
And Allah knows best.

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And Allah knows the best!
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versaDoing ‘Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) on One’s Own Behalf and Hajj on Another’s or ViceVersa

I am going to do 'Umrah before Hajj in sha Allah. Is it acceptable for
me to do 'Umrah on my own behalfand Hajj on behalf of my father? In
this case do I have to do offer the hadiy(sacrificial animal) like
onewho is doing tamattu' (a type of Hajj), or not?
Praise be to Allah.
It is not stipulated in the case of tamattu' that the two rituals
('Umrah and Hajj) be done on behalf of one individual. If a persondoes
'Umrah on his own behalf and Hajj on behalf of someone else, or vice
versa, or he does that on behalf of two different people, all of that
is permissible and he has to offer the hadiy (sacrifice) of tamattu'.
It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (14/11): It makes no difference
(withregard to offering the sacrifice) whether the tworituals are done
on behalf of one person, or he does 'Umrah on his own behalf and Hajj
on behalf of someone else, or vice versa, or he does that on behalf of
two different people; he still has to offer the sacrifice of tamattu',
because of the apparent meaning of the verse. This is according to the
majority of fuqaha'. However, the Maalikis said: There is some
difference of opinion in the case where both Hajj and 'Umrah are done
on behalf of one person, where the issue is not clear-cut. Ibn
al-Haajib said: The most well-known view is that he does have to offer
the sacrifice.
End quote. See also at-Taaj wa'l-Ikleel, 4/83; Sharh al-Muhadhdhab,
7/176; Kashshaaf al-Qinaa', 2/414
In the fatwas of the scholars of the Standing Committee (11/58) it
says:It is permissible to perform Hajj on behalf of one who is
deceased or on behalf of one who is still alive but is not able to do
Hajj. But it is not permissible for a person to do Hajj once and make
it on behalf of two people, because Hajj can only be done on behalf of
one person at a time, and the same applies to 'Umrah.
But if he does Hajj on behalf of one person and 'Umrah on behalf of
another in the same year, that is acceptable if the pilgrim has
already done Hajj and 'Umrah on his own behalf. End quote.
And Allah knows best.

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Jesus through Buddhist eyes

A story I like very much is of how, after a strenuous day of giving
teachings toa vast crowd, he is sound asleep in the boat that is
taking them across the sea. His calm in response to the violent storm
that arises as he is sleeping I find most helpful when things are
turbulent in myown life.
I feel very caught up in the drama of it all; there is one thing after
another.People listen to him, love what he has to say (or in some
cases are disturbed or angered by it) and are healed. They can't have
enough of what he has to share with them. I'm touched by his response
to the 4000 people who, having spent three days with him in the desert
listening to his teaching, are tired and hungry. Realising this, he
uses his gifts to manifest bread and fish for them all to eat.
Jesus dies as a young man. His ministry begins when he is thirty (I
wouldbe interested to know more of the spiritual training he
undoubtedly received before then), andends abruptly when he is only
thirty-three. Fortunately, before the crucifixion he is able to
instruct his immediate disciples in a simple ritual whereby they can
re-affirm their link with him and each other (I refer, of course, to
the lastsupper) - thereby providing a central focus of devotion and
renewal for his followers, right up to the present time.
I have the impression thathe is not particularly interested in
converting people to his way of thinking. Rather it's a caseof
teaching those who areready; interestingly, often the people who seek
him out come from quite depraved or lowly backgrounds. It is quite
clear to Jesus that purity is a quality of the heart, not something
that comesfrom unquestioning adherence to a set of rules.
His response to the Pharisees when they criticise his disciples for
failing to observe the rules of purity around eating expresses this
perfectly: "There is nothing from outside thatcan defile a man" - and
to his disciples he is quite explicit in what happens to food once it
has been consumed. "Rather, it is from within the heart
thatdefilements arise." Unfortunately, he doesn't at this point go on
to explain what to do about these.
What we hear of his last hours: the trial, the taunting, the agony and
humiliation of being stripped naked and nailedto a cross to die - is
an extraordinary account of patient endurance, of willingness to bear
the unbearable without any sense of blame or ill will. It reminds me
of a simile used by the Buddha to demonstrate the quality of metta, or
kindliness, he expected of his disciples:"Even if robbers were to
attack you and saw off your limbs one by one, should you give way to
anger, you would not be following my advice." A tall order, but one
that clearly Jesus fulfills to perfection: "Father, forgive them for
they know not what they do."

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Jesus through Buddhist eyes

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, speaking to a capacity audience in the
Albert Hall in 1984 united his listeners instantly withone simple
statement: "Allbeings want to be happy; they want to avoid pain and
suffering." I was impressed at how he was able to touch what we share
as human beings. He affirmed our common humanity, without in any way
dismissing the obvious differences.
When invited to look at Jesus through Buddhist eyes, I had imagined
that I would use a 'compare and contrast' approach, rather like a
school essay. I was brought up as a Christian and turned to Buddhism
in my early thirties, so of course I have ideas about both traditions:
the one I grew up in and turned aside from, and the one I adopted and
continue to practise within. But after re-reading some of the gospel
stories, I would like to meet Jesus again with fresh eyes, and to
examine the extent to which he and the Buddha were in fact offering
the same guidance, even though the traditions of Christianity and
Buddhismcan appear in the surface to be rather different.
A little about how I came to be a Buddhist nun
Having tried with sincerityto approach my Christian journey in a way
that wasmeaningful within the context of everyday life, I had reached
a point of deep weariness and despair. I was weary with the apparent
complexity of it all; despair had arisenbecause I was not able to find
any way of working with the less helpful states that would creep,
unbidden, into the mind: the worry, jealousy, grumpiness, and so on.
And even positive states could turn around and transform themselves
intopride or conceit, which were of course equally unwanted.
Eventually, I met Ajahn Sumedho, an American-born Buddhist monk,
whohad just arrived in England after training for ten years in
Thailand. His teacher was Ajahn Chah, aThai monk of the Forest
Tradition who, in spite of little formal education, won the hearts of
many thousands of people, including a significant number of
Westerners. I attended a ten-day retreat at Oakenholt Buddhist Centre,
near Oxford, and sat in agony on a mat on the floor of the draughty
meditation hall, along with about 40 other retreatants of different
shapes and sizes.In front of us was Ajahn Sumedho, who presented the
teachings and guided us in meditation, with three other monks.
This was a turning point for me. Although the whole experience was
extremely tough - both physically and emotionally - I felt
hugelyencouraged. The teachings were presented in a wonderfully
accessible style, and just seemed like ordinary common sense. It
didn't occur to me that it was 'Buddhism'. Also, they were immensely
practical and as if to prove it, we had, directly in front of us,the
professionals - people who had made a commitment to living them out,
twenty-four hours a day. I was totally fascinated by those monks: by
their robes andshaven heads, and by what I heard of their renunciant
lifestyle, with its 227 rules of training. I also saw that they were
relaxed and happy - perhaps that was the most remarkable, and indeed
slightly puzzling, thing about them.
I felt deeply drawn by theteachings, and by the Truth they were
pointing to: the acknowledgement that, yes, this life is inherently
unsatisfactory, we experience suffering or dis-ease - but there is
aWay that can lead us to the ending of this suffering. Also, although
the idea was quite shocking to me, I saw within the awakening of
interest in being part of a monastic community.
Christ in the desert, Ivan Kramskoj ©
So now, after more than twenty years as a Buddhist nun, what do I find
as I encounter Jesus in the gospel stories?
Well, I have to say that hecomes across as being much more human than
I remember. Although there is much said about him being the son of
God, somehow that doesn't seem nearly as significant to me as the fact
that he is a person - a man of great presence, enormousenergy and
compassion, and significant psychic abilities.
He also has a great gift forconveying spiritual truth in the form of
images, using the most everyday things to illustrate points he wishes
to make: bread,fields, corn, salt, children, trees. People don't
alwaysunderstand at once, but are left with an image to ponder. Also
he has a mission - to re-open the Way to eternal life; and he's quite
uncompromising in his commitment to, as he puts it, "carrying out his
Father's will".
:->

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