Hajj, - Spiritual Advice for Hajj

Allahسبحانه وتعالىsays in the Holy Qur'an:
الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَّعْلُومَاتٌ فَمَن فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلاَ
رَفَثَ وَلاَ فُسُوقَ وَلاَ جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ وَمَا تَفْعَلُواْ مِنْ
خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللّهُ وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى
وَاتَّقُونِ يَا أُوْلِي الأَلْبَابِ
The season of Pilgrimage is the months known; wherefore whosoever
ordaineth unto himself the pilgrimage therein, there is no lewdness
nor wickedness nor wrangling during the pilgrimage, and whatsoever of
good ye do, Allah shall know it. And take provision for the journey,
for verily the best provision is abstainment; and fear Me, O men of
understanding!
[al Baqarah 2/197]
In the verse related to Hajj, the need to performtawaaf(ritual walk
around the Holy Ka'ba),sa'ee(ritual walk between the hills of Safa and
Marwa), stoning of the shayaateen are not mentioned, rather
Allahسبحانه وتعالىmentions the need to abstain from 3 acts :
1. Lewd talk
This means any talk which is rude, indecent, offensive or vulgar. To
speak in such a manner violates the sanctity of Hajj. It does not
befit a Muslimto speak in a lewd manner – it only suggests a filthy
heart and mind. This prohibition during Hajj also includes speaking of
conjugal relations between husband and wife which under normal
circumstances would be permissible.
2. Sinning
This includes any act of disobedience to Allahسبحانه وتعالىespecially
not lowering one's gaze. During Hajj, being such a large gathering of
men and women, the need to lower one's gaze becomes all the more
important. Not lowering one's gaze not only destroys the sanctity of
Hajj, but one's attention is diverted from Allahسبحانه وتعالىto the
creation. Nothing is achieved by the stray gaze – it is an arrow which
only returns to pierce one's own heart.
3. Arguing
The Hajj journey makes the most patient and forbearing of people
irritable because one's sleeping and eating patterns are disrupted. In
such a state and in such a large gathering of people one may be easily
provoked and get into an argument. At such times one should exercise
patience and self-discipline and remind himself by saying 'I am in
Hajj' i.e. I am in a sanctified state.
These 3 sins reflect the 3 categories of sins a Muslim should avoid
throughout his life i.e.
• Sins of the tongue
• Sins of the flesh
• Sins against fellow Muslims
During Hajj these 3 sins are especially dangerous yet so easy to
commit. If a person engages in any of these there is a great danger
that all of the reward for Hajj will be destroyed. As well as
fulfilling all the rites and rituals of Hajj, it is necessary to
refrain from the above sins for an accepted Hajj.

Hajj, - Correcting Our Outlook

The lifestyle that we have become accustomed to has spoiled us and we
except a limousine to be waiting at the airport to whisk us away and
drop us right outside the Haram. There is a system to everything that
we must realize and we must be prepared to allow it to run its own
course. We need to realize that we are servants whom the Master is
allowing to come visit His House and not the other way around.
Presidents and kings of this worthless and temporary world make their
visitors wait for hours without explanation and we expect the Master
of the universe to cater to our every need. To be allowed to come to
Hajjis indeed a blessing for which we should be ready to bear double
if not triple the usual burden.
Hajj is a journey and act of worship and there is always trial in
worship no matter what form. If people desire luxury and comfort they
are welcome to stay in their beds because no one is forcing them to go
to Hajj. However, people must be prepared for hardship if they have
already taken the first steps toward anything.

Dought & clear, - Ruling on fasting the days of al-tashreeq

A man fasted on the eleventh and twelfth of Dhu'l-Hijjah. What is the
ruling on his fast?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth of Dhu'l-Hijjah are known as the
days of al-Tashreeq. It is proven that the Prophet(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) forbade fasting on these days, and he did not
give any concession allowing fasting on these days except to those
pilgrims doing tamattu' or qiraan who could not find an animal to
sacrifice.
Muslim (1141) narrated that Nubayshah al-Hudhali (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "The days of al-Tashreeq are the days of
eating, drinking and remembering Allaah."
Ahmad (16081) narrated from Hamzah ibn 'Amr al-Aslami (may Allaah be
pleased with him) that he saw a man on a camel following the people in
Mina, and the Prophet of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) was present, and the man was saying, "Do not fast on these days
for they are the days of eating and drinking." Classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Jaami', 7355.
Ahmad (17314) and Abu Dawood (2418) narrated from Abu Murrah the freed
slave of Umm Haani' that he entered with 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr upon his
father 'Amr ibn al-'Aas. He offered them food and said, "Eat." He
said: "I am fasting." 'Amr said: "Eat, for these are the days on which
the Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
commanded us not to fast, and he forbade fasting on these days."
Maalik said: "Those are the days of al-Tashreeq." Classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood.
Ahmad (1459) narrated that Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqaas (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) commanded me to call out on the days of Mina: "These are
the days of eating and drinking, and there is no fasting on these
days," meaning the days of al-Tashreeq. The editor of theMusnadsaid it
is saheeh li ghayrihi.
Al-Bukhaari (1998) narrated that 'Aa'ishah and Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah
be pleased with them) said: "No concession was granted allowing anyone
to fast on the days of al-Tashreeq, except for the (pilgrim) who could
not find a sacrificial animal."
These ahaadeeth and others indicate that it is forbidden to fast on
the days of al-Tashreeq.
Hence most of the scholars are of the view that it is not valid to
observe voluntary fasts on these days.
But if one is fasting to make up a missed Ramadaan fast, some of the
scholars are of the view that that is permissible, but the correct
view is that it is not permissible.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said inal-Mughni(3/51):
It is not permissible to observe a voluntary fast on these days,
according to the majority of scholars. It was narrated from Ibn
al-Zubayr that he used to fast on these days, and something similar
was narrated from Ibn 'Umar and al-Aswad ibn Yazeed. It was narrated
from Abu Talhah that he used not to break his fast except on the two
Eid days. It seems that these people had not heard that the Messenger
of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade fasting
on these days, and if they had heard of that, they would not have done
that again.
As for observing an obligatory fast on those days, there are two
views. One is that it is not permitted, because it is forbidden to
fast on those days, and they are likened to the day of Eid.
The other view is that an obligatory fast observed on those days is
valid, because it was narrated that Ibn 'Umar and 'Aa'ishah said: "No
concession was granted allowing anyone to fast on the days of
al-Tashreeq, except for the (pilgrim) who could not find a sacrificial
animal" – i.e., for pilgrims doing tamattu' if they cannot find a
sacrificial animal. This is a saheeh hadeeth which was narrated by
al-Bukhaari and is applied by analogy to all obligatory fasts. End
quote.
The view adopted by the Hanbali madhhab is that fasts observed on
these days to make up for missed Ramadaan fasts are not valid.
SeeKashshaaf al-Qinaa', 2/342
With regard to pilgrims doing qiraan and tamattu' on these days if
they cannot find a sacrificial animal, the evidence for that is the
hadeeth of 'Aa'ishah and Ibn 'Umar quoted above. This is the also the
view of the Maalikis, Hanbalis and the older Shaafa'i madhhab.
The Hanafis and Shaafa'is are of the view that it is not permissible
to fast on these days.
Seeal-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 7/323
The most correct view is the first view, which is that it is
permissible to fast on these days for the (pilgrim) who cannot find a
sacrificial animal.
Al-Nawawi said inal-Majmoo'(6/486):
It should be noted that the more correct view according to our
companions is the later view that it is not valid to fast on these
days at all, either for the pilgrim doing tamattu' or for anyone else.
The most correct view based on the evidence is that it is valid for
the pilgrim doing tamattu' and it is permissible for him, because the
hadeeth which grants this concession is saheeh as we have explained,
and it clearly states that so it cannot be ignored." End quote.
To sum up: it is not valid to fast on the days of al-Tashreeq, whether
that is a voluntary fast or an obligatory fast, except for pilgrims
doing tamattu' or qiraan, if they cannot find a sacrificial animal.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: It is not
permissible to fast on the thirteenth of Dhu'l-Hijjah, whether that is
a voluntary fast or an obligatory fast, because these are the days of
eating and drinking and remembering Allaah. The Prophet(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade fasting on these days and did
not grant a concession to anyone except for pilgrims doing tamattu'
who could not find a sacrificial animal.
Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn Baaz(15/381)
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said:
The days of al-Tashreeq are the three days after Eid al-Adha. They are
called the days of al-Tashreeq because the people used to dry
(yusharriqoon) the meat in the sun so that it would not turn rotten
when they stored it. The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said concerning these three days: "The days of
al-Tashreeq are the days of eating, drinking and remembering Allaah."
As that is the case, i.e., their prescribed purpose in sharee'ah is
for eating and drinking and remembering Allaah, then this is not a
time for fasting. Hence Ibn 'Umar and 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased
with them) said: "No concession was granted allowing anyone to fast on
the days of al-Tashreeq, except for the (pilgrim) who could not find a
sacrificial animal" – i.e., those pilgrims who are doing tamattu' and
qiraan; they should fast for three days during Hajj and seven days
when they go back home. If the pilgrim doing qiraan or tamattu' cannot
find a sacrificial animal, it is permissible for him to fast on these
three days, so that the Hajj season will not end before he can fast
them. Apart from that, it is not permissible to fast on these days;
even if a person is obliged to fast two consecutive months, he must
break his fast on the day of Eid and the three days after that, then
he must resume his fast. End quote.
Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 20/question no. 419
Based on the above, whoever fasted on the days of al-Tashreeq, all or
some of them, and was not a pilgrim doing tamattu or qiraan who could
not find a sacrificial animal, must ask Allaah for forgiveness for
doing something that the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) forbade. If he fasted on those days to make up for missed
Ramadaan fasts, that does not count and he must make it up again.
And Allaah knows best.

Dought & clear, - What are the defects that must be disclosed toa potential marriage partner?

I have been suffering from a mental illness for several years. For a
while, I have been praying regularly, reading Qur'an, remembering
Allah (dhikr), giving charity and helping people a great deal, and I
am much better, but I feel that the illness is still lurking. Is it
obligatory for me to inform anyone who proposes marriage to me about
that?
Praise be to Allah.
We ask Allah to heal you and grant you well-being. It seems to us that
this illness is not real. If we assume that it is real, then we would
say: if this illness would not have any impact on married life or on
raising children, then there is no need to inform a prospective
marriage partner about it. But if it does have some impact, in the
sense that it may result in some problems after marriage that would
prevent you from developing bonds of love and creating a tranquil
home, then you must tell him about that, because concealing it would
be a kind of deceit. It is proven that deceit is forbidden in general
terms from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with
him), according to which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever deceives (people) does not belong
to me." Narrated by Muslim, 102.
You should not pay any attention to imaginary things with regard to
your illness. Most such things are tricks of the Shaytaan, and are
aimed at preventing you from getting married and keeping yourself
chaste.
The basic guidelines with regard to informing a suitor about illness
in the prospective wife are as follows:
1.if the sickness will have any impact on married life and will affect
the wife's ability to fulfil her duties towards her husband and
children;
2.if it will be off-putting to the husband because of its appearance or smell;
3.if it is real and permanent, and is not something imagined or
temporary that will disappear with the passage of time or after
marriage.
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:
There is a young woman who is occasionally affected by periods of
insanity, then it goes away again, and she goes back to normal for a
period that may be long or short. Sometimes prospective suitors come
to propose marriage to her, the family finds it difficult to arrange a
marriage for her, because they do not know how to tell the prospective
suitor about the situation and they are very hesitant, which leads to
missing out on the opportunity to get married. Recently the family
have decided that they would rather get her married to a person who
has some kind of disability or other problem, so that it will be
easier for him to accept her. Now there is a potential suitor who is
infertile, and another who is the son of her paternal aunt, who has
proposed to her and has stated that he is aware of her illness. But
the problem is that the mother of this young man – i.e., the paternal
aunt of the girl – has the same sickness, and when we asked the doctor
what he thought about this marriage, he said that he did not recommend
it, because the probability of having children who were affected by
the same illness was great.
My question is: what is the Islamic ruling on such a marriage? If it
turns out that it produces a child who is also ill, will we have the
ones who are responsible for that, as we would have played a role in
bringing about this marriage? Please note that the possibility of
producing children who are also ill is great.
They replied:
You should not prevent the girl from getting married, and you should
give her in marriage to this man who has come to propose to her, and
leave the matter to Allah. You should ignore the doctor's advice which
is based on probability, because marriage serves a purpose for both
parties and protects the girl from the risk of spinsterhood, on
condition that she agrees to marry the man of whom her guardian
approves for her.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh 'Abd ar-Razzaaq 'Afeefi, Shaykh
'Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, Shaykh 'Abd
al-'Azeez Aal ash-Shaykh.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 18/194
They were also asked:
If a girl has a problem in the uterus or with her menstrual cycle that
requires treatment which may delay any chance of bearing children,
should the suitor be told about that?
They replied:
If this problem is something temporary, something that happens to
women then disappears, then it is not necessary to tell the suitor
about it. But if this problem is a serious disease or it is not a
minor, temporary problem, and the proposal comes when she still has
this problem and has not been healed of it, then in that case her
guardian must inform the suitor of it. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez Aal-ash-Shaykh, Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan
al-Fawzaan,Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 19/15
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen was asked:
There is a man who proposed marriage to a woman, but it is known that
this woman has a physical defect, which is hidden and not obvious, and
there is the hope that it may be cured, like leprosy and vitiligo.
Should the suitor be told about that?
He replied:
If a man proposes marriage to a woman, and she has a hidden defect,
and there are people who know about it, then if the suitor asks about
her, it is obligatory to disclose it. This is quite clear. But if he
does not ask, then he should be told about it because this comes under
the heading of sincere advice, especially if it is something that
there is no hope of it going away. But if there is hope of it going
away, then this is easier. However there are things that may go away,
but they go away slowly, such as leprosy for example – if it is true
that it may go away, but up till now we know nothing to suggest that
it may go away. So there is a difference between that which it is
hoped will go away soon and that which it is hoped will go away later
on. End quote.
Liqaa'aat al-Baab al-Maftooh, 5/ question no. 22.