For children, - Islam and Taking account of oneself or Self-Appraisal (Muhasebe)

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Accounting is a characteristic found in human nature, irrespective of his country, ancestry, community or religion. Man is always preoccupied about things that shall benefit or harm him; he is always worried about his future, his wealth, property and about other things. His mind is always analyzing his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Accounting is of various kinds. Generally, man takes an account of those things that are related to this temporary world. At such times, he forgets that there is someone else too, who is taking (his) account and whose rewards are everlasting. He is so absorbed in the accounting of this colourful and attractive world, that he has forgotten the terrifying accounting that shall take place in the grave or the impartial accounting of the Day of Mahshar (Day of Gathering on the Last Judgment). Man is busy in finding faults in others. He forgets to take account of himself and see how much he is immersed in sins and how many flaws lie within his own self.
Rather, man should make his own self so strong and powerful, that it becomes his advisor. The 'self' of man should exhort him towards all obligatory acts and refrain him from committing all prohibited acts. Today, so much time is being wasted in backbiting, accusing others, watching television and committing other sins. Man must realize that everything will be accounted for. The way you trained your children, the way you spent your money, whether you have usurped any one's right, even if it is a material right, to the extent that even if you have done good or evil of the size of a mustard seed, it will be accounted for. The Day of Judgment is also referred to as 'The Day of Lamenting'. As Allah (SWT) mention in Noble Qur'an: Whether you show what is in your mind or conceal it, Allah is well aware of that and will call you to, account therefore. (2:284)
It is for this very reason that Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw)has narrated, "Take account (of your deeds) yourself before you are taken account of (by Allah [SWT])". Bihar al-Anwar
In the Wasiyyah (will) of Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) to his companion (Sahabah)Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (ra), Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) says:
Oh Abu Dharr! Take account of yourself before you're taken account of so your accounting will be easier tomorrow. And weigh yourself before you are weighed and prepare for the great staging; the day you will be presented, not the least of a hidden thing of you will be hidden from Allah (SWT).
Another companion (Sahabah) Abdullah Bin Mas'ud (ra) narrated that Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) said, "A man shall be asked concerning five things on the day of resurrection: concerning his life, how he spent it; concerning his youth, how he grew old; concerning his wealth, whence he acquired it, and in what way he spent it; and what was it that he did with the knowledge that he had." (Tirmidhi 5197)
Take account of yourself before the weighing scale is established. And be prepared for a great accounting. Just as man carries a watch in order to keep track of time, in the same manner, he should assign a watch for himself that will keep a track of his daily activities. He should check everyday the actions that are beneficial to him and the actions that harm him. Every night when we lie down on the bed, we should analyze our entire day and scrutinize each and every of our actions. 'What did we eat?' 'What did we earn?' 'Did we commit any sin?' At the same time we should also remember about the Day of Qiyamat (day of resurrection). If we find that we have performed good actions, then we should praise Allah (SWT) and if we find that we have performed bad actions, then we should seek forgiveness from Him and resolve not to repeat them.
It was asked from Imam Ali (as): How should a person take account of himself?
Imam Ali (as) replied: When a person ends his day, then he should turn towards himself and say 'O self! This day that has passed will not return. Allah (SWT) will ask you about how you wasted your day. He will ask you about the actions you performed, whether you remembered Him and praised Him? Whether you fulfilled a right of your fellow believer? Did you remove a difficulty that befell upon a believer? Did you protect his children in his absence? Did you safeguard his rights after his death? Did you - on account of your position - prevent anyone from backbiting your believing brother? Did you help any Muslim throughout the day?
Thus every man should ponder over his actions that he has performed during the day. If he finds that he has done good actions, then he should praise Allah (SWT) for giving him the opportunity (Taufeeq). But if he finds that he has committed sins, then he should seek forgiveness from Allah (SWT) and make a firm intention that he shall not repeat that act again.
Then let us be strict with ourselves every time we account for ourselves, just as a master is strict with his slave, or as a partner takes account of another partner. So account of yourself before your account is taken which will be so severe that there shall be no scope for rectification.

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Taraaweeh prayers, - Dought&clear, - He prayed Taraweeh withthe imam before praying‘Isha’

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If a worshipper goes to pray and finds the people praying, so he joins them, then he realises that they are praying Taraweeh, and he completes the prayer with them, then he prays ‘Isha’, is it permissible to pray ‘Isha’ after Taraweeh? Is it permissible to pray Taraweeh before ‘Isha’?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Whatever the case, the Sunnah is to pray Taraweeh after ‘Isha’, so the qiyaam of Ramadan comes after ‘Isha’, but this is naafil, so his praying it with them before ‘Isha’ is regarded as a naafil prayer between Maghrib and ‘Isha’, and praying between Maghrib and ‘Isha’ is permissible, but it does not count as the qiyaam that is well known in Ramadan. The qiyaam of Ramadan comes after ‘Isha’. So this is regarded as a naafil prayer that he did between Maghrib and ‘Isha’, and his praying ‘Isha’ after that is valid. But what is preferable and better is to start with the obligatory prayer, then pray Taraweeh with them. This is what should be done so as to follow the Sunnah as well as performing the obligatory prayer.
If he prayed with them with the intention of offering the obligatory prayer, then when the imam said the salaam at the end of (the two rak‘ahs of) Taraweeh, then he stood up and completed the obligatory prayer, that would have been acceptable. So if the imam prayed the first two rak‘ahs with the intention of praying Taraweeh, and he was offering the obligatory prayer, then when the imam said the salaam, he stood up and completed his prayer, that would be acceptable.
To sum up: there is nothing wrong with this, in sha Allah; his prayer is valid, and his Taraweeh is valid, but it is regarded as naafil. It is not Taraweeh and it is not the well known qiyaam of Ramadaan; rather the qiyaam of Ramadan comes after ‘Isha’. But what he prayed came before ‘Isha’, so it comes under the heading of the naafil prayers which it is mustahabb to offer between Maghrib and ‘Isha’.
End quote.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)

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Taraaweeh prayers, - Dought&clear, - Is Laylat al-Qadr different in different countries?

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Is Laylat al-Qadr the same night for all Muslims, or is it different in different countries?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is the same night, even thought it starts at different times in different countries. So in the Arab lands it begins when the sun sets in those countries, and in African countries it also begins when the sun sets there, and so on. Whenever the sun sets in a people’s land, it has begun for them, even if that process lasts more than twenty hours. So for one group of people their night is regarded as Laylat al-Qadr, then for the next group of people, their night is regarded as Laylat al-Qadr. And there is no reason the angels cannot descend to one group of people and also another.
And Allah knows best.

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Taraaweeh prayers, - Dought&clear, - If a person prays some of Taraweeh withthe imam then prays Witr and leaves, will it be recorded for him as having prayed qiyaam al-layl?

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In the mosque in the neighbourhood where I live, twenty rak‘ahs of Taraweeh are offered, as well as two rak‘ahs of al-shaf‘ and Witr. Now, as ‘Isha’ prayer will be held very late, we were thinking of praying Witr for those who want to leave the prayer early, and on that basis this group will pray the two rak‘ahs of al-shaf‘ and Witr with the qaari’, then they will leave, and the qaari’ will stay and complete the remaining rak‘ahs. Is it permissible to do that? Will those who are going to pray ten rak‘ahs with the (one) rak‘ah of Witr and then leave take the same reward as those who pray behind the other imam and pray twenty-three rak‘ahs in all? I hope you can advise us about this issue because we are thinking of implementing it starting next Ramadan, in sha Allah. May Allah reward you with good for this advice.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
It is proven from the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he encouraged praying Taraweeh in congregation and he said: “Whoever stays with the imam until he leaves, (the reward of) qiyaam al-layl will be written for him.”
Narrated and classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi (806); also narrated by Abu Dawood (1375), al-Nasaa’i (1605), and Ibn Maajah (1327). Also classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Tirmidhi.
This reward will not be attained by anyone but the one who prays with the imam until he has finished all the prayers. The one who only prays some of the prayer and then leaves is not entitled to the reward promised in this hadeeth, which is that of spending a night in prayer (qiyaam laylah).
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
If a person prays in Ramadan with someone who prays twenty-three rak‘ahs, but he only prays eleven and does not complete the prayer with the imam, is this action of his in accordance with the Sunnah?
He replied: The Sunnah is to complete the prayer with the imam, even if he prays twenty-three rak ‘ahs, because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever stands (in prayer) with the imam until he finishes, Allah will record for him (the reward of) spending a night in prayer.” According to another report: “… The rest of that night.”
It is better for one who is praying behind an imam to stay with him until he finishes, whether he prays eleven rak‘ahs or thirteen or twenty three or whatever. That is preferable, to follow the imam until he finishes. End quote fromMajmoo‘ Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 11/325
Shaykh Ibn Jibreen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Praying qiyaam in Ramadan is attained by praying part of the night, such as half of it or one third of it, whether that is by praying eleven rak‘ahs or twenty-three. Qiyaam is attained by praying behind the neighbourhood imam until he finishes, even if he finishes within one hour.
Imam Ahmad used to pray with the imam and not leave until he finished, acting in accordance with the hadeeth. And whoever wants to attain this reward has to pray with the imam until he finishes Witr, whether he prays a little or a lot, and whether the time taken is long or short. End quote.
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Jibreen. 24/9
If two imams pray in the mosque, then Taraweeh prayer is the prayer of both the imams, so the one who wants to attain the reward of spending the night in prayer should not leave until the second imam has completed his prayer and leaves.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: What about one who prays Taraweeh with the first imam, then leaves and says: I will have (the reward for) praying qiyaam al-layl according to the text of the hadeeth because I started with the imam and finished with him?
He replied: As for his saying, “Whoever stands (in prayer) with the imam until he finishes, Allah will record for him (the reward of) spending a night in prayer”, that is correct.
But if there are two imams in one mosque, is each one of them regarded as independent of the other or is each of them the deputy of the other?
What would seem to be correct is the second understanding – that each of them is the deputy of the other and is complementary to him. Based on this, if two imams pray in the mosque, then these two imams are to be regarded as if they are one imam. So the worshipper should stay until the second imam finishes, because we know that prayer behind the second imam is complementary to prayer behind the first one.
Based on this, what we advise our brothers to do is to follow the imams there in the Haram until they are completely finished. Although some brothers leave when they have prayed eleven rak‘ahs and say that this is the number of rak‘ahs that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed, and we agree with them that it is better to follow the number that the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed and no one doubts this, nevertheless I think that there is no reason why the number of rak‘ahs should not be increased. This is not on the basis of turning away from the number chosen by the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), but on the basis that this is part of the goodness that it is prescribed to seek more of.
But the problem is if there are two Witrs in one night, what should the worshipper do?
We say: if you want to pray tahajjud with the second imam, when the first imam prays Witr, do an additional rak‘ahs so that you will be praying two by two, and if you do not want to pray tahajjud at the end of the night, then pray Witr with the first imam, then if it so happens that after that you pray tahajjud, then do another rak‘ah after Witr with the second imam. End quote.
Majmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/436
What should be done in this case is that the people of the mosque should agree upon the number of rak‘ahs they will pray each night, which should suit all or most of them, so that there will not be any division among the worshippers and so that none of them will be deprived of reward, which they may be keen to attain were it not for their work.
We ask Allah to accept from us all and help us to obey Him.
And Allah knows best.

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