General

Is it obligatory to tell a suitor that the woman was previously divorced in a marriage that was not consummated? My sister was divorced before the marriage was consummated with her. Now a man has come to propose marriage to her. Is she obliged to tell him about her previous divorce, especially since no consummation of the marriage occurred? Please note that if we tell the second suitor, perhaps that will affect the prospect of the marriage going ahead. Is it permissible to keep quiet and conceal this matter? : Praise be to Allah We put this question to our shaykh, ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak (may Allah preserve him) and he said: it is obligatory to tell the suitor that she was married before, and the marriage contract was done with her, then she was divorced, regardless of whether the first husband consummated the marriage with her or not, and regardless of whether the second suitor asks about that or not. And Allah knows best.

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அமலா : "என்ன உன் கணவர் தூக்கதுல 'ஹலோ.. ஹலோ..'ன்னு டெலிபோன்ல பேசறது மாதிரி பேசறாரு?"
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விமலா : "நான்தான் சொன்னேனே, அவருக்கு தூக்கத்துல 'கால்' போட்ற பழக்கம் இருக்குன்னு!! "

The virtue of fasting six days of Shawwaal

 The virtue of fasting six days of Shawwaal

What is the ruling on fasting six days of Shawwaal? Is it waajib (obligatory)?

Published Date: 2013-08-10

Praise be to Allaah.

Fasting six days of Shawwaal after the obligatory fast of Ramadaan is Sunnah Mustahabbah, not waajib. It is recommended for the Muslim to fast six days of Shawwaal, and in this there is great virtue and an immense reward. Whoever fasts these six days will have recorded for him a reward as if he had fasted a whole year, as was reported in a saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Abu Ayyoob (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever fasts Ramadaan and follows it with six days of Shawwaal, it will be as if he fasted for a lifetime." (Narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa'i and Ibn Maajah).

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) explained this when he said: "Whoever fasts for six days after (Eid) al-Fitr has completed the year: (whoever does a good deed (hasanah) will have ten hasanah like it)." According to another report: "Allaah has made for each hasanah ten like it, so a month is like fasting ten months, and fasting six days completes the year." (al-Nisaa'i and Ibn Maajah. See also Saheeh al-Targheeb wa'l-Tarheeb, 1/421). It was also narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah with the wording: "Fasting for the month of Ramadaan brings the reward of ten like it, and fasting for six days brings the reward of two months, and that is the fasting of the whole year."

The Hanbali and Shaafa'i fuqaha' explained that fasting six days of Shawwaal after fasting Ramadaan makes it as if one has fasted for an entire year of obligatory fasts, because the multiplication of the reward applies even to naafil fasts, because each hasanah brings the reward of ten like it.

Another of the important benefits of fasting six days of Shawwaal is that is makes up for any shortfall in a person's obligatory Ramadaan fasts, because no one is free of shortcomings or sins that have a negative effect on his fasting. On the Day of Resurrection, some of his naafil deeds will be taken to make up the shortcomings in his obligatory deeds, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The first thing for which people will be brought to account on the Day of Resurrection will be their salaah (prayer). Our Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, will say to His angels – although He knows best – 'Look at the salaah of My slave, whether it is complete or incomplete.' If it is perfect, it will be recorded as perfect, and if something is lacking, He will say, 'Look and see whether My slave did any voluntary (naafil) prayers.' If he did some voluntary prayers, [Allaah] will say, Complete the obligatory actions of My slave from his voluntary actions.' Then all his actions will be dealt with in a similar manner." (Narrated by Abu Dawood).

And Allaah knows best.

General

* The addition of the word “kareem” in the du‘aa’ of Laylat al-Qadr is not proven

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It is quoted in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him):

3513: Qutaybah told us: Ja‘far ibn Sulaymaan ad-Dab‘i told us, from Kahmas ibn al-Hasan, from ‘Abdullah ibn Buraydah, from ‘Aa’ishah, who said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, if I realise when it is Laylat al-Qadr, what do you think I should say? He said: “Say: Allahumma innaka ‘Awfuwwun Kareem, tubhibb al-‘afwa, fa‘fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are forgiving and most generous, You love forgiveness, so forgive me).” The shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) deemed it to be saheeh. But the same hadith was narrated by Ibn Maajah (3850) and in as-Silsilah as-Saheehah, Shaykh al-Albaani stated that the additional word “Kareem (most generous)” was added by one of the scribes. Did the shaykh fail to notice the additional word “kareem” in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi, or is it saheeh in his opinion? If it is not proven in his opinion, then why did he not point out in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi that it is something that has been added?

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Praise be to Allah

Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) was a scholar and critic of hadith who examined the reports and tried his best in doing so, but he was vulnerable to forgetfulness and error, like other scholars, and that does not detract from his standing in the slightest; rather he will be rewarded for that, by Allah’s leave, receiving a single reward. That is by the grace and kindness of Allah, may He be exalted, to the scholars and fuqaha’; He grants them a single reward for their mistakes, and grants them a double reward for what they get right. What matters is that researchers and seekers of knowledge follow the correct methodology in research and do not follow blindly; the status of a scholar does not prevent them from reviewing the evidence and conducting their own research, for academic research should be objective and neutral, and should only be based on real research and examination, and it should not be restricted to some particular names of great scholars, no matter how well versed and prominent they may be.

Therefore we may say that Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) failed to point out the erroneous addition of the word “kareem” in the hadith about the du‘aa’ of Laylat al-Qadr, as the hadith was narrated via many chains of narration, and it was narrated by the authors ofJaami‘s,Sunans andMusnads, and not one of them mentioned this extra word “kareem”; rather all of them narrated the well-known version of the du‘aa’: “Allahumma innaka ‘Awfuwwun, tubhibb al-‘afwa, fa‘fu ‘anni(O Allah, You are forgiving, You love forgiveness, so forgive me).”

But this mistake occurred in al-Albaani’s bookSaheeh at-Tirmidhi(no. 3513) only.

With regard to his bookSilsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah– concerning which researchers are agreed that the research that was put into it was more precise and deeper than that of his other books,Saheeh as-SunanandDa‘eef as-Sunan– the shaykh pointed out this erroneous addition and said:

InSunan at-Tirmidhiafter the word “ ‘Afuw” there appears this additional word “Kareem”, for which there is no basis in the earlier sources or any other sources that were narrated from the earlier sources. What appears to be the case is that it is something that was inserted by one of the scribes or modern typists. It does not appear in the Indian edition ofSunan at-Tirmidhion which al-Mubaarakfoori’s commentary,Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi(4/264), was based, or in other editions.

What supports that is the fact that in some of his reports, an-Nasaa’i narrated it via the same isnaad as at-Tirmidhi, as both of them narrated it from their shaykh, Qutaybah ibn Sa‘eed, without this addition.

This addition also appears in an essay by our brother ‘Ali al-Halabi, entitledMuhadhdhab ‘Amal al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah li Ibn as-Sunni(no. 202), but it is not narrated by as-Sunni, because he narrated from his shaykh, an-Nasaa’i – as stated above – from Qutaybah, but he attributed it to at-Tirmidhi and others. What would have been more appropriate is to put this word between brackets, as is the practice nowadays, to highlight the fact that it was only mentioned by at-Tirmidhi. To be accurate, however, this word should not be mentioned at all except to point out that it has no basis.

End quote fromSilsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah(13/140).

Hence some researchers regard al-Albaani’s comment here, inSilsilat al-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah– as constituting a clear retraction of his having regarded this addition as sound inSaheeh at-Tirmidhi.

Whatever the case, whether you call it retraction or a conclusion that is separate from the first conclusion, what matters is that he stated the correct view and corrected the mistake.

What is most likely to be the case is that this extra word, with which people are familiar, was taken from some editions of the books of hadith, not from the reports of the hadith itself, meaning that the scholars who narrated the hadith with this extra word “kareem” only did so because they found some manuscripts that contained the extra word “kareem”, as the commentators said concerning theMu’sasat ar-Risaalahedition ofMusnad al-Imam Ahmad(42/236): In “Q” it says “‘Afuwwun kareem.” End quote. “Q” is a symbol referring to a particular manuscript to which they referred. See their Introduction (1/104). Similarly, with regard to the al-Maknaz edition (11/6118, no. 26021), the commentators said: In “Q” it says “‘Afuwwun kareem.”

Hence many scholars transmitted the hadith with this additional word in their books, such as: Ibn al-Atheer inJaami‘ al-Usool(4/324); al-‘Imraani inal-Bayaan fi’l-Madhhab ash-Shaafa‘i(3/568); al-Khaazin inLubaab at-Ta’weel fi Ma‘aani at-Tanzeel(4/452); Ibn al-Qayyim inBadaa’i‘ al-Fawaa’id(2/143); al-Khateeb ash-Sharbeeni inal-Iqnaa‘ fi Hall Alfaaz Abi Shujaa‘(1/274); al-Ameer as-San‘aani inat-Tahbeer li Eedaah Ma‘aani at-Tayseer(4/268); at-Tahtaawi inHaashiyat ‘ala Maraaqi al-Falaah Sharh Noor al-Eedaah(p. 401).

All of them narrated the hadith with the additional word “kareem” and without mentioning any isnaad. Some of them attributed it toSunan at-Tirmidhi. This is assuming that the manuscripts were copied accurately.

But today we have no doubt that this additional word is not part of the original text of the hadith, because dozens of books of hadith mentioned the text of this hadith without this additional word. We referred to editions that were checked against many manuscripts ofSunan at-Tirmidhi, and we did not find any reference to this additional word, such as the edition annotated by Bashaar ‘Awaad (5/490), and another edition annotated by Shu‘ayb al-Arna’oot (6/119).

And Allah knows best.