A part of a story

.....flanks every wall, aisle, nook and cranny of the gargantuan
building. No. It's daunting because of the way those Men Who Love Man
Stuff treat a woman like me, who just wants to buy a dang kayak.
Like a poor little birdie who fell from her nest.
Probably a little like how Dr P felt when he walked into Gus Mayer to
buy me some Tory Burch flats for my birthday. Except he doesn't have
pride issues like I do.
I don't like feeling like a poor little birdie. I like feeling like I
know what the hell I'm doing, even when I don't know what the hell I'm
doing. I've got a lot of Super Dave (my dad) in me, it seems. But when
Super Dave walks into the Bass Pro Shop, no one looks at him like a
little birdie. They look at him like a MAN who wantsto buy some Man
Stuff.
So I put on my most serious "Super Dave" face, flung my shoulders
back, and waltzed through those doors like I owned the place. I was
greeted bya patronizing older man who asked if I needed any help. THE
NERVE! He didn't ask the man in the camouflage pants and the
construction boots who had walked in just ahead of me!
I confidently replied, "No thanks!" and made a quickvisual sweep of
the warehouse of MAN. I pointed myself in the direction of "Boating,"
andconfidently strode toward it.
A kayak is a boat, right?
Right????
No. According to Bass Pro Shop, it's a "Camping Equipment." Minus one
point for me. Already feeling idiotic, I was escorted aaaaaaall the
way across to the other side of the store, where the kayaks are kept.
Right next to the tents and the cast iron skillets. Makes sense.
(NOT!)
But the rest of the transaction went fine. Thank goodness I came
prepared with a rope and a razor blade to cut the rope ... I was asked
those two questions immediately, and was given an approving look when
I nonchalantly explained that I had both in the car. Plus two points
for me!
Two young men came out to help me load the kayak after I purchased it.
Our"plan A" was to fit it into the car, rather than on top,sliding it
into the back hatch and up into the front passenger seat. The kayak
almost fit inside the car. The glass part of the back hatch had to
remain open about 1 inch to allow for the protruding stern. One of the
boys helping me tied the glass window shut using the rope I brought,
and I was off!
But driving with a kayak in your passenger seat is not an easy task.
It covered the back window, the passenger side rearview mirror, the
main rearview mirror, and everywindow on the passenger side of the
car. So I had only the windshield and the driver-side window to
utilize during the 25-mile drive home on the interstate.
But as long as I drove slowly and stayed in the right lane, all would
be fine. Right?
No. Because as soon as I left the entrance ramp andgained a little
speed, the back hatch flew open. Yes. Flew open.
ON THE INTERSTATE.
Let me tell you what happens when someone opens a window of a swiftly
moving vehicle that I'm riding in. My left eardrum goes absolutely
berserk. It turns itself into a REAL drum, and the car's uneven air
pressure becomes the drumstick beating on the inside of MY HEAD.
People, the PAIN,I am telling you!
So I knew I had a problem as soon as my eardrum became the Hudson High
School Marching Band.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the open air behind me, and
the kayak teetering on the edge of the gate. I knew itwould be very,
very bad ....possibly deadly for the person behind me, if that kayak
were to somehow fly out of the open back window. So I wrapped my arm
inside the cockpit of the kayak, cursed the idiotwho had tied the
window closed, and prayed that the next exit wasn't too far down the
road.
Then it started pouring SHEETS OF RAIN.
This ain't no joke.
I put my flashers on and pulled off at the next exit very slowly. I
got out and walked around to the backof the car in the pouring rain,
and simply closed thehatch. Something must have shifted while
driving,and suddenly the kayak fitinto the car without having to
re-tie the window shut. Simple as that. Hallelujah.
Then I drove home through the torrential downpour, trying to
avoidswitching lanes too much. I only had to move to the right lane
twice, and both times I honked my"friendly honk" profusely (beep!
beep! beep! beep!) as I switched lanes. Yes, I was stared at. (Look!
Crazylady with a boat as her passenger honking like a maniac at 3
o'clock!) But I got home safely, and that's all that matters.
And you guys, Dr P loves this thing. He was so happy when I showed
himlast night. And this morning he was running late for work, and
still found time to go downstairs and stare at the thing for a few
minutes.
This morning I went to Walmart and found some proper kayak straps, and
tied her to the roof. We're headed to the beach for the weekend this
afternoon, and we can't wait to try it out! Wish us luck ...

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What is the ruling on the imam repeating some verses that speak of mercyor punishment?

Praise be to Allaah.
I do not know of anything wrong with that, because it encourages the
people to ponder and focus and benefit. It was narrated that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) repeated the verse
(interpretation of the meaning): "If You punish them, they are Your
slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the
All-Mighty, the All-Wise" [al-Maa'idah 5:118] severaltimes.
To sum up: if it is done for a good reason and not for the purpose of
showing off, then there is nothing wrong with it, but if he thinks
that repeating it may annoy them or result in disturbing sounds such
as weeping, then it is better not to do that, so that there will not
be any distraction. But if repeating it will only lead to pondering
and proper focus on the prayer, then it is all good. End quote.
~
Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have
mercy on him) (11/343, 344).

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What is meant by reciting Qur’aan in a melodious voice?

Praise be to Allaah.
In the saheeh Sunnah it is encouraged to recite the Qur'aan in a
melodious voice, i.e., making the voice beautiful when reciting it. It
does not mean that one should recite it as if singing, rather what is
meant is that one should make the voice beautiful when reciting. For
example the saheeh hadeeth says: "Allaah never listens to anything as
He listens to a Prophet with a beautiful voice reciting the Qur'aan
out loud" and "He is not one of us who does not recite Qur'aan in a
melodious voice when reciting it out loud." What this means is making
the voice beautiful, as stated above.
The meaning of the hadeeth quoted above refers to listening in a
manner that is befitting toAllaah and it is not like theattributes of
His creation, as is the case with all His other attributes. It may
besaid of His listening that it is like His other attributes, that it
is in a manner that is befitting to Allaah, may He be glorified and
exalted, and there is nothing like unto Him, may He be glorified and
exalted. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "There is
nothing like Him, and He isthe All-Hearer, the All-Seer" [al-Shoora
42:11].Reciting in a melodious tone means reciting out loud and making
the voicebeautiful and with proper focus, so that the heart is moved,
because the aim isto stir the heart with this Qur'aan, so that people
will fear Allaah and so thatthey will find peace and benefit from it.
An example of this is the story of Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari (may Allaah be
pleased with him), when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) passed by him as he was reciting Qur'aan,and he started
listening tohim and said: "You have been given a beautiful voice like
the beautiful voices of the family of Dawood." When Abu Moosa came,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told him about
that and Abu Moosa said: If I had known, O Messenger of Allaah, that
you were listening, I would have made it very beautiful indeed. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not denounce
him for that,which indicates that making the voice beautifuland being
careful in reciting is something that is required, so that both the
reader and the listenerwill focus properly and will both benefit. End
quote.

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The meaning of the hadeeth “ ‘Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad” is equivalent to one-third of the Qur’aan”

Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly: there follow some of the ahaadeeth narrated from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which state that Soorat
al-Ikhlaas (Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad) is equivalent to one-third of the
Qur'aan.
Al-Bukhaari (6643) narrated from Abu Sa'eed that a man heard another
man reciting Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad and repeating it. The next morning
he came to the Messenger of Allaah (peaceand blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and told him about that. The man thought that it was too
little, but the Messenger ofAllaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, it is equivalent
to one-third of the Qur'aan."
Muslim (811) narrated from Abu'l-Dardaa' that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Is any one of you unable to
recite one-third of the Qur'aan in one night?" They said, "How could
anyone read one-third of the Qur'aan?" He said, "QulHuwa Allaahu Ahad
is equivalent to one-third of the Qur'aan."
Muslim (812) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Gather together,
for I will recite to you one-third of the Qur'aan." So those who could
gather together gathered there, then the Prophet of Allaah(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came out and recited Qul Huwa Allaahu
Ahad, then he went in. They said to one another, Perhaps there hasbeen
some news from heaven on account of which he has gone inside (the
house). Then the Prophet of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) came out and said, "I told you that I was going to recite to
you one-third of the Qur'aan. Verily it is equivalent to one-third of
the Qur'aan."
Secondly: The bounty of Allaah is immense, and Allaah has bestowed His
bounty upon this ummah and has made up for its short life span by
giving it more reward for simple deeds. It is strange that with some
people, insteadof this motivating them todo more good, this makes them
apathetic and lazy indoing acts of worship, or they feel that this
bounty and reward is strange and farfetched.
With regard to the meaning of the hadeeth:
There is a difference between jaza' (reward) and ijza' (what is
sufficient). What is makingthe brother confused is that he does not
see the difference between them.
Jaza' means the reward which Allaah gives for obeying Him.
Ijza' means what is sufficient and takes the place of something else.
Reciting Qul Huwa AllaahuAhad brings a reward equivalent to reciting
one-third of the Qur'aan, but it does not take the place of reading
one-third of the Qur'aan.
If a person vows – for example – to read one-third of the Qur'aan,
itis not sufficient for him to read Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad, because it
is equivalent to one-third of the Qur'aan in reward, but not in terms
of being sufficient or taking the place of reading one-third of the
Qur'aan.
The same may be said of reciting it three times. If a person recites
it three times in his prayer, that does not mean that he does not have
to recite al-Faatihah, even though he will be given the reward of
reciting the whole Qur'aan.
A similar example is the reward given by the Lawgiver to one who
offers a single prayer in the Sanctuary of Makkah, and that he will
have the reward of one hundred thousand prayers. Does anyone take this
divine bounty to means that he does not have to pray for decades
because he offered a single prayer in the Haram that is equivalent to
one hundredthousand prayers?
Rather this has to do withreward; as for what is sufficient, that is
another matter altogether.
Moreover, none of the scholars has ever said that there is no need
for us to read the Qur'aan or that Qul Huwa Allaah Ahad is sufficient
and takes the place of that. The correct scholarly view is that this
soorah has this great virtue because the Qur'aandeals with three
topics: one-third for rulings, one-third for promises andwarnings, and
one-third for the Divine names and attributes.
This soorah combines names and attributes.
This is the view of Abu'l-'Abbaas ibn Surayj, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah stated that it was good in Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 17/103.
The Muslim cannot do without the two other issues, which are the
rulings and the promises and warnings. His knowledge cannot be
complete unless he looks at the Book of Allaah as a whole. The one who
stops at Soorat al-Ikhlaas cannotknow the other two matters.

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