Learn from this man, he is the best

When Mu'aawiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Salami came to Madeenah from the
desert, he did not know that it was forbidden to speak during the
salaah. He relates: "Whilst I was praying behind the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), a man sneezed, so
I said 'Yarhamuk Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you).' The people
glared at me, so I said, 'May my mother lose me! What is wrong with
you that you are looking at me?' They began to slap their thighs with
their hands, and when I saw that they were indicating that I should be
quiet, I stoppedtalking (i.e., I nearly wanted to answer them back,
but I controlled myself and kept quiet).
When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) had finished praying - may my father and mother be sacrificed for
him, I have never seena better teacher than him before or since - he
did not scold me or hit me or put me to shame. He just said, 'This
prayer should contain nothing of the speech of men; it is only tasbeeh
and takbeer and recitation of the Qur'aan.'"Source: Saheeh Muslim,
'Abd al-Baaqi edn., no. 537.
May Allah give us the beautiful qualities of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

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When to Start Ordering the Young to Fast

The young is told to start praying when they are seven year old and
they are to be punished for notperforming prayer when they ten,
according to Sunnah. Does the same rule apply for fasting?
The young boy is ordered to fast when he reaches the age of 7 is if he
is physically capable of bearing it. (Some Muslim scholars that he
should bephysically reprimanded if he does not fast by the age of 10,
which is the same rule that is applied to prayer; refer to Al Mughni
3/90). The boy will get a reward for fasting and his parents will get
a reward for teaching him well and guiding him to that whichis good.
Al Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwadh (may Allaah be pleased with her) said about
fasting 'Aashouraa' at the time when it was mandatory to fast it and
not voluntary: we used tomake our young boys fast, and we made them
atoy made out of wool. If one of the boys cried [wanting] food, we
wouldgive him [the toy to distract him] until it was time to break the
fast." (AlBukhari Fath # 1960). (Ashouraa is the tenth dayof the month
of Muharram. Although fasting this day is now voluntary the majority
of Muslims usually fast.) Some people are quite lenient and lax when
it comes to making their children fast. A situation may even arise
where theyoung child feels enthusiastic and chooses to fast and is
physically capable of doing so, then his father or mother orderhim to
break his fast claiming that it is out of sympathy. Little do they
know that real sympathy is in stressing the importance of fasting and
teaching the child about it. Allaah said in Surat ul-Tahreem
(interpretation of the meaning): "O you who believe! Ward yourselves
and your families off froma fire (Hell) whose fuel is of men and
stones, over which are appointed angels stern and severe, who do not
disobey the commands they receive from Allaah, and execute that which
they are commanded." We must pay extra attention to theyoung girl when
she first starts fasting after she reaches puberty. There is a
possibility that she will fast while she has her period (the first
time) out of shame or shyness, and end up not making up thedays later
on.

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The ‘iddah of a divorcedwoman who is pregnant

A man had an argument with his wife and told her,"You are divorced."
She swore at him so he kickedher in the stomach and pushed her down
the stairs. She was five months pregnant and she lost the baby. Then
he regretted it and went to her family's house to take her back. Her
father askedme for advice and I asked him to wait until I consulted
one of the 'ulama' (scholars) because maybe her 'iddah ended when she
miscarried. What is the ruling on that?
Praise be to Allaah.
The scholars are agreed that the 'iddah of a divorced woman who is
pregnant ends when the pregnancy ends, because Allaah says
(interpretationof the meaning):
"And for those who are pregnant (whether they are divorced or their
husbands are dead), their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is until they lay
down their burden"
[al-Talaaq 65:4]
They are also agreed that if a woman miscarries a foetus in which
human features are apparent, her'iddah ends at that point. (al-Mughni
11/229). The human features start to appear after eighty days, and are
usually very clear by ninety days.
Based on this, if a womanmiscarries in the fifth month of pregnancy,
her 'iddah ends at that point, according to all the scholars, and her
husbandhas no right to take her back after her 'iddah has ended.
But he may make a new marriage contract with her if he wants to, but
that has to be with her approval and in the presence of her wali
(guardian) and two witnesses, and with a dowry (mahr).
There are two things which this man who caused this miscarriage has to do.
1 – He has to expiate for killing by mistake, which is by freeing a
believing slave; if he cannot do thatthen he must fast for two
consecutive months, because Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"and whosoever kills a believer by mistake, (it is ordained that) he
must set free a believing slave and a compensation (blood money, i.e.
Diya) be given to the deceased'sfamily unless they remit it…
And whoso finds this (the penance of freeing a slave) beyond his
means, he must fast for two consecutive months in order to seek
repentance from Allaah. And Allaah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise"
[al-Nisa' 4:92]
2 – He must also pay the diyah (blood money) for the foetus, which is
one-tenth of the diyah forthe mother. The diyah for a Muslim woman is
fifty camels, which is equivalent in modern terms to 60, 000 Saudi
Riyals. So the father must pay 6,000 riyals or its equivalent in
another currency to the heirs of the foetus, and it should be shared
out among them as if the foetus had died and left that behind, but the
father does not inherit anything, because the killer does not inherit
from the one whom he killed. Ibn Qudaamah said:"If the person who
causedthe miscarriage was the father of the foetus or oneof the other
heirs, then hemust give a slave and we have stated above that the
equivalent is to pay 6,000 Saudi riyals or an equal amount in another
currency and he does not inherit anything of that, and he should free
a slave. This is the view of al-Zuhri, al-Shaafa'i and others."
(al-Mughni, 12/81).
And Allaah knows best. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our
Prophet Muhammad.

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The Great number of inhabitants

"And most of the people are not believers even though you take great
care in this respect."
[Yusuf, 12: 103]
Abu Hurairah (radiAllahu anhu) narrated: "The Prophet (salAllahu
alayhi wasalam) said, 'The first man to be called on the Day of
Resurrection will be Adam, who will be shown his descendants. And it
will be said to them, "This is your father, Adam." Adam will say,
[responding to the call],"Labbayk wa sa'dayk." Then Allah will say [to
Adam], "Bring forth from your descendants the delegations of the
Fire." He will say, "O Lord, how many should I bring?" Allah will
answer, "From every hundred, ninety-nine.'"
The companions said, 'O Messenger of Allah, if ninety-nine out of
every one hundred of us are brought forth , then what will remain of
us?' The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) stated, 'My nation among
other nations is like a white hairon a black bull.'"
[Sahih al-Bukhari]

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