Does a person who diedof cancer as a result of smoking attain the status of a martyr?

Does a person who died of cancer as a result of smoking attain the
status of a martyr?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is proven in the saheeh Sunnah that there are various kinds of
martyrs who will attain the status of martyrdom in the Hereafter; this
is by the grace and mercy of Allah.
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that
the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "The martyrs are five: the one who dies of the plague, the one
who dies of a stomach disease, the one who drowns, the one who is
crushed beneath a falling wall, and the martyr who is killed for the
sake of Allaah."
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Ibn al-Teen said: All of these are deaths which involve hardship.
Allah has bestowed His grace upon the ummah of Muhammad (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) by making them means of erasing their sins
and increasing their rewards, and enabling them to attain the status
of martyrdom.
Fath al-Baari, 6/44
If a person dies of cancer, some of the scholars are of the view that
he is included among the typesof martyr mentioned in the hadeeth, on
the basis that the word mabtoon (the one who dies of a disease in the
abdomen) is general and includes everyone who dies of a disease in his
abdomen and that this does not apply to any one specific disease.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The word mabtoon means the one with a disease in the abdomen, which is
diarrhoea. Al-Qaadi said: And it was said that he is the one who
suffers from dropsy or oedema and swelling of the abdomen. And it was
said that it refers to the one who suffers somedisease in his abdomen.
And it was said that it refers to anyone who diesfrom a disease in the
abdomen in general. End quote from Sharh Muslim by al-Nawawi.
But it should be noted that this suggestion is connected to two conditions:
(i) that the site ofthe cancer be in the abdomen so
that he may truly be said to be mabtoon.
Shaykh 'Abd al-Muhsin al-'Abbaad (may Allah preserve him) was asked:
Does a person who dies ofcancer come under the heading of mabtoon?
He replied:
No, because cancer is not always in the stomach; it may be somewhere
other than the stomach.
Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood (tape no. 230)
As the site of your friend'scancer was in the throat, he is not
included among any of the groups who are regarded as martyrs.
(ii) that the disease should not have been caused by
smoking, taking drugs or drinking alcohol, or other haraam things,
unless he has repented sincerely from that and has given up consuming
those haraam things.
This condition is general and applies to all those mentioned in the
hadeeth. If a woman is pregnant as the result of zina and dies in
labour, she is not regarded as oneof the martyrs. If a personwho
drowned had boarded the boat or ship in order to commit sin or some
immoral activity, and dies as a result of drowning, he is not one
ofthe martyrs. A person who is killed by a falling wall when he is
committing zina or drinking alcohol is not one of the martyrs. In the
answer to question no. 45669, we have quoted the Standing Committee as
saying that a person who dies as the result of acar accident when he
was inside the car comes under the same heading as one who was killed
by a falling wall, so he is a martyr, by Allah's leave. But this
cannot be appliedto those foolish young men to whom this happens when
they are racing in their cars, or to those who compete in difficult
circumstances in the mountains or in the snow ("extreme sports").
In the answer to question no. 22140 , we quoted Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah as saying that ifa person drowns after boarding a ship for
sinful purposes, he is not a martyr.
And elsewhere he said:
Whoever wants to follow a path where the possibilities of being safe
or being killed are equal has to refrain from following it; if he does
notrefrain, then he is aiding in his own destruction so he is not a
martyr.
Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 5/381
Al-Suyooti (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Al-Qurtubi said: This and the previous one -- i.e., those who are
killed by a falling wall or drowning --if they did not take risks and
did not fail to take precautions, (then they are martyrs). But if they
did not take precautions and died as a result of that, then they are
sinners.
Al-Deebaaj 'ala Muslim (4/508)....

--
- - - - - - -

Confused about a fatwaon the ruling on showing pictures of women’s fashions

In your fatwa on the website entitled Putting women's pictures in
women-only chat rooms to learn how to do makeup and other adornments,
it says that itis permissible to show pictures of fashion outfits in
chat rooms with the head cut off or with the facial features blotted
out completely. I was confused by this. How canthis be permissible
when a man who goes to this page could see it? Does blotting out the
facial features cancel out the fitnah altogether? How many men have
been tempted by a woman's body even though her face is ugly! If it is
permissible, then what is the benefit of the command to wear the
abayah if the body is not a source of temptation and it is permissible
for men to look at it? Aren't all parts of the woman's body 'awrah and
don't men have to lower their gaze and not look at her? What is the
evidence for this being permissible?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
We appreciate your concern and your keenness to seek good. We ask
Allah to make us and you steadfast in obedience to Him.
Secondly:
The fatwa you mention has to do with women's chat rooms. It stated
that it is haraam to publish pictures of women on the Internet, but it
granted a concession allowing posting pictures of "outfits minus the
head, or with the facial features blotted out completely". That is
because of what was mentioned in the question, which is that it is for
the purpose of learning and benefitting. Undoubtedly the aim of the
fatwa was to avoid fitnah and block the causes that lead to it. If the
pictures of outfits leadto fitnah, such as if they were physical
bodies or they were provocative pictures, then the answer is that it
is also forbidden to post them.
There is no doubt that men are enjoined to lower their gaze and avoid
looking at women, their faces and their bodies, with no
differentiation. And there is no doubt that the woman's entire body is
'awrah as you say. But thepoint that should be noted here is that the
chat room is for women and this means will divertmany women from
looking at harmful fashion magazines, and sothey can find what they
need on these websites. But we affirm that if the pictures of fashion
outfits are done in a way that promotes fitnah, then they should not
be allowed and ways must be sought of presenting them without showing
them on bodies.
To sum up: we have to differentiate here between two things having to
do with this issue:
1. The issue of the image itself, regardless of whether it results
in fitnah or not. This is the one for which it is stipulated that the
head be cut off
2. The issue of fitnah, which must be warded offand prevented, if
it is thought most likely that itwill occur.
And Allah knows best.

--
- - - - - - -

He broke the fast deliberately when he was younger; what should he do?

I am now sixteen. When I was fourteen I had some bad friends and I
used to spend most of my time with them. I used to go out with them
during the day in Ramadan, and I used to break the fast andeat food
and smoke cigarettes, etc. I also used to do the secret habit.
I do not remember how many days I broke the first, as it never
occurred to me that I would have to make them up. I also did not know
that the secret habit is haraam. What should I do now? Can you give me
any advice? Can observing naafil fasts take the place of making up
fasts?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Islamic duties are not obligatory for a boy until after he reaches
puberty, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "The Pen has been lifted from three: from the insane one
who has lost his mind until he comes to his senses; from the sleeper
until he wakes up;and from the child until he reaches puberty."
Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4399; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood.
The sign of puberty for males is when one of three things happen:
emission of maniy (semen), growth of coarsehair around the private
part, or reaching the age of fifteen.
In the case of females, puberty is reached when one of these three
signs appear; in addition there is a fourth sign, namely menstruation.
It is not essential that all of the signs appear; ratherthe appearance
of one of them is sufficient to rule that the individual has reached
puberty.
It should be noted that the years that count with regard to reaching
puberty are hijri years (Islamic lunar calendar). If your age at the
time you mentioned was fourteen years according to the Gregorian
calendar, then your age according to the Hijri calendar will be
approximately half a year more than that; in this case it is likely
that you had reached the age of accountability.
All of this applies so long as the other signs had notappeared in your case.
Based on that, if you broke the fast in Ramadanwhen you had not yet
reached puberty, then youdo not have to do anything, because fasting
was not obligatory for you (at that time).
But if you broke the fast during the day in Ramadan when you had
reached puberty at that time according to one of the signs of puberty
mentioned above, then what you have to do is repent and regret it, and
resolve not to go back to that grave sin again.
With regard to making upthe fasts, if you broke the fast during the
day after having started to fast it, then you have to make upthe fast,
but if you did notfast at all, then you do nothave to make it up and
it is sufficient to repent sincerely, in sha Allah.
You have to do a lot of voluntary fasts, because that will make up for
the shortcomings that occurred with regard to the obligatory fast.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) was asked about
theruling on breaking the fast during the day in Ramadan without any
excuse.
He replied:
Breaking the fast during the day in Ramadan without any excuse is
oneof the gravest of major sins, and the individual becomes a faasiq
(rebellious evildoer) thereby. He has to repent to Allah and make up
thatday on which he broke the fast. In other words, if he fasted and
during the day he broke the fast withno excuse, then he has sinned. He
has to make upthat day on which he broke the fast, because when he
started to fast it became binding upon him; because he started it on
the basis that it was obligatory, he has to make it up, like a vow
that must be fulfilled. But if he deliberately did not fast at all
with no excuse, then the more correct view is that he does not have to
make it up, because it will not benefithim at all, as it will never be
accepted from him. The basic principle with regard to the act of
worship that are connected to a specific time is that if it is
delayeduntil that specific time hasended with no excuse, it will not
be accepted, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "Whoever does an action that is not part of this matter of
ours will have itrejected." And because he has transgressed the limits
set by Allah, and transgressing the limits set by Allah is wrongdoing,
and good deeds are not accepted from the wrongdoer. Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of themeaning):
"And whoever transgresses the limits ordained by Allah, then such are
the Zalimoon (wrong-doers, etc.)"
[al-Baqarah 2:229].
And just as if he did this act of worship before the time for it
began, it wouldnot be accepted from him,by the same token if he does
it after the time for it has ended it will not be accepted from him
unless he had an excuse.

--
- - - - - - -

ROTATION OF SUN AND MOON

Today we know that the Moon revolves around the earth in approximately
29.5 days. The sunalso revolves in its own orbit. To understand the
sun's orbit, Dr. Bucaille says that the position of the sun in our
galaxy must be considered, and we must therefore call on modern
scientific ideas (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 162).
Our galaxy, the milky way galaxy, includes one hundred billion stars
situated in such a formationthat the galaxy is shaped like a disc.
This disc turns around its center like a gramophone record.Now, it is
obvious that when a gramophone record turns, any point on the disc
would move around and come back to its original position. Similarly,
every star in the galaxy moves as the galaxy rotates on its axis.
Therefore the stars that are awayfrom the center of the galaxy orbit
around the axis. The sun is one of those stars.
Dr. Bucaille explains that modern science has worked out the details
of the sun's orbit as follows:
"To complete one revolution on its own axis, the galaxy and the sun
take roughly 250 million years. The sun travels roughly 150 miles per
second in the completion of this" (The Bible, theQuran and Science, p.
162).
After describing this, Dr. Bucaille comments:
"The above is the orbital movement of the sun that was already
referred to in the Quran fourteen centuries ago." (The Bible, the
Quran and Science, p. 162)
And yet this is a new finding. As Dr. Bucaille says, the knowledge of
the sun's orbit is an acquisition of modern astronomy(The Bible, the
Quran and Science,p. 162).
Two verses in the Quran refer to the orbits of the sun and moon. After
mentioning the sun and themoon, Allah says:
"Each one is traveling in an orbit with its own motion" (Quran, 21:33; 36:40).
Even after the Quran was revealed, early commentators could not
conceive of the orbits of the sun and moon. The tenth century
commentator Tabari could not explain this so he said, "It is our duty
to keep silent when we do not know" (XVII, 15 quoted in The Bible, the
Quran and Science, p. 161).
Dr. Bucaille comments:
"This shows just how incapable men were of understanding this concept
of the sun's and moon's orbit." (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p.
161).
From this it is clear that if the Quran was here expressing an idea
already known to the people, the commentators would have easily
understood it. But this, as Dr. Bucaille explains was "a new concept
that was not to be explained until centuries later"(The Bible, the
Quran and Science,p. 161)
This confirms what Allah said to his prophet, on whom be peace:
"This is of the tidings of the Unseen which we inspire in you
(Muhammad). Neither you nor your people knew it before this" (Quran
11:49)

--
- - - - - - -