3] Ruling on observing i‘tikaaf in a room that is separate from the mosque

3]
Our mosque has two places that are separate, outside the mosque. We
had got used to praying in this place, but since construction on the
mosque was completed, we pray inside the mosque. Is it permissible for
us to observe i'tikaaf in these two places?.
Praise be to Allaah.
I'tikaaf means staying in the mosque to worship Allah, and it is
something that is done only in the mosques and is not valid if done
elsewhere.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allahhave mercy on him) said: I'tikaaf observed
anywhere but in a mosque is not valid if the person observing i'tikaaf
is a man. We do not knowof any difference among the scholars
concerning this. The basic principle with regard to that is the verse
in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): "And do not have
sexual relations withthem (your wives) while you are in I'tikaaf (i.e.
confining oneself in a mosque for prayers and invocations leaving the
worldly activities) in the mosques" [al-Baqarah 2:187]. So it is
something that is only for the mosques. If it were valid to preserve
i'tikaaf anywhere else, the prohibition on intimacy would not have
been mentioned only with regard to the mosques, because intimacy is
forbidden during i'tikaaf in all cases. According to the hadeeth of
'Aa'ishah, she said: "The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) used to put his head into (my room) when he was in
the mosque, and I would comb his hair. He did not enter the house
except for some need when he was observing i'tikaaf." Al-Daaraqutni
narrated with his isnaad from al-Zuhri, from 'Urwah and Sa'eed ibn
al-Musayyab from 'Aa'ishah in a hadeeth: The Sunnah is for the person
who is observing i'tikaaf not to go out except for necessary purposes,
and there is no i'tikaaf except in a mosque where prayers are offered
in congregation (jamaa 'ah).
End quote from al-Mughni, 3/65
With regard to this separate place, it does notseem that it is part of
the mosque that is built for prayer, so it is not valid toobserve
i'tikaaf there. The guideline in defining whatis included in the rooms
of the mosque and what is not included is as follows:
1. If the room that is connected to the mosque was built to be a
mosque, i.e., the builder of the mosque intended it to be part of the
mosque in which prayers are offered,then it comes under the same
rulings as the mosque and it is permissible to observe i'tikaaf there,
and women who are menstruating or bleeding following childbirth
(nifaas) should not be allowed to enter it.
But if it was intended to be extra space for teaching or holding
meetings, or as accommodation for the imam or muezzin, and notas a
place for prayer, it does not come under the same rulings as a mosque
in that case.
2. If the intention of theone who built the mosque is not known,
then the basic principle is that whatever is within the wall of the
mosque and has a door into the mosque comes under the same rulings as
the mosque.
3. The courtyard that is enclosed within the wall of the mosque
comes under the same rulings as the mosque.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The walls of the mosque,
both inside and outside, comes under the same rulings as the mosque
andit is obligatory to protect them and respect their sanctity. The
same appliesto its roof, the well inside it, and its courtyard.
Al-Shaafa'i and his companions (may Allah have mercy on them) stated
that it is valid to observe i'tikaaf in its courtyard or on its roof,
and the prayer of one who follows an imam who is inside the mosque in
these places is valid.
End quote from al-Majmoo', 2/207
It says in Mataalib Ooli al-Nuha (2/234): Also included as part of the
mosque are its roof and its enclosed courtyard. Al-Qaadi said: If it
has a wall and gate, then they are like the mosque, because they are
part of itand belong to it. If it is not enclosed, then it does not
come under the same rulings as the mosque. Also part of the mosque
isthe minaret, if it or its door is in the mosque; butif it or its
gate is outside, even if they are close, andthe person who is
observing i'tikaaf goes out to them to give the adhaan, his i'tikaaf
is rendered invalid. End quote.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) was asked: With
regard to a room that is inside the mosque, is it permissible to
observe i'tikaaf in it? He replied: That depends. The one who studies
the words of the fuqaha' in general willsay that it is part of the
mosque, because they saythat the room that is enclosed by the walls of
the mosque are part of the mosque. But the one who thinks that it was
not built as part of the mosque and that it is a room for the imam,
will regard it as being like the houses of the Messenger (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him), :->

2a] Fasting lasts until the sun sets and is not as some of the Shi’ah say

2a]
He said: It is still day. He said:Dismount and make saweeq for us. So
he dismounted and made saweeq for them, and the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) drank it, then he said: When you see that
night has come from here,then let the fasting person break his fast.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
This hadeeth indicates that it is mustahabb to hasten to break the
fast and that it is not permissible to refrain from eating and
drinking for any part of the night at all; rather as soon as it is
established that the sunhas set, it is permissible tobreak the fast.
End quote.
Fath al-Baari, 4/197.
Moreover, the fact that there is consensus among the Muslims regarding
breaking the fast and eating as soon as one hears the muezzin give the
call to Maghrib prayer when the sun disappears is evidence that this
is thetruth and the one who goes against that is following something
other than the way of the believers and has introduced something into
the religion for whichhe has no proof or reportsfrom the scholars.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Maghrib comes immediately after the sunhas set, and this is something
on which thereis consensus. Something concerning this was narrated
from the Shi'ah to which no attention should be paid and which has no
basis. End quote.
Sharh Muslim, 5/136
In fact, in many of the books of the Shi'ah it mentions that on which
there is consensus among the Muslims concerning this matter. Some of
themnarrated from Ja'far al-Saadiq (may Allah have mercy on him) that
he said: "When the sun sets, it becomes permissible to break the fast
and it becomes obligatory to offer the prayer." End quote.
Al-Baroojardi narrated from the author of al-Da'aa'im that he said: We
narrated from Ahl al-Bayt -- may the blessings of Allah be uponthem
all -- that there was consensus concerning thatwhich we learned from
the reports from them, that the onset of night which makes it
permissible for the fastingperson to break the fast isthe
disappearance of the sun beneath the western horizon without any
barrier which would prevent seeing it such as amountain or wall and
the like. When the disk disappears beneath the horizon, then the night
has begun and it is permissible to break the fast. End quote.
Jaami' Ahaadeeth al-Shi'ah, 9/165
To sum up: what are some of the Shi'ah do now, of delaying Maghrib
prayer and the breaking of the fast until sometimeafter the sun has
set is contrary to what is indicated by the Holy Qur'aan, the saheeh
Sunnah of the Prophet and the consensus of the Muslims.
Moreover it is contrary to what they themselves narrated from their Imams!
And Allah knows best.

2] Fasting lasts until the sun sets and is not as some of the Shi’ah say

2]
I am asking about the topic of fasting and breaking the fast. I was
speaking to my neighbours who follow the Shi'i madhhab, and they
recited to me a verseof Qur'aan which says thatfasting is from the
time ofthe white thread until night, and it is not until sunset only.
This is what they said to me. I hope that you can advise me, may Allah
reward you with the best of rewards.
Praise be to Allaah.
The time of fasting on which the Muslims are unanimously agreed and
which they have followedfrom the time of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) and his Companions until the present day
is from the break of the truedawn until when the disk of the sun
disappears completely beneath the horizon. This is indicated by the
Qur'aan and Sunnah and definitive consensus of the Muslims.
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): "then complete your Sawm
(fast) till the nightfall [al-layl]" [al-Baqarah 2:187]. Al-layl
[translated here as nightfall] in the language of the Arabs starts
when the sun sets.
It says in al-Qamoos al-Muheet (1364): al-Layl: from the setting of
the sun until the break of the true dawn or sunrise. End quote.
It says in Lisaan al-'Arab (11/607): al-Layl: comes straight after the
end of al-Nahaar (day), and startswhen the sun sets. End quote.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy onhim) said in his
commentary on this verse:
The words of Allah "then complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall"
imply that breaking the fast at the moment of sunset is a shar'i rule.
End quote.
Tafseer al-Qur'aan al-'Azeem, 1/517
In fact some commentators have pointed out that the use of the
preposition ila (till) in this verse also implies hastening, because
that preposition indicates reaching the end and achieving the goal.
Al-'Allaamah al-Taahir ibn 'Ashoor (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Ila al-layl (till the nightfall) means until one achieves that goal
and reaches the night, and thepreposition ila is chosen to indicate
that one should hasten to break the fast when the sun sets, because
the preposition ila means thatthe purpose is achieved then, unlike the
preposition hatta (until). What is meant here is to indicate that the
fast is completed when the night begins. End quote.
Al-Tahreer wa'l-Tanweer, 1/181
All of that is supported by what is narrated in al-Saheehayn from
Ameeral-Mu'mineen 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with
him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peaceof Allah be
upon him) said: "When the night comes from here and the day departs
from here, and the sun sets, then it istime for the fasting person to
break his fast." Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1954) and Muslim (1100).
In this hadeeth the coming of night from the east and the
disappearance of the disk of the sun below the horizon are mentioned
together, which is something that is well known, because darkness
starts from the East as soon as the light of the sun disappears below
the horizon. Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The phrase "when night comes from here" means from the east, and what
ismeant is when darkness becomes discernible. In this hadeeth he
mentioned three things, because even though theyare interconnected in
fact,they may appear not to be connected, and it may be thought that
night is coming from the east when it has not yet come,because
something is covering the light of the sun; the same is also true of
the departure of day. Hence it is clarified by the words "and the sun
sets", as an indication that it is essential to confirm that night has
come and day has gone, and that these events occur because of the
setting of the sun and not for any other reason. End quote.
Fath al-Baari, 4/196
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The scholars said: each of these three things impliesthe other two and
is interconnected with them. Rather he mentioned them togetherbecause
a person may be in a valley and the like in such a way that he
cannotsee the setting of the sun, so he relies on the comingof
darkness and the disappearing of daylight. End quote.
Sharh Muslim, 7/209
Al-Bukhaari (1955) and Muslim (1101) narrated that 'Abd-Allaah ibn Abi
Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were with the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) on a journey and
he was fasting. When the sun set, he said to one of the people: O So
and so, get up and make saweeq for us (mix it with water so that we
can drink it). He said O Messenger of Allah, why not wait till the
evening? He said: Dismount and make saweeq for us. He said: O
Messenger of Allah, why not wait till the evening? He said: :->

1b] Every cloud has a silver lining

Those who have no heart do not give thanks for theblessings of Allaah,
rather they are arrogant towardsthe creation of Allaah.
9 - The benefit of calamity is that it rescues man from negligence and
alerts him to his shortcomings in keeping his duty to Allaah, so that
he does not think that he is perfect, which would lead to hardening of
his heart and negligence.
Allaah says (interpretationof the meaning):
"When Our Torment reached them, why then did they not humble
themselves (believe with humility)? But their heartsbecame hardened,
and Shaytaan (Satan) made fair-seeming to them thatwhich they used to
do"
[al-An'aam 6:43]
10 - One of the benefits of tribulations and hardships is purification.
Hardships reveal how people really are, and distinguish the good
fromthe bad, the true from thefalse, the believer from the hypocrite.
Allaah says of the Battle of Uhud and what happened to the Muslims on
that day, explaining part of the wisdom behind this trial
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Allaah will not leave the believers in the state in which you are
now, until He distinguishes the wicked from the good"
[Aal 'Imraan 3:179]
So the true nature of all things is shown clearly.
11 - When Muslims help those Muslims who have been afflicted by
calamity,they will be rewarded for that. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The likeness of the believers
intheir mutual love, mercy and compassion is that of the body; when
one part of it suffers, the rest of thebody joins it in staying awake
and suffering fever." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6011; Muslim,2586.
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "None of you
truly believes until heloves for his brother whathe loves for
himself." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 13; Muslim, 45.
12 - At times of hardship and war we see the true meaning of the words
of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):
"Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness andpiety)"
[al-Maa'idah 5:2]
Ways of cooperating in da'wah and supporting Islam include: waging
jihad against the kuffaar and hypocrites for the sake of Allaah,
joining with the people of Islamicda'wah in fighting the followers of
kufr and misguidance, and preparing all means and tools for jihad for
the sakeof Allaah.
One of the ways of cooperating in supportingIslam that was invented at
the time of the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is
cooperating in killing those who claimed to be Prophets, killing the
leaders of the mushrikeenand the apostates, including those who
insulted the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).