Taking pills to prevent menses in order to observe i’tikaaf

I want to sit in Aitikaaf. This would be my third time I will be in
Aitikaaf. My menses date will be somewhere in the last 10days of
Ramadaan. There are pills available nowadays to stop the periods. I
have used them while I sat in Aitikaa for the first time as my menses
date was there. But this time I am afraid to use them as I had cancer
and I have been operated and went through Chemotherapy. When I was
diagnosed to cancer I did neeeyat that may ALLAH grant me health and I
will sit in Aitikaaf. Now it the matter of my promise with ALL MIGHTY
ALLAH. What should I do? Should I consult a doctor to knowif the pills
would be no harm or shall I not sit in Aitikaaf? Please tell me as I
am very worried.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
We ask Allaah to heal you and grant you good health, and to keep your
spiritual and worldly affairs safe and sound.
Secondly:
It is permissible to take pills to prevent menses in order to be able
to do actsof worship such as i'tikaaf,'umrah and Hajj, but that is
subject to the condition that they should not be harmful to the body.
As you are suffering from thedisease that you mentioned, you have to
consult the doctor before taking these pills, and make sure that they
will not conflict with your treatment or cause any harm to you. The
Muslim is enjoined to take care of his body and not harm it, because
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And do not kill yourselves (nor kill one another). Surely, Allaah is
Most Merciful to you"
[al-Nisa' 4:29]
"and do not throw yourselves into destruction"
[al-Baqarah 2:195]
and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"There should be neither causing harm nor reciprocating harm."
Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Maajah (2341), classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.
It says in al-Adaab al-Shar'iyyah (2/463): It is haraam to use as a
remedy anything that causes harm. End quote.
Based on this, if these pillsare harmful then it is not permissible
for you to take them, and you can start i'tikaaf, then if your menses
comes then you should leave the mosque and stop i'tikaaf; this is
anexcuse for you to stop it, and in fact it will be obligatory for you
to do so because it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to
remain in the mosque.
But if they are not harmful then there is nothing wrong with your taking them.
And Allaah knows best.

Ruling on the view that we should seek to acquire the characteristics of Allaah

Ruling on the view that we should seek to acquire the characteristics of Allaah
/
One of the khateebs said in his Friday khutbah that we have to strive
to acquire the attributes and characteristics of Allaah. Is there a
correct way of interpreting this sentence, and isthere anyone who has
said this before?.
Praise be to Allaah.
This sentence is not appropriate,but there is a correct way of
interpreting it, which is that we are encouraged to strive to acquire
the characteristics implied by the attributes and names of Allaah.
That means looking at the attributes which itis befitting for a
created being to acquire the characteristics implied by them, unlike
the attributes which belong only to Allaah, such as His being the
Creator, the Provider, the One God, etc. These are characteristics
which a created being cannot acquire, and it is not permissible for
him to lay claim to them or similar names. Rather what is referred to
is the attributes which Allaah likes for His slaves to acquire the
characteristics implied thereby, such as knowledge, strength, mercy,
forbearance, generosity and forgiveness, etc. So Allaah isAll-Knowing
and loves those who are knowledgeable; He is Strong and He loves the
strong believer more than He loves the weak believer; He is Generous
and loves those who are generous; He is Merciful and He loves those
who show mercy; He is Forgiving and loves forgiveness, etc. But when
applied to Allaah, these attributes are more perfect and greater than
when applied to any created being, because there is nothing like unto
Allaah in His attributes and actions, justas there is nothing like
unto Allaah in His Essence. Rather it is sufficient for a person to
have ashare in the sense of these attributes, in a manner that
suitshim and within the limits set by sharee'ah. If his generosity
oversteps the mark, then he becomes a spendthrift; if his mercy
oversteps the mark, then he will not carry out the punishments
dictated by sharee'ah; if his forgiveness transgresses the limits set
by sharee'ah, then it is inappropriate. This was stated by the great
scholar Ibn al-Qayyim in his books 'Uddat al-Saabireen and al-Waabil
al-Sayyib, and in other books such as al-Madaarij and Zaad al-Ma'aad.
There follows what hesaid in al-'Uddah and al-Waabil:
In al-'Uddah (p. 310) he said: "Because Allaah is indeed the
Appreciative (al-Shukoor), the most beloved of His creation to Him are
those who have the characteristic of gratitude (al-shukr), just as the
most hatedof His creation to Him are those who are lacking in this
characteristic or who have the opposite characteristic. This applies
to His Beautiful names: the most beloved of His creationto Him are
those who have the characteristics implied by His names, and the most
hated of His creation to Him are those who have the opposite
characteristics. Hence He hates those who are ungrateful, those who do
wrong, those who are ignorant, hard-hearted, miserly, cowardly and
ignoble. He is Beautiful and loves beauty; He isAll-Knowing and loves
those who have knowledge; He is Merciful and loves those who show
mercy; He does good and loves those who do good; He is the Concealer
and loves those who conceal; He is Powerful andcondemns those who act
helpless, and the strong believeris more beloved to Him than the weak
believer; He is forgiving and loves forgiveness; He is Oneand He loves
that which is odd-numbered; everything that He loves is connected to
His names and attributes; and everything that He hates is the opposite
of that."
He said in al-Waabil (p. 543 of Majmoo'at al-Hadeeth): "Generosity is
one of the attributes of the Lord, for He gives and does not take, He
feeds and is not fed, He is the most generous of those who are
generous. The most beloved of His creation to Him are those who seek
to acquire the characteristics implied by His attributes. For He is
Generous and loves those among His slaves who are generous; He is
All-Knowing and loves those who have knowledge; He is All-Powerful and
loves those who are courageous; He is Beautiful and loves beauty."
I hope that what we have mentioned will be sufficient andwill serve
the intended purpose. I ask Allaah to help us all to understand His
religion and to fulfil our duty towards Him, for He is All-Hearing,
Ever Near.
Majmoo' Fataawa wa MaqaalaatMutanawwi'ah,

Can the one who is observing i’tikaaf give lessons and halaqahs?

Is it acceptable for the one who is observing i'tikaaf to teach
someone or give a lesson?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is better for the one who is observing i'tikaaf to focus on worship
by himself such as dhikr, prayer, reading Qur'aan and so on. But if
there is aneed to teach someone orlearn, there is nothing wrong with
that, because it is also remembrance of Allaah (dhikr). End quote.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him)
Risaalah Ahkaam al-Siyaam wa'l-I'tikaaf

Taking help and asking for it from the state and from the church

I live in America and we take some free services, especially since we are regarded as having limited income. But some of these services, such as food for example, can be taken from the churches. Is that permissible?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There is nothing wrong with taking help from the state or from organizations based on donations, even if they are churches, so long as that does not lead to compromising on anyissue of religion or approving anything wrong or the children being influenced and so on. But refraining from that and doing without it is preferable, because the upper hand (the one that gives) is better than the lower (the one that takes), especially with regard to taking from the church which usually has ulteriormotives in what it gives to the Muslims. Al-Bukhaari (1428) narrated from Hakeem ibn Hizaam (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The upper hand(the one that gives) is better thanthe lower (the one that takes). Start with those for whom you are responsible. The best of charity is that which is given when you can afford it, and whoever refrains (from taking charity), Allah will help him; whoever tries to do without charity, Allah will make him independent of means. ”
Al-Bukhaari (1429) and Muslim (1033) narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings andpeace of Allah be upon him) say, when he was on the minbar, speaking about charity and refraining from begging: “The upper hand is better than the lower hand, and the upper hand is the one that gives and the lower hand is the one that receives.”
Asking for charity from people is something blameworthy, even if one is asking from a Muslim, unless the one who asks is forced to do so, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Asking for help causes a man to lose face, except when a man asks someone in a position of authority or asks for something that he has no choice but to ask for.”
Classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi and by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
It was also narrated by Abu Dawood (1639) as follows: “Begging (is like) wounds that a person scars his face with. So whoever wishes to save face may do so, and whoever wishes not to save face may do so, except if a person asks a person of authority, or is in a situation inwhich he finds no alternative.”
It says in Subul al-Salaam (1/548): Wounds means marks or traces. As for his asking from a person in authority, there is no blame in that, because he is only asking for what he is entitled to from the bayt al-maal, and it is not a favour on the part of the person in authority, because he is acting as a trustee, so it is like aperson asking the trustee to givehim something to which he is entitled that he has with him. Endquote.
Al-Bukhaari (1475) and Muslim (1040) narrated that ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “A man will keep on begging from people until he comes on the Day of Resurrection with not a bit of flesh on his face.”
And Muslim (1041) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Whoever begs from the people in order to accumulate wealth, it is as if he is asking for a live coal,so let him ask for a little or a lot.”
What is meant by the words “Whoever begs from the people in order to accumulate wealth” is that he asks of people in order toaccumulate a lot of wealth when he is not in need of it.
In these hadeeths there is an eloquent rebuke, which is clearly aimed at putting people off begging, except one who is forced to do that and can find noother alternative.
Based on that, so long as you arenot in urgent need of help, you should refrain from asking for it, but if you are in need of it, there is nothing wrong with you asking for it and taking it.
We ask Allah to make you independent of means from His bounty.
And Allah knows best./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en