Our attitude towards rumours and news on the Internet

How should we deal with the rumours that appear on the Internet? What
is the Muslim's attitude towards the news that weread here and there,
and what is written in chat rooms, especially since some of it is good
news for the Muslims, but the source is unknown.
Praise be to Allaah.
We live nowadays at a time when many rumours that bring hope are
appearing in the guise of news. These appears on Internet web sites
and chat rooms, so that they may be spread to the people as glad
tidings and so that good-hearted people may accept them as
indisputable facts coming from trustworthy sources. Even if any of
them could be proven, there are still many rumours that can be classed
as no more than fabrications. The one who thinks about this will
understand that many of the global media, including the Arab media,
exaggerate in their coverage of some events and they analyze them in a
subjective manner that shows a complete bias and evident absence of
objectivity, trying to take revenge by adding to the news and
exaggerating, and telling weird news stories. So there is no such
thing as credibility in these media, especially when emotions and
wishes play a part. This is apart from the fact that media objectivity
has become a victim of this current war, and western circles have
rejected the lessons [of objectivity, etc.]that they used to teach
others. But this does not mean that we should dispute the facts or
deny what is taking place in reality, or that we should face this bias
with exaggeration and hopes.
Here we should pause andremind ourselves, and the good-hearted people
who hear this news and tell it to others with good intentions – and
those who fabricate these rumours and take upon themselves the job of
propagating them – of a few facts.
1 – We must be certain about the news we accept,and we should not
accept it simply because it happens to coincide with our hopes and
wishes. We have our own methodology of verifying matters, and we
should beconsistent with regard to what we like and dislike. Itis not
right for us to doubtnews accompanied by pictures from the
battlefield, or to shed doubts on it, when the bottom line is one's
senses. At a time when you see news going around through mobiles from
some internet web sites, there are some people who may accept such
news but it should benoted that there are people who will never
believe it. So they should beware of exposing themselves to being
calledliars. An old proverb says, "Whoever pursues weird news will be
disbelieved."....

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Should the Muslim pay attention to people’s tastes and customs and let his garment hang below his ankles? Is there any isbaal involvedin wearing pants?

Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
It should be noted that the rulings of sharee'ah have not come to
humiliate the Muslim or make him a laughing stock among people; rather
they have brought that which is good for all people in their religious
and worldly affairs. If you think about the state of the world you
will find this to be true. Actions that go against Islam havebecome
widespread everywhere on earth. Look– for example –at the effect that
mixing between women and menhas on nations; look at theeffects of
permitting alcohol; look at the effects of wanton display and
unveiling; look at the effects of false freedoms on those nations.
They arethe nations that are most affected by anxiety and depression,
they have the highest suicide rates, they are the nations where
wife-beating and murder of wives is most common, and there are many
other examples. What we say is based on their own statistics. But this
is not the place to discuss that indetail. Rather it is just a hint of
what we want to convey to you and other readers to whom the shaytaan
may insinuate that it is not good to implement some of the established
principles of Islam. We do not think – in sha Allaah – that you are
one of them, but this does not mean that we should not draw
attentionto the matter.
Secondly:
It should be noted that the Muslim should not payattention to people
and their customs when it has to do with a duty that Allaah has
enjoined on him or a prohibition that Allaah has forbidden him to do.
Yes, the Muslim may pay attention to people and their customs with
regard to things that are mustahabb, permissible ormakrooh, but when
it comes to things that are obligatory or forbidden, it is not
permissible for him at all to ignore them for the sake of people.
Some people mistakenly quote as evidence the hadeeth of 'Aa'ishah
whichsays that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
refrained from demolishing the Ka'bah and rebuilding it on the
foundations of Ibraaheem (peace be upon him), and they take that as
evidence that one may refrain from doing obligatory duties, but this
is obviously mistaken. If that had been obligatory for him (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), he would not have refrained from it
for the sake of softening people's hearts. Rather it was permissible.
There follows the hadeeth in full,and the scholars' comments on it.
It was narrated from 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to her:
"O 'Aa'ishah, were it not that your people have only recently left
Jaahiliyyah behind, I would have ordered that the House be demolished
and I would have incorporated into it what was left out of it, and I
would have placed (the door) at ground level and given it two doors, a
door on the east and a door on the west, and thus I would have rebuilt
it on the foundations of Ibraaheem."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1509) and Muslim (1333).

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If a person sneezes several times in a row, when is it prescribed to say “Yarhamuk Allah” to him?

My brother sneezes 5 times in a row! do i haveto say yarhamukullah
after every sneeze, or can i just wait and say it once at the end?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Saying "Yarhamuk Allah (may Allah have mercy on you)" to a person who
sneezes, if he says "Al hamdu Lillah (praise be to Allah)," is a
communal obligation, in the sense that if one person says it, the
obligation is waived for the others. If no one among those who hear
him says it, then all have sinned, because of the report narrated by
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "There are
five things that the Muslim must do for his brother: returning the
greeting of salaam, saying 'Yarhamuk Allah' to one who sneezes…"
Narrated by Muslim (4022)
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:Our
companions and others differed concerning visiting one who is sick,
saying "Yarhamuk Allah" to one who sneezes and initiating the greeting
ofsalaam. What the texts indicate is that these things are waajib
(obligatory), and it is said that it is a communal obligation.
End quote from al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 1/443
Secondly:
If a person sneezes morethan three times, you should not say "Yarhamuk
Allah" to him;rather you should pray for well-being for him, because
of what is narrated in al-Muwatta' (1521) from 'Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr
from his father, that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "If he sneezes, say 'Yarhamuk Allah' to him;
then if he sneezes, say 'Yarhamuk Allah' to him; then if he sneezes,
say 'Yarhamuk Allah' to him; then if he sneezes, say: 'You have a
cold." 'Abdullah said: I do not know whether that is after the third
or fourth time.
And it was narrated that Salamah ibn al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased
with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said: "The one who sneezes may be told Yarhamuk-Allaah
three times; if he sneezes more than that, he has a cold." Narrated by
Ibn Maajah (3704); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan Ibn
Maajah.
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:If a person sneezes
several times in a row, the Sunnah is to say "Yarhamuk Allah" each
time until he reaches three. We narrated in Saheeh Muslim, Sunan Abi
Dawood and at-Tirmidhi from Salamah ibn al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased
with him) that he heard the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) say, when a man sneezed in his presence, "Yarhamuk Allah."
Then he sneezed again, and the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: "The man has a cold." This wording is the
report narrated by Muslim.
As for the report narrated by Abu Dawoodand at-Tirmidhi, they said: A
man sneezed in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) whilst I [the narrator] was watching, and
the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "Yarhamuk Allah." Then the man sneezed a second or third time
andthe Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: "Yarhamuk Allah, this is aman who has a cold."
At-Tirmidhi said: A saheeh hasan hadeeth. End quote from Kitaab
al-Adhkaar, 1/273
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: Is it
obligatory to say "Yarhamuk Allah" to one who sneezes once, and ifhe
sneezes three times to repeat that three times or more?
He replied: If he sneezes three times and you say "Yarhamuk Allah"
each time, then after the thirdsneeze you should say tohim: " 'Aafaaka
Allah (may Allah grant you well-being); because that is a cold, so
say: MayAllah grant you well-being; you have a cold. All you have to
say is: May Allah grant you well-being, and you mayadd: You have a
cold.
End quote from Liqa' al-Baab al-Maftooh, no. 127
And Allah knows best.

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Ruling on tankees or altering the order of verses when memorisingQur’an

I have a question regarding tankees. According to what I know, tankees
is when you recite an ayah, huroof, words, and surahs. But, what I
want to know is that is it haraam to MEMORIZE it that way. eg: I used
to memorize the quraan in a madrasah where we memorized this way: for
example, if our teacher gave us ayah 1-5, surah hashr; we would start
memorizing from: (transliteration)"wama qata'tum millinatin au tarak
tumooha qa'imah"(finsh ayah and go to the one before it, we DIDN'T
start from"sabbaha lillahi" and memorized backwards like that until we
reached the first ayah. Ofcourse, when we recitedit to the sheikhafter
memorizing, we said it in order, but is MEMORIZING while displacing
the order"tankees"?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Tankees or altering the order of verses when reciting is haraam,
whether that is during prayer or otherwise.
It says in Asna'l-Mataalib (1/63): It is haraam to switch the order of
verses when reciting, because that undermines the miraculous nature of
thetext and it ignores the wisdom behind the order in which the verses
appear. End quote.
It says in Haashiyat ad-Dasooqi (1/242): Switching the order of
soorahs is makrooh, and switching the order of consecutive verses in
one rak'ah is haraam and invalidates the prayer, because it distorts
it. End quote.
It says in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa' (1/343): It is makrooh to switch the
order of soorahs, such asreciting al-Inshiraah (94), then reciting
ad-Duha (93) after it, whether that is in one ortwo rak'ahs, because
of the report narrated fromIbn Mas'ood, according to which he was
asked about someone who recited Qur'an in the wrong order. He said:
Hisheart is disordered. Abu 'Ubayd explained that as referring to when
a person recites one soorah, then after it he recites another that
comes before it in the order (of soorahs in the Mushaf). This was
mentioned by Ibn Nasrullah in ash-Sharh asbeing similar to the case
with verses, that is, a similar ruling of it being makrooh applies in
the case of switching the order of the verses. It says in al-Furoo'
that there is consensus on this point. Ibn Nasrullah said: If it was
said that it is haraam to switch the order of verses, that would be a
valid opinion. The evidence for it being only makrooh is not clear,
and using as evidence the way the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) learned it is subject to further discussion,
because that was due to need, as the Qur'aan wasrevealed according to
events. Shaykh [Ibn Taymiyah] said: Following the order of verses is
obligatory, because the order in which they appear is based on clear
instructions of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him), according to scholarly consensus. End quote.
But if the switching of the order occurs when memorising, not when
reciting or asking someone to listen so as to check one's
memorisation, there is nothing wrong with that. So one may begin by
memorising the fifth verse, for example, then the fourth, then when
one wants to recite them, one recites the fourth verse and then the
fifth, without switching the order. Then when he has memorised the
third, and he wants to recite what he had memorised,he should recite
them in the proper order without switching it. So he should recite the
third, then the fourth, then the fifth. There is nothing wrong with
this; some teachers do it this way and think that it is the best way
of memorising.
To sum up: It is not permissible to recite twoconsecutive verses in
thewrong order, and it is not permissible to switchthe order of words
in one verse.
For more information please see the answer toquestion no. 7189
And Allah knows best.

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