Islamic Article |- Does the brother have the right to object to his sister’s marriage and to threaten to cut her off when her father agrees to it?

There is a Muslim woman who was married to a Muslim manand they had a
child, then soon after that the Shaytan caused her to slip, and she
started to go to nightclubs where she got to know a kaafir man and a
relationship developed. Then she took her son and went to live with
that man unlawfully, after leaving her religion and giving up Islam.
Then a year after that, she repented and left her boyfriend; she
entered Islam again and began to wear Hijaband pray, and she mended
her ways completely. She went back to her parents and asked them to
forgive her, and they forgave her.
Then a few years after that, that boyfriend became Muslim and he came
to her house and asked her father for her hand in marriage, and the
father agreed, as didshe. But her brother did not agree, and he was
very upset to see the man who had committed immoral actions with his
sister, and for whose sake she had left Islam and abandoned her
husband. It upset him to see him as his sister's husband, so he did
not agree to the marriage atall and he threatened to cut off all ties
with his sister if she married him,and said that he would never speak
to her againafter that day.
This behaviour upset his parents greatly; they do not want to see
their children fighting. Hence the father tried to remind his son of
the rights of kinship and tell him that it is not permissible to sever
those ties and that Allah has enjoined upholding those ties.
But the son refused to accept that and he said that it is within his
rightsto cut her off and that this is a right guaranteed by Islam.
My question is: is this a right that is guaranteed by Islam?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The blessing of guidanceis one of the greatest blessings that Allah,
may He be exalted, can bestow upon His slave. Itis obligatory for the
slave who has been guided to show a great deal of gratitude to his
Lord for this immense blessing. We are happy to hear of the repentance
of those who have repented and of the guidance of those who have been
guided. What has happened of that man being guided from kufr to Islam,
and that woman being guided and brought back to Islam, and givingup
living the life of the doomed people, is something that brings joy to
our hearts and weask Allah to make them steadfast in Islam and to set
their affairs straight.
If a Muslim who is not related feels happy to hear the news about
thissister being guided and coming back to her religion, then one
wouldexpect that her family would be the happiest of people, because
her leaving her religion, going away from them and agreeing to live
with a kaafir foreigner in an unlawful manner causes a great deal of
distress and it is something that many people could not bear. Hence we
advise this brother to fear Allah, may He be exalted, and to not be
hasty in his decisions and not be a cause of harm to his family or
cause division among them. In fact he may be a cause of something that
is even worse than that; he may be a cause of his sister going astray
a second time. No one knows what ideas of misguidance the Shaytaan may
instil in the minds of those who have been guided.
As this woman's father has agreed to let this man who has been guided
to Islam marry his daughter, the brother has no right to object to his
father and threaten to cut off his sister. Yes, he has the right to
express his opinion and he has the right to discuss the matter with
his family and his sister. But they do not have to comply with his
opinion or accept it.
In this case we say: this brother does not have the right to cut off
his sister, because her marrying that one who has been guided is not
haraam. What sin has hissister committed by agreeing to marry that
man, such that he has the right to cut her off?
Although we say that marriage to that man is permissible according
toIslam, and that the brother's objections carry no weight and he has
no right to cut off his sister if she agrees to marry him,
nevertheless we advise the father andthe sister to think again about
their agreeing to that man, and they should listen to the other side
and discuss the matter with wise people who are close to them and who
are aware of the background. It is also essential to investigate this
suitor and find out how sincere he is in his Islam before he comes
topropose to this sister, and they should find outwhether he really is
interested in Islam.
We ask Allah to guide everyone to that which is in the best interests
of the family and to help them to find the right way and to unite in
following it.
And Allah knows best.

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Abu-l Aas ibn ar-Rabiah- Biographies of the Companions (Sahabah)

Abu-l Aas belonged to the Abd ash-Shams clan of the Quraysh. He was in
the prime of his youth,handsome and very impressive looking. He was
the epitome of Arab chivalry and was endowed with all the
characteristics of pride, manliness and generosity.He took great pride
in the traditions of his ancestors.
Abu-l Aas inherited the Quraysh love for trade. The Quraysh of course
were known to be masters of the two annual trading expeditions, the
winter expedition to the south, to Yemen, and the summer expedition to
the north, to Syria.These two expeditions are mentioned in the Quran
in the chapter named after the Quraysh.
The caravans of Abu-l Ads alwaysplied between Makkah and Syria.Each
caravan was made up of two hundred men and a hundred camels. People
would entrust their wealth and their goods to him to trade on their
behalf because of his skill as a merchant, his honesty and his
trustworthiness.
The maternal aunt of Abu-l Aas was Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the wife
of Muhammad ibn Abdullah. She treated him like a mother would her own
son, with love and affection. Muhammad too was extremely fond of him.
The years went by quickly in the household of Muhammad and Khadijah.
Zanaib, their eldest daughter, soon grew up and blossomed forth like a
lovely flower. She was much sought after in marriage by the sons of
respectable Makkan nobles. And why not? She was one of the most
distinguished Makkan girls in lineage and social standing. She was
blessed with the most honorable father and mother. And she had the
finest morals and behavior.
Which one of these scions of Makkan nobility would win her hand? Abu-l
Aas ibn Rabi'ah was the one who did.
Abu-l Aas and Zaynab were only married a few years when the Divine
light of Islam radiated over Makkah. Muhammad, the father of Zaynab,
was now the Prophet of God, sent to convey the religion of guidance
and truth. He was commanded to convey the message of Islam first to
his family and nearest relatives. The first women to believe in him
and accept Islam were his wife Khadijah and his daughters Zaynab,
Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah. Fatimah was very young at the time.
Zaynab's husband however did not like leaving the religion of his
forefathers and he refused toadopt the religion which his wife now
followed although he was completely devoted to her and loved her
dearly with a pure and sincere love.
Before long, the confrontation between the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and the Quraysh developed and grew bitter. The Quraysh felt that it
was intolerable for their sons to remain married to Muhammad's
daughters. They also considered that it would be an embarrassing and
difficult situation for Muhammad if his daughters were to be returned
to his household. So they went to Abu-l Aas and said:
"Divorce your wife, Abu-l Aas, and send her back to her father's
house. We shall then marry you to any of the most charming and noble
women of the Quraysh you desire."
"No, by God," said Abu-l Aas firmly. "I shall not divorce my wife and
I do not wish to have inher place any woman in all the world."
Muhammad's other two daughters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum were divorced
by their husbands and returned to his home. The Prophet in fact was
delighted when they came back to him and he had hoped that Abu-l Aas
would also return Zaynab to him except that at that time he had no
power to compel him to do so. The law forbidding the marriage of a
Muslim woman to a nonbelieving man was not yet inforce.
The Prophet, peace be on him, migrated to Madinah and his mission
became stronger. The Quraysh felt even more threatened by him ,red
went outto confront him at Badr. Abu-l Aas was compelled to go along
with the Quraysh army. He did not really have d desire to fight the
Muslims nor did he feel any inclination to join them. But his position
among the Quraysh- one of honor and trust - impelled him to go along
with their campaign against Muhammad. The battle of Badr ended in d
terrible defeat for theQuraysh and the forces of shirk. Some were
killed, some were taken prisoner and some managed to escape. Among
those, who were taken prisoner was Abu-l Aas, the husband of Zaynab.
The Prophet fixed amounts for the ransom of the prisoners of war
varying from one thousand to four thousand dirhams, according to the
wealth and social standing of the prisoner. Quraysh messengers went to
and fro between Makkah and Madinah bearing the ransom money to free
their relatives held in Madinah. Zaynab sent hermessenger to Madinah
bearing the ransom demand to free her husband. The ransom amount
included a necklace which her mother, Khadijah, had given to her
before she died. When the Prophet saw the necklace, his face at once
became covered with a veil of sadness and he felta surge of tenderness
for his daughter. He turned to his companions and said:
"Zaynab has sent this amount toransom Abu-l Aas. If you see fit to set
free her prisoner and return her possession to her, then do so."
"Yes," his companions agreed."We shall do whatever we can tosoothe
your eyes and make you happy."
The Prophet set one condition on Abu-l Aas before he freed him, that
he should send his daughter Zaynab to him withoutdelay.
As soon as he reached Makkah, Abu-l Aas began making arrangements to
carry out his promise. He ordered his wife to prepare herself for the
journey and told her that her father's messengers were waiting for her
just outside Makkah. He prepared provisions and a mount for her and
instructed hisbrother, Amr ibn ar-Rabi'ah, to accompany her and hand
her over personally to the Prophet's emissaries.
Amr slung his bow over his shoulders, took up his quiver of arrows,
placed Zaynab in her hawdaj and left Makkah with herin the broad light
of day, in full view of the Quraysh.
The Quraysh were furious. They pursued Zaynab and Amr until they
caught up with them. Zaynab was scared. Amr stood poised with his bow
and arrow and shouted:
"By God, if any man come near to her, I would plunge this arrow in his
neck". Amr was known to be an excellent marksman.
Abu Sufyan ibn Hath, who had bythis time joined the Quraysh group,
went up to Amr and said:"Son of my brother, put away your arrow and
let me talk to you."
This Amr did and Abu Sufyan went on: "What you have done is not
prudent. You left with Zaynab in full view of the people.All the Arabs
know the disasters we suffered at Badr at the handsof her father,
Muhammad. If you leave with his daughter in the open as you have done,
the tribes would accuse us of cowardice and they would say that we
have been humiliated. Return with her and ask her to stay in her
husband's house for a few days so that people could say that we
brought her back. Thereafter you can take her away quietly and
secretly from us and take her to her father. We have no need to detain
her."
Amr agreed to this and Zaynab returned to Makkah. A few days later, in
the middle of the night Amr took Zaynab and handed her over to the
Prophet's emissaries just as his brother had instructed.
After the departure of his wife, Abu-l Aas stayed on in Makkah for
several years. Then, shortly before the conquest of Makkah, he left
for Syria on a trading mission. On the return journey from Syria his
caravan consisted of some one hundred camels and one hundred and
seventy men.
As the caravan approached Madinah, a detachment of Muslims took them
by surprise. They impounded the camels andtook the men as captives to
the Prophet. Abu-l Aas however managed to escape. During the night
which was pitch black, Abu-l Aas entered Madinah fearful and alert. He
searched around until he came to Zaynab's house. He asked her
forprotection and she gave it to him.
At dawn, the Prophet, peace be on him, came out to the masjid to
perform the Dawn Prayer. He stood erect in the mihrab and said "Allahu
Akbar" to begin the Prayer. The Muslims behind him did the same. At
that point Zaynab shouted from the women's section of the masjid:
"O people! I am Zaynab the daughter of Muhammad. I have given
protection to Abu-l Aas. Dogive him your protection also."
When the Prayer was finished, the Prophet turned to the congregation
and said: "Have you heard what I heard?" "Yes, Messenger of Allah,"
they replied.
"By Him in Whose hand is my soul, I knew nothing of this untilI heard
what you heard. He is asking protection from the Muslims."
Back at home the Prophet said to his daughter: "Prepare a placeof rest
for Abu-l Aas and let him know that you are not lawful forhim." He
then summoned the men of the expeditionary force which had taken the
camels and the men of the caravan and said to them:
"You have taken the possessionsof this man. If you are kind to him and
return his property, we would be pleased. If however you do not agree
then the goodsis booty sanctioned by God which you have a right to."
"We would certainly return his possessions to him, Messenger of God,"
they replied and when Abu-l Aas came to collect his goods, they said
to him:
"You belong to the Quraysh nobility. You are the nephew of the
Messenger of God and his son-in-law. Would you accept Islam? We would
hand over all this wealth to you. You would then have for your own
enjoyment whatever wealth andpossessions the Makkans entrusted to you,
and stay with us here in Madinah."
"What an evil thing you are asking me do, to enter a new religion
while committing an actof treachery!" Abu-I Aas retorted.
Abu-l Aas returned to Makkah with the caravan and handed over all the
wealth and goods totheir rightful owners. Then he asked:
"O people of Quraysh! Is there any money left with me belonging to any
one of you which he has not taken?"
"No," came the reply. "And may God bless you with goodness. We have
indeed found you nobleand trustworthy."
Then Abu-I Aas announced:"Since I have now handed over to you what is
rightfully yours, I now declare that there is no godbut Allah and that
Muhammad isthe Messenger of Allah. By God, the only thing that
prevented me from declaring my acceptance of Islam while I was with
Muhammad in Madinah was my fear that you would think that I did so
only to appropriate your wealth. Now that I have discharged my trust
in this matter, I now declare that I am a Muslim..."
Abu-l Aas then left for Madinah where the Prophet received him
hospitably and returned his wifeto him. The Prophet used to say about
him: "He spoke to me and was truthful to me. He made promises to me
and remained faithful to his word."

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Is it permissible to slaughter an animal withthe intention of offeringa sacrifice?

I have been married for four years and have not been blessed with
children. Praise be to Allaah, I have recently heard the news that my
wife is pregnant, and onmy father's advice I slaughtered two
animals(as a sacrifice) and distributed the meat among needy Muslims,
purely for the sake of Allaah on behalf of myself and my wife. What is
the Islamic ruling on that? May Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
If this sacrifice and feeding the needy was done as an act of
thanksgiving to Allaah, then it is permissible, forfeeding people is a
way of doing good to people,and Allaah loves those who do good.
But if your sacrifice was aimed at warding off evil and bringing about
good, then it is not permissible. This is what is well-known among
people when the word "sacrifice" (fadw) is used, because they
thinkthat by doing this they will ward off evil and bring about good,
so they do this when accidents or sickness happen to them or their
loved ones.
In Islam, sacrifice is not ameans of warding off that which has been
decreed by Allaah, whether good or bad.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked about slaughtering an animal when a building is completed or
halfway through building. He said:
This action is subject to further examination. If the intention behind
thesacrifice is to protect oneself against the jinn or some other
intention by which the owner of the house intends to achieve
something, such as keeping it or its occupants safe, this is not
permissible, and it is a kind of bid'ah (innovation). If it is donefor
the jinn then it is major shirk, because it isan act of worship done
for someone other than Allaah.
But if it is done as an act of thanksgiving for a blessing that Allaah
has bestowed, such as reaching the roof or completing the house, sothe
person gathers his relatives and neighboursand invites them to this
feast, there is nothing wrong with this. This is what many people do
as an act of thanksgiving for a blessing from Allaah, as He has
enabledthem to build a house and live in it instead of renting.
Similar to this is what some people do when they come back from a
journey, and theyinvite their relatives and neighbours as an act of
thanksgiving to Allaah for their safe arrival. When the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came back from a journey
he would sacrifice a camel and invite the people to eat. (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 3089).
Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 5/388.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih ibn 'Uthaymeen(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
What some people do when they move into a new house and slaughter an
animal and invite their neighbours and relatives is fine so long as it
is not accompanied by any corrupt beliefs, as is done in some places
where, when a person moves into a new house,the first thing he does is
to bring a sheep and slaughter it on the threshold so that the blood
will fall onto it, and they say that this will prevent the jinn from
entering the house.This is a corrupt belief which has no basis in
Islam. But if a person slaughters it as an expression of joy and
happiness, there is nothing wrong with that.

Should he focus on purifying his heart or ondoing naafil acts?

Which is more important– dealing with feelings and thoughts that
Allaahdislikes, such as destructive envy, hatred,arrogance, showing
off, thinking highly of one's deeds, hard-heartedness, etc., which
form the evil that resides in the heart, or focusing on doing outward
naafil deeds such as prayer, fasting and other acts of worship and
fulfilling vows even though those other things are present in the
heart? Please advise us, may Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
Some of the acts mentioned are obligatory, and those which are
obligatory should be given precedence, as Allaah says according to the
hadeeth qudsi narrated from His Messenger (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him): "Myslave does not draw near to Me with anything
more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined on him."
Then He says: "And My slave continues to draw near to Me with
supererogatory works sothat I shall love him." Outward physical acts
are not valid and acceptable unless they are accompanied by
appropriate actions of the heart, because the heart is like the king
andthe physical faculties arelike his troops. If the king is evil his
troops will also be evil. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "In the body there is a piece of flesh: if
it is sound the whole body will be sound and if it is corruptthen the
whole body willbe corrupt." Similarly the (hidden) actions of the
heart inevitably affect the (visible) physical actions. So precedence
must be given to that which is more obligatory, whether it is called
inward or outward. Perhaps things that are called inward may be more
obligatory, such as refraining from destructive envy and arrogance,
for that is more essential than observing naafil fasts. Oracts that
are described as outward or physical may be better, such as qiyaam
al-layl (praying at night), which is betterthan simply giving up some
thoughts that may cross one's mind such as (non-destructive) jealousy,
etc. Inward andoutward deeds support one another, and prayer keeps one
from doing evil actions and generates fear of Allaah, and has other
important effects. It (prayer) is the best of good deeds and charity.
And Allaah knows best.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), Majmoo'
al-Fataawa, 6/381
So there is no separationbetween correcting what is inward and
correcting what is outward or physical.
The outward acts of worship which a person performs with his physical
faculties – if he does them for the sake of Allaah – will undoubtedly
have an effect on his inward nature.
For example, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "Shall I not tell you of something that will take away the evil
of the heart? Fasting three daysof each month." (Narrated by
al-Nasaa'i, 2386; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh
al-Nasaa'i, 2249). The evil of the heart refers torancour, hatred and
destructive envy.
One of the most important remedies for diseases of the heart is to
study and ponder the texts which include warnings to the one who
leaves these diseases to fester in his heart, such as the hadeeth in
which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"No one will enter Paradise who has an atom's-weight of arrogance in
his heart." (Narrated by Muslim, 91).
And the hadeeth according to which Hell will say, "My share is the
arrogant." (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4850; Muslim, 2846)
And the hadeeth: "On the Day of Resurrection the arrogant will be
gathered like ants in the form of men." (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi,
2492; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2025).
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The
disease of the nations who came before you has started to spread among
you: destructive envy and hatred. These are the shavers. I do not mean
that they shave hair but they shave away religious commitment. By the
One in Whose hand is my soul, you will not enter Paradise until you
believe, and you will notbelieve until you love one another. Shall I
not tell you of something which if you do it, you will love one
another. Spread (the greeting of) salaam amongst yourselves."
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2510; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2038).
Whoever ponders with true insight such warnings about the diseases of
the heart willundoubtedly strive to cleanse his heart thereof, and
will seek help in doing so by doing outward physical acts, praying to
his Lord to cleanse his heart of hatred, destructive envy,rancour and
so on, as Allaah says, describing the prayer of the believers:
"and put not in our hearts any hatred against those who have believed"
[al-Hashr 59:10 – interpretation of the meaning]
And Allaah knows best. May Allaah send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad.