A Unique take on Forgiveness

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of
town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet
and slick.
Suddenly, my daughter, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat.
"Dad, I'm thinking of something."
This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a
while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had
discovered. I was eager to hear. What are you thinking?" I asked.
"The rain," she began, "islike sin, and the windshield wipers are like
Allah wiping our sins away."
After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's
really good," Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little
girl take this revelation? So I asked…
"Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"
She didn't hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning,
and Allah just keeps on forgiving us."
I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on.

How the Qur’an was Compiled

QUESTION:
I wanted to know was the entire Qur'an compiled before the Prophet's
death or after by the khalifas. What I mean by compiled is the
ordering of the surahs. Before the Prophet's death ( Allah bless him &
give him peace), did the sahabas know that the#1 surah is fatiha and
#2 is suratul baqara and so forth? Or was this order established by
the khalifas like during Uthman (Allah be pleasedwith him) time?
ANSWER:
Assalamu alaykum
In the name of Allah the inspirer of truth
The order of the verses ineach chapter of the Qur'an was divinely
inspired, even though they were revealed portion by portion as theneed
arose over a 23 year period.
The Messenger of Allah (upon him be peace) would instruct the scribes
to place each verse in its proper place as they were revealed.
It is related by Imam Ahmad and the authors of the Sunans on the
authority of Uthman radhiyallahu anhu, "When a chapter was revealed of
the Qur'an that had a number of verses, the Messenger of Allah would
call one of the scribes and say, "Place these verses in thechapter
which states such and such…" Hence, from this and other narrations it
is understood that not only was the arrangement of the verses divinely
inspired, so were the chapters according to many scholars. (Fath
al-Bari, Bab ta'lif al-Qur'an).
Although there is agreement concerning the arrangement of the verses
being divinely inspired, there is a difference of opinion concerning
the order of the chapters. The stronger opinion seems to be that the
arrangement of many chapters was also divinely inspired, although some
chapters were placed through the ijtihad [inference] of the
Companions. For instance, it is reported that the Companions placed
Surat al-Tawba after Surat al-Anfal, through their own deliberation,
as they did not have any informationconcerning this from the Messenger
(upon him be peace).
A good English work on the sciences of the Qur'anis, Approach to the
Qur'anic Sciences by Shaykh Mufti Taqi Uthmani . An abridged version
of it is found in the beginning of the Ma`arif al-Qur'an [a Qur'anic
tafsir in Urdu, which is available in English translation as well].
Well worth reading.
Wassalam
Mufti Abdur Rahman Ibn Yusuf Mangera

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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If a man or a woman wants to offer the sacrifice, they should refrain from cutting their hair and nails

Is it permissible for one who is going to offer a sacrifice, whether a
manor a woman, to cut his orher hair and nails? What are the things
that become forbidden once the new moon of Dhu'l-Hijjah is sighted?.
Praise be to Allaah.
When the new moon of Dhu'l-Hijjah appears, it becomes haraam for the
one who wants to offer a sacrifice to remove anything from his hair,
nails or skin, because of the report narrated by Muslim (1977) from
UmmSalamah (may Allaah be pleased with her), that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When you see the new moon
of Dhu'l-Hijjah, if one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, let him
refrain from (cutting) his hair and nails." According to another
version: "When the ten days (of Dhu'l-Hijjah) begin, if one of you
wants to offer a sacrifice, let him not touch his hair or skin with
anything."
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:The scholars differed
concerning the one whowants to offer a sacrificewhen the ten days of
Dhu'l-Hijjah begin. Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyib, Rabee'ah, Ahmad, Ishaaq,
Dawood and some of the companions of al-Shaafa'i said that it is
haraam for him to cut anything from his hair and nails until he has
offered the sacrifice at the time of sacrifice. Al-Shaafa'i and his
companions said that it is makrooh but not haraam… end quote from
Sharh Muslim.
This ruling is general in meaning and applies to everyone who wants to
offer a sacrifice, man or woman.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: What is
permissible for a womanwho wants to offer a sacrifice on behalf of
herself and her household, or on behalf of her parents, to do with
regard to her hair once the ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah begin?
He replied: It is permissible for her to undo her hair (if it is
braided etc) and wash it,but she should not combit. If some of her
hair falls out when it is beingundone or washed, that does not matter.
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (18/47).
The one who wants to offer a sacrifice is not forbidden to do anything
else, such as wear regular clothes, wear perfume. And Allah knows
best.

Condition of saying Bismillaah in order for meat to be halaal

What is the ruling on saying Bismillaah over the sacrifice, especially
ifthe slaughterman does not pray?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Meat slaughtered by onewho does not pray is nothalaal, whether he says
the name of Allaah over it or not. See question no. 70278 .
With regard to saying Bismillah when slaughtering meat, the fuqaha'
differed concerning that and there are three points ofview:
1 – That it is mustahabb only, which is the view of al-Shaafa'i.
2 – That it is a condition of the meat being halaal,but if a person
forgets it by mistake it is still permissible. This is the view of the
Hanafis, Maalikis and Hanbalis.
3 – That it is essential and cannot be waived under any circumstances,
whether it is omitted by mistake or deliberately or out of ignorance.
This is the view of the Zaahiris and was narrated from Maalik and
Ahmad, and it was the view of some of the salaf; it was also the view
favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah. Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said:It is the correct view.
He also said: They quoted as evidence the general meaning of the verse
in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Eat not (O believers) of that (meat) on which Allaah's Name has not
been pronounced (at thetime of the slaughtering of the animal)"
[al-An'aam 6:121]
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"If the blood flows and the name of Allaah is mentioned, then eat."
Soin order for the meat to be halaal, it is essential that the name of
Allaah be mentioned. It is well known that if the condition is not
met, the thing is invalid, so if the name of Allaah is not mentioned,
the meat is not halaal, as with any other condition. Hence ifa person
prays but he forgot to do wudoo', he has to repeat the
prayer.Similarly if he prays not realizing that he had broken his
wudoo' because he thought that breaking wind does not invalidate
wudoo', or that eating camel meat does not invalidate wudoo', for
example, then he must repeat it, because the thing is not valid
without the conditions being met. Soif he slaughtered it but the blood
did not flow, by mistake or out of ignorance, then it is not halaal,
and the same applies if he does not mention the name of Allaah,
because it is mentioned in the same hadeeth. End quote fromal-Sharh
al-Mumti' (6/358).
See also: al-'Inaayah Sharh al-Hidaayah (9/489); al-Fawaakih
al-Dawaani (1/382); and al-Majmoo' (8/387).
Based on this, he should not slaughter sacrifices or anything else
unless he is one of those who pray regularly, and it is essential that
he mentions the name of Allaah when slaughtering and says Bismillaah
(in the name of Allaah).
It is also mustahabb to say takbeer, so he should say: Bismillaah, wa
Allaahu akbar (In the name of Allaah and Allaah is Most Great).
Al-Bukhaari (5558) and Muslim (1966) narrated that Anas (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) sacrificed two horned black and white rams. I
saw him placing his foot on their sides, and he said the name of
Allaah and he said takbeer, then he slaughtered them with his own
hand.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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