He wants to do ghusl asprescribed in sharee‘ah, using shampoo and soap.,Dought & clear, -

Is it permissible to start ghusl by cleaning oneself with soap and the
like, then to do ghuslas prescribed in sharee'ah?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Using shampoo and soapwhen doing ghusl as prescribed in sharee'ah,
such as ghusl in the case of janaabah, is not obligatory; rather it is
sufficient for the Muslim to pur water over his body so that it
reaches every part of it, as we explained in the answer to question
no. 163826 . In the answer to question no. 83172 you will find a
description of complete and acceptableghusl.
If a person wants to use shampoo and soap when doing his obligatory
ghusl, there isnothing wrong with his washing his body with water and
shampoo in order to clean it, then doing ghusl as prescribed in
sharee'ah, with water only. There isnothing wrong either with him
intending to do ghusl for janaabah with the water with which he is
removing the shampoo and soap with which he has cleaned his body, so
thathe makes water reach his whole body only once, combining the
twomatters.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah havemercy on him) was asked:
I did ghusl for janaabah using soap and shampoo; does this ghusl count
for wudoo' too, if that was my intention?
He replied: That will count for both if you intended both types of
purification. But it is preferable to do wudoo'first, then to do
ghusl, asthe Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did,
because that is more complete. There is nothing wrong with using soap
or shampoo or lotus leaves and the like in order to remove dirt.
End quote from Fataawa ash-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 10/173

Zakaah on usurped wealth.,Dought & clear, -

I have some land that I own with official papers,but another person
useddeceitful methods to prove that he has ownership of it, and our
case is still before the courts. One full hijri year has passed; do I
have to give zakaah on this land?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
If your intention was to develop the land in order to live there or to
rent it out, then there is no zakaah on this land because it does not
come under the headingof trade goods. Please see the answer to
question no. 129787
But if your intention wasto deal in it, then the basic principle is
that trade goods are subject to zakaah. So the value of this land
should be worked out every time one hijri year has passed, then you
should pay zakaah on it according to its market value.
But because this land has been usurped and you are not able to dispose
of it, there is no zakaah on it according to the more correct
scholarly opinion.
Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Kaafi: With regard to usurped property, lost
property and debt owedto one who cannot get itoff because the debtor
isin difficulty or because he denies he owes anything or he keeps
deferring the payment, there are two view on this issue… etc.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There are
two opinions in our madhhab. One view is that zakaah is due on it and
it is obligatory, but he does not have to giveit until he takes
possession of it, whereupon he should give zakaah for the past period,
even if it has gone on for ten years.
The second opinion is that there is no zakaah due on that, because
thewealth is not in his possession and he is not able to ask for it,
and if he asks for it he will not be able to get it. This view is the
correct one.
End quote from ash-Sharh al-Kaafi.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:Zakaah
is not due on a debt for which repayment has been deferred, or the
debtor is in difficulty or is unemployed or is denying that he owes
anything, or on usurped or stolen property. This is the view of Abu
Haneefah.
End quote from al-Ikhtiyaaraat, p. 146
But to be on the safe side, if you regain possession of this land, you
should pay zakaah for one year, even if it remained in the possession
of the usurper for several ... And Allaah knows best......

The Emperor and the Seed,Islamic Stories, -

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to
choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his
children, he decided something different. He called young people in
the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down
and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."
The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give
each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you to
plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with
what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants
that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"
One boy named Ling wasthere that day and he, like the others, received
a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She
helped him get a pot and planting soil, and heplanted the seed and
watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if
it had grown. Afterabout three weeks, some of the other youthsbegan to
talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, 4
weeks, 5 weeks went by.Still nothing. By now, others were talking
about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a
failure. Six months went by-still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew
he had killed his seed.
Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling
didn't say anything to his friends, however. He justkept waiting for
his seedto grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their
plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he
wasn't going to take an empty pot. But honest about what happened,
Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He
took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at
the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were
beautiful-in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor
and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him
and just said, "Hey nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young
people. Ling just tried to hide in the back."My, what great plants,
trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of
you will be appointed the next emperor!" All ofa sudden, the emperor
spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered
his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor
knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor askedhis name. "My name is
Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him.
The emperor asked everyoneto quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then
announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!"
Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. Howcould
he be the new emperor? Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I
gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it,
water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled
seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me
trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not
grow, you substituted another seed for the oneI gave you. Ling was the
only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed
in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
The Prophet taught,"Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and
righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth
until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur (i.e.
wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur (wickedness) leads to the (Hell)
Fire, and a manmay keep on telling lies till he is written before
Allah, a liar." [Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 8:116]

Did You Thank Allah forYour Eyesight?,Islamic Stories, -

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He
held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only
a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins fromhis pocket and dropped
them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote
some words. He put the sign back so thateveryone who walked by would
see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to
the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to
see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were
you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a
different way."
What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."
Do you think the first sign and the second signwere saying the same thing?
Of course both signs toldpeople the boy was blind. But the first sign
simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were
solucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the
second sign was more effective?
"It is He, Who has created for you (the sense of) hearing (ears),
sight (eyes), and hearts (understanding). Little thanks you give."
[surah Al-Mu'minun; 78]