Start with yourself beforeothers

Who to start with?
In Da'wah (call to Islam), start with yourself before the members of
your family and other people and look at what is lacking in you in
order that you may start treating it.
So if there is a common deficiency between you and one of your
companions or family members, then join him with youin resolving this
problem becausethe Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam
said: "Whoever from amongst you sees an evil he should change it with
his hand and if he is not able to, then with his tongue andif he is
not able to, then he should hate it in his heart, and that is the
weakest level of faith." [Muslim and Ahmed]
How is your relationship with Allaah?
How is your humbleness in prayer?
Read about that which will betteryour condition and that of your
prayer, increase your humblenessin it and soften your heart.
Are you one whose supplications are answered or do you notice most of
your supplications not being answered?
Look into your Aqeedah (Faith) and the level of your certainty and
reliance upon Allaah, and observe closely your food and drink - are
they from that which is Halaal (lawful) or Haraam (unlawful), or is
there some doubt about their source?
If the situation was one that requires enjoining good and forbidding
evil, what would you do? Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu alaihi wa
sallam said: "By Him in Who's Hand is my soul,you will enjoin good and
prohibitevil or (else) Allaah will soon sendupon you a punishment from
Him, then you will call upon Him and He will not answer you." [Ahmed
and At-Tirmithi]
Maybe you would benefit from reading Hadeeths (Prophetic narrations)
pertaining to the punishment of the grave and thatof its bliss, about
the terror of the Resurrection, and the torment of the Hell Fire. You
could well continue reading for days, weeks or months, accompanying
that with good actions and self-struggle.
It is imperative that a person takes his soul to account and treats
his deficiencies. Match yourself against the Quran and the Sunnah
(Prophet's, sallallaahualaihi wa sallam, tradition) to know who you
are, and look what you have set aside for Allaah to know what Allaah,
the Almighty and Majestic, has prepared for you because of the saying
of the Messenger of Allaah,sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam: "Whoever
wants to know what Allaah has prepared for him then he should look to
what he has prepared for Allaah." [As-Silsilah As-Saheehah]
Are you prepared for the meetingwith Allaah?
Have you fulfilled the rights of thecreation, one to another? Or are
you in a constant state of postponing and deferring?
Have you converted your knowledge of repentance into crying and penitence?
Have you turned whatever you have read about loving Allaah into real
love for your Muslim brothers?
Do you often visit them, and overlook their faults? Do you aid the
needy from amongst them, feel delight for their happiness and grieve
for their sorrow?
Do you taste the sweetness and delight of Faith?
Are Allaah and his Messenger, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,
morebeloved to you than anybody else?
Do you give precedence to the love of Allaah over wealth, business,
whims and desires?
Test yourself when you hear the call to prayer, if you notice a desire
to delay answering it in order to pursue your interests in trade (for
example) then know that Satan has succeeded in gradually leading you
astray and that your love for Allaah is deficient. In this way it is
upon you to consolidate yourself, giving precedence to the orders of
Allaah over any other worldly matter.
How is your abhorrence of entering into disbelief? Do you abhor it as
you would abhor being thrown into the Hell Fire?
Do you live this abhorrence and this feeling in you, so that your
sincerity to Allaah is cultivated and that you may hasten to purify
your soul?
Contemplate the Hadeeth of Umm Salamah who said: '"Most of the
invocations of the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,
used to be: "O Changer of the Hearts make my heart firm upon your
religion." [Ahmed and At-Tirmithi]
Reflect upon how Ibraaheem (Abraham) feared associating partners with
Allaah, so he used to supplicate (what means): "And keep me and my
sons away from worshipping idols." [Quran 14:35]
This is what Abu Ad-Dardaa' used to fear hence his saying: 'Verily
what I fear from my Lord on the Day of Resurrection is thatHe calls me
in front of all creationand says to me "O 'Uwaymir (i.e., Abu
Ad-Dardaa' himself)," so I say, "Here I am My Lord at Your service,"
so He says, "What did you act upon from the knowledge that you
acquired?"
Don't forget the supplication of Yousuf (Joseph) (which means): "Cause
me to die as a Muslim and join me with the righteous." [Quran 12:101]
You should aid yourself through fear: living with the fear of eternal
abode in the Hell Fire. Don't rest and sit around while the sweetness
of Faith is missing or is weakened. How many people set out on
journeys for the purpose of treating their illnesses and how many of
them spend out of their wealth to treatthese illnesses? Do not the
souls and the hearts have more priorityin being treated, as their
matter is one of total eternity? Bring to mind the Hadeeth, "Every
slave will be resurrected upon that which he died." [Muslim], then
expect death at any moment.
It is better for you if you were to meet death whilst trying to
improve your own condition thanto die whilst striving to improve
others', being held accountable at the same time for leaving off
obligatory actions just like the lantern that burns itself out and
gives light to others, as in the Hadeeth: "The example of the scholar
who teaches the people good things but forgets himself is that of a
lantern, it gives light to the people but burns itself out."
[At-Tabaraani]♠♠♠♠♠ - <span
style="font-size:x-large;">"Published By; M NajimudeeN Bsc -
INDIA|®|"</span>
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Giving gifts in Islam

Gift-giving is one of the good manners that maintains and strengthens
relations between the giver and the recipient. It is one of the acts
that Prophet Muhammad recommended us-Muslims- to do. Al-Bukhaari
narrated that 'Aa'ishah said:"The Messenger of Allaah used to accept
gifts and reward people for giving them."
The phrase: "Reward people for giving them," means giving the giver
(at a later time) something of equal valueat least in return.
This Hadeeth (narration) indicates that accepting gifts and giving
something of equal value(or more) to the giver is the way of the
Prophet .
The Prophet enjoined responding in kind to favours, as he said in an
authentic narration: "Whoever does you a favour, respond in kind, and
if you cannot find the means of doing so, then keep praying for him
until you think that you have responded in kind." [Abu Daawood]
"Whoever does you a favour," means, whoever treats you kindly in word
or deed or by gifting you.
"Respond in kind," meansto treat him kindly just ashe has treated you kindly.
"If you cannot find the means of doing so" means if you do not havethe money.
"Until you think that you have responded in kind" means, repeatedly
supplicate for him until you think that you have rewarded him his due.
One of the Du'aa' forms that one can say is 'Jazaaka Allaahu
khayran'(may Allaah reward you with good). At-Tirmithi narrated that
Usaamah Ibn Zayd said: The Messenger of Allaah said: "Whoever has a
favour done for him and says 'Jazaak Allaahu khayran' has done his
utmost to thank him." [At-Tirmithi]
"Done his utmost to thank him," means that he has done his utmost
toexpress his gratitude, because he has acknowledged his shortcomings
and that heis unable to reward and thank him enough, so he refers the
matter to Allaah, to reward him in the best manner. It is saidthat:
"If you are unable to give him back in kind, then speak at length
thanking him and supplicating for him." [Tuhfat Al-Ahwathi]
The Permanent Committee (a supreme Islamic judicial authority in Saudi
Arabia , was asked a similar question) and replied as follows:
"There is nothing wrong with accepting it (an amount of money as a
gift), without you (the recipient) longing for that, and you can
respond in kind if you are able to with an appropriate gift, or you
can supplicate for him, because the Prophet said: "Whoever does you a
favour, respond in kind… (the above-mentioned Hadeeth)." [Fataawa
Al-Lajnah Al-Daa'imah]
Difference between charity and gift-giving
Charity is given to the poor and the needy to meet their needs, and is
done with the intention of seeking the Pleasure of Allaah. Its
intention is not limited to a specific person; rather it is given to
any poor or needy one.
On the other hand, a gift is not necessarily given toa poor person,
rather it may be given to rich or poor; the intention is to show
friendship and to honour the recipient.
Both of them – charity and gift-giving – are righteous deeds for which
a person will be rewarded (and please hisLord), but which is better?
Ibn Taymiyah stated that Sadaqah (charity) is that which is given for
the sake of Allaah as an act of worship, without intending to give it
to a specific person and without seeking anything in return, rather it
is given for charitable causes, such asto the needy. A gift is given
with the intention of honouring a specific person, either because the
recipient is your friend whom you love, orbecause you want something
in return.
Hence, the Prophet used to accept gifts and reward people for them, so
that no one could remind him of their favours, but he did not accept
the "refuse" of people that they gave to purify themselves of sins,
namely charity. He did not accept charity for thisand other reasons.
Once this is understood, then charity is better, butthere is a sense
in which a gift is better than charity, such as giving a gift to the
Messenger of Allaah during his lifetime out of love for him. Also,
gifts which a person gives to a relativein order to uphold the ties of
kinship or to a brother in Islam may be better than charity.
Based on this, giving to one of your relatives maybe better than
giving charity, because it is more befitting to uphold the ties of
kinship. The same may apply if you give a gift to a friend of yours,
because that will strengthen the bonds of love between you. The
Prophet said: "Exchange gifts, as that will lead to increasing your
love to one another." [Al-Bukhaari]
What the Hadeeth meansis that giving gifts may generate and increase
love.♠♠♠♠♠ - <span style="font-size:x-large;">"Published By; M
NajimudeeN Bsc - INDIA|®|"</span>
- •••••► -

Dought & clear,- Ruling on distributing leaflets and pamphlets that contain Qur’anic verses for da‘wah purposes to non-Muslims.

My question is regardingdistributing leaflets/pamphlets for dawah
purposes that contain Quranic verses. Itis likely that many of them
will end up on the streets or bins after being distributed. Isnt this
wrong and should this discourage us givingout such material? Also, is
this ok, considering that the targeted recipients are non-muslims who
are impure?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Distributing leaflets and pamphlets for da'wah purposes is a good deed
and is calling people to Allah. It is something from which many
peoplebenefit, especially non-Muslims. It is a means of spreading the
religion of Allah, establishing proof for them and leaving no excuse
for them, and conveying to them the message of their Lord. But this
work should be done in a thoughtful manner, following guidelines and
methods through which the aim may be achieved in an appropriate manner
without going against the rulings of Islam.
Secondly:
Leaflets and pamphlets for da'wah purposes that contain Qur'anic
verses do not come under the same rulings as the Mushaf, and the one
who touches them cannot be said to have touched the Mushaf, because
the Qur'anic material in them is mixed with other material. So they
come under the same ruling asthe ruling on books of fiqh, tafseer and
the like,and it is permissible for a non-believer or one who is in a
state of impurity to touch them.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to the verse that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) wrote – i.e., to Heraclius – his intention thereby
was to correspond, and a verse in a letter or a book of fiqh and the
likedoes not come under theprohibition on touching it, and the book or
letterdoes not become a Mushaf.
End quote from al-Mughni, 1/109
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Some of the scholars are of the view that it is permissible for a
non-believer to touch the Mushaf if there is thehope that he will
become a Muslim. They quoted as evidence for that the fact that the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wrote to Heraclius,
the ruler of Byzantium, (a letter containing) the verse in which
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning): "Say (O Muhammad SAW): 'O people of the Scripture (Jews and
Christians): Come to a word that is just between us and you" [Aal
'Imraan 3:64]. They said: This verse is a verse of the Book of Allah
that he wrote to Heraclius. But the correctview is that this is not
proof; rather it only indicates that it is permissible to write one or
two verses of the Book of Allah. As for handing over the entire Mushaf
(to a non-Muslim), it is not proven that the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) did that.
End quote from Majmoo'Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 24/340-341
Thirdly:
If these books or leaflets are translated into another language,
otherthan Arabic, then the matter is easier. It does not matter if the
non-believer touches a translation of the meanings of the Holy Qur'an
into a language other than Arabic, even if it is a translation of an
entire soorah, because the translation is an interpretation of the
meanings of the Qur'an, and it does not come under the same rulings as
the Qur'an. The non-believer is not forbidden to touch books of
tafseer or Islamic knowledge, unless he is doing so by way of
mishandling them or showing disrespect. See the answer to question no.
119323 .
To sum up:
There is nothing wrong with distributing these leaflets and pamphlets
for da'wah purposes, even if they contain some verses of the Holy
Qur'an or hadeeths of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), and there is nothing wrong with allowing the non-believer
to touch them and read them, because of the great interests that are
served by that, of acquainting him with the religion of Allah, and
establishing proof for him and leaving him with no excuse by conveying
the message. The interests ofconveying the message to him in the hope
that he might become Muslimtake precedence over the possible negative
consequences of allowing him to touch them and handle them.
Disallowing the printing of these books and leaflets that are aimed
atnon-Muslims would cancel out a great deal of good and impose
restrictions on the means of calling non-Muslims to Allah.
With regard to throwingthese leaflets into the trash, it is not
permissible according toIslam, but it is only haraam for the one who
does that action himself. As for the one who prints and distributes
these leaflets and spendson that, he will have (thereward of) his good
deeds and is not responsible for the actions of others.
See the answer to question no. 39376
If it is possible to write on them a request not tothrow them on the
ground or the like, or asking the reader to leave them in an
appropriate place, that would be a good idea.

And Allah knows best.

Dought & clear,- Does he have the right to take possession of a house that was bought with his money that he used to send to his mother?.

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My grandfather had 9 children and he migrated from india with poor
means. My father was third eldest son .Due to The sudden death of my
grandfather, my father left for dubai,stayed there for 12years , sent
all money except that was needed for our sustenance, to my
grandmother.My older uncles were in no position to financially support
there mother or siblings. As all my uncles and aunt got good education
and were married off , my grandmother wished myfather to return and
own the house which was purchased on installments by my grandfather a
few months before his death but the 4 yearly installments were paid
after that for more than 12 years by money sent by my father. She
wanted this as my fatherhad no savings for his own family after a long
tenure in middle east , she made this known to her sister in laws and
a few other senior members of family . She died before my father could
return to pakistan. The property was still half paid for , my father
lived for next 12 years orso in middle east , completed the
installments and started the paperwork for the transfer of documents
tohis name from that of my grandmothers . At the time of her death the
my uncles and aunt have agreed that her wish was justifed and they had
no problems with it but as the papers were completed for transfer a
few of them objected that the property belonged to their father ,then
mother so it should be distributed among all . My father was not keen
to keep it for himself earlier but as they all have agreed on it , he
had been counting the property as his own . RIGht now the amount has
increased to 6 fold inprice . What should he do ? My uncle and aunt
claim that since he was out of country and couldafford to pay , this
does not mean he was the sole heir , which is true but why did they
earlier gave the impression thatthey wanted to honour the wish as she
was being just too her son . Should he distribute the money among all
, whichwill be a lot of money actually.
Praise be to Allah.
Undoubtedly what your father did of helping his parents and siblings
and contributing to the living expenses even though he was overseas
and far away from his children was an act of great kindness and a good
deed.
From the question it seems that what your father did was to help the
family with their living expenses, then he sent money with which this
house that is the subject of the dispute was bought.
It may be said that in this case one of the following two scenarios must apply:
1.
Either he sent this money with which the house was bought as an act of
kindness to his parents and upholding ties of kinship with his
siblings and helping them, voluntarily giving the money that he sent
to them. In that case the house is to be included with the estate and
is to be divided among all theheirs in accordance withthe laws of
Allah, because he gave up his wealth by way of giving a gift, so he
has no right to take back his gift. Andyour father will be rewarded
abundantly byhis Lord.
Al-Bukhaari (2067) and Muslim (2557) narrated from Anas ibn Maalik
(may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever would like his rizq
(provision) to be increased and his life to be extended, should uphold
the ties of kinship."
2.
Or he was sending this money for them to take whatever they needed,
and whatever was left over after spending on his family remained his
property, so the house that was bought is the property of the owner
ofthe money, because he isthe one who paid its price, and his father
and mother acted as deputies for him in transferring this
leftovermoney to buy this house.
In this case it would be better if he had stated clearly to his
parents or they had stated clearly to him at the time of purchase that
the house was being bought in his name.
However we should advise both parties not to undermine the good
relationship between them; your father shouldnot make this a cause of
spoiling the acts of kindness that he did for his family and they
should not not be harsh with their brother who helped them, spent on
them and treated them kindly. Is the reward of good anything but good?
And Allah knows best.