What should the one who wants to offer a sacrifice refrain from doing?.

With regard to a Muslim who is not performing Hajj, what should he do
during the first ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah? Is cuttingthe nails and
hair not permissible? Is putting on henna or wearing new clothes not
permitted until after the sacrifice has been slaughtered?.
Praise be to Allaah.
If the onset of Dhu'l-Hijjah has been proven and a person wants to
offer a sacrifice, it is haraam for him to remove anything from the
hair on his body or to cut his nails or any part of his skin. It is
not forbidden for him to wear new clothes or to put on henna or
perfume, or to be intimate with his wife orhave intercourse with her.
This ruling applies only to the one who is going to offer the
sacrifice, and not to the rest of hisfamily, and not to the one whom
he appoints to slaughter the sacrificeon his behalf. None of these
things are forbidden for his wife orchildren, or for his deputy.
No differentiation is made between men and women with regard to this
ruling. If a woman wants to offer a sacrificeon her own behalf,
whether she is married or not, then she should refrain from removing
any hair from her body or cutting her nails, because of the general
meaning of the texts which state that that is not allowed.
This is not called ihraam,because there is no ihraam except during the
rituals of Hajj and 'Umrah, and the one who is in ihraam wears the
ihraam garments and refrains from wearing perfume, having intercourse,
and hunting, but all of these things are permissible for the one who
wants to offer a sacrifice after the month of Dhu'l-Hijjah begins. He
is not forbidden to do anything except cut his hair, trim his nails or
remove anything from his skin.
It was narrated from Umm Salamah (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, and one of you wants to offer a
sacrifice, let him refrain from (removing anything) from his hair or
nails." Narrated by Muslim, 1977. According to another version: "Let
him not remove anything of his hair or skin."
The scholars of the Standing Committee said:
It is prescribed for the one who wants to offer a sacrifice, when the
month of Dhu'l-Hijjah begins, that he should not remove anything from
his hair, nails or skin until he has offered the sacrifice, because of
the report narrated by the group apart from al-Bukhaari (may Allaah
have mercy on them), from Umm Salamah (mayAllaah be pleased with her),
that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "When you see the new moon of Dhu'l-Hijjah, and one of you
wants to offer a sacrifice, let him refrain from (removing anything)
from his hair or nails." According to a version narrated by Abu
Dawood, Muslim and al-Nasaa'i: "Whoever hasa sacrifice to offer,
whenthe new moon of Dhu'l-Hijjah begins, let him notremove anything
from his hair or nails until he has offered the sacrifice"– whether he
is going to slaughter the sacrifice himself or has asked someone else
to slaughter it on his behalf. As for the one on whose behalf the
sacrifice is being offered, that is not prescribed in his case,
because there is no report to that effect. That is not called
ihraam,rather ihraam refers to the one who enters ihraam for Hajj or
'Umrah or both. End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah, 11/397, 398
The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:
In the hadeeth it says, "Whoever wants to offera sacrifice or appoint
some else to slaughter the sacrifice for him, from the beginning of
the month of Dhu'l-Hijjah, let him not remove anything from his hair,
skin or nails, until he has offered the sacrifice." Does this
prohibition apply to all the members of a household, old and young, or
does it apply to the adults only and not the children?
They replied:
We do not know of a version of the hadeeth which appears as mentioned
in the question. The version which we know is narrated from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as reported by
the group apart from al-Bukhaari from Umm Salamah (may Allaah be
pleased with her), according to which the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When you see the new moon
of Dhu'l-Hijjah, and one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, let him
refrain from (removing anything) from his hair or nails." According to
a version narrated by Abu Dawood – which was also narrated by Muslim
and al-Nasaa'i – "Whoever has a sacrifice to offer, when the new moon
of Dhu'l-Hijjah begins, let him not remove anything from his hair or
nails until he has offered the sacrifice." This hadeeth indicates that
it is not allowed to remove anything from the hair or nails after the
first tendays of Dhu'l-Hijjah begin, for the one who wants to offer a
sacrifice. The first report includes a command to refrain, which
basically implies that refraining isobligatory, and we do not know of
any reason to interpret it otherwise.The second report includes the
prohibition on removing anything, which basically implies that it is
haraam, and wedo not know of any reason to interpret it otherwise.
Thus it is clear that this hadeeth applies only to the one who wants
to offer the sacrifice. As for the one on whose behalf the sacrifice
is being offered, whether he is old or young he is not forbidden to
remove anything from his hair, skin or nails, based on the basic
principle, which is that these actions are permitted. We do not know
of any evidence to the contrary.End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-'Daa'imah, 11/426, 427
Secondly:
None of these things are haraam for the one who does not intend to
offer a sacrifice because he is unable to. Whoever removes anything
from his hair or nails althoughhe plans to offer a sacrifice does not
have to offer any fidyah (ransom), but he has to repent and seek
forgiveness.
Ibn Hazm (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Whoever wants to offer a sacrifice, it is obligatory for him, once the
month of Dhu'l-Hijjah begins, not to remove anything from his hair or
nails until he has offered the sacrifice,whether that is by shaving,
trimming or any other means. Whoever does not plan to offer a
sacrifice is not obliged to adhere to that.
Al-Muhallah, 6/3
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Once this is established, then he should forego cutting his hair or
clipping his nails. If he does that, he should ask Allaah for
forgiveness, but he does not have to offer any fidyah, according to
scholarly consensus, whether he did that deliberately or out of
forgetfulness.
Al-Mughni, 9/346
Note:
Al-Shawkaani said:
The reason behind this prohibition is so that all parts will remain to
be ransomed from the Fire, or it was said that it is sothat he will
resemble theone who is in ihraam. Both views were narrated by
al-Nawawi, but he narrated from thecompanions of al-Shaafa'i that the
second view is a mistake, because (the person who wants to offer a
sacrifice) does not keep away from women or stop putting on perfume or
wearing regular clothes, and other things which the person in ihraam
refrains from.
Nayl al-Awtaar, 5/133
And Allaah knows best.

Feeding an animal is also full of virtue

The Prophet of Islam wasonce performing ablution (Wudhu) for prayers
from a pot of water. A cat passed thereand turned its eyes at the pot
of water with a thirsty look. The Prophetrealised at once that the cat
was very thirsty, so he stopped the ablution (Wudhu) and placed the
pot before the cat. Only after the cat had fully quenched its thirst,
did the Prophet resume the ablution (Wudhu).

The Other Doors

The Other Doors
Our 4 year old son has some fairly serious health problems, so we are
"frequent fliers" at the local children's hospital. Two weeks ago, our
son was there for several days having surgery.
As stressful as that was for us, my visits to that hospital almost
always leave me feeling grateful. Why? Because of " the other doors ."
As I walk the corridors ofthat hospital, I pass doors leading to many
different departments. I pass the department where surgeons
reconstruct children's faces. I pass the department where specialists
treat children who have been tragically burned. I pass the department
where children with cancer spend their childhoods battling a disease
that terrifies most adults. Every day, people walk through those
doors. I keep walking.
Occasionally, I walk through a ward, past theroom of a dying child. I
look in at the child, unconscious amid a massof tubes and machines. I
see the family, staring blankly into space, grieving for what is to
come. I keep walking.
On the fourth floor, I pass the "catacombs" where parents with
children in ICU watch their days and nights stretch into weeks and
months, hoping against hope for good news. I keep walking.
It's late one evening, and I walk to the waiting room. Only one family
remains, and theirdoctor arrives from surgery. He begins to tellthem
about the patient'sinjuries....a shotgun blast,
self-inflicted....massive facial damage.... a dozen moreoperations to
come....a lifetime of disfigurement...a lifetime of asking"why?" I
sit, half-listening, considering the doors, this family will face in
the years ahead.
I stood up. I walk back tothe preschool ward, to the one door I seek.
Behind this door, our son is slowly recovering from surgery. And in a
strange way, I am grateful for the"situation" that we live with.
Because there are a hundred other doors in this place that are far
worse. And we could justas easily be in one of those rooms.
As you pray for strength to open the doors you face, be sure to thank
Allah Ta'ala for the doorshe has spared you.

Amazed By Muslim Women's Dress

Amazed By Muslim Women's Dress
An American Female Finds Islam
I am an American who grew up in a strict religious Christian family.
By the time I was 16 I became very devout and religious myself. The
church waslike a home away from home. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I had read and studied the Bible on a regular basis. All the while
Iwas noticing many errors in the Bible. Many conflicting stories. So I
would ask my grandmother or the pastor of the church about it, but
would never get a solid answer.
I was told to just brush it off and not worry about these little
details that weren't adding up. So for a time I did.
Later on in my early 20s I was appointed as Youth Pastor at mylocal
church. It was during this time that my biblical studies hadbecome
intense. The more I studied, the more questions I had.
Due to the lack of answers I was not getting from the church, I
decided to enroll into Bible College. "For sure I would find my
answers there," I often thought to myself. Again, no such luck.
Nothing could ease my mind andso I decided to step down from"Youth
Pastor". I felt I could no longer lead the youth since I was confused
and doubting things myself. I was the one in need of a leader. My
heart was crying out to find some peace in all this confusion.
One night I turned on the TV andhappened to flip straight to CNN.They
were reporting straight from Iraq. Then, there in the background I saw
the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
She was adorned only in black from head to toe. She was so modest, and
to me that made her so beautiful. I knew that shewas a Muslim but I
didn't know what the religious beliefs of Muslims were.
I was more caught up in her clothing attire. It sparked my interest
more than anything. My heart immediately desired to be like her. Pious
and modest. So this is where my search began.
I immediately got online and searched "Muslim Woman Dress"& "Muslim
Woman Face Veil". This is when I came across the words " Hijab " and "
Niqab ". Wikipedia also referred to the women who wore it as Hijabis
or Niqabis.
These hijabis and niqabis were my newly-found role models. So I
immediately changed all my online nicknames to "hijabi" or"niqabi". It
had not occurred to me to investigate the beliefs of Islam yet. But it
was soon to come….
One afternoon my neighborhoodwas having a community cookout. I was
setting next to my closest neighbor and we somehow got on the subject
of religion.
He said "You know us Christians will probably be in trouble whenwe
stand before God?"
I just nodded in agreement but not really sure where he was going with this.
He said, "Yeah, you know those Muslims pray 5 times a day faithfully
and we Christians can barely make time to pray once a day."
More curiosity sparked!
I immediately excused myself and ran back to my home. I opened the
Computer and begansearching the Internet about Muslim beliefs. I was
amazed at their beliefs as it seemed to fit inline with mine.
But I wanted to be sure there were no surprises hidden in their
beliefs; you know nothing that was going to throw me for a loop if I
choose to convert.
The following weeks I drove to the closest mosque, which happened to
be 50 miles away, requesting information. I searched the Internet
into the wee hours of the morning reading all about Islam.
After a couple of months of researching and reading, I decided that I
want to convert. I drove back to the mosque and took the Shahadah! A
peace entered my heart and soul like never before. Subhanallah !