Fathwa, - Performing the ‘Asr Prayer and It Occurs to Him that He Was Performing the Thuhr Prayer

Question
Sometimes when I perform the 'Asr prayer, it occurs to me that I am
performing the Thuhr prayer, if I get distracted or absent minded.
However, I rectify my intention and remind myself that I am performing
the 'Asr prayer. Is my prayer in such a case invalid, given that my
intention has changed ?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad
isHis slave and Messenger.
Being distracted and forgetting one's intention during the prayer does
not invalidate it. What invalidates the prayer is deliberately
changing the intention or intending to change it. It is difficult to
maintain one's intention vivid in the mind throughout the entire
prayer.
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet , said: " When the call for
prayer is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels, passing windwith
noise. When the call is finished, he comes back. When the Iqaamah is
pronounced, he again takes to his heels and, after its completion, he
returns again to interferebetween the (praying) person and his heart,
saying to him: 'Remember this or that thing' (things that the person
could not remember before (the prayer) till he forgets whether he has
offered three or four Rak'ahs. So if one forgets whether hehas prayed
three or four Rak'ahs, he should perform two prostrationsof Sahw (i.e.
forgetfulness). " [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
Hence, if the change in the worshipper's intention – the way it was
mentioned by the questioner – was becausehe was distracted or (he
temporarily) forgot his intention, this does not invalidate the
prayer, as stated earlier.
However, if you mean that the worshipper revoked his intention and
intended to perform another prayer, then it surely invalidates the
prayer as in such a case the intention totally changed.
If the questioner means that, during the prayer, he questioned his
intention (and doubted whether he had intendedto perform 'Asr or
Thuhr) and then counted on his doubt (without verifying it), this also
invalidates the prayer as such a prayer lacks the condition of having
an affirmed and assertive intention. However, if he did not act on his
doubt until he realized the truth(about his specific intention), there
is no harm in that.
Allaah Knows best.

Refuting Al-Baatiniyyah - IV

The beliefs of Al-Baatiniyyah are, as previously mentioned, based on
the principle that knowledge cannot be attained except through the
infallible Imaam and seeking that from any other source, as they
believe, will be of no avail. The Imaam is the only one who can
interpret texts and his interpretation is decisive and cannot be in
any way rejected. Following him and adopting his thoughts is
considered obligatoryin much the same way as following and believing
in the Prophet . It is the essence of their belief and the core of
their doctrine. Refuting this principle means refuting the body of
their belief as a whole.
Accordingly, we ask them: why do they believe in the narrations of
their infallible Imaam denying Paradise, Hellfire, Gathering,
Resurrection, and other such principles and beliefs of Islam while he
showed no miracle or proof that could substantiate his claims?
Furthermore, why do they give preference to the narrations of their
Imaam and renounce those of the best of creation, Prophet Muhammad
while he was supported by manygreat miracles – the greatest of them
all is the Noble Quran, which includes all that the Baatiniyyah have
denied of Islam and its rulings? If they claim that the Quran contains
apparent meanings, which have hidden esoteric meanings that cannot
beunderstood by anyone except theinfallible Imaam, and thus we have
learnt from him, we answer them by asking another question.The
question is: how can you be so sure that the words of the Imaam do not
have a hidden esoteric meaning that you cannotgrasp, so you should not
trust what you understand of the apparent meaning of his words?
If they claim that he has explained to them explicitly, saying, "What
I have mentioned to you is explicit and has no symbols and what is
meant is theapparent meaning", we will answer them saying: how can you
be sure that his second saying is apparent and does not imply a
symbolic interpretation that you do not know of? He still speaks in
his explicit words and we will say that we cannot be deceived with the
apparent meaning, for it may have hidden meanings.
If he denies the hidden meaning, we will say that his denying may have
symbols and hidden indications. And if he swears to divorce his wife
thrice that he intends nothing but the apparentmeaning, we will reply
saying that his divorce implies a symbol and indication, and that he
disclosed something and hid something else. If they say that such a
methodology will end all attempts at understanding i.e., no one will
understand the speech of anyone else through this way, we will reply
that you have done a similar thing. You have rejected the possibility
of understanding the words of the Messenger and the Quran which is
full of descriptions of Paradise, Hellfire, the Gathering, the
Resurrection and the Day of Return, affirming that with strong oaths
by insisting that such words may be symbols. So what you have said
about the narrations of the Quran and Sunnah has to be applied to the
narrations of your infallible Imaam. Of course, they will never find
an answer to that. Accordingly, everyone must knowthat they are the
worst of all the deviant sects that ever existed.
To further refute their beliefs, it can be said to them, such hidden
and esoteric interpretations that you have mentioned, assuming their
authenticity and truthfulness, then what would betheir ruling in the
Sharee'ah i.e. should they be hidden or disclosed? If you say that
they should be disclosed, we will reply: then why did Muhammad hide
them and did not mention anything about them, neither to his
Companions nor to all people in general? Did the Messenger believe in
the permissibility of that and thus hide the religion of Allaah The
Almighty? Allaah forbid! Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {O
Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your
Lord, and if you do not,then you have not conveyed His message.}
[Quran 2: 67]
If they claim that they should be hidden, we would answer them saying,
how do you disclose whatthe Messenger has enjoined to be hidden? Why
did you disclose the secret and breach the ruling? Is this not a clear
transgression against the rulings of religion and disobedience to the
one who legislated those rulings? They will not find any answer.
This is the history of the Baatiniyyah and their atrocities that we
have presented them to you so that you would know the danger of this
deviated sect which was formed only to undermine Islam and destroy its
rites and beliefs. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
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Al-Baatiniyyah: Their Principles and Beliefs-III

Examples of the deviated interpretations of Al-Baatiniyyah
It has previously been mentionedthat the belief of Al-Baatiniyyah
isbased on the distortion of the apparent meanings of the Quran and
Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) to other esoteric meanings. Amongst such
naïve distortions istheir claim that fornication does not mean the
illicit insertion of the male organ into the woman'svagina; rather, it
means putting the sperm of the hidden knowledge into the soul that has
not yet adopted their faith. Accordingly, they see no harm in
fornication.
They also claim that purification does not mean performing Wudhoo'
(ablution), but it meansrenouncing and purifying oneself from any
belief other than giving pledge to the Imaam. Moreover, they claim
that fasting does not mean abstaining from all that can break fasting
in a specific period, but it means abstaining from unveiling the
secret. As for Tawaaf (circumambulation) around the Sacred House seven
times, they said it means circumambulation around Muhammad and the
rest of the seven Imaams. They interpretthe five prayers as
indications to the four pillars and the Imaam. Consequently, there is
no need for performing those prayers thatMuslims perform.
Amongst the examples of their interpretations of the miracles of the
prophets are that they interpret the flood of Nooh (Nuh) as the flood
of knowledge that drowned those who adhere to the outer, exoteric
meaning ofthe Quran and Sunnah. As for the fire into which Ibraaheem
(Abraham) was thrown, it is just the anger of the Nimrod and not a
real fire. They also claimed that the Jinn of Sulaymaan (Solomon) were
in fact the Baatiniyyah of that age, and that the devils are
Ath-Dhaahiriyyah (i.e. those who oppose Al-Baatiniyyah), those to whom
the hard works are commissioned, and the like of their hallucinations
that make everyone laugh at them due to their naivety and foolishness.
Examples of the atrocities of Al-Baatiniyyah
If the discussion of the beliefs of Al-Baatiniyyah clarifies the
hiddenthoughts of that group, their practices against Muslims, when
they feel powerful, clearly show the hatred they harbor in their heart
towards Muslims. The following lines are just a reminder; the history
of Muslims with the Baatiniyyah is a bloody one. We will not list all
of their atrocities against Muslims, as a few will suffice.
The most notorious and atrocious incident that afflicted Muslims in
their most sacred places and during their best days at the hands of
Al-Baatiniyyah and at the hands of the worst and most wicked man was
what Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer mentioned in his book Al-Bidaayah
wan-Nihaayah,
"In 317 A.H., a caravan of Iraqi pilgrims set out to Makkah under the
leadership of Mansoor Ad-Daylami. They arrived peacefully. Many other
caravans arrived from everywhere. All of a sudden, they were attacked
by the Qaramati and his group on the day of At-Tarwiyyah (8th of
Thul-Hijjah). He plundered their money and killed them. He massacred
pilgrims in the streetsand paths of Makkah, in Al-Masjid Al-Haraam and
even in the Ka'bahitself. Then their leader Abu Taahir, may Allaah
curse him, sat before the doors of the Ka'bah and said while the
people were being killed around him, 'I am forAllaah and with Allaah.
I am, I am, I give life to people and inflict death upon them.'
"People were running away from them and seeking protection in the
cloth that covers the Ka'bah but to no avail. They were killed while
they were in that state and while they were performing Tawaaf. When
Al-Qarmati, may Allaah curse him, finished his mission and committed
atrocitiesagainst the pilgrims, he ordered that the dead bodies be
buried inthe well of Zamzam, while many of them were buried in their
places in Al-Haram. They were neither washed nor shrouded, nor was the
funeral prayer offered for them because they were martyrs and also in
the state of Ihraam. He destroyed thedome of the well of Zamzam,
ordered that the Ka'bah be eradicated and its Kiswah (covers) to be
taken off. He and his followers tore the Kiswah. He also ordered a man
to mount theKa'bah and remove its Meezaab (drain pipe of the Ka'bah's
roof) but that man fell on his head anddied to enter the Hellfire.
"At that point, he left the Meezaab and ordered that the black stone
be removed from its place. A man came to it and hit it with heavy
metal in his hand and said, 'Where are the successive groups of birds,
where are the hard and solid stones?' (This is in reference to the way
Abrahah, who had tried to attack the Ka'bah earlier in history,
perished) and removed it from itsplace and carried it to their
country. It remained in their possession for 22 years until they
returned it in 339 A.H. Indeed we belong to Allaah, and indeed to Him
we will return." - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
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Al-Baatiniyyah: Their Principles and Beliefs-II

The beliefs of Al-Baatiniyyah
The beliefs of Al-Baatiniyyah are hidden as their name indicates.
However, their doctrine and beliefs became known, although they were
very keen on hiding them, via those who embraced Islam from them.
However, they deny such beliefs. They show the adherents of other
faiths what they (the people of those faiths) like and favor. Thus, if
they meet Christians, they show that they believe in the Trinity and
assure them of the divinity of 'Eesa (Jesus) . If they meet Jews, they
show their hatred for Muslims and Christians. If they meet an ascetic
person, they show asceticism and aversion to the world and its people.
In fact, they disguise themselves in the beliefs of every group they
live among until people have trust in them. When this point is
reached,they start spreading their malicious allegations among them
and invite them to adopt their beliefs and disclose to themtheir
doctrines, after taking all measures to ensure that they willnever
renounce their belief.
Their Beliefs
1. Claiming that there are two eternal gods who have existed since
time immemorial and that their existence has no beginning. However,
one of them is the cause of the existence of the other. The cause (the
god who assumed creation) is the first godand the effect (the created
god) is the latter. The first is the creator with the help of the
latter, not independently by himself. Such belief was taken from
disbelieving groups such as the Dualists and the Magians, who believe
that there are two gods: the god of light and the god of darkness.
They (Al-Baatiniyyah) only changed their names.
2. They believe that the Prophet is an ordinary person upon whom a
sacred power was sent down by the first (god) through the help of the
latter (god).
3. They believe that the Quran is just an expression of the Prophet
about the knowledge sent down to him and that calling it 'the Speech
of Allaah' is only a figure of speech.
4. They also believe that every ageshould have an infallible Imaam who
supports the truth, interprets phenomena, and clarifies the ambiguity
of the Noble Quran, Prophetic narrations and matters related toreason.
They all agreed that the Imaam is exactly like the Prophet in relation
to infallibility and knowing the facts of every matter; however, he
receives no revelation. But he obtains such knowledge from the Prophet
because he is his successor and has the same status. They believethat
every age has to have its Imaam.
5. Furthermore, they believe that every prophetic Sharee'ah has a
specific period. When it ends, Allaah The Almighty sends another
prophet to abrogate the Sharee'ah of the previous prophet. Every
Sharee'ah lasts for seven centuries. So they claim that the Sharee'ah
of the Prophet was abrogated by the comingof the seventh Imaam Ja'far
ibn Muhammad.
6. Al-Baatiniyyah agree upon denying the Day of Resurrection and that
the witnessed system ofthe worldly life such as the alternation of day
and night, reproduction of human beings from sperm, reproduction of
plants, and reproduction of animals cannot be destroyed by time. They
also believe that the heavens and the earth cannot be destroyed. They
said about the Day of Resurrection that it symbolizes the appearance
of theImaam and the beginning of a new phase of life by the appearance
of the seventh Imaam who will abrogate the previous Sharee'ahs and who
willchange everything.
7. They deny the existence of Paradise and Hellfire. They also claimed
that the meaning of 'the appointed return' is that everything will
return to its original state, and that man is composed of two
entities: spiritual and material. The material entity will be
dissolved to what it was composed of and return to its original state.
That isthe appointed return of the body.As for that of the soul, if it
is righteous – according to them – it will unite after leaving the
bodywith the spiritual world from which it has separated before and
that will achieve happiness for it. However, the evil one will remain
eternally in the material world, transfer from one body to another and
thus it will suffer from pains and illnesses forever. Whenever it
leaves a body, another body will receive it. This, in fact, is the
essential part of thebelief of Brahmanic Hinduism.
8. They also believe in absolute permissiveness and renouncing all
obligations of religion. They believe that such obligations are like
the chains and burdens from which they have been released because of
following the infallibleImaam.
9. Some of them believe in the divinity of 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib . They
claim that he appeared in a human form to put his creation at ease.
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