Characteristics of righteous women - I

Ziyaad ibn Abeehthe Umayyad statesman,asked those who were sitting
with him,"Who leads the most blissful life?"They replied,"The
Commander of the Believers does!"He said, "No. Theman who leads the
most blissful life is a Muslim man who is married to a Muslim woman
and they have enough sustenance, and each of them is happy and
satisfied with their partner! This man does not know us and we do not
know him!"
Who is this woman who was admired by the most eloquent and most shrewd
man among the Arabs? She is the woman who is chaste and virtuous. A
woman whose face is shining with purity, whose heart shines with the
glory of obedience to Allaah The Almighty and whose outer appearance
reflects dignity and arouses reverence. This is thewoman who is
faithful in dedicating her heart, emotions and thoughts to her
husband. Some of the characteristics of such woman are:
·She offers sound opinions and advice: Saffaanah bint Haatim
At-Taa'iwent to her brother after she met the Messenger of Allaahand
started to tell her brother about Islam. Her brother asked her,"What
do you think of this man?"She replied,"I think we should follow
him!"[Al-Isaabah8/108]
·She sacrifices family and homeland for the sake of supporting the
religion: Umm Kulthoom bint 'Uqbahemigrated from Makkah (Mecca) to
Madeenah for the sake of her religion while she was still a girl who
had never been married. Sheleft her father who was an evil man,
comparable to a devil in human form. After that, her brothers pursued
her, so she saidto the Prophet,,"Would you let them take me back [in
order to] turn me back from my religion, low as my endurance is and as
weak as you know womenare?'' [Al-Bukhaari 4/3945]
·Hastens to do good deeds: In the following story, the female
companion gave an excellent practical example of this.The Prophet,had
a guest and asked his wives if they had any food, but they all said
that they only had water. Hence, the Prophet,asked his Companions:"Who
can host this man?"One of theAnsaar(Helpers)said that he could do that
and took the guest home.
The man asked his wife to be generous with the guest of the Prophet,,
but she told him that they had nothing except a little food for their
children. The husband asked her to prepare the meal, light the lamp
and let the children sleep if they asked for dinner. The wife prepared
the meal, lit her lamp and made her children sleep. Then, she stood up
pretending to mend her lamp,but she put it off. Then both she and her
husband pretended to beeating before their guest, while in reality,
they really went to bed hungry.
In the morning, theAnsariman went to the Messenger of Allaah,who
said:"Tonight, Allaah laughed or wondered at your action." Allaah The
Almighty revealed the verse (which means):{But give [them] preference
over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is
protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be
the successful.}[Quran 59:9] [Al-Bukhaari 3798]
·Her chastity is beyond what minds can conceive: Mu'aawiyah ibn Abu
Sufyaanwent to his wife, Maysoon bint Bahdal, accompanied by a
castrated servant. On seeing the slave, [the unveiled] wife became
very anxious and asked her husband disapprovingly,"Who is he?!"Her
husband comforted her by saying,"Do not worry; he is just acastrated
slave."The righteous wife replied,"Still, he is a non-Mahram
(marriageable man) to me; even castration does not allow for him what
Allaah The Exalted has made prohibited."She refused that the castrated
slave would enter the house [while she was not wearingHijaab(Islamic
covering)]. [Al-Bidaayah wa An-Nihaayahby Ibn Katheer 148/8]
·Honors the rites ordained by Allaah The Almighty: In the year
sixty-five afterHijrah, Jameelah, the daughter of the governor of
Mosul, performedHajjand had four hundred camels and manyHawdajsto the
extent that one could not know on which one she was staying. She
emancipated five hundred slaves and gave fifty thousand dresses to
charity. (Siyar A'laam An-Nubalaa'by Ath-Thahabi)
·Does what is right without fearing criticism: 'Eesa ibn 'Allaam
'Uthmaansaid,"I was at Faatimah bint 'Ali's houseboth, and a man came
praising her father. She took ash and threw it at his face."[Tabaqaat
ibn Sa'ad8/466]
·Devout worshipper:Al-Haytham ibn Jammaazsaid,"I was married to a
woman who does not sleep at night [as she would be praying all the
night]. I could not stay up late with her, but shewould sprinkle water
and nudge me with her foot while saying, 'Are you not shy of Allaah?
For how long would this snoring go on?' (He said), By Allaah! I would
be ashamed of myself considering what she did."(Ta'theem Qadr
As-Salaah2/ 835)
·Abstinent regarding worldly temptations. Al-Waaqidinarrated that once
it was the eve of`Eedand he had nothing, so he went to one of his
friends who was a merchant and borrowed one thousand dinars sealed in
a bag. When he returned home, one of his friends from Bani Haashim
from the family of theProphet,came to him and told him that he was in
need. Al-Waaqidiwent to his wife and told her about this. She asked,
"What will you do?"He replied,"I will give him half the money in the
bag!"She said,"Thisis nothing! One of the family of the Prophet,comes
to you and you give him half the bag!"Therefore, Al-Waqidi gave him
all the money. The merchant was a friend of this man and asked him to
lend him money. The Haashimiman gave him the same bag, so he
recognized it. When the ruler knew about their story, he rewarded
every one of their men one thousand dinars and gave the woman four
thousand dinars,and said,"She is the most generous one among
you!"(SiyarA'laam An-Nubalaa'by Ath-Thahabi 9/467

Dought & clear - ,- Times of Prayers - Which is the middle prayer?.

Which is the begining ofthe day- is it fajr or magrib. Please tell me.
Which is the middle prayer. If it is asr then, fajr is the beginning
of the day. Please clarify me in detail from the quran and the
hadeeth.
Praise be to Allaah.
Identifying the middle prayer which is mentioned in the verse
(interpretation of the meaning): "Guard strictly(five obligatory)
As-Salawaat (the prayers) especially the middle Salaah (i.e. the best
prayer). And stand before Allaah with obedience [and do not speak to
others during the Salaah (prayers)]" [al-Baqarah 2:238] is oneof the
matters concerning which there is a difference of opinion among the
scholars, and concerningwhich there are approximately 20 opinions, as
listed by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) in Fath
al-Baari (8/197). Al-Haafiz 'Abd al-Mu'min al-Dimyaati (may Allah have
mercy on him) wrote a book concerning that entitled Kashf al-Mughatta
fi Tabyeen al-Salaat al-Wusta. The strongest of these opinions are
two:
1. That it is Fajr prayer
This is the view of Abu Umaamah, Anas, Jaabir, Abu'l-'Aaliyah,
'Ubaydah ibn 'Umayr, 'Ata', 'Ikrimah, Mujaahid and others, and it is
one of the two views of Ibn 'Umar and Ibn 'Abbaas.
It is also the view of Maalik and of al-Shaafa'ias stated in al-Umm.
End quote from Fath al-Baari (8/196).
2. That it is 'Asr prayer
This is the view of most of the scholars, and it is the correct and
reliable view, because of the evidence to that effect inthe Qur'aan
and the Sunnah.
This is the view of 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib. Al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasaa'i
narrated that Zurr ibn Hubaysh said: We said to 'Ubaydah: Ask'Ali
about the middle prayer. He asked him and he said: We used to think
that that was Fajr, until I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) say on the day of al-Ahzaab: "They
distracted us from the middle prayer, 'Asr prayer." This report states
that it is 'Asr in thewords of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him). The argument for it being Fajr is strong, but the
correct view is that it is 'Asr.
This is the view of Ibn Mas'ood and Abu Hurayrah, and it is the
correct view according to the madhhab of Abu Haneefah; it is also the
view of Ahmad and the view which most of the Shaafa'is adopted because
of the soundness of the hadeeth.
Al-Tirmidhi said: It is the view of most of the scholars among the Sahaabah.
Al-Mawardi said: This is the view of the majority of the Taabi'een.
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said: It isthe view of most of scholars of hadeeth.
Among the Maalikis, this is the view of Ibn Habeeb, Ibn al-'Arabi and
Ibn 'Atiyyah. End quote from Fath al-Baari,8/196.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
What is indicated by the saheeh hadeeths is that it is 'Asr, and this
is the favoured view. End quote.
Al-Majmoo', 3/61
Al-Haafiz al-Dimyaati mentioned some of the particular virtues that
are unique to 'Asr prayer:
· The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) emphasised the calamity of missing it and described it as loss of
family and wealth, when he said: "Whoever misses 'Asr prayer, it is
asif he has lost his family and his wealth."
· The good deeds of the one who misses it are lost.
· It was dearer to them than their own selves and their
parents, children, families and wealth.
· It was the first prayer at the time of which the fear prayer
was prescribed.
· It was the first prayer in which the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) turned to face the Ka'bah.
· The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"A man tries to sell an item after 'Asr by swearing an oath by
Allah...". So Allaah showed the seriousness of an oath sworn after 'Asr
prayer.
· Sulaymaan (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
destroyed a large number of horses because inspecting themdistracted
him from 'Asr prayer until the sun set.
· Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "By Al-'Asr (the
time). 2. Verily, man is in loss..." [al-'Asr 103:1-2]
· It was the middle prayer to be made obligatory, because the
first prayer to be made obligatory was Fajr and the last was 'Isha',
so it was the middle prayer inbeing made obligatory.
End quote. Kashf al-Mughta, p. 126-132
With regard to the question about the beginning of the day, and
whether it is during the night or the day, the answer is that the
night comes before the day. Sowhen the sun sets, the night belonging
to the following day has begun. Hence when the new moon of Ramadan is
sighted, the people pray Taraweeh that night because that nightis part
of Ramadan, and when they see the new moon of Eid, they do notpray
Taraweeh because that is part of Shawwaal.
But that does not imply that Fajr is the middle prayer, because what
is meant by middle here is the best, not the one that is in the middle
between two things.
See: al-Tahreer wa'l-Tanweer, 15/253; Tafseer Soorat al-Baqarah by Ibn
'Uthaymeen, 2/178.
And Allaah knows best.

Dought & clear - ,- Times of Prayers - They differ concerning the timings of the prayer; who should they follow?.

I am living in Holland and there are two mosques in the town where I
am staying. Each mosque gives timesfor the call to prayer thatare
different from the other mosque, in addition to the timings that we
find on the Internet. Which one should we follow? Pleasenote that the
difference between them is many minutes. The month of Ramadan is
coming, in sha Allah, and the timings for Fajr and Maghrib prayer are
different in each mosque. What do you think we should do? Which of
them should we follow? Please note that one of the mosques is run by
Turks and the other by North Africans. Or should I follow the timings
on the Internet?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The timings for prayer are clearly explained in the Islamic texts, and
they are based on thingsthat are visible, and can be understood by any
one with a little sense.
The time for Fajr begins with the breaking of thetrue dawn, in which
the light spreads horizontally along the horizon, to the right
andleft.
The time for Zuhr beginswhen the sun moves from the middle of the sky.
The time for 'Asr begins when the shadow of an object is equal in
length to the object itself plus its shadow at the time when the sun
is at its zenith.
The time for Maghrib begins when the disk of the sun disappears
completely beneath the horizon.
Al-Nawawi said: What matters is when its disk disappears completely,
and after it has disappeared completely the rays that remain do not
matter; rather the time for the prayer begins even though those rays
are still present. End quote. Al-Majmoo', 4/169
Ibn Taymiyah said: At that time, the fasting person may break his fast
and the time when prayer is disallowed ends, and what is left of red
light on the horizon does not affect any ruling.
The time for 'Isha' begins when the red glow disappears from the horizon.
For more information onthe timings of prayer, please see the answer
toquestion number 9940.
You have to try hard to recognise the signs and act in accordance with
them. If that is too difficult for you, then there is nothing wrong
with following one of the mosques, if you trustthe religious
commitment and sincerity of the people incharge.
And Allah knows best.

Dought & clear - ,- Times of Prayers - He wants to put the prayers together on a permanent basis because he works atnight.

I have got a job that requires me to work thenight shift, and this
means that I have to sleep during the day. Is it permissible for me to
put Zuhr prayer togetherwith 'Asr, and Maghrib with 'Isha', on a
permanent basis, so longas I have the night shift at work? I want to
put them together so that I do not interrupt my sleep a great deal.
Praise be to Allaah.
What is required is to regularly offer the prayers at the proper
times, in obedience to the command of Allah (interpretation of the
meaning):
"Guard strictly (five obligatory) AsSalawat (the prayers) especially
the middle Salat (i.e. the best prayer Asr). And stand before Allah
with obedience (and do not speak to others during the Salat
(prayers))."
[al-Baqarah 2:238]
"Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours"
[an-Nisa' 4:103]
and so as to avoid being included in the words of Allah
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up As-Salat
(the prayers) (i.e. made their Salat (prayers) to be lost,either by
not offering them or by not offering them perfectly or by not offering
them in their proper fixed times, etc.) and have followed lusts. So
they will be thrown in Hell"
[Maryam 19:59].
Ibn Mas'ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning
al-ghayy(translated above as "Hell"): It is a valley in Hell, very
deep and with a foul taste.
And Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"So woe unto those performers of Salat (prayers) (hypocrites),
Who delay their Salat (prayer) from their stated fixed times,"
[al-Ma'oon 107:4-5].
So try hard to wake up for the prayer; it will notmatter if your sleep
is interrupted, because you will get used to that in the future. We do
not know why you are asking about putting Maghrib and 'Isha' together,
because we cannot imagine that youspend the whole day until 'Isha'
asleep. Can you spend your life only between work and sleep? What
about paying attention to the rights of your family andbrothers, and
doing acts of worship to Allah such as going to the mosque, reading
Qur'aan, seeking knowledge and so on?
We ask Allah to help you and give you strength.
And Allah knows best.