The story of Prophet Ayyoob -I

His Lineage
Imaam Ibn Is-haaqstated that Prophet Ayyoob's full name was Ayyoob,
Ibn )son of( Mose, Ibn Razeh, Ibn Esau, Ibn Isaac )Is-haaq(, Ibn
Abraham)Ibraaheem(, may Allaah exalt the mention of them all. Others
stated that he was Ayyoob, Ibn Mose, Ibn Rimil, Ibn Esau, Ibn Isaac
)Is-haaq, Ibn Jacob )Ya'qoob(all. There have also been other
statements on his lineage. Imaam Ibn 'Asaakirnarrated that Prophet
Ayyoob's motherwas a daughter ofLot. It was said also that Prophet
Ayyoob's father was one who believed in Ibraaheemwhen he was cast into
the fire.
The first opinion is the most plausible, because Prophet Ayyoobwas
adescendant of Ibraaheem's offspring, asAllaah Almighty declares in
the Quran )what means(:"And that was Our]conclusive[ argument which we
gave Ibraaheem against his people. We raise by degrees whom We will.
Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing. And We gave to him ]i.e.,
Ibraaheem[ Is-haaq ]Isaac[ and Ya'qoob]Jacob[ – all ]of them[ We
guided. And Nooh ]Noah[, We guided before; and among his descendants,
Daawood ]David[ and Sulaymaan ]Solomon[ and Ayyoob ]Job[ and Yoosuf
]Joseph[ and Moosaa ]Moses[ and Haaroon]Aaron[. Thus do We reward the
doers of good."]Quran 6:83-84[
Allaah Praises Him
Allaah the Almighty praised His worshipper Ayyoobin His GloriousQuran,
Saying )what means(:"…Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent
servant.Indeed, he was one who repeatedly turned back ]to
Allaah[."]Quran 38:44[
Ayyoobwas repentant, remembering Allaah with thankfulness, patience,
and steadfastness. This was the cause of his rescue and the secret of
Allaah's praising him.
A group of angels were discussing Allaah's other human creatures, how
those who were humble earned Allaah's pleasure, while those who were
arrogant incurred His displeasure. One of the angels remarked: "The
best creature on earth today is Ayyoob, a man ofnoble character who
displays great patience and always remembers his Generous Lord. He is
an excellent model for the worshippers of Allaah. In return, his Lord
has blessed him with a long life and plenty of servants, as well as
the needy and the poor sharing in his good fortune; he feeds and
clothes the poor and buys slaves to set them free. He makes those
whoreceive his charity feel as if they are favouring him,so kind and
gentle is he."
Satan's Envy of Him
Iblees )Satan( overhearing all of this, became annoyed. He planned to
entice Ayyoobto corruption and disbelief, so he hastened to him. He
tried to distract Ayyoob from his prayers by whispering to him about
the good things in life, but Ayyoob was a true believer and would not
let evil thoughts tempt him. This disturbed Iblees even more; thus he
began to hate Ayyoob with even greater fervour.
Iblees complained to Allaah about Ayyoob. He said that although he was
continuously glorifying Allaah, he was not doing so out of his
sincerity but to satisfy Allaah so that his wealth should not be taken
away. It was all a show, all out of greed. "If You remove his wealth,
then You will find that his tongue will no longer mention Your name
and his praying will stop," he said to Allaah.
Allaah told Iblees that Ayyoobwas one of Hismost sincere devotees.
Hedid not worship Him because of the favours; his worship stemmed from
his heart and had nothing to do with material things. But to prove to
Iblees the depth of Ayyoob's sincerity and patience, Allaah allowed
him to do whatever he and his helpers wished with Ayyoob's wealth.
Iblees was ecstatic. He gathered his helpers and set about destroying
Ayyoob's cattle, servants and farms until he was left with no
possessions. Rubbing his hands in glee, Iblees appeared before
Ayyoobin the guise of a wise old man and said to him: "All your wealth
is lost; some people say that it is because you gave too much in
charity and that you are wasting your time with your continuous
prayers to Allaah. Others say that Allaah has brought this upon you in
order to please your enemies. If Allaah had the capacity toprevent
harm, then He would have protected your wealth."
True to his belief, Ayyoobreplied: "What Allaah has taken away from me
belongs to Him. I was only its trustee for a while. He gives to whom
He wills and withholds from whom He wills." With these words,
Ayyoobagain prostrated to his Lord.
When Iblees saw this, he felt frustrated, so he again addressed
Allaah:"I have stripped Ayyoob of all his possessions, but he still
remains grateful to You. However he is only hiding his disappointment,
for he places great store by his many children. The real test of a
parent is through his children. Youwill see how Ayyoob will reject
You."
Allaah again granted Iblees authority, but warned him that it wouldnot
reduce Ayyoob's faithin His Lord nor his patience.
Iblees again gathered hishelpers and set about his evil deeds. He
shook the fountain of the house in which Ayyoob's children were living
and sent the building crashing, killing all of them. Then he wentto
Ayyoobdisguised as a man who had come to sympathise with him. In a
comforting tone he said to Ayyoob: "The circumstances under which your
children died were sad. Surely, your Lord is not rewarding you
properly for all your prayers." Having said this, Iblees waited
anxiously, hoping Ayyoobwas now ready to reject Allaah.
But again Ayyoobdisappointed him by replying: "Allaah sometimes gives
and sometimes takes. He is sometimes pleased and sometimes displeased
with our deeds. Whether a thing is beneficial or harmful to me, I will
remain firm in my belief and remain thankful to my Creator." Then
Ayyoobprostrated to his Lord. At this, Iblees was extremely vexed.

Dought & clear - Critique of the book Fadaa’il al-A‘maal by Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandahlawi

Is it true that the book Fadaa'il al-A'maal by Muhammad Zakariyya
al-Kandahlawi contains a number of things that imply shirk?
Praise be to Allah.
The bookFadaa'il al-A'maal– the original title of which was Tableeghi
Nisaab– by Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandahlawi is a collection of
chapters about various virtuous deeds. It was written by the author to
be a reference for the group Jamaa'at al-Tableegh. This book became of
great importance for them, which they read intheir gatherings and
study in their schools and mosques. It is written in Urdu, which iswhy
it did not become widespread in the Arab countries; rather it is
widely known in the countries in which Jamaa'at al-Tableegh is
widespread, such as India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Shaykh Hammood at-Tuwaijri said inal-Qawl al-Baleegh(p. 11):
The most important book among the Tableeghis is Tableeghi Nisaab (also
known asFadaa'il al-A'maal), which was written by one of their leaders
whose name is Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandahlawi. They pay a great deal
of attention to this book, which they respect as Ahl as-Sunnah
respectas-Saheehaynand other books of hadeeth.
The Tableeghis have made this book the mostimportant reference work
for the Indians andother non-Arabs who follow them. It contains a
great deal of matters of shirk, innovation (bid'ah), myths, and
fabricated (mawdoo') and weak (da'eef) hadeeths. In fact it is a book
of evil, misguidance and confusion (fitnah). End quote.
Shaykh Shams ad-Deen al-Afghaani said in his bookJuhood 'Ulama'
al-Hanafiyyah fi Ibtaal 'Aqaa'id al-Qubooriyyah(2/776):
The leading imams of the Deobandis have books which are venerated by
the Deobandis, but they are filled with the myths of grave-worshippers
and Sufi idolatry, such as – and he mentioned a number of books,
including Tableeghi Nisaab, i.e., Nisaab at-Tableegh, and
Manhajat-Tableegh. These Deobandis did not openly disavow these books
or warn against them, and they did not put a stop to the printing and
sale of these books. The markets of India and Pakistan and elsewhere
are full of them. End quote.
It says inFataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah(vol 2, 2/97):
Question: I am a Muslim man living in Britain, and I want to follow
the path of Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah in all aspects of my life. On
that basis I am trying to read religious books in Urdu. Whilst reading
some religious books written by the famous and prominent Indian
scholar who belongs to the Deobandi Jamaa'at at-Tableegh, whose name
is Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandahlawi, the shaykh of hadeeth, I
found in his bookTableeghi Nisaab(p. 113), in Chapter 5, a story
quotedby the author from a book entitledRawnaq al-Majaalis. This is
the story of a merchant who died and his estate was shared between his
two sons. In addition to a great deal of wealth, thedeceased had left
behind a hair from the head of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him). The younger son kept the hair from the head of the
Messenger (blessingsand peace of Allah be upon him) and gave up the
wealth to which he was entitled from his father's estate, giving it to
his older brother. What happened was that the one who took the wealth
soon became bankrupt, whilst the onewho took the hair became rich.
After the death of the younger brother, in whose possession was the
hair from the head of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), one of the righteous saw the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) in his dream, and the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said to him: "Whoever has any need should
go to the grave of this younger brother and call upon Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, at his graveside so that He might answer his
prayer." This is quoted from the bookTableeghi Nisaab.
I also read another bookcalledTareekh Mashaayikh Juththatby the same
author, ShaykhMuhammad Zakariyya Kandahlawi. On p. 232, he mentions
Shaykh HajiImdaadullah Muhaajir Makki, when he was in his final
illness and was visited by one of his followers who was grieved by his
state. The shaykh realised that he was feeling sad for him and he
said: "Do not grieve, for the ascetic (zaahid) worshipper does not
die; rather he moves from one place toanother, and he meets people's
needs when he is in his grave as he usedto meet their needs when he
was alive." Thisis quoted from the bookTareekh Mashaayikh Juththat.
I would like to hear yourwise opinions about the above and also about
the following matters:
(a)Is he – the author – and the one who narrated this story still a
Muslim in the light of this belief which is reflected in his books and
his words? Please explain to us with evidence from the Qur'an and
Sunnah.
(b)If he is no longer a Muslim, what is the evidence from the Qur'an
and Sunnah that he is beyond the pale of Islam?
The answer was:
What is quoted in these books, such as the example mentioned in the
question, comes under the heading of reprehensible innovation and
myths that are not based on any sound Islamic principle and have no
basis in the Book of Allahor the Sunnah of His Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him). No one says or believes this except one
who is confused and blinded to the truth, andhas gone astray from
thestraight path.
The claim that a hair of the Prophet still exists, and brings riches
to the one who keeps it, and the claim to have seen the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in a dream telling people
to offer supplication at the graveof this man – all of that islies and
fabrications for which there is no evidence. It is narrated in a
saheeh report that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "The Shaytaan cannot appear in my form." Agreed upon. So
how could the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
instruct people to call upon Allah at gravesides when he forbade such
actions during his lifetime and warned against it in the strongest
terms, and he forbade exaggerating about the Prophets and righteous
people and seeking to draw close to Allah (tawassul) by virtueof them
after their death? He (blessings andpeace of Allah be upon him) did
not die until Allah had perfected His religion by means of him(the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)) and completed His
favour or blessings. So nothing can be added to or taken away from
what He prescribed. The beliefthat supplications offered at gravesides
will be answered is an innovation for which there is no basis in
Islam,and it may lead a personto major shirk if he calls upon the
occupant of the grave instead of Allah or alongside Him, or if he
believes that the occupant of the grave has the power to bring benefit
or cause harm, because the only One Who can bring benefit or cause
harm is Allah, may He be glorified.
Similarly, the belief that the ascetic (zaahid) worshipper does not
die, rather he moves from one place to another, and that he canmeet
people's needs from his grave as he used to meet their needswhen he
was alive, is also a false belief; it is one of the beliefs of the
deviant Sufis. There is nobasis for that; rather what is indicated by
the verses and saheeh hadeeths is that every person in this world will
die. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Verily, you (O Muhammad SAW) will die and verily, they (too)will die"
[az-Zumar 39:30]
"And We granted not to any human being immortality before you (O
Muhammad SAW), then if you die, would they live forever?"
[al-Anbiya' 21:34]
"Everyone is going to taste death, and We shallmake a trial of you
with evil and with good, and to Us you will be returned."
[al-Anbiya' 21:35].
The saheeh hadeeths also indicate that when a person dies, all his
deeds come to an end except three: beneficial knowledge, a righteous
son who will pray for him, or ongoing charity (sadaqah jaariyah). The
deceased in his grave has no power to harm orbenefit himself, and it
is more apt to say that one who is in this state has no power to do
that for anyone else. It is not permissible to seek to have one's
needs met by anyone except Allah alone with regard to that over which
no one has any control except Allah; seeking such needs from the dead
is major shirk. Anyone whobelieves anything other than that has
disbelieved in the sense of major kufr and has gone beyond the pale
ofIslam – Allah forbid – because of his rejecting the proven evidence
to that effect from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). He has to repent sincerely
from that, resolve not to go back to that evil deed, and to follow the
path of the righteous early generations of Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah
in order to attain the pleasure of Allah and His Paradise, and to be
safe from His punishment. End quote.
It says inal-Mawsoo'ah al-Muyassarah fi'l-Adyaan wa'l-Madhaahib
wa'l-Ahzaab al-Mu'aasirah(1/322):
In their gatherings in Arab countries they – i.e., Jamaa'at
at-Tableegh – focus on reading fromRiyadh as-Saaliheen, but in
non-Arab countries they focus on reading fromHayat
as-SahaabahandTableeghi Nisaab; the latter book is full of myths and
da'eef (weak)hadeeths. End quote.
To sum up, the scholars continue to warn against the bookTableeghi
Nisaab, otherwise known asFadaa'il al-A'maal. It is not permissible
for any Muslim to read it; rather they should focus on the books of
the saheeh Sunnah, books whose authors follow the path of Ahl
as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah. As for books that contain myths and lies,
they should not have any place in the heart or mind of the Muslim.
And Allah knows best.

Dought & clear - If a woman commits zina, then she is forced to marry a chaste man, isthat marriage valid?

I want to know that, in Quran Allah the almightysays a fornicator
shall not marry anyone but another fornicator. I also heard that in
hadith and sunnah a man guilty and punished for zina was not allowed
to marry any virgin but to some woman similarly punished. So, what if
a woman who gets married to a man who isnot a fornicator but she is
unfortunately one. She couldnt help but getmarried to this man because
of the situation.What can she do about this problem. She feels scared
of having intercourse because the marriage is not halal as per the
ruling of the Quran and it is wreckinghavoc in the lives of everyone.
What is the islamic ruling in her case? No body can help her and the
families are in terrible danger due to this.
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
The verse (interpretationof the meaning)"The adulterer marries not but
an adulteress..." [an-Noor 24:3]does not mean that the fornicatoror
adulterer cannot marry anybody but a fornicatress or an adulteress, or
that the fornicatress or adulteress cannot marry anybody but a
fornicatoror adulterer. Rather what the verse means is that it is
haraam for a man or woman who has committed zina to marryone who is
chaste, unless they repent.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal
(may Allah have mercy on him) was of the view that the marriage of a
chaste man to an unchaste woman is not valid so long as she remains
like that, unless she is asked to repent. If she repents, the marriage
contract will be valid, otherwise it will not. Similarly, it is not
valid for a free, chaste woman to be given in marriage to a man who is
immoral andunchaste, unless he repents sincerely, because Allah, may
He beexalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):"Such a thing is
forbidden to the believers" [an-Noor 24:3]. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd ar-Rahmaanas-Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
What this verse means is that if a person commits zina, man or woman,
and has not repented from that, then the one who wants to marry himor
her even though Allahhas forbidden that, mustbe:
-either one who does not adhere to the rulingsof Allah and His
Messenger, and such a person cannot be anything other than a mushrik;
-or if he does adhere to the rulings of Allah and His Messenger, but
he wants to marry this person even though he is aware of her zina,
then this marriage itself is zina, and the one who wants to get
married is an adulterer and unchaste. If he truly believed in Allah,
he would not want to do that.
This clearly indicates that it is haraam to marry a fornicatress or
adulteress unless she repents, and it is haraamto marry a fornicator
or adulterer unless he repents.
End quote fromTayseer al-Kareem ar-Rahmaan fiTafseer Kalaam al-Mannaan(p. 561).
Therefore, it is not permissible for a chaste man to marry a
fornicatress, and by the same token it is not permissible for a chaste
woman to marry a fornicator, unless the one who has committed zina
repents. Similarly, it is not permissible for theman or woman who has
committed zina to get married unless they repent.
For more information, please see the answer toquestions no. 122639and 14381.
Secondly:
If a person repents from zina, he is no longer described as a
fornicatoror adulterer, therefore the prohibition on marriage of a
fornicator or adulterer no longer applies to him; in that case it is
permissible for him to marry a chaste woman, i.e., one who never
committed zina; it is also permissible for him to marry a woman who
committed zina previously but has now repented.
The same applies to the woman who has committed zina. She does not
have the right to marry a chaste Muslimman unless she repents. But if
she repents, it is valid for her to marry him.
With regard to what youhave mentioned about the fornicator who has
been given a hadd punishment not being allowed to marry anyone but a
woman who is like him, who committed zina and has been subjected to
the hadd punishment, this is a view that was narratedfrom some of the
early generations, for which they quoted as evidence the report
narrated by Abu Dawood (2052) fromAbu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased
with him) who said: The Messengerof Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "The fornicator who has beenflogged may not
marry anyone but a woman who is like him."
It was classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani inSaheeh Sunan Abi Dawood.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:az-Zajjaaj and others
narrated from al-Hasan that he said: What is meant is the fornicator
and fornicatress on whom the hadd punishment has been carried out. He
said: This is the ruling from Allah, so it is not permissible for the
fornicator on whom the hadd punishment has been carried out to marry
any but a woman on whom the hadd punishment has been carried out.
Ibraaheem an-Nakha'i said something similar.
InMusannaf Abi Dawoodit is narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "No fornicator on whom the hadd punishment
has been carried out should marry anyone but one who is like him."And
it was narrated that one on whom the hadd punishment had been carried
out (because of fornication) married oneon whom it has not beencarried
out (i.e., one who was chaste), and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with
him) separated them.
The correct view is that the description "one who has been flogged" in
the hadeeth refers to one who is known to have committed zina and it
has been proven against him, and that can only apply to one onwhom the
hadd punishment has been carried out. Therefore what the hadeeth
meansis: it is not permissible for a chaste woman to marry one who is
knownto have committed zina, and it is not permissible for a man to
marry a woman who is known tohave committed zina. Sothe meaning of
the hadeeth is in accordancewith the meaning of the verse
(interpretation of the meaning)"The adulterer marries not but an
adulteress..." [an-Noor 24:3],and reinforces that meaning.
Ash-Shawkaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The words "the
fornicator who has been flogged" refer to one who is known to have
committed zina. This indicates that it is not permissible for a woman
to marry a man who is known to have committed zina; similarly, it is
not permissible for a man to marry a woman who is known to have
committed zina. This is indicated by the verse mentioned in the book,
because at the end of it it says"Such a thing is forbidden to the
believers" [an-Noor 24:3]. End quote fromNayl al-Awtaar, 6/201
Based on the above, if the woman regrets whatshe fell into of
fornication and repented from it before that man married her, then the
marriage contract is valid. But she has to conceal her (past
misconduct) and not tell anyone about what she did previously.
But if the marriage contract was done before she repented from zina,
then the opinion on which fatwason this website are based is that the
marriage is not valid andthe marriage contract must be re-done. See
theanswer to question no. 85335
Therefore, if it is possible to repeat the marriage contract – if the
marriage contract was done before repentance – even if thatis with any
acceptable excuse, then this is what should be done and is more on the
safe side, soas to avoid a matter concerning which the scholars (may
Allah have mercy on them) differed,and it is more on the safe side for
the marriage contract.
But it is not possible to do that except by statingclearly that zina
occurred, and if doing sowill lead to negative consequences, such as
if the husband will divorcethe wife if he finds out about her past, or
at least it would create mistrust and doubt on the part of the husband
if he agrees to keep his wife with him, or it will disclose her fault
among the people or cause her shame, and other negative consequences,
then there is no blame on her, in sha Allah, if she continues with
this marriage contract. Undoubtedly this opinion carries weight and
has a valid foundation; in fact it is the view of the majority of
scholars, especially with regard to one who entered into that marriage
contract believing that it was valid.
In fact some of the Hanbalis themselves even stated clearly that
marriage in the case mentioned is valid.
Al-Mirdaawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:Some of our
companionssaid: it is not haraam for her to get married before
repentance if someone other than the fornicator marries her. This was
stated by Abu Ya'la as-Sagheer.
End quote fromal-Insaaf, 8/133
To sum up:
If it is not possible to renew the marriage contract between the two
families except by causing greater negativeconsequences, or creating a
scandal and exposing the woman to shame, there is nothing wrong with
her remaining in this marriage and letting herhusband be intimate with
her, and living her life in a normal manner.
And Allah knows best.

Nine great benefits of reciting Holy Qur'an

1.Reading and reflecting over the Noble Qur'an fulfils an Islamic duty.
2.The Noble Qur'an will be a proof for us on theDay of Judgment.
3.The Noble Qur'an will intercede for us on the Day of Judgment.
4.Your status in this life will be raised.
5.You will be from the best of the people.
6.There are ten rewards for each letter you recite from the Noble Qur'an.
7.The reciters of the Noble Qur'an will be in the company of the noble
and obedient angels.
8.Your position in Paradise is determined by the amount of NobleQur'an
you memorize inthis life!
9.The Noble Qur'an will lead you to Paradise!