What is Hijaamah)cupping(?

The word hijaamah )cupping( comes from the word hajm which means
sucking, as in the phrasehajama al-sabiy thadya ummihi)the infant
suckled his mother's breast(. Al-Hajjaam means the cupper, hijaamah is
the profession of cupping, and the wordmihjamis used to describe the
vessel in which the blood is collected and the lancet used by the
cupper.(
In fiqh )Jurisprudence( terminology, the word hijaamah is applied by
some scholars to the extraction of blood from the nape of the neck by
means of cupping after making an incision with the lancet.
Al-Zarqaanistated that cupping is not limited to the nape of the neck,
rather it may be done on any part of the body. This was also the view
of al-Khattaabi.
In conclusion, hijaam refers to the extraction of blood from the body
by means of cupping using a suitable vessel or whatever modern
equipment serves the same purpose.
Cupping was known since ancient times. It was known to the Chinese,
the Babylonians and the Pharaohs. Their relics and carved images
indicate that they used cupping to treat some diseases. At first they
used metal cups or bulls' horns, from which they would remove the air
by sucking it out after placing the cup on the skin. Then they used
glass cups from which they would remove the air by burning a piece of
cotton or wool inside the cup.
Virtues of cupping:
Al-Bukhaarinarrated from Sa'eed Ibn Jubayr from Ibn 'Abbaasthat the
Prophetsaid: 'Healing is in three things: drinking honey, the incision
of a cupper, and cauterizing with fire, but I forbid my Nation to use
cauterizing.'
Al-Bukhaari and Muslimnarrated that Anas Ibn Maalikwas asked about the
earnings of the cupper, and he said:
The Messenger of Allaahwas treated with cupping by Abu Taybah.
Heordered that he )Abu Taybah( should be given two saa' )quantity
unit( of food, and he spoke with his masters so that they reduced what
they used to take from his earnings. And hesaid: 'The best medicine
with which you treat yourselves is cupping, or it is one of the best
of your medicines.'
It was narrated that Jaabir Ibn 'Abdillaahsaid: I heard the Messenger
of Allaah sallallaahu alyhi wa sallam say: 'If there is anything good
in the medicines with which you treat yourselves, it is in the
incision of the cupper, or a drink of honey or cauterization with
fire, but I do not like to be cauterized.' )Al-Bukhaari, Muslim(.
Benefits of cupping:
Cupping has real benefits in treating many diseases, past and present.
The diseases which have been treated by cupping and for which it has
been of benefit by Allaah's Leave include the following:
1- Circulatory diseases
2- Treating blood pressure and infection of the heart muscle
3- Diseases of the chest and trachea
4- Headache and pains in the eyes
5- Pain in the neck and stomach, and rheumatic pain in the muscles
6- Some diseases of the heart and chest, and pain in the joints
In addition, cupping may offer a unique treatment which may reduce
pain, and it does not have any side-effects. For more information on
the benefits of cupping see Zaad al-Ma'aad by Ibn Al-Qayyim.
How cupping is done:
The mouth of the cupping vessel )nowadays they use glass vessels( is
placed on the skin at the site chosen for cupping. Then the cupper
rarefies the air inside the vessel by burning a small piece of paper
or cotton inside the vessel )the old method(, so that the mouth of the
vessel will cling to the skin. Sometimes a machine is used instead of
the method described above. The vessel clings to the skin and is left
for a period of three to ten minutes.
Then it is lifted off and a very small incision is made in the skin
using a clean sharp instrument such as a razor blade or the like. Then
the cup is put back in the same manner as described above, until it is
filled with the bad blood that comes out of the veins. Then it is
taken off, and may be put back once more if needed. When it is
finished and the cup is taken away, a dry dressing is placed over the
site of the incision.
Before ending we should point out that no one should undertake cupping
except one who can do it well, because of the harm that may result if
it is done by one who is incompetent.

Excellence in faith

In one of the great prophetic narrations which included few, yet very
comprehensive words, the Prophetclarified one of the means for
salvation, and a sign of the excellence of Islam. This narration gives
the believing slave a tool by which to measure himself and realize how
close or far he is from the straight path.
Abu Hurayrahreported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"It is from the
excellence of )a believer's( Islam that he should shun that which is
of no concern to him".]At-Tirmithi[.
This narration contains many great meanings which a believer should
understand and apply. It is one of the principles and foundations of
good manners, and thus some scholars considered it to constitute
one-third or one-fourth of the religion of Islam.
Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyimsaid: "The Prophetsummed all the aspects of piety
and devoutness in this narration. Heoutlined for the slave what to do
and what to shun, and it is an indication to the first pillar of soul
purification, namely, shunning what does not concern the person, which
leads to the second pillar, and that is busying oneself essentially
with what concerns him"
Heclarified that shunning that which does not concern the person is a
means to attain excellence in religion. This means, that people, in
reality, are of two categories, those who are excellent in Islaam and
those who are not. The one who applies Islam inwardly and outwardly is
the one who has reached the level of excellence , as Allaah says )what
means(:"And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to
Allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham,
inclining toward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate
friend."]Quran: 4:125[.
On the other hand, the one who does not apply Islam inwardly and
outwardly is the one whose degree of commitment to Islam is low, and
one of the signs of this in him is that he busies himself in that
which does not concern him.
The following verse is proof substantiating the meaning of the
narration, in which Allaah Says )what means(:"And they who turn away
from ill speech"]Quran: 23:3[."… ill speech"is anything from
falsehood, and that includes association, other minor sins and all
useless speech, actions and concerns. Furthermore, busing oneself with
that which does not concern him is included in the definition of "ill
speech".
There are other prophetic narrations which highlight the virtue of
excellence in religion, such as the narration of Abu Hurayrahin which
he reported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"When one of you reaches
the level of excellence in faith, then every good deed is multiplied
for him ten times up to seven hundred times; and each sin is recorded
as only one, until he meets Allaah"]Muslim[.
The saying of the Prophet:"… that which is of no concern to him"means,
that which does not benefit him in his worldly life or the Hereafter,
and this includes things that are prohibited, disliked, doubtful, and
excess permissible matters which one does not really need.
The measure by which one knows whether something is of his concern or
not, is Islamic teachings and not ones desires.
Many people decide to abandon enjoining good and forbidding evil under
the pretext that this is interfering with people's privacy and
personal life. They would do so claiming that it is not a person's
concern to intervene in other people's affairs, basing their argument
on an incorrect understanding of this very narration.
Abu Bakr As-Siddeeqsaid: "O you people! You recite and misinterpret
the following verse )which means(:`O you who believe! Take care of
your own selves. If you follow the )right( guidance ]and enjoin what
is right )Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do( and
forbid what is wrong )polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has
forbidden([ no hurt can come to you from those who are in
error.`]Quran:5:105[ But I have heard Messenger of Allahsaying:"When
people see an oppressor but do not prevent him from )doing evil(, it
is likely that Allaah will punish them all.""]Abu Daawood &
At-Tirmithi[.
In another narration hesaid:"Never that evil is committed and people
do not prevent it, though able to do so, but Allaah will overwhelm
them with punishment".
One other thing that one must concern himself with is the affairs of
other believers and their issues, because he who does not worry about
the affairs of his fellow Muslims is not one of them.
The need to understand this narration, its implications and
applications intensifies in times like ours, when people's commitments
and personal obligations have increased and priorities are mixed up.
The implementation of this narration is the first practical step
toward reforming oneself and those under his guardianship and care
which leads to achieving excellence in religion. This happens by
concentrating on that which is beneficial and staying away from all
that is not ones concern.

The effects of using weakHadeeth

The term "weak hadeeth" refers to any narration which does not fulfill
the conditions of authenticity. The scholars of Hadeethagree that a
"weak hadeeth" must not be attributed to the Prophetby saying: "The
Prophetsaid …".
Applying weak hadeeth in excellent deeds.
Very often when you point to the weakness of a Hadeeth you hear being
cited, someone will immediately say: "But this Hadeeth is talking
about )the reward of( excellent deeds, and it is alright to refer to
unauthentic Hadeeth when talking about excellent deeds."
It has become a norm amongst the majority of a good number of scholars
and students of Islamic learning that it is alright to use weak
Hadeeth when it refers to the reward of excellent deeds. They consider
it a fully accepted rule that should not be argued. They also would
quote the words of great scholars to support their point.
Before going into detail to refute the arguments of these people, let
me point out that they have, in general, misunderstood the sayings of
the great scholars of Islam they quote, relative to weak Hadeeth and
how it should be used.
This serious misunderstanding has led to the great epidemic of freely
using weak narrations; which certainly may involve lying against the
Messenger of Allaah.
Refutation of the claim:
First, we should mention that the rule cited earlier )that weak
Hadeeth can be used in excellent deeds( is not accepted by all the
scholars of Hadeeth. For instance, Abu Bakr Ibn 'Arabisaid: "The weak
Hadeeth should be absolutely avoided and not dealt with."
Second, we should know that the scholars of Hadeeth who permitted the
use of weak Hadeeth have set very strict rules applying to their use.
Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar Al-'Asqalaani
said: "There are three conditions that must be fulfilled in order to
use the weak Hadeeth:
a. It is well accepted that the weakness should only be slight. This
will help to exclude Hadeeth reported by liars or accused reporters
)of lying( who are known to commit big mistakes.
b. The weak Hadeeth should be used under already well-established
principles and should not bring in ideas of its own.
c. When a weak Hadeeth is used )after it fulfills the above two
conditions(, it should not be believed to be said by the Messenger of
Allaah; to do so we would be crediting him with that which he did not
say.
For the above conditions to be satisfied, people planning to use the
weak Hadeeth should have the ability to:
1. Distinguish between the weak and the authentic Hadeeth in order to
fulfill condition )c( above, otherwise they may fall into lying about
the Messenger.
2. Distinguish between the slightly weak Hadeeth and those which are
very weak or fabricated, in order to fulfill condition )a( above.
What should be very clear to Muslims is that the ability to make the
above two distinctions is not possessed except by a very small
category of the scholars of Hadeeth )who can be counted on the
fingers(.
In particular with reference to item )2( above, only a few of the
scholars of Hadeeth in all of the history of Islam have dealt with it.
Someone might justifiably ask: "Why are we so strict in this matter
)of using weak Hadeeth(, when some scholars of Hadeeth have permitted
it?"
The answer to this question was given by a great scholar of Hadeeth,
Muhammad Naassir Ad-Deen Al-Albaaniwho said:
"The earlier scholars used to mention the Hadeeth with their full
Isnaad )chain of Narrators(, so that any other scholar reading their
treatise could know from the chain of Narrators the degree of
authenticity of the Hadeeth."
We pray that this small introduction to the subject of weak Hadeeth
and using it as proof has helped in clarifying how dangerous this is.

Dought & clear, - Sacrifices, - Ruling on sacrificing camels other than an’aam animals.

A person lives at the North Pole and wants to offer a sacrifice. Is it
permissible for him to sacrifice a fish?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not valid to sacrifice a fish, horse, deer or chicken, because
one of the conditions of sacrifice is that it must be one of the
an'aam animals, which are camels, cattle and sheep of all kinds,
because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And for every nation We have appointed religious ceremonies, that
they may mention the Name of Allaah over the beast of cattle [an'aam]
that He has given them for food"
[al-Hajj 22:34]
It is not reported that the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) or any of his companions sacrificed any other kind of
animal.
See:Fath al-Qadeer(9/97).
Al-Nawawi said inal-Majmoo'(8/364-366):
The conditions of a sacrifice being valid include that it should be
one of the an'aam animals, which are camels, cattle and sheep. All
kinds of camels, cattle and sheep, including goats, are acceptable.
Other kinds of animals, such as wild cattle, donkeys etc are not
acceptable, and there is no difference of scholarly opinion on this
point, whether male or female of all kinds, there is no difference of
opinion on any of that in our view.
A cross between a deer and sheep is not acceptable, because it is not
an an'aam animal. End quote.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said something similar
inal-Mughni(368).
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said in his essayAhkaam al-Udhiyah wa'l-Zakaah(rulings on
sacrifice and zakaah):
The type (of animal) that may be sacrificed is an'aam animals only,
because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And for every nation We have appointed religious ceremonies, that
they may mention the Name of Allaah over the beast of cattle [an'aam]
that He has given them for food"
[al-Hajj 22:34]
The an'aam animals are camels, cattle, sheep and goats. This was
stated by Ibn Katheer who said: This was the view of al-Hasan,
Qataadah and others. Ibn Jareer said: This is how it is among the
Arabs. End quote.
And the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do
not sacrifice anything but a musinnah; if one is not available then
sacrifice a jadh'ah sheep (one that is over a year old)." Narrated by
Muslim (1963). A musinnah is a camel, cow or sheep that is two years
old or older. This was the view of the scholars (may Allaah have mercy
on them).
The sacrifice is an act of worship, and it should not be done except
in the manner narrated from the Messenger of Allaah(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it is not narrated that he(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sacrificed anything but a camel,
cow or sheep.