Dought & clear, - What is the meaning of the hadeeth “Do not inveigh against time (waqt) for Allaah is time waqt)”?.

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:-> Is the saying "Do not curse time for Allah is time" authentic from the Rasool's sayings ? If so, how do you interpret this ? I am confused about this issue. Praise be to Allaah. The word used in the hadeeth is not waqt (= time), but dahr (= time, vicissitudes of time) [this element of confusion may stem from translation of the question into Arabic]. This hadeeth was narrated by Muslim (5827) from Abu Hurayrah. Other versions of the hadeeth are: “Do not inveigh against time (al-dahr), for Allaah is time” “Let not any one of you say, ‘Woe to time,’ for Allaah is time” “Allaah says, ‘The sons of Adam offend Me and say, Woe to time, but they should not say Woe to time. I am time, I alternate the night and the day, and if I willed, I could seize them both.’” With regard to the meaning of the hadeeth, al-Nawawi said: They said: this is a metaphor, because the Arabs used to inveigh against time when disasters such as death, old age, loss of money, etc., happened. They would say, ‘Woe to time’ and other phrases cursing or inveighing against time. So the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Do not inveigh against time for Allaah is time’, i.e., do not inveigh against the One Who brings about those disasters, for that will be directed towards Allaah, for He is the One Who causes them to happen. Time (al-dahr) means al-zamaan (time) which cannot do anything in and of itself, for it is just one of the things that have been created by Allaah. The meaning of the phrase “for Allaah is time” means that He is the One Who causes those events and accidents to happen, and He is the Creator of all that happens. And Allaah knows best. ( Sharh Muslim, 15/3) It should be noted that “time” (al-dahr) is not one of the Names of Allaah; it is attributed to Allaah in the sense that He created it and is controlling it, i.e., He is the Creator of time. Some phrases in the same hadeeth also indicate this, as when He says,“It is in My Hand, I alternate the night and the day.” The One Who alternates and the thing which is alternated cannot be one and the same; there is the One Who alternates – i.e., Allaah – and the thing which is alternated – i.e., time, which Allaah controls as and when He wills. See: Fataawa al-‘Aqeedah by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 1/163 Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer said, in his Tafseer of the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): “And they say: “There is nothing but our life of this world, we die and we live and nothing destroys us except Ad‑Dahr (time)” [al-Jaathiyah 45:24] Al-Shaafa'i, Abu ‘Ubaydah and others said, in their commentary on the hadeeth of the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Do not inveigh against time for Allaah is time” – During the Jaahiliyyah, if some difficulty, trial or disaster befell them, the Arabs wouldsay ‘Woe to time’, attributing those events to time and inveighing against it. But the One Who brought those events to pass is Allaah, so it was as if they were inveighing against Allaah, may He be glorified, because in fact He was the One Who caused those things to happen. So it was forbidden to inveigh against time in this manner, because Allaah is Time, i.e., He is the One lWho is controlling it, but the Arabs were attributing those events to Time. This is the best of the comments made in the Tafseer of this hadeeth, and this is what is meant. And Allaah knows best. ( Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 4/152) Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah preserve him) was asked about the ruling on inveighing against time. He replied: Inveighing against time may be divided into three categories: 1. Where the intention is to convey information without blaming or condemning. This is permissible, such as when a person remarks, “We are suffering from the heat (or the cold) today” and the like, because deeds are judged according to their intentions, and in this case a person is merely describing what is happening without expressing discontent. 2.Where a person inveighs against time as the cause of events, as if by inveighing against it he means that time is what causes things to alternate between good and bad. This isshirk akbar(major form ofshirk) because when a person attributes events to something other than Allaah, this means that he believes that there is another creator alongside Allaah. 3.Where a person inveighs against time but believes that the One who causes things to happen is Allaah, but he inveighs against time because of the bad things that happened. This is haraam because it is contrary to the sabr (patience) that is required, but it is not kufr because the person does not inveigh directly against Allaah. If he were to inveigh directly against Allaah, he would be a kaafir. ( Fataawaa al-‘Aqeedah, 1/197) Other reprehensible expressions which people utter include cursing the hour or the day on which a certain bad thing happened, and so on. This is a sin because it is cursing and improper speech, and because this is cursing something which does not deserve to be cursed. What has the hour or the day done wrong? Nothing apart from the fact that the events happened then, but they are only created things which have no control over anything and cannot be held to blame. If a person inveighs against time, this reflects on the Creator of time. The Muslim should be above speaking in such a foolish and improper manner. And Allaah is the One Whose help we seek.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

Dought & clear, - He concealed his Islam and was buried in the kaafir graveyard. Is he a kaafir?.

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:-> Let us assume that there was a Christian who became Muslim but he did not tell his family. After a while he died, but his family did not know that he had become Muslim so they held a funeral for him in the church in the Christian manner. I would like to know what is the ruling on that? Did he die as a Muslim or as a kaafir?. Praise be to Allaah. You should note, first of all, that the fuqaha’ are unanimously agreed that it is not permissible for a Muslim to be buried in the kaafir graveyard, or for a kaafir to be buried in the Muslim graveyard, except in cases of necessity. Seeal-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah,21/20;Ahkaam al-Maqaabir fi’l-Sharee’ahal-Islamiyyahby Dr. ‘Abd-Allaah al-Suhaybaani, p. 231-232. If a Muslim dies in a kaafir land, then his heirs, or whoever among the Muslims knows of him, must take him to a Muslim land so that he may be buried there. Taking him to a Muslim land depends on being able to do it. If it cannot be done, then he may be buried in the kaafir land, but not in their graveyards. See:Ahkaam al-Maqaabir, p. 225-226. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This is more important than being distinguished from them in life, by wearing different clothes etc, because there is mercy in the graveyards of the Muslims, but there is punishment in the graveyards of the kaafirs.Al-Ikhtiyaaraat, p. 94. Secondly: The situation that you asked about is one that happens frequently for many Muslims in positions of weakness in kaafir countries, because they are not able to migrate to a land where they can practise their Islam openly and be safe, nor can they practise Islam openly in the lands where they live, either for fear of aggression from their own relatives, as is the case in your question, or for other reasons. These people will be resurrected [?] according to their intentions, and the ruling in the Hereafter will depend on what they have of faith and righteous deeds, not the ruling on the land in which they died or the grave in which they were buried. It was narrated that Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah said: I heard the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Each person will be resurrected according to the state in which he died.” Narrated by Muslim (2878). It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) offered the funeral prayer and said: “O Allaah, forgive our living and our dead, our young and our old, our males and our females, those who are present and those who are absent. O Allaah, whomever among us You cause to live, cause him to live in faith, and whomever among us you cause to die, cause him to die in Islam. O Allaah, do not deprive us of his reward and do not let us go astray after him.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (3201); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood. Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “O Allaah, whomever among us you cause to live, cause him to live in faith, and whomever among us you cause to die, cause him to die in Islam” – with regard to life he mentioned Islam, meaning outward submission, and with regard to death he mentioned faith, because faith (eemaan) is better, and its seat is the heart, and what matters at the time of death and on the Day of Resurrection is what is in the heart. Sharh Riyadh al-Saaliheen(2/1200) Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about what some people say, that Allaah has angels who move people from the Muslim graveyards to the Christian and Jewish graveyards, and from the Jewish and Christian graveyards to the Muslim graveyards, and their purpose is that whoever met a bad end in the sight of Allaah, although he was outwardly Muslim when he died, or he was a kitaabi (a Jew or Christian) but he met a good end and died as a Muslim in the sight of Allaah, although he appeared to be a kaafir when he died, so these angels move them. Has any report been narrated concerning this or not? Is there any proof for this or not? He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: As for the bodies, they are not moved from the graves but we know that some people who are outwardly Muslims are in fact hypocrites, either Jews, Christians or apostates. Whoever is like that will be with his peers on the Day of Resurrection, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):“Assemble those who did wrong, together with their companions” [al-Saaffaat 37:22], i.e., those who were like them and their peers. And there may be some who died appearing to be kaafirs, but they believed in Allaah before the death rattle reached their throats, but there were no believers with them and they concealed that from their families, either because of inheritance or some other reason. But they will be with the believers even if they are buried with the kuffaar. As for the report about the angels moving them, I have never heard any report about that. End quote fromal-Fataawa al-Kubra(3/27). And Allaah knows best.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

For children, - Charity Stories: Joy of Charity

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:-> Allamah Hilli relates in some of his books that Prophet Muhammad (S)once passed by a Jew who was going to chop some wood. On seeing him, Prophet Muhammad (S) said that the Jew would be bitten by a poisonous snake and die. In the evening the companions saw the Jew and found it strange that he was still alive contrary to what Prophet Muhammad (S) had predicted. So they questioned Prophet Muhammad (S) about his predictions. Prophet Muhammad (S) asked for the Jew to be presented to him so that he could be questioned. When the Jew came, Prophet Muhammad (S) asked him to open the bundle of chopped wood, and out popped a snake. Prophet Muhammad (S) asked the Jew what act he had done on that day. In reply the Jew answered that he had not done anything in particular except that as he was eating some food a beggar asked him for some of it, so he gave one of the two cakes he had without any hesitation to the beggar. Prophet Muhammad (S) then said that the Jew had been destined to die but for the charity he had given which removes seventy evils. The Jew accepted Islam. Indeed charity increases your good deeds and your life.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M