Dought & clear, - The meaning of thewords: “Acts of worship are tawqeefi”

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What does “Acts of worship are tawqeefi” mean?.
Praise be to Allaah.
What is meant when the scholars say that acts of worship are tawqeefi or acts of worship are based on tawqeef is that it is not permissible to worship Allah, may He be exalted, through any act of worship unless this act of worship is proven in the shar‘i texts (Qur’aan and Sunnah) to be an act of worship that was prescribed by Allah.
No act of worship can be sanctioned except on the basis of shar‘i evidence to that effect.
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion”
[al-Maa’idah 5:3].
Allah, may He be exalted, has completed the religion for us; whatever Allah has not prescribed is not part of Islam.
It was narrated from Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There is nothing by means of which one may draw close to Paradise and move far away from Hell but it has been exlained to you.
Narrated by at-Tabaraani inal-Kabeer(1647) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inas-Saheehah, 1803
Whatever the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not explain to us is not part of the religion and is not something by means of which one may draw close to Paradise and move far away from Hell.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Tamiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“From examining the principles of sharee‘ah we know that the acts of worship that have been enjoined by Allah or that He loves cannot be proven except through sharee‘ah. With regard to customs, they are things that people are used to doing in their worldly affairs … The basic principle concerning them is that they are not forbidden; nothing of that is forbidden except what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. That is because commands and prohibitions have to do with the religion of Allah, and acts of worship must necessarily be enjoined. If something is not proven to have been enjoined, then how can it be deemed an act of worship? With regard to customs, if there is no text to prove that a custom is forbidden, how can it be deemed to be forbidden?
Hence Ahmad and other scholars of hadeeth used to say: The basic principle with regard to acts of worship is tawqeef; no acts of worship are prescribed except that which has been prescribed by Allah, may He be exalted; if we do not adhere to this principle, we will be included among those referred to in the verse (interpretation of the meaning):“Or have they partners with Allah (false gods), who have instituted for them a religion which Allah has not allowed?” [ash-Shoora 42:21]. The basic principle with regard to customs is that they are permissible and none of them are forbidden except that which Allah has forbidden. If we do not adhere to this principle, we will be included among those referred to in the verse (interpretation of the meaning):“Tell me, what provision Allah has sent down to you! And you have made of it lawful and unlawful” [Yoonus 10:59].
Hence Allah condemned the mushrikeen who introduced things into religion that Allah had not permitted and they forbade things that He had not forbidden. End quote.
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 29/16-17
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allah preserve him) said:
Acts of worship are tawqeefi (i.e., acts of worship are to be based solely on Qur’aan and saheeh Sunnah, with no room for personal opinion); it is not permissible to do any act of worship in terms of time or place or type of worship except on the basis of tawqeef and instructions from the Lawgiver. As for the one who introduces something that was not enjoined by the Lawgiver of acts of worship or in terms of their place, time or description, then it is an innovation (bid ah). End quote.
Al-Muntaqa min Fataawa al-Fawzaan, 16/13
And Allah, may He be exalted, knows best.

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Dought & clear, - The ruling on wearing one's adornment on the Day of Aashooraa

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I am a student in the girls college and there is a huge number of shiah living among us. Currently they are wearing black for the occasion of Aashooraa . Is it permissible for us in response to wear bright colours and extra adornment for the sole purpose of annoying them?! Is it permissible for us to backbite about them and pray against them, knowing that they have clearly expressed hatred for us? And I have seen one of them wearing amulets on which are written mysterious words and she had a stick in her hand with which she was pointing to one of the students, and I was harmed by that and am still being harmed. May Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible for you to wear fancy clothes or anything else on Aashooraa because that may make ignorant people or those with ulterior motives think that the Sunnis are happy about the killing of al-Husayn ibn Ali (may Allaah be pleased with them both), Allaah forbid that that happened with the approval of the Sunnis.
With regard to your interactions with them by backbiting about them and praying against them, and other kinds of actions which are indicative of hatred, this serves no purpose. What we have to do is to strive to call them (to Islam) and to influence them and reform them. If a person is unable to do that, then he or she should turn away from them and leave the dawah activities for those who are able to do them, and not do anything that may put obstacles in the path of dawah.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Because of the killing of al-Husayn, the Shaytaan started to spread two kinds of bidah (innovation) amongst the people: the bidah of grieving and wailing on the Day of Aashooraa, striking the cheeks, screaming, weeping and reciting eulogies ; and the bidah of expressing happiness and joy. So some express grief and others express joy, so they started to like the idea of wearing kohl, taking a bath, spending on their families and preparing special kinds of food on the day of Aashooraa and every bidah is a going astray; none of the four imams of the Muslims or others approved of either of these things (either expressing grief or expressing joy)
(Minhaaj al-Sunnah, 4/554-556).

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Dought & clear, - Guidelines concerning imitation of the kuffaar

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What are the definitions of imitating the west? Does everything that is modern and new and has come to us from the west imply imitation of them? In other words, when can we say that something is haraam because it is an imitation of the kuffaar?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever imitates a people is one of them.’” (Narrated by Abu Dawood,al-Libaas, 3512. Al-Albaani said inSaheeh Abi Dawood, (it is) hasan saheeh. No. 3401).
Al-Munaawi and al-‘Alqami said: i.e., dressing as they dress, following their way of life in clothes and some of the things they do.
Al-Qaari said: i.e., whoever imitates the kuffaar, such as in how one dresses, etc., or imitates the evil and immoral people, or the Sufis or the righteous, is one of the people whom he imitates, whether they are good or bad.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said inal-Siraat al-Mustaqeem: Imaam Ahmad and others quoted this hadeeth as evidence. This hadeeth at the very least implies that it is haraam to imitate them, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“... And if any amongst you takes them [Jews and Christians] as Awliyaa’ [friends, helpers]), then surely, he is one of them…”
[al-Maa’idah 5:51]
This is similar to the view of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr who said: “Whoever settles in the land of the mushrikeen and celebrates their Nawroz (new year) and Mahrajaan (festival) and imitates them until he dies will be gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection.” This may be interpreted as referring to absolute imitation which implies kufr and as meaning that imitation in part is therefore haraam; or it may be interpreted as meaning that he is one of them to the extent that he imitates them, whether it is in ideas of kufr, sin or partaking in a ritual. It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade imitating the non-Arabs and said, “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” This was also mentioned by al-Qaadi Abu Ya’laa. This was quoted by more than one of the scholars to show that it is makrooh to imitate forms of dress of the non-Muslims which are not known among the Muslims.
See ‘Awn al-Ma’bood Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood.
Imitating the kuffaar falls into two categories:
Imitation that is haraam and imitation that is permitted:
The first type is imitation that is haraam: this means knowingly doing things that are unique characteristics of the religion of the kuffaar and that have not been referred to in our religion. This is haraam and it may be a major sin; in some cases a person may even become a kaafir by doing that, according to the evidence, whether a person does that because he agrees with the kuffaar, or because of his whims and desires, or because of some specious arguments which make him feel that doing it will being him benefit in this world and the next. If it is asked, is the one who does that out of ignorance a sinner, such as one who celebrates Christmas? The answer is that the one who is ignorant is not a sinner because he was unaware, but he has to be told, and if he persists he becomes a sinner.
The second type is imitation that is permissible. This means doing something which is not originally taken from the kuffaar, but the kuffaar do it too. This does not involve a prohibition on resembling them, but one may miss out on the benefits of differing from them.
Imitating or resembling the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) and others with regard to worldly matters is permissible only when the following conditions are met:
1 – That should not be any of their traditions or rituals by which they are distinguished.
2 – That should not be part of their religion. A matter can be proven to be part of their religion though a trustworthy source, such as an aayah of the Qur’aan or a hadeeth of His Messenger, or via well-established reports, such as the prostration of greeting which was permitted to the previous nations.
3 – That should not be anything in Islam which refers specifically to that matter. If there is a specific reference in Islam, either approving or disapproving of it, then we must follow what our religion says about it.
4 – This resemblance should not lead to going against any of the commands of sharee’ah.
5 – That should not involve celebrating any of their festivals.
6 – The resemblance should be only according to what is needed, and no more.
Seeal-Sunan wa’l-Athaar fi’l-Nahy ‘an al-Tashabbuh bi’l-Kuffaarby Suhayl Hasan, p. 58-59

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For children, - Stories of Prayer: Power of Prayer, Prayer Story, Supplication Prayer

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Muniba, a young Muslim university student, was home for the summer. She had gone to visit some sisters one evening and the time passed quickly as each shared their various experiences of the past year.
Muniba ended up staying longer than she had planned.
Evening came and Muniba had to walk home alone, but she wasn't afraid because it was a small town and she lived only a few blocks away. As she walked along under the tall elm trees, Muniba asked "Allah (SWT)" to keep her safe from harm and danger. When she reached the alley, which was a short cut to her house, Muniba decided to take it.
However, halfway down the alley, Muniba noticed a man standing at the end, as though he was waiting for her. She became uneasy and began to pray, asking for "Allah's (SWT)" protection. Instantly a comforting feeling of quietness and security wrapped around her; she felt as though someone was walking with her. When she reached the end of the alley, she walked right past the man and arrived home safely.
The following day, Muniba read in the paper that a young girl had been raped in the same alley, just twenty minutes after she had been there.
Feeling overwhelmed by this tragedy and the fact that it could have been her, she began to weep. Thanking Allah (SWT) for her safety and to help this young woman, Muniba decided to go to the police station. She felt she could recognize the man, so she told them her story. The police asked her if she would be willing to look at a line up to see if she could identify him.
Muniba agreed and immediately pointed out the man she had seen in the alley the night before. When the man was told he had been identified, he immediately broke down and confessed.
The officer thanked Muniba for her bravery and asked if there was anything they could do for her, she asked if they would ask the man one question.
Muniba was curious as to why he had not attacked her. When the policeman asked him he answered, "Because she was not alone. She had two tall men walking on either side of her."

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