Prayer, - Dought & clear, - * Can the Muslims pray for rain in the land of the kuffaar

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There is a Muslim community living in a kaafir land where the rains are late. Is it permissible for them to pray for rain, since if rain comes it will benefit the kuffaar too?
Praise be to Allaah.
We asked Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Jibreen, may Allaah preserve him, and he answered as follows:
It is permissible for Muslims to pray for rain in the land of the kuffaar even if that will benefit the kuffaar too.

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Prayer, - Dought & clear, - * Permissibility of praying in shoes

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Is it permissible to pray wearing shoes when necessary, or not?
Praise be to Allaah.
Yes, that is permissible, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed wearing his shoes. Inal-Saheehit is narrated that Abu Sa’eed said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) lead us in prayer whilst he was wearing his shoes, then he took them off [whilst still praying], and the people took their shoes off too. When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said theTasleem[at the end of the prayer], they said: “O Messenger of Allaah, you took off your shoes, so we took off our shoes too.” He said: “Jibreel came to me and told me that there was some dirt on them, so I took them off. When any one of you comes to the mosque, let him look at his shoes, and if he sees any dirt on them, let him wipe them. And they can be purified with dust.”
(Narrated by Abu Dawood, no. 650). The point here is that praying in shoes is permissible. It says in the hadeeth: “Be different from the Jews, pray wearing your slippers or shoes.”(Narrated by Abu Dawood, no. 652). But the condition is that the shoes must be taahir (pure, clean). If there is any najaasah (impurity) or dirt on the shoes, then one should not pray wearing them or enter the mosque in shoes, unless he is sure that they are free of impurity or dirt. And Allaah knows best.

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Prayer, - Dought & clear, - * Praying in the dark

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What is the ruling on making salah in the dark, where you can't even see your own hands?
Praise be to Allaah.
If the conditions of prayer are fulfilled and the essential parts or pillars of the prayer are completed, then the prayer is valid. Light is not an essential condition of prayer or an obligatory part of the prayer. But if the darkness is a cause of fear which disturbs a person to the point that he cannot have the necessary presence of mind and humility (khushoo’) in prayer, then it is makrooh for him to pray in the dark.

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For children, - Personal Responsibility at your work place

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We stood in front of a black sign with white letters that read, "Please wait to be seated," and we waited. I was hungry and impatient, and not in any mood to wait.
Two couples who arrived ahead of us waited too, even though at least half of the tables in the restaurant were empty. I took that as a sign that the restaurant's staff was slow and incompetent. That made me more impatient.
When we were seated and our food arrived, I lost it.
"You call this a fresh fruit salad?" I scolded Lindsay, the nineteen-year-old waitress who delivered a bowl of faded honeydew and overripe cantaloupe that the kitchen had, for some reason, thought I would eat.
I expected Lindsay to tell me it wasn't her fault because she didn't make the salad. But she stunned me.
"No," she agreed, "it doesn't look fresh at all. The kitchen is just about out of fresh fruit. I am sorry."
It's not often that I am speechless, but at that moment, I didn't know what to say. I knew it was not her fault, yet she apologized.
As my mouth hung open, Lindsay directed my attention to the plump, red strawberries that garnished the sandwich platters my friends had ordered.
"How about a big bowl of those?" she offered. I closed my mouth as it started to water.
She returned in a hurry, eager to salvage my supper. But steps away from our table, she stumbled over a kink in the carpet and released the bowl, sending strawberries flying all over my dinner companions and me. They landed in our hair, on our shoulders, on our laps, and even in our purses.
I am speechless once again.
"Did everybody get some?" Lindsay asked, and she started to giggle.
It infected all of us. We laughed.
This teenage ray of sunshine helped us pick strawberries out of our hair and send back to the kitchen to slice up. This time, I got to eat them instead of wear them.
We left a huge tip for this young woman who spilled food all over us.
As we left, I pulled her aside and said. "You didn't get upset because I didn't like your salad. You didn't blame the kitchen or us for arrive so late. You just handled it. How do you do that?"
Her response was mature beyond her nineteen years.
"I am responsible for making sure you come back," Lindsay explained. "You will base your decisions on my actions."
She was responsible for every mess she made. She was responsible for serving me the wilted cantaloupe. She was responsible for tossing strawberries all over me and my friends.
I asked Lindsay one more question before I turned to leave: "Why were so many people waiting to be seated when we arrived, even though so many tables were empty?"
She replied, "They wanted to sit in my section, so they had to wait for tables to open up."
Moral of the personal responsibility story: This profound example shows that taking full responsibility or ownership for herself, her job, her relationships, and her behavior is the key to avoiding unpleasant outcomes.

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