* Ruling on praying at times when prayer is not allowed

* One of my friend, who is very punctual in offering Namaaz, has seen
offeringnamaaz sometimes even when the sun is setting. He is of the
view that offering Namaaz at sun set or sun rise time is not a sin and
it might be just a makrooh. I told him thatoffering prayer at sun set
or sun rise time is not allowed and it might be a sin also. Because to
have distinction with non-muslims, it has not been allowed to offer
namaaz at this time.
Please tell me whether offering of prayers(Namaaz) at sun set or sun
rise time is makrooh or a sin and why?
Praise be to Allaah.
It is mustahabb to pray naafil prayers at all times, except at the
times when praying is not allowed. These times are from afterFajr
prayer until the sun has risen to the height of a spear; from noon
time until after the sun has passed its zenith, which is at mid-day
for about five minutes before the sun reaches its zenith; and from
after 'Asr prayer until the sun sets. What is meant is the prayer
whicheach person does by himself; once he has prayed 'Asr it becomes
haraam for him to pray until the sun has set, except in specific
cases, when it is not haraam. See Question # 306.
The reason why it (prayer at these times) is not allowed is so as to
avoid any resemblance to the kuffaar who prostrate to the sun when it
rises as a greeting to it and to express their joy, and theyprostrate
to it when it sets as a farewell to it. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) was keen to put a stop to all things
that may lead to shirk, or that might involve any resemblance to the
mushrikeen. With regard to the prohibition on praying when the sun is
near its zenith, this is because this is the time when the Fire of
Hell is intensified, as was reported from the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), so we should refrain from praying at
these times.
Summarized from the fatwas of Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen,

Zakat On Stocks And Shares

Question:
I have a zakat question on stocks and shares. There are two type of
Shares, listed which vary daily with market forces and non-listed
which have fixed price, is zakat payable on the total value of each or
is the non-listed exemptedfrom zakat?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
To begin with, it should always be remembered that paying Zakat on
stock and merchandise is obligatory (wajib). The jurists (fuqaha) have
categorically stipulated the obligation of paying Zakat on
merchandise, and there is a consensus on this position amongst the
scholars ofthe Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama�ah.
Sayyiduna Samura ibn Jundub (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that,
�the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to
command us to pay Zakat on those items that were for sale.� (Sunan Abu
Dawud, no: 1557)
Thus, based on this, if one has shares in a particular company, paying
Zakat on those shares will be obligatory. In the case of shares being
purchased with theintention of capital gain, Zakat will be obligatory
on the face/market value of the shares.
For example, I purchased some shares at the rate of 5 Dollars with the
intention of selling them when their value increases.Now, at the time
of paying Zakat,the value of the share became 10 Dollars, thus Zakat
will be obligatory on the current value which is 10 Dollars and not 5
Dollars. The reason is that the share itself has become an articleof
trade, for it was purchased with the intention of re-sale, andZakat is
obligatory on the current market value of goods and merchandise.
However, if shares were purchased with the intention of receiving the
annual dividend, then one is allowed to subtract the value of those
items which are exempted from Zakat, i.e. machinery, land, furniture,
cars, etc... This information (on the percentage of non�Zakat-able
assets) can be obtained from thecompany�s annual report.
This will be clearer with an example. Suppose I purchased some shares
of a particular firm worth 100 Dollars. Now, 10% of the company�s
assets are in the form of raw material, 10% in theform of cash, 10%
are produced goods and 10% of the assets aregoods which are under
process of being manufactured, totaling 40%. On the other hand,
machinery, land, furniture, and cars (for use and not sale) total 60%.
In this case, Zakat will be obligatory on only 40% of the shares, i.e.
40 Dollars.
The reason being that the share in this case does not become an
article of trade in of itself; rather one has purchased the share with
the intention of receiving a share of the company�s annual profits.
Hence, one is considered having ownership in the company�s assets to
the value of his share. Thus, it will be permitted not to pay Zakat on
those items that are exempt from Zakat, such as machinery, furniture,
and building.
If one is unable to obtain the details from the company, then one
should pay Zakat on the current market value of the whole share.
In light of the above, it becomes clear that Zakat is payable on all
types of shares. If non-listed shares mean those that are purchased
with the intention of gaining the annual dividend, then Zakat will
have to be paid inthe manner outlined above.
And Allah knows best

Question: Does a widow woman have to pay zakat? Answer: Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah, I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next. If a widow fulfills t

Question:
Does a widow woman have to pay zakat?
Answer:
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and
spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the
next.
If a widow fulfills the conditions of zakat being due, then she would
have to pay zakat, like any other morally responsible Muslim.
Search for related answers in the SunniPath QA (http://qa.sunnipath.com).
And Allah alone gives success.

1] Reasons for doing the prostration of forgetfulness

1]
When is it prescribed for aworshipper to do the prostration of forgetfulness?.
Praise be to Allaah.
By the mercy of Allaah to His slaves, as one of the beauties of this
perfect religion, Allaah has prescribed that His slaves may make up
for shortcomings and mistakes that they make in their worship and
cannot avoid completely, by performing supererogatory (naafil) acts of
worship, praying for forgiveness and so on.
One of the things that Allaah has prescribed for His slaves to make up
for shortcomings that may occur in their prayer is theprostration of
forgetfulness, but it is only prescribed to make up for certain
things; it does not make up for everything nor is it prescribed for
everything.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about
the reasons for doing the prostration of forgetfulness, and he replied
as follows:
The prostration of forgetfulness in prayer is generally prescribed for
three reasons:
1- Doing something extra
2- Omitting something
3- Being uncertain
Doing something extra: for example, doing an extra bow (rukoo'),
prostration (sujood), standing or sitting.
Omitting something: such as omitting an essential part of the prayer,
or omitting one of the obligatory parts of the prayer.
Being uncertain: such as when a person is not sure how many rak'ahs he
has prayed, whether it was three or four, for example.
In the case of doing something extra, if a person adds something tohis
prayer – bowing, prostrating, standing or sitting – deliberately,
thenhis prayer becomes invalid, because when he added it, that means
that he did not do the prayer in the manner ordained by Allaah and His
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever does an
action that is not part of this matter of ours (i.e., Islam),will have
it rejected." Narrated by Muslim, 1718.
But if he did that extra thing by mistake, then hisprayer is not
invalidated, but he should do the prostration of forgetfulness after
saying the salaam. The evidence for that is the hadeeth of Abu
Hurayrah (may Allaahbe pleased with him) whosaid that when the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said the salaam after two
rak'ahs in one of the two afternoon prayers, either Zuhr or 'Asr, and
they told him about that, he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) did the rest of the prayer, then he said the salaam, then he
prostrated twice (the prostration of forgetfulness) after sayingthe
salaam. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 482; Muslim, 573.
And Ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led them in
praying Zuhr and he prayed five rak'ahs. When he had finished it was
said to him: "Has something been added to the prayer?"
He said: "Why are you asking that?"
They said: "You prayed five (rak'ahs)."
So he turned towards the qiblah and prostrated twice. Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 4040; Muslim,572.
In the case of omitting something, if a person omits one of the
essential parts of the prayer, one ofthe following two scenarios must
apply:
Either he remembers it before he reaches the same point in the
following rak'ah, so he has to go back and do that essential part of
the prayer and whatever came after it,
Or he does not remember it until he reaches the same point in the
following rak'ah, in which case the following rak'ah takes the place
of the one in which he omitted that essential part, and he should make
up the invalid rak'ah.
In either of these two cases, he should do the prostration of
forgetfulness after saying the salaam.
For example: a man stoodup after doing the first prostration of the
first rak'ah and did not sit or do the second prostration.When he
started to recite Qur'aan he remembers that he had not done the second
prostration or sat between the two prostrations. In that case he
should go back and sit as between the two prostrations, then
prostrate, then stand up and do whatever is left of his prayer, and do
the prostration of forgetfulness after saying the salaam.
An example of one who did not remember until after he reached the
samepoint in the following rak'ah is a man who stoodup following the
first prostration in the first rak'ah and did not do the second
prostration or sit between the two prostrations, but he did not
remember that until he sat between the two prostrations in the
secondrak'ah. In this case he should make the second rak'ah the first
rak'ah, andadd another rak'ah to his prayer, then say the salaam then
do the prostration of forgetfulness. :->