The Dilemma of Ill Thoughts

The disease of ill thoughts is one of the most fatal diseases that can
destroy individuals and communities. Once it becomes deep-rooted in
the soul of man, it destroys all ties of intimacy and affection and
incites hatred and resentment. Some people, whose hearts aremorally
diseased, only look at others through dark glasses. For them,
allpeople are, by default, suspects, or even guilty.
There is no doubt that having ill thoughts aboutothers contradicts the
teachings of the Noble Quran, the Sunnah and the guidance of the
righteous predecessors. Allaah The Almighty Says)what means(:}O you
who have believed, avoid much ]negative[ assumption. Indeed, some
assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of
you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest
it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and
Merciful.{]Quran 49:12[
The Prophetsaid:"Beware of ill thoughts, for ill thoughts represent
the worst of false speech.Do not look for other's faults. Do not spy
on one another."The Prophetalso taught Muslims how to think well of
others. A man came to him and said, "My wife has delivered a black
baby)and I suspect that he is not my child(." The Prophetasked
him:"Have you got camels?"The man said, "Yes." The Prophetasked:"What
is their color?"The man said, "They are reddish)brown(." The
Prophetasked:"Are any of them grey?"He said, "There aregrey ones among
them." The Prophetasked:"From where do you think this color came to
them?"The man said, "It probably resulted from hereditary
disposition." The Prophetsaid:"Similarly, this )your child( might be a
hereditary disposition."]Muslim and Al-Bukhaari, with the wording of
Muslim[
The righteous predecessorsavoided this evil quality. Theywould seek
excuses for Muslims to the extent that some of them would say, "I seek
seventy excuses for my brother's misdeed, then I say that he might
have an excuse that I do not know about." Why we donot follow the
example of the righteous predecessorsin this regard? Those who think
ill of Muslims follow the example of the man who said to the
Prophet"This division is not based on justice and it was not intended
to win the pleasure of Allaah," when he was referring tosome wealth
that the Prophethad divided and distributed.
Some scholars divided ill thoughts into two types, both of which are
from the grave major sins:
Ill thoughts about Allaah: This type is one of the most heinous crimes
and sins because it attributes to Allaah what is improper for His
generosity and benevolence.
Ill thoughts about Muslims: This type is also a grave major sin
because whoever judges his brother based on ill thoughts, the devil
will make him belittle his brother, deny his rights, slander him and
spy on him. Obviously, all of these things are forbidden destructive
acts. Some scholars have said, "If you see a person who always thinks
ill of people and seeks to expose their faults, you should know that
he is an evil person. The believer always seeks excuses for others
because he is good and righteous, whereas, the hypocrite searches for
the faults and defects of others given his evil nature."
Hence, dear Muslim, beware of ill thoughts. We advise you to
supplicate to Allaah to protect you from them. If you cannot dismiss
your ill thoughts, then the least you can do is to remain silent and
avoid speaking about them. If you manage to get rid of these ill
thoughts, then you would have escaped a grave danger. Otherwise,
perhaps you will not be saved.

Ostentation

There is an abundance ofproof in the Quran and Sunnah regarding the
impermissibility of ostentation; and those who show off are often
dispraised, as when Allaah The Almighty Said)what means(:}So woe to
those who pray*]But[ who are heedless of theirprayer -*those who
makeshow ]of their deeds[{]Quran 107:4-6[; and,}So whoever would hope
for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not
associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.{]Quran 18:110[. Allaah
The Almighty also says, in a Divine Hadeeth: "I have absolutely no
need of partners; and he who performs a deed whereinhe associates
others with Me, I will forsake him andhis partner."
The Prophetsaid:"What I fear most for youis minor Shirk)associating
partners withAllaah The Almighty(."The Companionsaskedwhat that was,
so he replied:"Ostentation."
Further, on the Day of Judgment, when Allaah The Almighty will judge
people for their deeds, He will tell them to: "]g[o to those whom you
used to impress, in order to gain their praise; see if you will find
your recompense there."
That is why, when Abu Umaamahsaw a man weeping in prostration in the
mosque, he asked him: "Would you do the same if you were at home?"
Causes of ostentation
In Arabic, ostentation is Riyaa', which is derived from the noun
Ru'yah, which means vision. Perhaps that is so, because the essence of
pretension is seeking praise and high status in the eyes of people, by
showing them one's good characteristics. This is manifest in many, but
chiefly five, external aspects, which include every action by which a
person tries to be admired by others: in one's body, clothing, words,
deeds and friends.
If we consider religious ostentation, then a person shows off by his
or her body, by having a bony figure, so as to seem to people as
persevering in worship, being seriously concerned with matters of
religion and deeply fearing the Hereafter. As for appearance and
clothing, a person may sometimes keep his or her hair unkempt, lower
the head while walking, have a slow gait that suggests humbleness
andmake sure to retain the mark on the forehead that is caused by
prostration. In speech, people's pretension is apparent when they may
constantly admonish people regarding mattersof their religion; they
may also utter words of wisdom to show their concern with the affairs
of the righteous and move their lips in Thikr)remembrance of Allaah
The Almighty( in the presence of people. An example of ostentation
indeeds occurs when a person lengthens the standing, bowing or
prostration in prayers, or lowers the head in apparent submission
andabsolute concentration, such that he or she does not look around
while praying. Many may also show off their acquaintances, by, for
instance, hosting a scholar, so that people talk about the visit.
Objectives of the ostentatious
A flamboyant person always has an ulterior motive for his or her
behavior, whether it is toobtain a certain status or some other
purpose. It may be of varying degrees:
He or she may be showing off in order to gain power that enables him
or her to commit sins. For example, a person may appear to be pious
and conscious of Allaah The Almighty, in order to be known for
trustworthiness, and consequently assume a position of authority over
the treasury, so that he or she could steal as much of it as feasible.
This is the most detested kind of ostentation in thesight of Allaah
The Almighty, because it takes obedience as a pretext to disobedience.
Obedience may be exhibited to obtain a lawful pleasure of this life,
such as wealth or marriage. A person with such a behavior pretendsto
have knowledge and piety, to encourage people to marry him or her or
trust him or her with their wealth. This is also forbidden, though on
a lesser scale than the previous one, because the person seeks the
permitted pleasures of the worldly life by means of showing obedience
to Allaah The Almighty.
A person may not aim at obtaining the pleasures of life such as money
or marriage, but worships Allaah The Almighty in front of people, to
prevent them from looking down on, or thinking of, him or her asbeing
inferior and not as distinguished in worship as ascetics, but as only
one of the common people.
Hidden ostentation
Pretension can be either apparent or hidden. The evident kind is what
motivates and urges manto do good deeds, even ifhe desires by them the
reward of Allaah The Almighty as well. The hidden type is the
ostentation that does notactually motivate one to perform an act of
worship which was originally intended for the Sake of Allaah The
Almighty, but makes it easier. For instance, a person may be
accustomed to performing voluntary prayers every night, while feeling
that it is heavy and difficult; however, when a guest visits, the same
worship seems lighter and a person feels more active.
Another manifestation of unseen ostentation is when people conceal
their worship but love that others meet them with smiles and
reverence, praise them, hasten in fulfilling their needs, show
partiality to them in trade by offeringspecial prices and make place
for them; and if that is not done for them,they become greatly
offended.
Sincere worshippers, however, fear this type of pretension and attempt
to conceal their worship more than sinners try to hide their
immorality and wrongdoings. Their every effort is based in the hope
that they are sincerely performing their good deeds for the Sake of
Allaah The Almighty, hoping for His reward for that, being fully aware
that such deeds are the only type accepted by Him on the Day of
Resurrection, when they will be in dire need of Him.
Cure of ostentation
Since ostentation invalidates good deeds and causes the pretentious
person to be detested by Allaah The Almighty, it is one of the
destructive sins a person should try his or her best to cure within
oneself. Indeed, anything with such serious consequences must be
treated, so a Muslim mustdo one of two things:
Uproot the foundation ofostentation, namely, love of praise,
abhorrence of criticism and the desire to obtain what others possess.
These three factors that prompt people to become affected, can only be
treated when a person realizes the harm of pretension, which is that
it causes a decline in the righteousness of the heart and deprivation
from success in the worldly life and of an honorable status with
Allaah The Almighty in the Hereafter; this, along with the
inevitability of punishment, His abhorrence as well as people's and
evident disgrace. Thus, when we compare the pleasure wewill obtain
from the attitudes of people toward us, with what we will have to
forego in theHereafter and the invalidation of our good deeds,
abandoning ostentation will become as easy for us, as it is for a
person who knows how delicious honey is, but leaves it if it contains
poison.
Try to thwart any rising urge or incentive to be showy during worship,
because though we may strive to cut off the roots of ostentation and
pay no attention to any praise, or lack thereof, byothers, Satan will
not leave us and will cast pretentious thoughts in our hearts while we
are busy in worship. Therefore, if the notion of people knowing of our
obedience crosses our mind, we must dismiss it by reminding ourselves
that it holds no importance as long as Allaah The Almighty knows our
intention and that we have no need foranyone to know. On the other
hand, if we happento long to bask in other's approval, we must
remember what it is that entices us toward ostentation and that its
only outcome would be that we will be susceptible to the Wrath of
Allaah The Almighty and loss in the Hereafter.
Quitting obedience for fear of ostentation
Some people stop performing a good deed out of fear that it may be a
pretentious act on theirpart; however, that is a mistake. Not only
does it fulfill Satan's wish, it is a pretext for laziness and
abandoning what is good. As long as the motivation for a deed is
sincere, sound and in accordance with Sharee'ah, a person must not
stop doing it becauseof fear of ostentation. Rather, he or she should
counter such thoughts and humble him/herself in front of Allaah The
Almighty, replacing like of people's praise with His love.
Al-Fudhayl ibn 'Iyaadhsaid: "Doing good deeds for the sake of people
is Shirk and quitting]them[ for their sake is ostentation; and
sincerityis when Allaah The Almighty protects you from both." Someone
else once said: "If a person abandons good deeds out of fear of
pretension, he ]or she[ has renounced both good acts and sincerity."

Dought & clear - If he does ghusl following a wet dream, maniy continues to comeout of him during the prayer.

May Allah reward you with good for answering my question, but I think
that it needs further explanation of the issue of sprinkling hot water
on the privatepart, because the wet dream occurred at the time of 'Asr
prayer, and Ihave a problem, which is that maniy and even madhiy
continue to come out for a considerable period after they are first
emitted. It often happens with me that one of them is emitted at the
time of prayer, whether that is because of thinking or because of a
wet dream, but in order not to miss the prayer, I sprinkle hot water
(on my private part) so that whatever isleft will come out. Please
note that I do notfeel any desire when I use this method. Now I am
going to make up the fast of that day that I told you about, in sha
Allah, but what should I do if maniy continues tocome out whilst I am
praying? Should I pray in that case?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
We appreciate this further explanation and we ask Allah, may He be
exalted, to help us and you avoid reprehensible words and actions.
Secondly:
If it does not come out continually all the time, then it does not
come under the ruling on incontinence; rather it invalidates wudoo' as
soon as it comes out, even if that happens during the prayer. The one
who is faced with that should stop praying,do wudoo' and then repeat
the prayer. He also has to do wash off whatever has gotten onto him if
what came out was urine or madhiy, because they are both najis
(impure), unlike maniy which is taahir (pure).
But the one who is praying should not interrupt his prayer unless he
is certain that something has come out of him, because the basic
principle is that he remains in a state of purity, and that which is
certain cannot be changed by mere doubt or uncertainty.
If maniy came out of a person and he did ghusl for that, then more
cameout but without desire, then he does not have todo ghusl again,
but it does invalidate his wudoo'.
See:ash-Sharh al-Mumti', 1/337
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked:
If I do wudoo' for every prayer and then go out to the mosque, I
always emit madhiy; can I pray, knowing that if I take a bath and go
out, madhiy will come out without desire. So do I have to take a bath
every time?
They replied:
If that comes out of you continually, then it comes under the same
ruling as incontinence, and you have to do wudoo' for every prayer
when the time for it begins, then your prayerwill be valid even if it
comes out whilst you arepraying. If it does not happen frequently with
you, then you have to dowudoo' as prescribed forprayer, after washing
the penis and testicles. But you do not have to do ghusl (take a bath)
for that. End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 5/413
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: When I
finish wudoo' and go to pray, I feel that a drop of urine comes out of
the penis; what should I do?
He replied: What you should do is pay no attention to that and ignore
it, as the Muslim scholars have enjoined. Do not pay any attentionto
it and do not go and look at your penis to see if anything came out or
not. If you seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytaan and
ignore it, it will go away,by Allah's leave. But if you are absolutely
certain about it, then it is essential to wash whatever the urine has
gotten onto and repeat your wudoo'. Some people, if they feel any
coolness on the head of the penis, think that something has come
out.So if you are certain, then do what I have toldyou. What you have
mentioned is not incontinence, because it stops and starts, whereas
incontinence is ongoing and continual. But this happens after movement
and one or two drops come out; thisis not incontinence, because once a
couple of drops have come out, it stops. In this case, he should wash
it off and do wudoo' again. He should always do this, and he should be
patientand seek reward with Allah.
End quote fromLiqa' al-Baab al-Maftooh, 15/184
And Allah knows best.

Dought & clear - Prayer of an elderly person who has reached the stage of senility.

My mother is 61 years old and she is looking after my grandfather who
has reached the age of 90-odd. A long time ago he began to lose his
mind and he started imagining things that are not real. He has no
sense of time, and when he gets up to pray and we tell him that it is
time for Zuhr, for example, we find him praying Maghrib or Fajr. He
calls out to my mother in the middle of the night, telling her to get
up and make him breakfast or help him get up to pray 'Asr, for
example. My question is:Does my grandfather have to pray or is it
waived in his case?
My grandfather sometimes calls my mother repeatedly for no reason, and
sometimes he asks her what time it is and sometimes he tells her some
historical story. My mother is also getting onin years and she cannot
keep getting up and going to his room. If she is certain that he does
not need anything and that she has met all his needs of food, wudoo',
prayer etc, can she refrain from answering him without incurring sin?
Especially since he calls her a lot in the middle of the night.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
If the matter is as you describe, then your grandfather is not obliged
to pray, becauseof his losing his mind, The Prophet(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Penhas been lifted from
three: from the sleeping person until he wakes up, from the minor
until he grows up, and from the insane person until he comes to his
senses." Narrated by Abu Dawood (4403), al-Tirmidhi (1423), al-Nasaa'i
(3432) and IbnMaajah (2041). Abu Dawood said: It was narrated by Ibn
Jurayj from al-Qaasim ibn Yazeed from 'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with
him) from the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
andhe added: "And the one who is senile." This hadeeth was classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood.
Senility refers to when a person loses his mind as the result of
reaching a great age. It is stated in'Awn al-Ma'boodthat thereport
which mentions senility is da'eef (weak) because of the isnaad, but
something which suggests that the meaning is valid was narrated from
al-Subki. Al-Subki said: Senility may be added to these three, and it
is valid. What is meant thereby isan elderly man who has lost his mind
due to his great age. An old man may become confused and unable to
distinguish things, which may mean that heis no longer accountable,
but he is not described as insane, because an insane person may be
treated whereas a senile person cannot be treated. Henceit does not
say in the hadeeth "until he recovers", because in most cases he
cannot recover from it, until he dies. If he does recover from it
sometimes and comes back to his senses,then he is accountable again.
End quote.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) explained that
senility means that one is no longer accountable: Fasting is not
obligatory unless certain conditions are met: one, being of soundmind;
two, being an adult; three, being Muslim; four, being able to do it;
five, not being atraveller; six, being free of menses and postpartum
bleeding (nifaas) in the case of women.
1 – Being of sound mind,the opposite of which is having lost one's
mind, whether that is due to insanity or senility, i.e., old age, or
because of an accident which has caused one to lose one's mind and
sense of awareness. Such a person is not obliged to do anything
because he has lost his mind. Based on this, the old man whohas
reached the stage of senility is not obliged to fast or feed poor
persons instead, becausehe lost all sense of reason. Similarly the
onewho loses consciousness due to an accident etc is not obliged to
fast or feed poor persons instead, because he is not of sound mind.
End quote fromLiqa' al-Baab il-Maftooh.
To conclude, the person who has reached the stage of senility and has
no sense of time and cannot distinguish between the prayers is not
obliged to pray.
Secondly:
If your mother has takencare of what your grandfather needs, such as
food and drink, etc, and she thinks it most likely that his calling
for her is not due to some need, and it is just because of his
senility, then there is no sin on her if she does not answer him,
especially since that is causing her hardship.
And Allaah knows best.