n37 42 Enter Into Islam Completely

Enter Into Islam Completely - Abu Usamah

Opening

The next talk, as you can see in the program, is a talk on entering into Islam completely. Insha'Allah I hand you over to Abu Usama.

Main Theme: Entering Islam Completely

Quran (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:208):

O you who believe, enter into Islam completely, altogether. And do not follow the footsteps or the steps of the Shaytan, for verily he is an open and an avowed enemy to you all.

The Companion Who Taught This Ayah

The companion of the Prophet, Abu Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami, may Allah be pleased with him, was responsible for teaching the Quran, and as we mentioned he was one of the four people who was prolific and qualified and competent in the teaching of the Quran.

By the recommendation of the Prophet, peace be upon him, he told the Muslims who he used to teach up in Kufa: "Anytime you read an ayah or you hear the ayah:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

then you should lend the ayah your ear."

Pay attention to the ayah because after:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

Allah is going to order you with something that you have to do that is important, or He's going to prevent and prohibit you from something that is harmful and dangerous.

The Reason for Revelation

In this ayah we've been ordered to enter into Islam altogether. There are multiple interpretations that the ulema

have given concerning this.

Context of Revelation

One of the interpretations of the ayah is because of something that happened during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him. And Ikhwan, as it relates to the science of the Quran which is known as the science of Asbab an-Nuzul (the reasons why the ayah was revealed), if you know why the ayah was revealed, then you'll acquire the proper understanding of the ayah.

This ayah was revealed because there were a number of Jews. Some people say that they were people who accepted Islam and others say that they were people who were interested in Islam.

And Imam Ibn Kathir made the reconciliation and said they were from both groups. They went to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and they asked him: "We recognize we're Muslims but we still want to exalt the Sabbath. We still want to make the Saturday a day of exalting. We want to praise that day and do some of the things that we used to do."

And then the ayah was revealed: Come into Islam totally, absolutely. Give up all of what remains of your desires to practice other than the religion of Islam.

General Interpretation

Other scholars from the Mufassirun, they say that the ayah was revealed in general terms for the whole Ummah. And that is that we should enter into the religion of Islam altogether.

Whether you're a Jew or whether you're not a Jew, you come into the religion of Islam and you give up and you let go of all of those things that are not Islamic and not from the religion. And do not follow the footsteps of Shaytan, the footsteps of Shaytan.

Who is going to come to you and he's going to try to encourage all of us to follow his ways. For verily Shaytan is an open and avowed enemy to you.

Total Submission to Allah

So the ayah, Ikhwan, is generally talking about having the total and absolute submission to Allah ta'ala. Submission, total and absolute submission to the best of one's ability. And as we mentioned, al-kamal is for Allah. Completeness is only for Allah and to Allah.

What we want to do with this ayah, Ikhwan, is give you some examples of how the companions used to practice this ayah and this concept. About totally and absolutely submitting to what Allah ta'ala has legislated and what the Prophet, peace be upon him, has brought.

And there are too many examples.

Example 1: The Treaty of Hudaybiyah

There was a man during the time of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah. He represented the kuffar. His name was Urwah ibn Amr ath-Thaqafi. He represented the Quraysh and he went to negotiate.

And when he came into the camp of the Prophet, peace be upon him, he saw that the companions kept their eyes on Rasulullah and they kept their attention on him. And he had never seen in the history of the Arabs anyone so respected and revered like that.

After having the discussion and agreeing with Rasulullah what could be done and what wasn't going to be done in the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, he went back to Mecca and he told the people: "I've met some of the leading people of the day. And there was no man who I met who was honored, revered and respected like Muhammad, peace be upon him."

Seeking Barakah from the Prophet

"If he made wudu, the water would not fall on the ground before one of them came and also made tabarruk with it."

Before we go another step, a tabarruk like that, getting barakah from a human being, touching him like that, that's only for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and it's not for anyone else. No scholar, no wali, no righteous man. We don't open up the door of shirk. And it is a fitna for the individual.

He said, "When he made wudu, the water would not fall before the people came and they competed with each other and made a rush in trying to catch the water to get the barakah. And he never spat except that one of them caught it before it hit the ground and he made barakah with it."

Important Note: That's only for Rasulullah, peace be upon him. If anyone allows himself to take another man's spit and then rub it on himself, something is wrong with you.

The Blood of the Prophet

The Prophet, peace be upon him, would have the hijama where they take the blood out of his head or wherever he took it out. And so that the people would not make the barakah, tabarruk with it, he would give it to Abdullah ibn Zubayr and tell him: "Take this and put it somewhere where no one can find it." Meaning go somewhere and throw it away. I don't want the people to know it's my blood, go and get rid of it.

The Incident of Abdullah ibn Zubayr

And Imam Muflih, may Allah have mercy upon him, from the ulama of the Hanbali school, he has a book called Al-Adab ash-Shar'iyyah. It tells us everything we need to know about what the etiquette is in Islam. And all of those issues, brothers have been asking about. Can you rent a masjid? Is it a musalla? What constitutes a masjid? What the Muslims should do on Friday? He goes through the etiquettes of what you have to do in being a Muslim.

So he has a chapter: what do we do with our fingernails? What do we do with the facial hairs that we get rid of? He said, based upon this hadith of Abdullah ibn Zubayr and other hadith similar to it, it is highly recommended that you get rid of it so that the devils don't get a hold of it, so that no one can get it and put magic on you.

As magic was worked on Rasulullah when the Jewish magician received some of his hair.

The point: Abdullah ibn Zubayr took the blood, went out of sight, drank the blood, came back. Rasulullah asked him, "What did you do with the blood?" He said, "I put it where no one can find it."

Rasulullah understood what happened and he smiled. If you drink the blood of any human being, something is wrong with you. You have allowed humiliation for yourself. You put yourself down.

So this is how they were with Rasulullah, peace be upon him.

Umm Hani al-Ansariyyah

Umm Hani al-Ansariyyah: Rasulullah was sleeping in her home and she is not his aunt and they're not related like that. While he was sleeping and the sweat was coming off of him because he used to sweat profusely. As Imam at-Tirmidhi narrated in the Shama'il al-Muhammadiyyah, that he was a man who used to sweat. And he used to snore when he was sleeping.

Umm Hani took the sweat off of his brow, put it in a bottle and kept it. And she used to put that on the children on Yawm al-Jumu'ah. And she said that the smell of it was better than the best musk of that time.

Important Note: If you take the sweat of any human being, something is wrong with you, Ikhwan. This is humiliation, putting you down.

The Aunt of the Prophet

Rasulullah, peace be upon him, used to have a container in his home. A little basin like this. He would use the bathroom, may Allah honor you, in that so that he wouldn't go out in the middle of the night. He would urinate in it, may Allah honor you.

His aunt Safiyyah bint Abdul Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with her, found it and she drank it. The barakah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

Reflection: And Wallahi, I believe if any of us had an opportunity to be blessed and graced with the presence, the physical presence of the Messenger of Allah, none of us would be hesitant to do anything of what has been

mentioned. If a person didn't want to do it, that is not an indication that he doesn't have iman.

But this is how they used to revere the Messenger of Allah. So what do you think will be the case when he orders them to do something?

Example 2: The Companion Called During Prayer

The companion was praying and the Prophet, peace be upon him, while he was praying summoned him to come and the man did not come. After that he finished his prayer and he came and he asked him, "Why didn't you come when I called you?"

He said, "I was praying, ya Rasulullah, giving Allah His right in the salah." That was a sunnah prayer.

Quran (Surah Al-Anfal 8:24):

O you who believe, respond to Allah and the Messenger when he calls you to what will give you life. Didn't you hear that ayah? O you who believe, answer the call of Allah and His Messenger when they call you to that which will give you life."

And then he proceeded to teach him some of the virtues of some of the ayahs of the Quran.

The point is, Ikhwan, we unconditionally obey the Messenger of Allah without asking why or how or when. So those companions, may Allah be pleased with them, this was their case.

Example 3: Abu Bakr and the Ansar

We already mentioned a number of examples. One of the worthy examples that has already gone by is what happened with the Ansar and Abu Bakr when they were choosing from amongst themselves an Amir. And they said, when Abu Bakr told them, "You guys can't do this."

They said, "No, there's going to be an Amir from us, and there's going to be an Amir from you. You make your Amir, we make an Amir, and they'll agree with each other, and we'll take care of the affairs of the community."

Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 3495):

Abu Bakr told them, "I heard Rasulullah saying," then he gave them the hadith:

الْأُمَرَاءُ فِي قُرَيْشٍ وَالْوُزَرَاءُ فِي الْأَنْصَارِ

Example 4: Abdullah ibn Rawaha

One of those examples was what happened with Abdullah ibn Rawaha, may Allah be pleased with him, who was coming to Salat al-Jumu'ah.

When the Prophet was on the minbar, and he was addressing the community, Abdullah ibn Rawaha, he heard that the Prophet said (اجْلِسْ - ijlīs) (sit down) to someone. He didn't know he was saying it to whom, but since he heard the command, he didn't make it inside the masjid. When he heard the command to sit down, he sat down outside in the sun, for the duration of the khutbah.

When Rasulullah heard that the man sat in the sun, and that's what he did, he asked him, "Why did you do that?" He said, "I heard that you said, sit down." He said, "I didn't mean you." He told him, "I didn't know that."

Hadith:

The Prophet made the du'a for Abdullah ibn Rawaha:

"May Allah increase you in knowledge, and may He increase you in tawfiq."

Application Today

Today in our masjid, if the man comes inside of the masjid, during the Khutbah of Jumu'ah, and the imam, he has the right to say to someone, "Ya Fulan, you sat down without praying two rakaats. Stand up and pray two rakaats and be quick in them."

If someone said that, the person in the audience will look at the imam as if he was crazy. Even though that is the Sunnah. Of course the imam, he can't spend too much time, because the whole khutbah will be interrupted,

because the etiquettes of Jumu'ah are not well known to many of the Muslims.

Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 930 and Sahih Muslim Hadith 875):

If the Muslim comes into the masjid, he has to pray the two rakaats before sitting down:

That's our religion. The masjid has a right upon us in Islam.

Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 931 and Sahih Muslim Hadith 875):

When Sulayk al-Ghatafani came into the masjid on Jumu'ah, and he sat down, Rasulullah told him, "Did you pray two rakaats, Sulayk?" He said, "No." He said, "Stand up and pray the two, and be quick in them. Hurry up and make them, don't take a long time."

The Fear of People's Opinion

So when we hear the hadith, for example, if anyone enters inside of the masjid, then he should not sit until he prays two rakaats - someone in our audience came in the masjid, and they sat without praying two rakaats. And he may have wudu right now.

And he hears what Rasulullah did with that man in the audience. He's embarrassed to stand up to pray. Those companions were not like that.

If they heard the command, they were quick to execute, and they did not worry about the censorship of anyone, and the opinion of anyone else. If anyone enters into the masjid, then don't sit down until you pray two rakaats.

And there are many examples in our everyday lives, in the acts of worship of Islam, that we find, for whatever reason, we're reluctant to do what the Prophet said, peace be upon him, in issues like this, because we're afraid of the opinion of the people.

"I'm going to get up now, and people are going to look at me, and they're going to know I didn't pray the two rakaats."

So what, ya Abdullah? If Allah and His Messenger invite you to something, that which will give you life, then make the response.

Example 5: Julaybib

Julaybib, may Allah be pleased with him - Julaybib is the small jilbab, the diminutive form. He's the small jilbab.

Julaybib was described by the companions as being an extraordinarily dark man. And everything that Allah created, it is beautiful. In addition to that, Julaybib was a short man, and he had patches in his face. He wasn't the most attractive man to look at, according to the people of his time.

The Story of His Marriage

There was an honorable family from amongst the Muslims during that time, and they had a daughter, who was highly sought after. They used to refuse everyone's hand. And they were hoping that the Messenger of Allah would ask for the hand of their daughter.

So he came to them one day, and he said, "Is your daughter married?" They said, "No." He said, "I have someone for your daughter." And the father became happy. "Sure, ya Rasulullah. Before my head and my eyes, who do you have for our daughter?"

He said, "I want you to marry your daughter to Julaybib."

He said, "I have to talk to the mother about that." Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "Okay, talk to the mother."

Important Note: Ikhwan, this is evidence that our wives, they do have something to say in the affairs of our family. Rasulullah allowed that man to go and to consult, and make the consultation with his wife.

He didn't say to that man, "You are weak. The men are over the women. What is this? You should make the decision for yourself." He allowed that man to go to consult with the mother.

And Rasulullah knew the reason why the man was reluctant. Julaybib, he doesn't have any money, he doesn't come from a tribe, and the way that he looks.

The Response of the Family

When the father spoke to the mother, she said, "Anyone but Julaybib. Anyone but Julaybib."

The sister, the woman, the young girl, heard the discussion between the mother and the father. And then she came out and said, "Rasulullah asked you to marry me to Julaybib, and you're reluctant to do something that he asked you to do? Don't you know in what he is asking there is benefit for me and you? I want to marry Julaybib."

They married her to Julaybib, and Julaybib became from the richest of the people in Madinah. The Provider, He provided for Julaybib, and He also gave it to the wife of Julaybib.

His Martyrdom

In one of the battles of Islam, Ikhwan, now we have to pay attention, the wisdom of the Messenger of Allah. He's not going to tell them to do something that's not beneficial. Julaybib gets a lot of money, and the family,

they are blessed.

In one of the battles of Islam, after the battle was over, Rasulullah asked his companions, "Check to see if you people have lost anyone." So the people began to check. "This is my blood brother, we have two other brothers who participated in the jihad, let's go look for our two brothers. We found them."

So they came and everyone said, "We didn't lose anyone, ya Rasulullah." He said, "No, go back and check." The people went back, "No, we didn't lose anyone, everyone is accounted for." "Go back and check." "No, we didn't find anyone."

He said:

لَكِنِّي أَفْقِدُ جُلَيْبِيبًا

"No, I lost Julaybib. Where is Julaybib?"

So they started to look for Julaybib. They found Julaybib, and around him were seven kuffar, dead.

Rasulullah said:

(Source Name)

"Julaybib killed seven of them before they got him. This man is from me and I'm from him."

This type of action, this is the action of the one who follows Muhammad. The odds, seven to one. For everyone of the people who follow me, it's not one to one. He's going to have excellence. He'll get seven, eight, nine, ten.

(Source Name)

Rasulullah praised the effort of Julaybib.

The Wisdom of the Marriage

The point is, Ikhwan, Julaybib now, he goes to Jannah as a shaheed. The shaheed is able to bring into Paradise seventy members from his family through intercession. Julaybib left for his wife, the father and the mother of his wife, a nice amount of money.

Rasulullah invited them to that which was going to benefit them. So the girl's iman, as it relates to accepting what the Prophet, peace be upon him, commanded and advised - in it is life, in it is benefit.

Example 6: Ukasha ibn Mihsan

Everyone knows the companion, Ukasha ibn Mihsan. That tremendous companion who was walking on the face of the earth and he was from the People of Paradise.

Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 5811 and Sahih Muslim Hadith 220):

There are seventy thousand people who will enter into Jannah without any reckoning and without any punishment. They won't be asked, "Why did you do this and why didn't you do that?" Nor will they go to the Hellfire to be purified and purged of their sins.

Ukasha stood up and said, "Ya Rasulullah, ask Allah to make me from those people." He said, "You're from them." So Ukasha was walking around on the face of the earth and he was from those seventy thousand people.

His Bravery in Battle

In the Battle of Badr, Ukasha broke ten swords fighting the kuffar. Every time he breaks a sword, he has to go to another companion to ask, "You have an extra sword, can I use your sword?" Or he has to go to the person who was wounded to get their sword. Or he has to pick a sword up from someone who was dead. Finally there were no more swords left for Ukasha.

He came to Rasulullah in a state of panic. Not because he was afraid, but because he couldn't kill anyone. "Ya Rasulullah, I don't have a sword."

Rasulullah went to a tree, Ikhwan, and broke off the branch of the tree and said, "Take this wood, go out there and make jihad with the branch."

Ukasha went into the battlefield and he began to fight the people. And after the war was over, Ukasha came back with the spoils of war. Twenty-two swords he handed over to the Prophet, peace be upon him.

Why did he hand the swords over to the Prophet? Because in the spoils of war, it is not for us just to take the property of the kuffar when we kill them. You have to give it to the Imam and the leader of the Muslims, he distributes it. If you don't do that, you fall into embezzlement. You stole something from the property of the Muslims.

Warning About Stealing from the Muslims:

On Yawm al-Qiyamah, anyone who steals from the property of Allah, the treasury, from the masjid's donation box - we have this problem in America. We have to put cameras on the donation box so we can catch the people who break the boxes open. And that's one of the crimes of drug addicts.

The drug addict, he'll come in and he'll break the donation box open and steal the Muslims' money. The one who suffers from embezzlement, on Yawm al-Qiyamah, the severity of his punishment is, a flag will be placed in his anus, on Yawm al-Qiyamah, and it will be said, "This is the one who made embezzlement from the monies of Allah" - to make him low, to make him embarrassed, to make him punished.

So if a person is the treasurer of the masjid, he should remember that. If a person is collecting for an organization and he can steal the money, he should remember that.

The Point of the Story

So the fact that Ukasha ibn Mihsan was able to collect those twenty-two swords, that was because, Ikhwan, he killed twenty-two people. Now, there are not too many people who would be willing to fight and to make jihad with a wooden sword while his enemies have real iron, real steel.

That was the level of the companions of the Messenger of Allah.

The Importance of Writing a Will

Now that we have such a large group of people here, Mashallah, brothers and sisters, I'm gonna give you another practical, extremely important example of obeying Allah and His Messenger and how the companions used to be.

Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 2738 and Sahih Muslim Hadith 1627):

Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah say:

'It is not permissible for a believing man or woman to have money from what they're going to leave behind. It's not permissible for him to have any money except that his will should be written with him.'

Abdullah ibn Umar said: 'From the day that I heard that hadith, I had my will written with me.' And he used to keep his will with him at all times."

Application for Us Today

So here in our community, in our masjid, many of us, because as brother Tawfiq mentioned yesterday when he was talking about the spectacle of death and what is connected to it, many of the people, we believe that we have been promised that we're going to have time.

So a man does not sit to put his will together except at the time when he becomes sick or he thinks he's going to die and then he'll put his will together. But in the religion of Islam, because the person doesn't know when he's going to die, you should have your will written already. And it's not a small thing.

How many people do we know because the will was not written, the wasiyyah, the man died and his relatives don't know who he owes money to. His relatives are not aware of who owes him money. They're not aware of his affairs.

How to Write a Will

So from the affairs that are important in our everyday lives as Muslims is that the Muslim takes the time out to develop for himself an easy comprehensive will. Those complicated wills, if you have a complicated situation, then that's your business. But it is simple and easy.

"All of my money that I have, divide it according to the Kitab and the Sunnah. I'm going to bequeath this to my mother, my father, and he should get this and he should get that. And I owe so-and-so this much money, he owes me this much money, and that's it.

"If I die, no one should wail over me. If I die, bury me wherever I die at," and so forth and so on. It doesn't have to be extravagant. To the point, precise, comprehensive.

So because this is an ongoing phenomenon with the Muslims, we encourage you and we invite you now: If you don't have a will, you should get your will ready and develop it like Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him.

Question and Answer Session

Question: Is Having the Hair Cut at Two Different Grades Allowed?

It's not allowed to have your hair cut at two different levels. You can't cut your hair at the side and leave the top. You can't cut it at the top and leave the side. You can't cut it in the middle and leave the sides.

It's not permissible, they call that hair cut the Qaza.

Hadith (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 5921 and Sahih Muslim Hadith 2120):

And the Prophet saw a little boy who had that hair cut and he told the people:

"Cut all of it off or leave all of it on."

That means that you can cut it equally but it has to be cut in each and every direction. And that is from the complete justice of Islam. Islam even gives the right of the hair.

In Islam, you can't wear one shoe and take off one shoe. He said either wear both of them or leave both of them. In Islam, you cannot sit halfway in the sun, halfway in the shade. He said that's the seat of Shaytan. That's where Shaytan sits.

We hear that hadith and we don't know how Shaytan is in that area. If a person is in the masjid and the sun is coming through, don't have your legs in part of the shade and your body in the other part because the Shaytan is

in that area.

Question: What Are the Conditions of Tawbah for a Muslim?

Conditions of tawbah: number one, that the person has to have regret. He has to be sad for what he did.

Hadith (Sunan Ibn Majah Hadith 4252):

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

"Being sad for what you've done, regretting what you've done is tawbah."

And then after that:

1. He leaves alone what he was doing. If he doesn't leave it alone, then he didn't make the true tawbah.

2. If he took from the people something, he has to give it back to them. If he took something from the people, and he doesn't give it back, and it remains with him, he hasn't made the true tawbah. If giving it back is going to cause a bigger trial, then he has to find some way of getting it back to that person.

3. Not to return to it.

4. To give the property back to someone if you have the property.

Question: Is it Permissible to Video Lectures for Dawah Purposes?

Jazakallah khayra. Inshallah, it's permissible. Inshallah, it's permissible.

Question: Is it Permissible to Reply Salam to a Sufi Brother Whose Bid'ah is Apparent?

It's permissible and it's not haram. Giving the salam, taking the salam has some fiqh connected to it.

If you're not giving the salam, and it's going to affect and impact on that individual, then that's what you can do in the hopes that you bring him back to his senses, bring him back to what is correct.

If you're leaving off the salam will make the people of innovation feel the pressure and the evil of their innovation and they feel that and they acknowledge it and recognize it, then it's highly recommended to do it.

But we don't leave off the salam just for the leaving off of the salam. We don't like the person so we leave off the salam and we use the fact that he's a Sufi or he's this, he's that, so I don't give him the salam.

The principle in this religion is extending yourself and giving dawah and having mercy and being gentle and being easy. That's the principle. And the salam, not giving it, is harshness. So we use the harshness in the place it's supposed to be and we use the mercy in the place that it is supposed to be. So it's going to be relative.

There are some people we shouldn't give salam to who are Sufi and there are some people we can give the salam to who are Sufi in the hope that they will come to the truth and we have good relationships with them and so forth and so on.

Question: Did the Prophet Always Cover His Head?

He didn't always cover his head. He used to take it off also. He used to go to sleep. But when he appeared in public, Rasulullah used to cover his head.

So it's from the manly nature, the gentleman nature of the Muslim man and the Islamic identity to keep one's head covered.

In the past, this was a serious issue. If a man walked in the street without his head covered, he would be considered to be immature, a teenager, a kid. If a man did not cover his head in the past, they would not allow him to be a witness in the court.

If someone got into some trouble and he needed the witness of someone who saw what happened, but they were known not to cover their heads, his witness wouldn't be accepted in court because of his manliness. There's some problems with him being a man.

But we're not going to say it is obligatory to cover your hair and it's haram to pray without your hair covered. We're not going to say that. It's from the manly nature of the Muslim man.

Sheikh Mashhur Hasan Salman, he has a tremendous book about the manliness of the Muslim man and what destroys the manliness. And he brings that book in this chapter of covering your hair.

And he also deals with some things that go on in some of the people's countries who are here right now that also break the manliness. Like he mentioned in his book, a group of people who are from one of the countries that we see in this masjid where it's a part of their culture where the men sit and they pass gas. And it's part of the culture. It's part of what they do.

And he gave a nice research on why that type of behavior is not accepted in Islam.

Question: What About the Hadith of Jihad Al-Akbar?

Hadith (Fabricated):

Ibn Taymiyyah said in Al-Furqan, that the hadith about jihad on the nafs - "Jihad Al-Akbar is jihad of the nafs" - is a fabricated hadith. And Ibn Taymiyyah says the greatest jihad is the jihad on the battlefield.

The hadith of Jihad Al-Akbar is the jihad of the nafs. It's not authentic. I don't know if it's fabricated. I don't remember that. But for sure it is not authentic.

But Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in Zad al-Ma'ad, he agreed that even though that hadith is not authentic, the meaning of it is true. That the greatest jihad is the jihad of the nafs. Because if a person doesn't make jihad against his nafs, he's not going to make the jihad against the enemy. That was his thinking.

And he also dealt with the whole concept of a hadith does not necessarily have to be authentic in order to be true. There are weak ahadith. There are ahadith that are fabricated, but the meaning is true.

Example:

"I'm the most eloquent of those who speak with the language of Dad." That is a fabricated hadith. But it is the truth. Rasulullah, peace be upon him, he is the reference. He's the reference source for the Arabic language.

What the Arabs said in Jahiliyyah is a reference. And what Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said is a reference. What the Quran says is a reference as it relates to what can be done in the Arabic language and what shouldn't be done and so forth and so on.

So that hadith is not authentic. It's fabricated. But the meaning of it is true.

Question: What to Do If Isha is Called But You Haven't Prayed Maghrib?

Pray Salat al-Maghrib, your Maghrib with the people. And when the people finish the third rakah and they stand up, you stay down. You can make the taslim and then stand up again and try to join them if you want. Or you stay down in the tashahhud for your third rakah and wait until they come down and then finish the prayer with them.

Another point, Ikhwan, concerning this issue: We're not going to find any hadith from Rasulullah, peace be upon him, telling us this is what you do. One of the reasons why the book by Imam Ibn Abi Shaybah and Imam Abdur-Razzaq as-San'ani - one of the reason why their two books are important, their books are called Kitab Al-Musannaf.

Both of them wrote a book, Kitab Al-Musannaf. Why is that book important? Because the book focuses upon, concentrates upon what the companions did after Rasulullah.

If they came into the masjid and the rows had to start, where did they start? From the right? From the middle? From the left? In these books, there are ahadith from Rasulullah. But the focus and the intent is: what did the companions do?

And in this issue that we just mentioned, that's what they used to do.

Question: Can Five or Six Family Members Pray at Home?

For jama'ah prayer, if there are five or six family members at home, is it permissible to pray at home for the

males, even if the mosque is nearby? Or is it obligatory that all males should pray in the mosque?

The males should pray in the mosque if the house is close to the masjid. If the adhan is given, you can hear that adhan. And if the adhan is given inside the mosque where it shouldn't be given - is given inside where it shouldn't be given - and the people can't hear it outside, but if they were allowed to say it outside, you would hear it, then it's an obligation upon you to come to the masjid.

Quran (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:43):

And there's an area of scholarly disagreement. But Allah has ordered us:

"Make rukoo with those who make rukoo," and it means in the plural form. So that's one of the evidences to come to the masjid.

But it is an area of scholarly disagreement, respected scholars went to the other position, that you don't have to pray in the masjid, but it appears, Wallahu a'lam, the obligation of praying in the masjid is greater.

Question: What if the Girl's Family Has No Approval for Marriage?

How do two people get married if the girl has no family approval? What is the best way? If the family doesn't approve of the girl before she gets married, she has to get the approval. She has to try to convince her family.

She has to try to be in the marriage for the long run. She has to try to be in the marriage, you know, in it to win it. And she's not going to be able to win it if her family is against her and her husband.

It's going to be that much more difficult. So before getting married, it's better for her. It's better for the brother. Try to convince the family. Try to get the approval. Try to get them to support the situation.

If they don't want to support it for reasons that are not permissible, then they have to look at where is the most benefit and where is the most harm. And they have to weigh that situation.

If the most harm is in not getting married, then she has to take her situation to the person who is responsible. Let him try to convince them. And then let him look into the situation.

We do not believe, nor do we support, this thing of going behind your fathers, your brothers, your guardians, getting married without the approval of your family. It's going to cause a lot of problems. It's going to cause a lot of trial.

Question: Is the Name of Julaybib's Wife Known?

I don't know the name of Julaybib's wife, but this would be a good research paper, a research issue to come up with because if you're looking for someone's name, the scholars have not left any issue unturned.

You know in Islam when we find those hadith, "A Bedouin came to the masjid, and he went to the corner, and he did what he did in the corner." Imam ad-Daraqutni, he wrote a book that identifies the names of those people who were mentioned in hadith, where it just said "a man came and did this, a lady came and said that, a person did this, a person did that."

He researched all of these ahadith and he'll come up with the names of these people. And that would be one of the first places you will go to find out who was the wife of Julaybib. So I don't know her name.

Question: Which Tashahhud is More Authentic?

In salah, which is the more sahih hadith for the first tashahhud? To stop at:

or to carry on to:

You have to go to the end of the tashahhud, go to the end of the tashahhud:

And I don't know any narration that stops at:

Does anyone know a narration like that? And it stops there? In the tashahhud.

I think what the person is saying, Allah knows best: We've been taught, when we learn how to pray, that we don't say the complete tashahhud in the first part, in the first tashahhud. We say half of it. And in the fourth rakaah, we say the sending of blessings on the prophet to the end.

I think that's what they're saying. But the whole thing should be said in both parts of the salah. In the first tashahhud and in the second tashahhud.

Question: Is the Prayer Without the Sutrah Nullified?

Ikhwan is a very important point. Before you can say that a salah is invalid, it's a principle: Never say someone's salah is invalid, unless you have the evidence that makes it invalid. If you don't have any evidence, no matter what they're doing in the salah, if there's not evidence to say it's invalid, then don't say it's invalid.

If you steal someone's clothes and you wear a thobe that is stolen and it's not yours, people say your salah is invalid. What makes the salah invalid? He's sinning in his theft, but he is rewarded for his salah. They say it's invalid because his nakedness isn't covered.

Yeah, his nakedness is covered. What are you talking about? We don't see his nakedness. His nakedness is covered.

So the thing that nullifies your prayer is having evidence saying that it's nullified. The sutrah is an obligation, but if the person doesn't take it, then it is not something that nullifies his prayer.

Question: Is it Permissible to Attend a Free Mixing Wedding?

Is it permissible to attend a free mixing wedding if not, even if there is a possibility you might be disowned by the family?

Those companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, like Abu Musa al-Ash'ari was invited to a walimah given by, out of all people, Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, who was known for his strictness on the Sunnah. Umar used to say to Abdullah, "Don't be overly strict like that. People are looking at you."

"You're making Hajj, and on your way to Hajj, you take your animal to where Rasulullah took his animal and you get off, you dismount and you go to the bathroom. You don't have to do that. People are looking at you."

So his father used to warn him. But Abdullah ibn Umar, he wasn't having it. He was following the Sunnah strictly.

But he invited Abu Musa al-Ash'ari to his home for a walimah. When Abu Musa al-Ash'ari came in, he saw that there were curtains on the wall. Abdullah ibn Umar said:

"The women overcame us."

Abu Musa said, "I would have expected to hear that from anybody but you." And he refused to go inside.

So he refused to partake in the walimah of a place where he felt there was an evil taking place.

As it relates to our families, walimahs: some of you come from families where you're religious, Inshallah. You're on the dawah, Mashallah. And they think that you are Wahhabi.

There was a country where there was a concept where the Muslims thought killing a Wahhabi was more virtuous than killing a communist. The Wahhabi was worse than the communist. So they would cut the noses off of the Wahhabi and make mutilation of their bodies because there's no sanctity to the body of a Wahhabi.

Some of you come from people like that. Barelvis, Sufis, this kind of thing. If you cut your family off and you alienate yourself, what impact do you think you're going to have on your family members?

What is this new concept, this new dawah of alienation? We have a dawah group of people who I'm telling you their dawah is only amongst themselves because everybody else is off of it and out of it. And then they pluck

each other off one by one and they're going to wind up giving dawah to the birds, to the rabbits and to the deer in the forest. I'm telling you they're the only people who are going to listen to them.

But people cannot tolerate that type of way of giving dawah, being tested about issues. So we advise: the evils that are at your family gatherings, those who have the ability, those of you who have the ability to give advice, to forbid evil, to be patient, we advise you to do so. And you know your own self.

Quran (Surah Al-Qiyamah 75:14):

Everyone knows his own situation. But we would encourage brothers to go for dawah, to go because of the bigger evil - they're going to think that you are anti-social, you're against them.

But if a person can't handle the evils, and he makes reliance upon Allah, and he doesn't go at all, I think that you guys need to come together, and talk about your situation, and share your stories, so that you can kind of get a better idea what's the best method you can use with dealing with your family.

There's so many people who deal with it. So many people are confronted with this challenge. Relatives who are not religious, and all kinds of things are going on. And where does it stop? In your home there are evils. In the home there are things that are going on with our family members.

What are we going to do? Come into our rooms all the time and lock the door? And we don't see our relatives, they don't see us. They're going to look at you as being strange, you're really strange. But not from the strangers that the good comes from. They give rectification.

Question: Is Taking Photos Permissible?

Is taking photos permissible? And are they allowed to be displayed?

Taking photos is haram, Ikhwan, it is a major sin from the major sins. And it is a major, major sin because through them shirk was introduced to the Children of Adam. So that was the door that the people started worshipping other than Allah. The only sin that people won't be forgiven for.

But if you are forced out of necessity and compelled, it's permissible. Driver's license, passports, and maybe even taking a picture of your child, not to hang up, not to send to your mother so she can see how he looks, but so that you will have a picture on hand if your child disappeared.

We have these criminals who are out here and they steal our children. And it's a great problem in America, I don't know about here. And America is so bad, they put the pictures of the children on the milk cartons. Because they figure everyone is drinking milk, so they want the people to see the pictures of the children who have been kidnapped.

They put them all over the supermarkets, over the post office, places where the public visits, they have children's pictures everywhere. So the person takes a picture in order to have it on hand if something happens to his child, "This is what my child looks like."

The Story of Aisha's Curtains

The Prophet came from a long trip, a battle. He went to the battle, he fought the battle, he came back from the battle. Now you know how we feel when we travel long distances. You go and you come back, you just want to come home.

Not many of us practice the hadith of coming to the masjid first and then going home. We go straight home. From the Sunan that are abandoned is: when you travel, go to the masjid, pray two rakaats and then go home.

The masjid has rights over us in Islam. We go straight home. When we get home, we just want to rest. We want our food, we want our rest.

Rasulullah took a trip, made jihad, lost companions, people were wounded, they came back. In the summertime, it's hot, he gets home.

Before coming into the home, he sees that our mother Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, had curtains and on the curtains there were pictures. He stops and he sees the curtain hanging, and the picture was on it.

So the scholars of Islam said, if a person has something with a picture on it, an image on it in his home, it's in the carpet - as long as it's being trampled underfoot and it's not being exalted and respected, then it's permissible to have it if it's underfoot. It's on the couch, don't worry about it. It's disliked, you shouldn't have it, but you're sitting on it, you're disrespecting it.

As for the people who hang up the picture - his father went on Hajj, he took a picture on the camel at Arafah, so he hangs it up over the mantle in the house, "Al-Hajj Abu So-and-so." That's exalting the picture, Ikhwan. That's what's not permissible.

And if one of us are dealing with relatives who are not on this level of understanding as many of our relatives are, we give advice to the young people: take it easy in removing the pictures. Removing the evil requires some knowledge, requires wisdom, requires being easy and gentle.

If you go into the living room and you take the picture of your grandfather back from the old country and your grandmother and you break it up and you throw it out or it disappears, your family is going to throw you out in the street. So that may not be a good idea.

We had a brother in our community who became a Muslim. He became homeless, living with his family. He's not paying rent. He has to follow the rules of wisdom. He's under the authority of these people. He let their pet dog out. He took him to the park, let him out in the park and let him go.