Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence-Part 2 (Preface)

Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence-Part 2 (Preface)

The Aim of Translating This Book

﴾Praise be to Allah, Who has guided us to this, and in no way we could have been guided, unless Allah had guided us﴿           

Chapter of the Heights. Verse NO 43

I’d like to indicate that I have translated this book “Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence- Part 2” for the sake of God, hoping that it helps to clarify and simplify Islamic Sunnah practices “Sunan” and optional acts of worship “Nawaafil” for non-Arabic speakers.

In The Name of Beneficent, Merciful God

Preface

Praise be to Allah alone. He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent, the Exalted and the Pardoner, the One and the Subduer, and the Guardian over His sovereignty night and day.

He is the One and the Only, the Unique and the Eternal Refuge, Who is neither begets nor is born, and nor is there to Him any equivalent.

Exalted are You. We have neither worshipped You truly, nor remembered You properly. We have not thanked You adequately. Your mercy is more comprehensive for us than Your torment, and Your forgiveness is nearer than Your punishment.

Blessings and peace be upon the truthful, the honest, Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah. He is Allah’s Prophet and the one chosen by Him. He is the first of Allah’s worshippers, the leader of strivers, and the seal of the Prophets and Messengers.

He is our intercessor when the contents of the graves are scattered, that within the breasts is obtained, and the hidden and obscure becomes visible on the Day of Resurrection.

From where can a fluent person speak throughout the course of his mission in three ways of expression?!

Every way of them has its own properties:

The Holy Qurᶦan, the Sacred Tradition, and the Prophetic Tradition.

How can anyone of the skilled poets in any age speak in these ways without confusion between them?!

It is a clear evidence that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah and Allah protects him.

God says ﴾And Allah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom and has taught you that which you did not know. And ever has the favor of Allah upon you been great﴿ Chapter of Women. Verse NO 113

I have previously produced the first part of “Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence” which includes obligations and pillars of Islam.

The Prophet has conveyed their rules according to inspiration from Allah.

This is the second part of “Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence” which includes Sunnah practices “Sunan” and optional acts of worship “Nawaafil”.

They are transmitted from the Prophet throughout the course of his biography which has extended for twenty three years. These years are the period of his mission.

We will notice their diversity. The Prophet has cared about this diversity in order to make a Muslim able to choose from them the most suitable to his nature and life. Most of them are optional; that is for whoever desires to remember or desires gratitude.

I have ended this part with some of Islamic manners of daily life concerning eating, drinking, clothing, and sleeping.

All of them are related to this world, but a Muslim can transform them to a great source of merits if he does them for the sake of God

God says ﴾Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds﴿ Chapter of the Cattle. Verse NO 162

And if we, every minute, are used to saying ﴾Praise to Allah, Who has guided us to this; and we would never have been guided if Allah had not guided us﴿ (Chapter of the Heights), we also say: “May Allah bless you and grant you peace, Messenger of Allah, as you and also the Mothers of believers have presented a detailed map of male and female Muslims’ lives from the beginning of their discretion at the age puberty till they meet God.

The Holy Qurᶦan recommended us follow the Prophet, his family, and his companions in all they have done.

God says ﴾There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often﴿

Chapter of the Confederates. Verse NO 21

I have done this according to the instructions of the Prophet who has said, “Convey from me even a verse (an Ayah) of the Qurᶦan.”

And said, “May Allah brighten a man who hears a tradition from me, gets it by heart, and passes it on to others.” [Zayd ibn Thabit]. 

●It was narrated from AL-Miqdaam ibn Maᶦdikarib that the Messenger of Allah (P.P.B.U.H) said: “Soon a tradition from me will be conveyed to a man, while he is reclining on his couch, and he says: ‘Between us and you is Allah’s Book. So whatever we find in it that is lawful, we consider it lawful, and whatever we find in it that is unlawful, we consider it unlawful.’ 

Indeed whatever the Messenger of Allah made unlawful, it is the same as what Allah made unlawful.”

Reference: Jamiᶦ AL-Tirmidhi- Chapters on Knowledge. Book 41, Hadith 20

●ᶦIrbaad ibn Sariyah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah said: “Verily he among you who lives long will see great discord, so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the Rightly- Guided Caliphs (AL-Khulafaa Ar-Rashideen), those who guide to the right way. 

Hold fast to it [literally: cling to it with your molar teeth]. Beware of newly invented matters [in the religion], for verily every innovation (Bidᶦah) is a misguidance.” 

Reference: 40 Hadith Nawawi 28

God says about those who discriminate between the Holy Qurᶦan and the Sunnah ﴾Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and wish to discriminate between Allah and His messengers and say, “We believe in some and disbelieve in others.”, and wish to adopt a way in between (150) Those are the disbelievers, truly. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment ﴿(151) Chapter of Women.

So, every male and female Muslim must pay attention to all thoughts told to him/her and compare these thoughts with the Holy Qurᶦan and the Sunnah. They must note that there is no excuse for neglecting this.

God says ﴾Rather, man, against himself, will be a witness (14) Even if he presents his excuses ﴿(15) 

Chapter of Resurrection (Surat AL-Qiyamah).

But a Muslim who spends his life without knowing anything about his religion and says what other people say, indeed he wastes his religion and world.

Haven’t I conveyed it? O Allah! Bear witness to this.

I ask Almighty God, Generous Lord of the Throne, to make this book devoted to His Honored Face, to accept it well, and to remove the veil that is over the eyes of those who have gone astray. Excellent is the Protector, and Excellent is the Helper.

     .                       EL-Sayed Muhammad AL-Jameel Sarseeq                                                             

  

 

Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence - Preface

The Aim of Translating This Book

﴾Praise be to Allah, Who has guided us to this, and in no way we could have been guided, unless Allah had guided us﴿            Chapter of the Heights. Verse NO 43

I’d like to indicate that I have translated this book “Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence” for the sake of God, hoping that it helps to clarify and 

simplify Islamic obligations and pillars for non-Arabic speakers

Nashwa EL Sayed Sarseeq

======================

In The Name of Beneficent, Merciful God

Preface

Praise be to Allah alone, Almighty. He is one not due to fewness, the First without beginning, and the Last without ending. When He is mentioned, the faithful feel tranquil. When we see Him, we are content. With His help, the believers rejoice. And His command is between the letters “B” and “e” (Be).

Birds praise Him in their nests, and monsters glorify Him in their desert. He is aware of His servant’s action: privately and publicly.

 And of His signs is that the heaven and the earth remain by His command. He has encompassed all things in knowledge, and has forgiven the sins of the guilty because of His generosity and clemency. 
                                                                                                

Blessings and peace be upon the Seal of Prophets and Messengers, the Leader of white (bright)-faced and white (bright)-legged people, Prophet Muhammad. He has been the best to convey the message, fulfill trust, advise the nation, and uncover obscure. May God reward him the best for us, and please us with his companionship in the Abode of Eternity.

Having said that:                                                                                                                                   

God says ﴾And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that might be cautious﴿ Chapter of Repentance. Verse NO 122.  And the Prophet says: “If Allah wants to do good to a person, He makes him comprehend the religion.” [Narrated by AL-Bukhari and Muslim].
                                  -------------------------------------------------

This book “Selections from Islamic Jurisprudence” deals with the main obligations and pillars in Islam and deals with the most important issues that Muslims face in their daily life.

 In our age, simplification of jurisprudence issues, away from footnotes labyrinth and impenetrable texts, is an urgent need. You should not use boring abundance or the brief which undermines true meaning.

 A lot of people do not bother themselves to search for information in jurisprudence books, instead, they are content with what spreads around them in the audio-visual media.

These “Selections” have been extracted from “Imam Shafii School” with reference to the other schools’ opinions in some rites, so that a Muslim does not think that there are any troubles in acts of worship.

 The issue of schools is not important in Islam, as they all have been established from the biography of the Prophet and the Book of Allah, and because the diversity between them is in branches, not in principles and pillars. It is just that some of the jurisprudents are tightened in order to take the prudent opinion.

◊ An Example for That: In obligations of ablution, God says ﴾And wipe over your heads (imsahoo biruoosikum)﴿ ﴿وامسحوا برؤوسكم﴾ Imam Shafii has been content with wiping some of the head.  While Imam Abu Hanifah has insisted on wiping all of the head. Both of them are true, as the word “over” (i.e. the letter “b” in the word “biruoosikum”) (أي حرف الباء في كلمة "برؤوسكم")  in Arabic language has five meanings. One of them, which Imam Shafii has taken, is “the dividing”. And another one, that Abu Hanifah has taken, is “the sticking” which means wiping all of the head.

Thus, Islamic Jurisprudence has men who have been gifted with patience, persistence, and sacrifice. They were not waiting for a dirham or a dinar from anybody, but their researches were for God’s sake. Islamic Jurisprudence is about daily human movement, which he will be accountable for on the Day of Judgment. Jurisprudence provisions are between the following terms:

Obligation: Its doer is praised and its leaver is vilified. Examples: prayer, fasting, and obligatory charity (zakah).

                                                                                                              

The Sunnah: Its doer is praised and its leaver is not punished. Examples: forenoon prayer and voluntary charity.

.Permissible Act: If you do it or leave it, you will not be praised or vilified. Examples: eating or drinking.

Disliked Act: Its leaver is praised and its doer is not vilified. Examples: the amusement that is not prohibited.

                                                                                                                                      

Prohibited Act: Its doer is vilified and its leaver is praised. Examples: lying, theft, and usury.

Note that:
 ❶ Duty = Obligation = Pillar. They all have the same meaning, except in pilgrimage.

 ❷ The Sunnah = Advisable Act = Recommended Act = Volunteering = Optional worship. All have the same meaning.

 ❸ Disliked act may turn into prohibited act: Listening to music for a long time is disliked, and    if this leads to neglecting duty or forgetting a prayer, it will be prohibited, i.e. leads to going to hell.
 Another Example: What is the provision of marriage?
 The Answer: It is a Sunnah. Leaving it, for the one who needs it, is disliked. Marriage to one woman is allowed, marriage to two or three women is permissible, but marriage to more than four women at the same time is prohibited.

◊That is the mission of jurisprudents in religion. There are many jurisprudence disciplines and basics that are inherited from the first Muslim Generation, and the professional is the only one who is aware of them.

● Abu ᶦUbaydah ibn AL Jarrah, the governor of Damascus (AL-Sham), sent a message to the Caliph ᶦUmar ibn AL Khattab to tell him that a group of Muslims had drunk wine and they had said, “The verse said﴾Will you not desist?﴿ and did not settle it.” Then, ᶦUmar counselled Imam Ali. Imam Ali said, “Order Abu-ᶦUbaydah to get them in public, and ask them one question: Is wine legal or prohibited? If they say: ‘Prohibited’, flog them. And if they say: ‘Legal’, order to cut their throats.”
Thus, as the Prophet said, which is legal is clear and which is prohibited is clear.

I ask Almighty God, Generous Lord of the Throne, to satisfy the thirst of Muslim Men and Women to the true religious knowledge, in order that He accepts our deeds well, lets us land at a blessed landing place and gathers us with the ones, upon whom Allah has bestowed favor, of the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions. Excellent is the Protector, and excellent is the Helper.

                      EL Sayed Muhammad AL-Jameel Sarseek                                                                                                                                                         .                                                                                                                 .