14
Jul 2023
What is Salatul Tasbih? It is a voluntary 4 rakahs salah which is called Salatul Tasbih because it entails reciting 300 times tasbih in various positions during the salah. Is the Salatul Tasbih a sunnah? This salah is a voluntary salah which is purported to elicit huge forgiveness as per the narration of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), which some scholars dispute, but is nevertheless a good narration. Narrated by Abu Dawoud, Ibn Majah, Daraqutni, Bayhaqi, Tabarani and Ibn Khuzaymah and many others. What are the rewards of Salatul......
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11
Apr 2023
Salah energises us, rejuvenates us, empowers us to face the tests we go through every day. This is why we have five prayers, not just one: because we face continuous tests all day, from waking up until we go to sleep, every day until we meet Allah. We need to strengthen our salah and make it in accordance with the Sunnah. And we have an opportunity in Ramadan. Some people might not be praying regularly, but in Ramadan they keep their salah. So don’t lose this after Ramadan. We ask Allah to......
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20
Mar 2023
You can pray audibly for Fajr, Maghrib and Isha, but not Dhur and Asr which are not vocalised. Shaykh Haytham Tamim...
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20
Aug 2022
We are living in uncertain times. We have witnessed huge losses of life worldwide, through the pandemic and world disasters, and personally we have all experienced the death of close family and friends. None of us knows how long we have therefore we need to be prepared for the eventuality we will all inevitably face – death. Once we die, we will be heading for the most serious audit of our lives. In this life, we prepare our annual tax returns, after death we will have to submit a return for our......
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16
Aug 2022
Is it permissible to pray in impure clothes out of necessity (such as the clothes on which urine has fallen), if one cannot change one’s clothes and will end up missing the salah? Salah requires purity of one’s body, clothes and place of worship The conditions of a valid salah are that one prays with clothes free from impurity, in a place that is free from impurity, in a state of purity (wudu). Impure substances are urine, alcohol, faeces, animal faeces and blood. One should try to avoid having urine splash on......
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03
Mar 2022
Anas ibn Malik reported: Fifty prayers were obligated upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he was taken on his night journey. Then, it was reduced until it was set at five and an announcement was made, “O Muhammad, My word is never changed, so these five prayers will be counted as fifty.” (Tirmidhi) During the Isra wal Mi’raj, the miraculous journey of the Prophet (peace be on him) to Jerusalem and then his ascension to the heavens about 1-2 years before his migration to Madinah, he was given......
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14
Dec 2021
The default position is to pray at the prescribed time. This is because Allah commanded us to pray at designated times. He did not say that we could pray all our salah for one day in one go. When there are exceptional circumstances, we are permitted to combine Dhur and Asr, or Maghrib and Isha salah. (You cannot combine Asr and Maghrib or Isha and Fajr). However, the exception is not the norm. An exceptional circumstance means for instance, sickness or travelling. It does not mean being in a meeting, but it......
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18
Sep 2021
We are still reading from the book of Imam Ghazali Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, which is a summary of his great work, Ihya Ulum ad-Din. In his chapter on Following the Sunnah, he talks about the importance of following the Prophet (peace be on him) and establishing a bondship with him. Not just following him in ibadah but in all spheres of our life. Internal and external aspects of following the sunnah Ghazali mentioned how wudu has an impact on the soul. Its effect......
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03
Aug 2021
The obligation of salah Praying at the specified time is obligatory for all sane Muslims over the age of puberty. Verily, As Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours. (Surah Nisa’ 4:103) Allah allocated specific times for acts of worship for reasons that are known to Him. We know some of them, but some of them are hidden from us. Salah is the first matter that a person will be asked about on the Day of Judgement. Therefore it is necessary to prioritise in one’s day and in......
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13
Jun 2021
Salah has pillars (arkan) which are essential components. If any of these are missing, then the salah must be repeated. Salah also has obligatory components (wajib parts), however if these are missed, they can be rectified by making the prostration of forgetfulness, sajda al sahw. The Pillars of Salah (arkan) 1. The forbidding takbeer You need a username and password to enter salah. The password to enter your salah is the takbeer. The username is the intention. Which salah are you praying? If you do not know, you need to stop your......
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20
Apr 2021
Praying tarawih in your home while following an imam who is performing the tarawih prayer online is a relatively new phenomenon, which was adopted by some imams, including myself during the unprecedented global pandemic of 2020. No doubt this raised eyebrows and many people have wondered whether it is permissible and why we never performed salah like this before. They have asked if it is permissible to pray like this, why are we not praying behind the Imam live from Makkah? Before people rush to start throwing the term haram at praying......
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21
Feb 2021
The Witr Guide What is the correct way to pray witr? When should it be prayed? And what should you recite? There are differences in the schools of thought on this matter, based on different narrations, which we will summarise for you inshallah. What is the witr prayer? Witr means odd number. It is the last prayer of the night, which follows the 4 rakats fard and the sunnah prayers of Isha. How is witr classified? The witr is a sunnah prayer. As a minimum it is considered an emphasized sunnah (sunnah......
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12
Nov 2020
There are different opinions and evidences in the four schools of thought. 1. Hanafi: Do not recite the Fatiha in any congregational prayer According to the Hanafi school of thought, you do not recite the Fatiha behind the imam, whether it is a silent prayer (Dhur and Asr) or a vocalised prayer (Fajr, Maghrib, Isha). The Hanafi school have their evidences for this. It says in Surah al Araf, in the Quran: So, when the Quran is recited, listen to it, and be silent that you may receive mercy. (7:204) 2. Maliki:......
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13
Feb 2020
Total connectivity to Allah During one moonlit night, there was an extraordinary episode, when Abbad bin Bishr, one of companions guarding an army of believers was praying as they slept. Through the darkness a stranger shot an arrow at him, which pierced him. What happened next? Abbad pulled out the arrow and continued to pray. The enemy shot another arrow, and again, Abbad undeterred, pulled out the arrow and then continued to recite. When a third arrow struck him, conscious of his duty to alert the men he was guarding of the......
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30
May 2019
The Concept of Gradualism Tadarruj or gradualism is the introduction of a concept over a period of time so that it is not overwhelming in the first instance. Though we have all the rulings now, and see Islam as black and white package of halal and haram, it is worth remembering that the Quran was revealed over 23 years and the rulings were brought in bit by bit as Islam was established in the hearts and minds of its followers. This means that many things that were prohibited later, were initially accepted......
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